Jersey Shore Views...: August 2010

Get 411 About Long Beach Island!

With iPhones taking over, Dan LaPlaca of Long Beach Island and New York City rolled out a new iPhone app in July!  

The LBI 411 application features must know info about LBI...things like restaurants, family activities, the best places to fish, what bands are playing and weekly rentals.

The 99 cent LBI411 application is available for iPhones and iPod Touch, and the developer expects to expand the app to Blackberry and Android.  

So if you want the 411 about Long Beach Island, there's a place to go...or follow LBI 411 on Twitter @LBI411.

Barnegat, NJ Bayfront...Pirate's Peninsula?

Most Barnegat residents call the east end of Barnegat the bayfront or bayshore section of town.  It makes sense, it fronts the Barnegat Bay and the main drag is Bayshore Drive.

The east end of Barnegat, NJ

Well, the Barnegat Township Committee is considering calling that area of town 'Pirate's Peninsula'.  The chair of the Barnegat Economic Development Committee told the Committee that a name like 'Pirate's Peninsula' would be a nice draw for the restaurants, marinas, bay beach and public dock/boat launch.

They'd like to get this informal name change before the 2nd Saturday in September...that's Barnegat's annual Pirate's Day celebration.

One Barnegat Committee member complained that the area was not a peninsula.  I tend to agree, I don't think man made lagoons a peninsula make.  But a search of the landforms glossary didn't provide much help!  

So, the Barnegat bayfront section might not be a peninsula, but you've got to love the alliteration...'Pirate's Peninsula'.

If you're looking for a home in Barnegat, there are currently 19 waterfront homes available.  The Barnegat waterfront homes range in price from $280,000 to $1.3 million!

If you're interested in getting your own Jersey Shore Views, or all homes for sale in Barnegat, and need the help of an Accredited Buyers Agent (ABR®) give me a call. If you are considering listing a home for sale in Barnegat, or need information on a possible short sale in Barnegat, let's talk!

One Barnegat waterfront condo in this building is listed for $374,000!

Who doesn't like a cute dog or cat picture?  

The ASPCA is putting together all their cute dog and cat pictures for their 2011 calendar.  Who will get the cover?  You can help decide.

The pictures are in, and narrowed down to 4 possible cover shots.  Check out the photos, read a little about these now happy pets and VOTE.

Me, I've already cast my vote for Daisy...she hails from Minnesota and wound up in the shelter not once but twice before finding her forever home.

Daisy (Future Cover Girl?)

As we say in New Jersey, vote early and often!

Budget concerns are not limited to families in southern Ocean County.  Government at all levels are trying to cut costs, and in Barnegat this cost cutting is also saving the environment!

In New Jersey, as in other parts of this country, travel to school by walking and bicycling has declined dramatically over the past several decades. The adverse impacts of this trend on air quality, traffic congestion and childhood health are alarming.

In an effort to save money on student transportation costs, Barnegat Township schools and the Township Committee have agreed to participate in the New Jersey Safe Routes to School program.

The goal of Safe Routes Program is to assist New Jersey communities in developing and implementing projects and programs that encourage walking and bicycling to school while enhancing the safety of these trips.  

In Barnegat the option of sidewalk construction was chosen.  Under state guidelines, walking zones consist of a two-mile radius for elementary students and 2.5-mile radius for middle and high school students.

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Construction of sidewalks is expected to be completed by the time Barnegat students return to school on September 7th.  The project includes a length of sidewalk along Bengal Boulevard leading to the Joseph T. Donahue Elementary School, on Rose Hill Road and a new pathway will connect the Russell O. Brackman Middle School and Cecil S. Collins Elementary School.

About 350 students in Barnegat will not have the option of busing this year.  

Some Barnegat residents have long been advocating sidewalk construction as an alternative to expensive busing.  But it wasn't until the New Jersey Department of Education said the Barnegat school transportation budget was too high that school district officials of adopted the Safe Routes to Schools program.  

It's estimated that the annual cost savings to Barnegat taxpayers will be $675,000 through staff cuts and not purchasing new buses.  The savings can not be measured in only dollars; fewer buses mean less traffic and better air quality and the health benefits to students should be substantial!

Check out the Barnegat Township School District site to find more information on crossing guards.

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Honey Dippers of the Barnegat Bay

Ocean County takes water pollution seriously, after all many of us live here for the Jersey Shore Views!  For more than 10 years the County has provided free pump out services for boaters.  Recently, southern Ocean County got its own pump out boat!

While the release of untreated sewage is prohibited within three miles of the coast, it is illegal to discharge even treated effluent in No-Discharge Zones. In 2003, Barnegat Bay and the Little Egg Harbor were designated No Discharging Zones by the US EPA.

Pump-out facilities provide the most effective means for emptying holding tanks and are critical in No-Discharge Zones. About seventy-five marinas in Ocean County now maintain land-base pump-out stations for this purpose.  But the five Ocean County honey dipper boats might be more convenient.

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A Mom in my neighborhood was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He thought he was a big boy and didn’t want his mother to walk with him.

Mom wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but she wanted to know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.

Timmy nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, I know who she is."
 
The little girl said, "Well, who is she?"
 
"That’s just Shirley Goodnest," Timmy replied, "and her daughter Marcy."
 
"Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us?"
 
"Well," Timmy explained, "every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, ‘cuz she worries about me so much.

"And in the Psalm, it says, ‘Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life’, so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!"