LAKEHURST – Residents came out to the latest Borough Council meeting to voice their concerns about proposed restrictions to vehicular travel around Horicon Lake and a change of operating hours for cannabis distributors in the community.
During the prior Borough Council meeting, the governing body hashed out some of the pros and cons of a proposal that Councilman Jeffery Emmons brought up: a walking path “so people can get out and enjoy the walking trail. It would run from the back of the gate and be a recreational area. The gates would be 100 feet (across the road).”
Councilwoman Bernadette Dugan expressed skepticism over the idea. “So, you couldn’t drive around the lake anymore? How far around?”
“All the way around,” Emmons responded.
“How would you get back?” Councilwoman Patricia Hodges asked.
“Walk,” Mayor Harry Robbins answered.
“There would be handicapped access. The boat ramp would be 20 minutes next to Public Works. We’d have to put a sign up letting the residents know that the lake would be closed, and give a 30-day notice,” Emmons added.
“I know people like to drive around there and have picnics. There is kayaking in the back and there are picnic tables in the area. I think there will be pushback for that,” Councilwoman Dugan said.
Emmons said a lot of younger residents brought up the idea.
“We remember a few years (ago) at the back of the lake is a hookup spot and other nefarious activities that could occur. I don’t know if there is anything that would prohibit the police from patrolling it or responding quickly to any kind of emergency that might occur. That would be my concern of how we would work that out,” Council President Steven Oglesby said.
Locks on the gates could be added, Emmons suggested.
The gate is located 100 feet south of the spillway, long enough to block vehicles and leave 4 feet on each side for people to walk to the back. The reason to block the back is to install a walking path with fitness equipment along the path.
Resident Bruce Margeson called the proposal “a horrible idea” and returned to the latest meeting to repeat his view which was echoed by a number of other residents.
“This makes no sense,” he said at the last meeting noting “there are a lot of people like me who couldn’t walk all the way back there and who are in wheelchairs.”
Mayor Robbins and Councilman Emmons were absent at the latest meeting. No decision was made during the session as no formalized plan has been presented to vote on the issue.
Denise Maynard of Toms River speaks to the Lakehurst Council about Lake Horicon. Seated are Council President Steven Oglesby, left, Borough Attorney Ian Goldman and Councilman Brian DiMeo. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
Denise Maynard of Toms River came to the session with her 93-year-old mother who is a resident of Lakehurst. Both enjoy their frequent visits to Lake Horicon. “She does enjoy the lake and I have concerns of not being able to drive her down to the lake and I do have concerns about people who zoom around the lake.”
She advocated for some speed calming devices that could be installed in some of those problem areas instead of regulating vehicular travel around the lake. “There are so many elderly people who come down there to sit and look out into the lake and some do walk that lake again so I do have my concerns about it being shut down. I myself cannot walk that far especially with camera equipment on my back.”
William Cooper, a former resident of the borough, brought his concerns about the proposed change at the lake. “One would be the fishing derby. I’d like to continue with it in July and August and hopefully we’ll get someone from the borough to take it over.”
“We need that access to get people in and out of the fishing derby. I am looking to improve the lake any way we can but I don’t think shutting down that road would be a good idea,” Cooper added. He offered to help the borough with a native grass plan involving the lake.
Oglesby clarified that the plan involves shutting down vehicular traffic but not the road itself. “We are not shutting the road down. That was the discussion and has not gone beyond that.”
In other news, resident Chris Lane questioned an ordinance that was pulled from introduction about changing the start time of cannabis businesses for 8 a.m. He noted that businesses who sell alcohol “start at 9 a.m.; at 8 o’clock we still have kids running around trying to get into school and I don’t want this particular traffic to extend into the area of kids. I don’t feel it’s the right way of going about to what we are doing.”
Margeson spoke about this ordinance as well saying, “I agree with what he said. Eight o’clock in the morning is way too early because of the school area and it’s not too far from the school zone. They still have to walk past that area to get down to the school.”
The Council voted unanimously to approve a $2 million bond ordinance for storm water management equipment during the evening.
Council President Oglesby noted that a few months ago the borough had inquired about the replacement of street lights with LED lights in a conversation with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L).
The post Residents Concerned About Changes To Lake Traffic appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.