Home Care In Seaside Heights, NJ

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Voters in five towns will head to the polls on April 16 to cast their ballots in a referendum on whether the Seaside Heights School District should merge with the Toms River Regional School District.

Here is what voters in the five towns — Seaside Heights, Toms River, Beachwood, Pine Beach and South Toms River — need to know about the referendum.

The Toms River-Seaside Heights special school election is set for Tuesday, April 16.

Polling hours: 1:30 p.m.- 8 p.m.

Voter registration deadline: Tuesday, March 26. Voter registration can be done online. You also can print out a paper registration. It must be turned in to the Ocean County Board of Elections by Tuesday, March 26.

Find out what's happening in Toms Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Want to vote by mail? A mailed-in request for a vote-by-mail ballot must be received by the Ocean County Clerk's office by Tuesday, April 9. Vote-by-mail applications can be submitted in person until 3 p.m. Monday, April 15.

Completed vote-by-mail ballots can be returned by mail (they must be postmarked by 8 p.m. on April 16) or deposited in one of six Ocean County Board of Elections vote-by-mail dropboxes. They must be deposited by 8 p.m. on April 16.

What's on the ballot? The only item that will be on the April 16 ballot will be the question asking voters whether the Seaside Heights School District should be permitted to withdraw from the Central Regional School District — where its seventh through 12th graders currently attend school — and join the Toms River Regional School District.

For the regionalization to move forward, voters in Seaside Heights will need to approve the proposal, and voters in the Toms River Regional District as a whole will need to approve it as well. If either group rejects the proposal, the regionalization will not move forward.

Where can I learn more about the proposal? The Toms River Regional School District is holding information sessions that are being livestreamed.

The first session was Monday, March 18; watch the recording.

The second session is Tuesday, March 19 and will be livestreamed here. It is set for 6 p.m. at Toms River Intermediate South in Beachwood.

The third session is Thursday, March 21, and the livestream will be here. It is set for 6 p.m. at Toms River High School East, Raider Way in the East Dover section of Toms River.

In addition, the Toms River Regional Board of Education meeting is Wednesday, March 20. The public session begins at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Toms River High School North.

Read more: Seaside Heights-Toms River School Regionalization: What It Would Mean

This is the wording of the referendum, as approved in January:

"Shall the Borough of Seaside Heights join the K-12 Toms River Regional School District as a constituent member, thereby withdrawing the Borough of Seaside Heights as a constituent member of the limited purpose Central Regional School District, with students from Seaside Heights being phased out of Central Regional School District and phased into Toms River Regional School District by grade; and with the property tax levy of the Borough of Seaside Heights being phased into Toms River Regional School District's current equalized property value tax apportionment formula with Seaside Heights paying the educational tax levy associated with its current elementary district plus the regional tax levy to Central Regional for the year prior to regionalization while being provided with $1.2 million in savings each year in years 1-5, and further savings in years 6-10 while transitioning to 100% equalized property value, wih Toms River Regional taxpayers esitmated to save tens of millions of dollars over the same 10-year period?"

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — Seaside Heights has been awarded a $4.8 million grant by the state for repairs and improvements to its boardwalk structures.

The award is part of $100 million in grants awarded to communities up and down the Jersey Shore to address critical needs of their boardwalks, according to a news release from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

Seaside Heights is one of 18 towns to receive the grant funding that "aims to help Jersey shore communities remain vibrant tourism destinations in the long term by investing in state-of-the-art materials that increase storm resiliency and ensure longer lasting infrastructure," state officials said.

The Seaside Heights boardwalk was rebuilt following Superstorm Sandy and the 2013 fire that burned multiple blocks of the restored boards.

The $100 million Boardwalk Preservation Fund is made possible through federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Corongavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, which have been dedicated to economic recovery and revitalization projects across New Jersey.

Find out what's happening in Toms Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"So many of us have created memories with family and friends at the boardwalks of the Jersey Shore," Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement issued about the Boardwalk Preservation Fund. "Our boardwalks have long been a prized destination and we want to keep them that way by helping shore communities repair and maintain these wooden main streets," calling the grants "a meaningful step in preserving the health and dynamism of these special places."

The boardwalks are "incredibly expensive for local governments to maintain, repair, and strengthen," said Jacquelyn A. Suárez, the acting commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. "We are confident these grant awards will help our boardwalks thrive and continue to inspire and delight visitors for years to come."

New Jersey coastal counties and municipalities with existing boardwalks that sought funding for boardwalk construction, repair, and maintenance were eligible to apply. Applications were due by Oct. 31, 2023.

Eligible projects had to meet at least one of the following criteria: boardwalk construction that adds new boardwalk components, boardwalk maintenance, boardwalk reconstruction, or repair of ancillary or appurtenant structures.

Examples of projects include replacement of old and crumbling decking along the boardwalk with resilient, longer-lasting materials; replacement of deteriorating pilings and boardwalk infrastructure; improving access and safety by building ADA-compliant ramps and railings; expanding an existing section of the boardwalk; and providing grant funds to businesses that need to complete upgrades to align with the proposed boardwalk construction.

Seaside Heights is set to receive $4,795,362, the announcement said.

All grants funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and must be expended by the grant recipients by Dec, 31, 2026.

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A request by the Toms River Regional and Seaside Heights school boards to hold a referendum on a proposed merger of the districts has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Education.

In a letter released to the districts Thursday, Kevin Dehmer, the acting commissionoer of education, said he was approving the request for a referendum to be held on April 16. The proposal also would allow Seaside Heights to withdraw from the Central Regional School District.

