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| Mayor Joseph M. DiBella |
The Township of Howell, NJ
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Email Alerts |
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January 8, 2006 Dear Howell Resident, Attached
is an important update related to the Parkway Water Company request for
a 105% increase in water rates. I’d ask that you please read this and
do all you can to oppose this matter. If I can
be of any help to you on this or any issue, please feel free to call or
email me anytime. Thank you. Most
Respectfully Yours and God Bless Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor, Reply
to:
MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site:
www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site:
www.MayorDiBella.com Phone: 732-938-4500, Ext. 2155
Attachment: Message from Mayor DiBella: Parkway Water Hearing Date Set December 5, 2005 Dear Howell Resident: Attachment:
Help Reverse the Freehold
Regional High School Re-Districting Plan November 27, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident: Attached
is an important statement regarding cable TV laws. The community needs
your helping in contacting the Governor and the Legislature to end the
current way cable is distributed. Please review this important update
and let me know how I can be of help to you. Best regards, Most
Respectfully Yours and God Bless Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to:
MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site:
www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site:
www.MayorDiBella.com Phone: 732-938-4500, Ext. 2155
Attachment:
Message from Mayor DiBella: End
the Cable TV Monopoly in NJ November 20, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident: I
wanted to give you an update on out efforts made in the “Slow Down in
Howell” campaign. The details are listed below. I’d ask that you please review this important set of updates and please let me know what you think. You can call or email me with your comments and input. This is our community and we must do all we can to protect the safety and welfare of our residents. The updates are as follows: 1)
We
just completed at my design a competition for all school age children in
town. They were invited t submit a drawing that would become the picture
to accompany the slow down in Howell effort. I have nearly 50
submissions and I’ll be selecting a winning drawing this week. We’ll
announce the winner publicly and present a special award to the winning
child; 2)
We’ll
have the winning drawing turned into signs that will be posted all over
town. This will be the centerpiece of the campaign and I hope it will go
on forever, 3)
To
date I have the names of 15 volunteer neighborhood captains. I’ll be
having a meeting with them all at Thanksgiving to tell them their roles
and how they will be our foot soldiers in this effort. We are accepting
more names every day; 4)
At
the December Council meeting we will evaluate all current fines and
penalties for speeding and traffic related offenses. I’ll be asking
that we triple them all; 5)
The
speed humps are on order and should be in place shortly. Note that it is
against State law to place them anywhere where the speed limit is 25
MPH. They can only be placed at locations where the limit is greater
than that. In addition to the five we have just bought, I’ll be asking
the Council that we buy 10 more for 2006; 6)
I
wan our new signs speaking to slowing down in place by the 1st
of the year. These are: “Driving over the Speed Limit = Meeting our
Judge”. A second sign will say “Get a Police Officer’s
Autograph…by Driving over the Speed Limit. 7)
I
will be asking that we hire 2 additional police in the 2006 budget
specifically assigned just to traffic safety; 8)
We
are having yellow lines painted in the street at every corner up and
down There
is no question there is much to be done but I believe the entire
community supports this effort and I hope we’ll build more support as
we forge ahead. If you have any additional questions with this or would
like to volunteer in any way, please let me know. Thank you. Most
Respectfully Yours and God Bless Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to:
MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site:
www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site:
www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 November 14, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident: Attached
is an important statement I have released back in September of this
year. It has to deal with a piece of property referred to as the
Frequency Engineering site or the Hurley Property. As is often the
case in public life, many controversial issues do not get reported
thoroughly and in many cases, this allows the facts to be altered or not
reported at all. In the case of this matter, a small few have actually
tried to twist the facts and outright lie to people about the issues in
play. I
am re-circulating this letter now because there are again many
misconceptions about this piece of property being circulated. I am
personally against residential housing of any kind at this location.
This would be the absolute worst use of this land. Second, the land is
contaminated and if not cleaned it will in fact further threaten our
drinking water supply. I have little confidence that if left to their
own devices the NJ State DEP will help correct this any time soon.
Third, this community is owed in excess of $4 million in back
taxes and we need to work to get that money back into the tax coffers.
