LAKEHURST – Why does Lakehurst look so dumpy? That question and opinion was expressed by a borough resident during the latest council meeting.
Bruce Margeson attends most Borough Council meetings and local events. He is known for his devotion to the community and blunt commentary on what he sees as positive actions in the borough and areas that need some attention and improvement. He was named Citizen of the Year in 2022.
His latest visit to a meeting of the governing body included many personal observations which he expressed with some passion.
“A month ago, I brought before the board the former Frankie’s Repair Shop that there were a lot of tires laying around out there and containers still full of garbage. The only thing they did was move them from the outside door. Other than that nothing has been done over there. What exactly does our code officer do?” Margeson asked.
“What is his responsibility,” the resident asked. “As I ride around this town, I see areas that are way out of control with the grass. (The landscaping company) looks disgusting. It really bothers me when I see the town getting grubbier and grubbier and more and more empty stores. Go downtown and look at what we got.”
Margeson suggested the members of council, “go over to the circle; there are empty stores everywhere. Is there some action that can be taken? Union Avenue is just a speedway and so it is hard to get people to stop and shop in our area.”
“I don’t know what it is but the business leaves. The deli has a cracked window in the door since the last guy left two years ago. Nothing gets repaired and the town is looking shabby to say it politely,” he went on to say.
In referring to the code enforcement officer, Margeson said, “he comes through my development at 20 miles per hour and is gone. I don’t know what he looks at and I don’t know what his responsibilities are in town to make sure that things are being done beyond obvious things like a building falling down. What does he really do for that money?”
Lakehurst resident Bruce Margeson told officials about the need for the community to clean up its downtown area. Council President Steven Oglesby is seen seated at left joined by Borough Attorney Casandra DeStefano and Councilman Brian DiMeo. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
“He must be blind because he’s not observing anything. That is just my opinion now and I am told by people ‘Why does Lakehurst look so dumpy?’ What am I going to say to them? It used to be dumpy, dirty, grubby town then it got cleaned up. It was a nice-looking town for a long time, now it seems like it is going full circle back to a deserted, grubby, dusty, dirty old town,” he added.
“I hate saying this because I love Lakehurst, my grandsons live here and they go through the school system and I want them to get an education. The town just looks grubbier and grubbier and it is not fair to Lakehurst. Is there anything that can be done to brighten up the town or businesses that can be brought into town?” he asked.
Council President Steven Oglesby chaired the night’s meeting in the absence of Mayor Harry Robbins. He said, “unfortunately the old hardware store (on Union Avenue) being abandoned – that is beyond our control until we get somebody else in and it does make it look very shabby.”
“That would require an appearance before the Land Use Board anyway with anything that would go in there,” Councilwoman Bernadette Dugan said.
“On the other side of that building that has the snow fence around it we did notice that owner to clean it up and he did put the snow fence up because the Land Use Board did not approve his plan so I don’t know if he is trying to sell it or not.”
“He should be required to at least paint it,” Margeson said.
Photo by Bob Vosseller
Borough Clerk Maryanne Capasso said that the owner of the gas station was issued a warning from code enforcement and later a ticket.
“We have to follow the process,” Dugan added.
Borough Attorney Casandra DeStefano explained, “it does take a while. The property owners get summonses and initially get warnings and time to remedy the problem.”
“There is a criterion for the code enforcement officer and violations are broken down into categories. If there is any health hazard or imminent health hazard, they don’t have any time at all – they have to fix it immediately. If its urgent but not emergent, I think they are given two weeks and if it is a normal thing they are usually given 30 days,” the Council President explained.
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