"The application submitted by the Petitioners is approved and the proposed referendum may proceed," Dehmer wrote. "Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:13-43, I hereby authorize the question presented by the proposed referendum to be presented to the voters at an election to be held on April 16, 2024, the third Tuesday in April 2024.

In approving the request, Dehmer cited the Feb. 27 response from Toms River and Seaside Heights to concerns raised by Central Regional High School that said Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School would remain open for up to five years.

"Central’s arguments do not specifically address most of the requisite factors in N.J.S.A. 18A:13-47.11," Dehmer wrote. "Further, Central’s primary argument is that the closing of Boyd Elementary School will detrimentally impact Seaside Heights students. Petitioners, however, indicated that Boyd Elementary will remain open for the 2024-2025 school year and for up to four years after that, depending on enrollment. (Petitioner’s February 27, 2024 Reply Letter)."

Find out what's happening in Toms Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The commitment to leaving Boyd Elementary School open for up to five years post-consolidation will ease the transition and dispells many of the concerns raised by Central," he wrote.

"Central Regional is shocked that the Acting Commissioner made such an important decision so quickly without further study of numerous factors likely to affect Seaside Heights students for many years," said Eric Harrison of the law firm Methfessel & Werbel, which is representing Central Regional in the matter. The factors "are not resolved by Toms River's 11th-hour commitment to keep Boyd Elementary School open, subject to a stipulation involving student enrollment which we suspect will result in the school closing much sooner than five years from now. "

"Seaside Heights has been a constituent member of Central Regional since 1956. We are surprised the Commissioner was so willing to allow the dissolution of over 65 years of history, and to tear apart Central Regional just to bail out Toms River Regional because of budgetary issues," Harrison wrote in an email to Patch.

"While we also believe that holding a vote in April on this referendum would violate applicable election laws, we will await word from the Ocean County Board of Elections on that issue before taking any further action," he said.

The full letter can be read below.

Read more: Seaside Heights-Toms River School Regionalization: What It Would Mean

It started in 1993 and now is in its 31st year the annual Seaside Heights Polar Bear Plunge continues to grow and more and more participants take part and more and more spectators come to watch this annual winter event.

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Millions participate in the Special Olympics program, according to their statistics "Our 5 million Special Olympics athletes—ages 8 years old and up—come from over 200 Programs. We also have a Young Athletes program for children ages 2 to 7."

Here in New Jersey, the Special Olympics has had strong participation for over 50 years. According to New Jersey Special Olympics, "Formal programming in NJ began in 1969, when six participants from the Bayonne Recreation Department and twelve participants from the E.R. Johnstone Training Center in Bordentown, represented NJ at the Eastern Regional Special Olympics at the University of Maryland. It was evident after that event that much improvement was needed. The athletes from the Garden State had few uniforms, little equipment and their training was lacking. Fast forward fifty years and you will find that New Jersey has become one of the premier Special Olympics programs in the world and a leader in the Unified Sports® and Young Athletes™ programs, as well as our own Camp Shriver, that takes place each Summer."

Everything You Need To Know About Tomorrow's Polar Bear Plunge In Seaside Heights, New Jersey (Data from NJ.COM)

CLICK HERE FOR PLUNGE DETAILS

Look for Townsquare Media at this year's event and good luck to all those taking the chilly plunge. The forecast is calling for Partly Sunny Skies and High of 45* ... Ocean water temps averaging around 42*

Seaside Heights officials are soliciting bids to reconstruct the entirety of its boardwalk that was last replaced after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, however the breadth of the project will hinge on state funding.

Last year, the borough replaced several blocks’ worth of boards from Dupont Avenue northward, as well as the Grant Avenue vehicle ramp and adjacent timber boards. This year, in two phases, the borough is seeking to reconstruct the rest of the boardwalk. A bid solicitation was published this week, seeking firms to build a perform a re-decking and conduit re-installation on the north end of the boardwalk. The project would include the removal and replacement of 72,400 square feet of existing boardwalk decking from Hiering Avenue to Sherman Avenue. The decking would be made of timber.

The project also would include the installation of electrical PVC conduit at various locations along and under the boardwalk. The conduit would serve as the backbone of a proposed new public address system for the boardwalk after years of unreliability from a wireless system installed many years ago. A temporary wired system has been in place for about five years.

New Jersey has dedicated $100 million in federal infrastructure dollars to a boardwalk replacement fund that will allow for the replacement and maintenance of boardwalks and associated structures in coastal towns across the state. The state has also carved out a separate, special grant for Seaside Heights to receive a security camera system for its boardwalk.

“We put in our application – it was due and we made the deadline and we were ahead of the game,” said Mayor Anthony Vaz. “We’ve been waiting to hear. It went through the process, and the last word I heard was in the middle of January when I inquired. I’m assuming any day now we will get the word.”

Vaz said the boardwalk replacement, if the funding materializes would be completed in two phases, beginning with the northern portion that is the subject of the most recent bid solicitation.

“If we get the total amount requested, we would complete the rest of the boardwalk that we didn’t do last year,” said Vaz. “We want to start this spring with the north end, then after the summer – maybe October – we will do the south end.”

Vaz said the borough also included in the bid application funding to replace the boardwalk along the bay beach at Sunset Park.

“We’re not sure where we stand on that, but we’re confident,” he said.

It is expected that the borough will also continue work on its public address system in 2024, with a hard-wired system being expanded amidst the conduit that will be included in the project.

The new system will consist of 16 additional speakers across eight locations on the boardwalk. All but two of the speakers will be mounted on 18-foot poles, and will direct sound toward the boardwalk as well as out to the beachfront itself, so guests on the sand can hear emergency messages. Two speakers will be mounted on buildings.