The Arnone Report: Too much good stuff for a catchy headline

By Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone

Did you know that Monmouth County is the gateway to the Jersey Shore? It’s evident in the more than 50 miles of beaches we have here. I hope you are taking in all that we offer in this beautiful county – from the boardwalk full of rides in Keansburg to the acres of vineyards in Cream Ridge.

Last week, along with Deputy Director DiMaso, I was happy to welcome the brand new anchor team for NBC New York to the Jersey Shore. They stopped in at Keansburg Amusement Park to take in all the sights and sounds – including zeppoles and pizza from the famous Victors Pizza and even got on a few rides! Thank you NBC New York for coming out to the beautiful Jersey Shore and helping promote the region as a vacation destination for all your viewers

My fellow Freeholders and I joined officials from the Asbury Park School District and Brookdale Community College on August 4 to sign the Memorandum of Agreement on the Asbury Park Dream Academy Early College Program, which will allow eligible students to earn an associate degree by the time they graduate from high school.

Beginning this fall, 15 Asbury Park High School freshmen will supplement their traditional coursework with college-level courses taught by Brookdale faculty in Asbury Park. In their junior year, Dream Academy students will begin taking courses at Brookdale’s Higher Education Center in Wall, before becoming full-time Brookdale students and completing their senior year on the college’s Lincroft campus. Successful Dream Academy students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in social science, ready to begin their junior year of college.

I was recently in Belmar to present reimbursement checks to two Belmar businesses as part of the County’s Grow Monmouth Façade Improvement Program.

The Belmar Window Shop and The Saltwater Inn spruced up the exteriors of their respective buildings and received reimbursement checks as part of the County’s Façade Improvement Program.  The program is a great way for businesses to create an immediate and positive impact on their business.

Robert Beaudoin, owner of the Belmar Window Shop, received a reimbursement check for $1,850 for exterior painting of the building at 703 Main Street; and Joyce and Marty Riccio, owners of The Saltwater Inn at 300 10^th Ave., received a check for $1,819 to cover the cost of a new sign. Every Façade Improvement Program check helps make a needed improvement to a local business. To date, the façade program has dispersed more than $85,000 to Monmouth County businesses.

And as a final message, I would like to thank our residents and fishing community for trusting me and the process regarding the Shark River Dredging project. I was happy to announce recently, that after it was discovered that we were in jeopardy of losing federal funding and timing to the project was imminent, State officials agreed to let the dredging will begin again. This was great team effort between local, county and state working together.

This weekend is the opening of the 40^th IAATO Italian Festival in Ocean Township. If you haven’t ever been, I encourage you to make a point of stopping at this incredible event put on by an incredible organization – one that is very close to my heart personally.  The annual festival will be held August 10th – 14th, 2016, and is opens 5:00 PM until 11:00 PM at Joe Palaia Park, 200 Whalepond Road in Oakhurst. As always I plan to be there to be at the opening ceremonies and look forward to celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the festival.

Thank you for your continued support!

-Freeholder Director Tom Arnone can be reached at [email protected]