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Community Corner

State to Expand Scope of Home Inspections Near Asbestos Site

County health department pledges daily oversight of cleanup efforts

State and county health officials have agreed to expand the scope of inspections in the neighborhood of the property where asbestos was discovered at the end of March, Oceanport Mayor Michael J. Mahon said Thursday.

"We're going to have to keep an eye on that," Mahon said of the property at 275 Port au Peck Avenue where preliminary work on a 12-unit subdivision was halted after asbestos shingles were found. "It's huge."

Officials made the pledge to expand the inspections after residents expressed concerns at an information meeting Wednesday, Mahon reported at the Borough Council meeting Thursday.

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Fifteen homes immediately near the property, which once included a landfill, have been inspected and the test results will be known soon, Borough Attorney John O. Bennett III said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the owner of the property, the Mazza family, to fill in the hole that was dug and cap it with six inches of clean soil, Mahon said. It will stay that way at least until more is known and a safety plan is developed, he said. The owner is responsible for the costs of any
cleanup that might be needed.

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In other business, Councilman William J. Johnson said that the Shore Regional Board of Education and the Oceanport Board of Education arranged for automated "robocalls" to be made to the parents of schoolchildren urging them to vote on the school elections last month.

If the robocall system, which is also used for emergencies and to announce snow days, is to be used to get out the vote, the calls should be made to all registered voters, not just those with schoolchildren, Johnson said. The boards of education apparently believe that the parents are more likely to support the proposed
school budgets. Both budgets passed this year.

The borough and the boards of education share the $6,000 annual cost of the robocall system. The borough does not use it to reach voters in November, Mahon said.

The council agreed with Johnson and will send letters to the boards of education expressing that.

The meeting Thursday also featured the swearing-in of Jake Pascucci as a new police patrolman, effective May 16. Pascucci, 21, lives in Long Branch and has been a part-time special officer in Oceanport since October. Before that he was a special officer in Long Branch for two years.

The department is hiring another officer because up to three officers may retire by the end of the year, Chief Harold Sutton said. The usual complement is 14 officers and Pascucci makes 15, including the three who may retire.

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