Since the late 1980s, elected officials in Howell looked the other way
and did nothing to try and get this issue handled. We can not wait any
longer as we must act now to make sure we take control of this matter
and have the land cleaned. The
letter is long but I ask that you read it all. No decision has been made
about a final action yet. I want to know what you think about this
issue. So, please call or email me and tell me this: A)
Should
the township foreclose on the property and try and get as much of our
back taxes as possible and leave the DEP to deal with the clean up? or, B)
Should
the township council have the area considered as a tract in need of
re-development so we can have better access to secure grant money to be
used to force it be cleaned sooner and also get as much of our tax
dollars back as possible? Your
opinion counts and so as always I ask that you tell me how YOU feel on
this issue and every issue facing the township. One thing is for sure:
unlike former councils that go back to the early
1990s, we cannot simply do nothing and look the other way
and hope someone else deals with the problem. We need to act in a
decisive way and resolve this issue so our children and grandchildren
are not saddled with it down the road. I
thank you for your time and appreciate you sharing your feedback. Most
Respectfully Yours and God Bless Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to: MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site: www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site: www.MayorDiBella.com Phone: 732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 Attachment:
Frequency
Engineering Site Update Letter October 26, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident: On
Friday,
October 28th at 6:15pm September
11th is a day that must live in our hearts and our minds
every day. The unveiling of this monument will ensure that Please
join us in the dedication. It will be a special evening for our
community and one we should all take part in. In the event you have any
questions about the memorial, or if I can be of any help to you on this
or any issue, please feel free to call or email me at MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Best
personal regards & God Bless Most
Respectfully Yours, Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to: MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site: www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site: www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 NOTE:
This email and any communication from Mayor DiBella reflect the views
and opinions of only Mayor DiBella and not the October 23, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident Over
the past 2 ½ years the township Council and I have made
repairing township roads a main priority. For nearly a decade, roads
repairs were virtually ignored. As a result, we have hundreds of
roads all over the township in need of re-paving, repairs and
refurbishment. To address this issue in an efficient and productive
way, we performed an engineering study to evaluate the condition of
every road in town. We did so on a “worst condition” to best
condition basis” so that we now have a systematized inventory of
every township road. With this new road plan, we’ll now have a
permanent plan to improve and work on roads every year. In
having a maintenance plan, we now have a blueprint for constant road
maintenance. To back up this plan, the township council and I
have allocated in excess of $2.7 million in a road fund to address
those streets in need of urgent attention. This is the largest
allocation of such funds in township history. Based on the engineering
study, we have developed the list of roads to be paved in the spring
of 2006. This list contains those roads determined to be in the need
of immediate repair (not in specific order): ·
·
·
·
Cranberry
Ave. ·
·
Easy
St. ·
·
·
Lanes
·
Lanes
·
Locust
Ave. (the piece not yet completed) ·
·
Old
·
Redwood
Rd. ·
·
·
·
The
above list will be further supplemented once we determine the next set
of roads will be after we calculate final grant money. In total, this
list represents 16 miles of road way in various areas of the township.
The total cost to repair these is approximately $2.6 million and all
work goes to public bid to ensure we get the best price for the best
work possible. The unfortunate reality is that due to the high price
of fuel oil, the cost to pave roads is at an all-time high. In fact,
the plan laid out above will cost in excess of $164,000 per each mile
of road paved. We
have already paved We
are excited about this ambitious campaign. If your street is not on
the list above, rest assured we’ll be getting to it as soon as we
can. I know how important road improvement and traffic safety is to Best
personal regards, Most
Respectfully Yours, Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to:
MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site:
www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site:
www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 NOTE:
This email and any communication from Mayor DiBella reflect the views
and opinions of only Mayor DiBella and not the October 19, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident With
the County Tax Re-Evaluation slated to begin early next year, I have
received a number of questions from residents about the distribution of
their local tax dollar. Accordingly, the Township Finance Office
prepared a pie chart that illustrates how the local tax dollar is carved
up. This is summarized below: For
every $1 dollar in taxes, the allocation is: $0.50
cents to the Howell Township Board of Education $0.18
cents to the $0.15
cents to the $0.11
cents to $0.04
cents to the local Fire Districts $0.02to
the Local Open Space Preservation Fund _________________________________________________ Sum
= $1.00 local taxes As
you can see, the Best
personal regards, Most
Respectfully Yours, Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to:
MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site:
www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site:
www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 NOTE:
This email and any communication from Mayor DiBella reflect the views
and opinions of only Mayor DiBella and not the October 19, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident With
so many questions swirling around regarding the re-evaluation I wanted
to assemble the top issues and place them into a TRUE and FALSE document
for your use. The attached addresses the primary issues people have
called or emailed me about and clarifies what is true from false about
the process that the County has initiated. I
hope the attached is a help to you and if I can be of any assistance,
please do not hesitate to call or email me anytime. Thank you. Best
personal regards, Most
Respectfully Yours, Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to:
MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site:
www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site:
www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 NOTE:
This email and any communication from Mayor DiBella reflect the views
and opinions of only Mayor DiBella and not the County
Re-evaluation Information True/False Fact Sheet Saturday, October 15, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident, As
promised, I want to keep you aware of developments related to matters
dealing with Parkway Water Company. As you know, Parkway is the private
water supplier to a large portion of the Ramtown section of Howell.
