Bus Stop Improvements to Commence

[lisas84]

I was at the meeting last Monday and can say that I was highly impressed with Councilman Schnurr's clarified vision and strategy to improve this area -- one step/goal at a time.

This is good news, as the owner of the property was contacted and made to understand the responsibility for the hygiene of his publcic property.


www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080726/GETPUBLISHED/807260399/1330


Freehold Borough bus station improvements to begin


According to information provided by Freehold Borough Councilman George Schnurr, it is the belief of many residents that the bus station is in need of some long-overdue maintenance and cleanup. The topic was discussed at the July 21, 2008 Freehold Borough Council Workshop.


The bus station is not owned by Freehold Borough or New Jersey Transit, who operates the buses. Councilman Schnurr said that, “Our options are limited to negotiating with the owner of the property and enforcing existing code. We will be doing both.” The bus station is owned by Keaton (Jimmy) Shah. The building is of historical significance and the owner is prohibited from making major changes to the exterior of the structure.



To accomplish Freehold Borough's objectives, Freehold Borough Administrator Joe Bellina, Code Enforcement Official Hank Stryker and Freehold Borough Councilman George Schnurr met with the owner of the bus station. In the intervening time between when the issues were raised at the Council Workshop and the meeting, there were several code violations noted by code enforcement.



At the meeting, the following improvements were discussed and agreed to by the owner: Power wash the entire exterior of the building and concrete around the building; place dumpsters in some sort of enclosure so that they are not viewable to the public; painting of the trim; general cleanup of the area between the building and the gates which surround the building; improved signage; additional exterior lighting; and flowers to make the area more attractive. In the future, the owner is entertaining renovating the interior of the stores.


Councilman Schnurr added, “Now that we have the attention of the owner, we should see real progress in the next several weeks.”

[admin]

Lisa wrote,

I was at the meeting last Monday and can say that I was highly impressed with Councilman Schnurr's clarified vision and strategy to improve this area -- one step/goal at a time.

This is good news, as the owner of the property was contacted and made to understand the responsibility for the hygiene of his public property.

I asked a couple of people who were at the meeting if anything of interest happened. I would say this is of interest! I ran into Councilman Schnurr recently and he mentioned this issue. It is definitely a winner and good news to hear. The bus stop should be in the hall of shame. Lets give it a bit of time and see if improvements are made. It is long overdue.

[admin]

An interesting note, I went to the link for this article and saw it was not an article from a reporter, but submitted by the "FBDclub"

The campaign begins, I love it! In the very near future, I will be submitting my own letter very much in the spirit of Richard Kelsey.

[lisas84]

Thanks for the info, Brian, about the submission of articles! I did not know that. I write for print usually.

How powerful and impactful, especially when internationally published professional writers who know what they are doing and have the experience may be able to take advantage of it. Very good to know.

[lisas84]

Oh, by the way, I just called my APP editor friend on her cell and asked about this. She assured me there is a team of editors in place to ensure that, well, lack for a better word, crap, isn't published. In other words, what you submit isn't automatically online. It is subject to editing.

Just an FYI.

[adefonzo]

Jul 27, 2008 14:59:21 GMT -5 admin said:

An interesting note, I went to the link for this article and saw it was not an article from a reporter, but submitted by the "FBDclub"

The campaign begins, I love it! In the very near future, I will be submitting my own letter very much in the spirit of Richard Kelsey.

I was at the meeting the other night as well and was very pleased to hear that pressure would be put on the owner of the bus station to do something to clean up the area...just to repeat, it has been needing it for quite some time. It was good to see Councilman Schnurr addressing the problem because he had been approached by a number of people in town, that's a sign of good public leadership. I look forward to this work getting done soon, as none of it is anything that should take a great deal of time to arrange and have completed.

As for who submitted the article, I take it the FBDclub would be the Freehold Boro Democrat Club?? If it is...I don't know how much they want to praise this as a positive for the Democrats in town...I mean, it is certainly a positive for Councilman Schnurr, but it was the Democrats who have been in power for years who watched the bus stop get to the condition it is in now...why would you want to point that out?

Nevermind...I am just being a negative force again.

[admin]

Jul 27, 2008 18:44:47 GMT -5 lisas84 said:

Thanks for the info, Brian, about the submission of articles! I did not know that. I write for print usually.

How powerful and impactful, especially when internationally published professional writers who know what they are doing and have the experience may be able to take advantage of it. Very good to know.

Lisa,

I believe the schools have also taken advantage of this APP site feature. Me thinks the CIC ought to consider too.

[admin]

newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2008/0730/front_page/007.html

Bus station owner told to spruce up property
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer


FREEHOLD — Borough Councilman George Schnurr believes it is time for the Freehold Borough bus station to be cleaned up. His words at a recent council meeting appear to be resulting in action.

Schnurr brought the topic up for discussion at the July 21 meeting of the Borough Council. The bus station is at the corner of West Main and Throckmorton streets, across the parking lot from Borough Hall and the Freehold Fire Department.

"I have received numerous complaints about our bus station," Schnurr said. "The property is not maintained at all. It's not clean, there's traffic, there are no benches for people to sit on while waiting for a bus and there is garbage all around that has filtered down to the firehouse."

Schnurr showed council members photos he took of the area. He also said the bus station has four trash containers in plain view.

"They should be required to hide the trash containers with a fence. And," he added, "I really don't know why anyone would need four trash containers."

Schnurr also discussed the number of bicycles that regularly line the bus station's parking lot. He wanted to know the status of bicycle racks that are due to be placed around the downtown area. He noted that the Freehold Rotary Club has donated $2,000 toward providing bicycle racks and asked when they would be ready.

"When can we make this look like a beautiful downtown again?" he asked.

Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina and Councilman Kevin Kane said designs for the bicycle racks are being reviewed. Kane said officials want to reflect consistency in the design throughout town.

Schnurr responded, saying, "In the words of my boss, 'Get her done.' I'm dissatisfied with the way it looks."

Councilman Marc Le Vine said resi- dents are concerned that Main Street will have many bicycle racks.

He was told the bicycle racks will not be placed along Main Street. They will be placed in parking lots, as well as in the vicinity of the St. Rose of Lima Parish Center on Throckmorton Street, and behind the 6-12 convenience store on Broad Street.

In a subsequent conversation with Schnurr, he said that on July 25 a meeting was held with the owner of the bus station, Keaton (Jimmy) Shah. Schnurr said the borough representatives were himself, Bellina and Code Enforcement Official Hank Stryker III.

Schnurr said several improvements to the bus station were discussed, including power washing the exterior of the building and concrete around the building, placing the trash containers in an enclosure, painting areas that need it and removing weeds from the property.

He said Shah will be responsible for removing garbage that blows over the fence by the Freehold Fire Department. He said he also requested a general cleanup of the area and some improved signs, as well as additional lighting and landscaping with flowers to make the area more attractive.

Schnurr said Shah is entertaining the idea of renovating the interior of the bus station, which contains a small convenience store.

According to Stryker, code violations were noted during an inspection of the bus station on July 16.

The code enforcement officer is requiring the owner to remove all graffiti from the building, to remove kitchen grease from the rear of the property, to remove garbage and debris from the property, to repair all broken windows and to paint the trim.

Stryker said the owner is working to correct the violations.