Freeholders Approve Holmdel's Membership to County Board of Health

The Board of Chosen Freeholders has authorized a contract with Holmdel that would allow it to become a member municipality of the Monmouth County Board of Health. Holmdel will pay the Monmouth County Board of Health $2,500 for administration and oversight related to interim services for the remainder of 2011 before it becomes a member municipality on Jan. 1, 2012, according to the resolution.

The Monmouth County Board of Health will hire RJ Kirk, Holmdel’s sanitary health inspector, as part of the agreement, according to Monmouth County Counsel Andrea Bazer.

The Monmouth County Board of Health is one of seven health departments in the county. It currently services 23 municipalities.

In other news from the Board of Chosen Freeholders’ workshop meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 22 in the building in Freehold:

• The governing body approved a resolution to seek bids for upgrades needed for the county’s movable bridges.

“Those upgrades will include replacing outdated traffic gates, refurbishing and replacing the barrier gates, repairing the timber fender on the navigational channel, installing a new submarine cable, replacing windows and doors, and installing a new power control module at the Shark River Bridge,” said Monmouth County Engineer Joseph Ettore.

County engineers estimate the work will cost $2.507 million, with funding coming from the New Jersey Department of Transportation Trust Fund, Ettore said.

• The Board of Chosen Freeholders approved specifications for the reconstruction of the Greenwood Road bridge over Matawan Creek in Marlboro.

The plans were prepared by Maser Consulting P.A., of Red Bank. The resolution approved by the board will allow the project to be put up to bid.

Monmouth County engineers estimate the bridge reconstruction will cost $930,000, Ettore said. He noted funding will be provided by the New Jersey Department of Transportation Trust Fund.

• The county has approved a request by Long Branch to have black powder coat traffic signals rather than the aluminum originally specified in its $3.178 million contract with Solar-Mite Electrical Contractors.

Monmouth County is upgrading 40 traffic signals throughout the county, with funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Ettore said. Two of the traffic lights are located in Long Branch at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Pavilion Avenue and Ocean Boulevard and North Bath Avenue, according to the resolution. Ettore explained that the aluminum traffic lights do not conform with the city’s streetscape project.

The Board of Chosen Freeholders approved a change order of $68,318 in order for the contractor provide the requested change in materials, remove lansdscaping trees, and make additional improvements to the Long Branch traffic light locations, according to the resolution. The additional funding will be covered by ARRA, Ettore said.

• Former Marlboro mayoral candidate Craig S. Marshall has been nominated for a three-year term on the Brookdale Community College Trustee Search Committee. The nomination was announced during the meeting.

Freeholder Deputy Director John P. Curley said a vote is expected at the governing body’s Dec. 8 meeting. Curley said Marshall had approached him about opportunities to become active within the county.

“He has quite a varied background. I think he would be an excellent choice for this position,” Burry said.

The five-member board reviews resumes for open positions on the college’s Board of Trustees. The term Marshall would fill would end Dec. 8, 2014.