While today they are providing clean drinking water that they are buying
from the Brick Township MUA, there have been issues with their own wells
having tested above normal limits for certain natural elements found in
drinking water. While the township has done everything in our authority,
this and other utilities are private companies regulated by the NJ State
Board of Public Utilities. We have and continue to test the water and
pipes in Ramtown and we have challenged the NJ DEP to play a greater
role in this process. Recently
Parkway Water filed for a more than 100% rate increase with the Board of
Utilities. Any increase is downright insulting and the township will do
everything possible to fight this matter. A few weeks back I write to
the community asking to engage your support in calling and writing the
Chairperson of the BPU and to the NJ Rate Payer Advocate opposing even
the slightest increase in water rates. Attached
for your review is the letter the township had our legal counsel send to
the state authorities. The letter strongly opposes any increase and puts
the state on notice that we will fight any increase with all we have. I
again ask you to call and write to the state authorities that have
control over this matter. Your help and support will demonstrate our
resolve in this matter. Please read the attached letter, share it with
your friends and please do all you can to help us oppose any increase in
water rates for Parkway Water customers. The
township continues to pressure the NJ DEP to play a greater role in this
matter and we also continue to urge other reputable water companies
capable of distributing clean water to purchase Parkway Water. Please be
assured the council and I have and will continue to do all we can to
protect our residents and we will do all we must to defeat this proposed
water increase. If
you have any questions about this or any other matter, please feel free
to call or email me anytime. Best personal regards, Most
Respectfully Yours, Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to: MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site: www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site: www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 NOTE:
This email and any communication from Mayor DiBella reflect the views
and opinions of only Mayor DiBella and not the Legal
Letter Opposing Parkway Water Rate Increase Saturday, October 15, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident, On
behalf of the entire governing body, I am pleased to report our new
local access channel, Howell TV 77
is now up and running.
We launched the channel this past Thursday, October 13, 2005 with our
community bulletin board. The launch of this new channel is a
historic event for the community in that it marks yet another way the
township is working to make our government more open, accessible and
convenient for our residents. As
I have mentioned in a prior email, the channel will include the
following features: ·
The
broadcast all township council meetings, ·
A
community message board with key events and important local information
and updates, ·
The
broadcasting of local events of interest from our school system, like
concerts, plays and sporting events, ·
The
ability to post urgent or emergency messages, ·
Opportunities
for local groups to have special programming time, and, ·
Provide
Local news and related updates. For
the next several weeks, we will be broadcasting former township council
meetings from earlier in the year. These will be shown nightly at 8pm.
These are unedited meetings broadcast as they took place. Please
also note that any meeting will never be edited or changed. The only
time we may be forced to edit a part of a meeting would be if someone
used “profanity” that would need to be edited for FCC purposes. I
doubt this will be an issue in that the governing body members and
members of the public always conduct themselves in the most respectful
and professional way at all meetings. If
you have any questions about our new Cable TV Channel, our on-line web
services or any other matter, please feel free to call or email me
anytime. Best personal regards, Most
Respectfully Yours, Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to: MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Township
Web Site: www.twp.howell.nj.us Mayor’s
Web Site: www.MayorDiBella.com Phone: 732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 Sunday October 3, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident, As
you can imagine, we were literally starting our own TV channel. Much work
went into how we will manage the station, ensure we have an appropriate
mix of content, have an approval process over the appropriateness of
programming and to ensure that we provide a robust suite of services for
our residents. After legal review and finishing touches by the governing
body, we’re read to go on the air! The channel will provide some of the
following programming features: ·
The
broadcasting of all Howell Township Council Meetings, ·
A
community message board with key events and important local information
and updates, ·
The
broadcasting of local events of interest from our school system, like
concerts, plays and sporting events, ·
Opportunities
for local groups to have special programming time, and ·
Local
news and related updates Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to: MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Web
Site: www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 Monday, September 26, 2005 Dear
Howell Resident, This
Tuesday evening, September 27th, the Planning Board will hold a
special hearing on proposed changes to the Township’s Master Plan. The
Master Plan is a very significant document for the community as it is the
blueprint for how the community may look over the next decade. Much work
and debate has gone into this plan. It is the first significant and
legitimate update to the Plan in many years and is designed to help
further slow the rate of residential growth in the community. The
centerpiece of this new plan is to require minimum lot sizes of 6 acres
for undeveloped areas that may still be legitimately developed for future
residential housing. Requiring 6 acre lot sizes will materially diminish
the number of new homes that can be built. This new zoning, coupled
with our farmland preservation efforts and open space purchase will
