In 2010, Belmar Council meetings were changed to the First and Third Wednesdays, instead of the Second and Fourth Wednesdays, by Mayor Pringle. Here is the article explaining that 2010 change, courtesy of Dave Schneck, Belmar’s Original BlogMaster.
Up to and including 2013, meetings were still being held on the First and Third Wednesdays. In 2014, our borough switched to Tuesdays, keeping the pattern of First and Third. This change was announced by Mayor Doherty at the December 11, 2013 meeting. Here is the link to that meeting, start listening at 8:45.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrH0BUS90fc
This put our meetings on the same night as Lake Como’s meetings. I do not know the reason for this 2013-2014 change.
This is from the Coast Star, December 19, 2013
Lake Como Council Meetings have always been on the First and Third Tuesdays.
Mayor Higgins was asked about this at the January 4, 2022 meeting.
This is from the minutes.
Over the years, Belmar and Lake Como have become more and more connected. Many of us would like to listen to or attend both meetings. Residents of both boroughs are affected by a lot of things that happen in both boroughs, including parking rules, traffic rules and new ordinances. This is especially true for those of us who live near the border.
These two observations are also from Dave,
When meetings switched from Wednesday to Tuesday “it allowed time for the Coast Star to report on meetings the same week as the meeting instead of having to wait until the following Thursday to see the story”.
And about using the alternate Tuesday “One additional benefit would be that they would stop having the conflict with election day every year”.
Any other info or corrections on this subject are welcome.
Hi Sandy, thanks for the free publicity. Actually the reason they cited was that same problem I mentioned about the Coast Star’s publishing deadline. Skip to the 8:45 mark to avoid watching any more of this charade than you absolutely have to:
https://youtu.be/WrH0BUS90fc
My 2 cents, or $500 in today’s dollars, is that the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays would be the way to go. This way there would be no conflict with Lake Como’s meetings, the Coast Star’s deadline or, in most cases, Election day. (If the 1st day of the month is a Tuesday, election day is the following Tuesday.)
Thank you, Dave, I inserted that link into the post.
I don’t blame Lake Como it limits the craziness of the Belmar meetings over spilling into theirs too. You can’t complain at two places at the same time.
Economies of scale. Too many Municipalities in NJ and everyone knows regionalization is the only way to get rid of patronage and duplication of jobs.
Off topic, but fences have gone up on 9th Ave to demolish the bank building. My problem is that they have totally blocked the sidewalk. Isn’t there some rule against that?
There is a bad sinkhole there dangerous