collectively help curb unnecessary residential development that adds more
cost and congestion to our community. The
Master Plan is one of the single most important documents in our community
and so I encourage all Howell residents to take a moment to follow this
important process and attend the meeting this coming week. The meeting
will be at 7:30pm in the cafeteria at Howell Middle School North. As
is the case with any matter of significance, there is much debate over
many aspects of the changes. Such debate is good and it’s healthy. There
are many view points on just about everything in our community. This
diversity and intellectual discussion challenges us and makes certain we
all understand the varying opinions and opportunities that exist in the
community. Along the way, the debate often times gets passionate. This is
a sign of the fact that we all care so much and believe so strongly about
our respective positions. While passionate debate is good, we all need to
ensure we control and channel such debate into something positive for the
township. We can all disagree at times but we must ensure we are still be
respectful of one another. It’s what makes our democracy so great and
our country so strong. I
also want to publicly thank the volunteer members of the Planning Board
who have worked so hard on this initiative for many months. If
you have any questions about the Master Plan or the process, please feel
free to call or email me anytime. I hope to see you all Tuesday and please
come over and say hello. Best regards, Most
Respectfully Yours, Joseph
M. DiBella Mayor,
Reply
to: MayorDiBella@twp.howell.nj.us Web
Site: www.MayorDiBella.com Phone:
732-938-4500, Ext. 2155 NOTE:
This email and any communication from Mayor DiBella reflect the views and
opinions of only Mayor DiBella and not the Sunday, September 11, 2005 Dear Howell Resident, I am pleased to make you aware of two important general updates. These are below: Restoration Efforts at Echo Lake Park – As you may know, we have a beautiful pavilion at Echo Lake Park that is available for the community to use. The pavilion has a natural rustic look, is spacious and has an oversized fireplace. It is a very special place. I am pleased to announce that as a part of our continuing efforts to revitalize the park, the township has received a special $25,000 grant from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. This grant money will be used to add regular hear and air conditioning to the pavilion. These temperature features will make use of the pavilion more accommodating on a year-round basis. To use the pavilion for your own special family event or organizational function, simply contact Town Hall (938-4500) and ask for the buildings and grounds office. Paving of Fairfield Road – Fairfield Road is an important beltway in our community. In between Route 33 and Rt. 524, it is a heavily traveled corridor. The road itself is home to industry and active farmlands. The road has suffered from terrible drainage due to the need for it to be re-paved. It had been more than a decade since this important road had been addressed. I am pleased to report that we have completed the re-paving of this roadway. Best of all, we did so with a grant of $137,313 from the NJ Department of Transportation. In both cases, grant money was used to pay for these important expenditures. As it relates to road improvements, the governing body appropriated $2.7 million over the past 2 years for a massive road improvement plan across the township. Plus, we now have a maintenance plan that will ensure that our roads continue to be maintained and addressed in an organized fashion as to avoid costly repairs down the road. The completion of the Echo Lake Pavilion and re-paving of Fairfield Road are two important initiatives for the community. There is also much more to be done. Please continue to call or email me with any ideas or comments you have about our community. If you have any questions on these or other matters, please contact me. Most Respectfully Yours, Joseph M. DiBella Mayor, Township of Howell Monday, September 5, 2005 Dear Howell Resident, Recently I announced the creation of my personal web site so that I’d have a vehicle to provide communication, updates and important information right to the people of our community. I am pleased to announce that my webs site is now complete and has been launched on the world-wide-web. The URL link is www.MayorDiBella.com As I have mentioned before, this web site has been paid for by me, without any tax payer dollars and not from a single contributions from anyone. With the help of a township resident proficient in web design, I was able to make this site a reality. The site contains valuable information about the community. Some key features include: · Links to community web sites, · Links to other state and federal officials, · Access to key legal documents, · Postings of important communication releases to the community, · The ability to join my email list to get direct email communication, and, · The “Got an Idea” section where I hope residents will send me ideas and input about how to help make our community an even better place. I hope you’ll visit the site regularly to look for important information and updates. This site is not the official site for Howell Township. The official Howell Township URL remains http://www.twp.howell.nj.us/ I encourage you to visit the official township site often as well to use our electronic town hall where you can get a host of services on line without having to visit the municipal complex. My web site and my email bulletins to the community are just a few ways I am working to create an open, friendly and accountable government. Later this fall the Township Council meetings will be televised on TV 77, the local Howell community Cable TV channel. I hope you’ll take advantage of all of these features as I believe they will help bring the government to you, making it more accessible and easier to be in touch with. If I can be of help to you on this or any other issue, please call or email me anytime. Most Respectfully Yours, NOTE: This email and any communication from Mayor DiBella reflect the views and opinions of only Mayor DiBella and not the township of Howell or any elected or municipal official related to the township of Howell. Friday, September 2, 2005 Dear Howell Resident: |