FROM ASBURY PARK PRESS (Gannett Co., Inc.)
1/12/06
Breathing life into downtown Freehold top goal for '06
BY EDDIE HOLLOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Freehold officials' top goal for 2006 is drawing people downtown, Mayor Michael Wilson said.
"Our town is prime for a downtown resurgence," Wilson said. Upcoming projects "represent the physical attention that we want to continue to give to our downtown."
Brick sidewalks, lighting and plantings that have come to define the borough's downtown revitalization will be extended along South Street and West Main Street, starting in the spring.
Officials also will look at how the downtown can be redesigned, Wilson said.
"We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into our downtown," Wilson said. "Now it is time to prepare a dynamic plan to attract and recruit high-end, stable business entities that will go a long way in improving not only our tax base, but the overall appearance of our downtown."
Lockwood Avenue, and First and Third streets, are scheduled to be repaved this spring. Work also will begin in spring on sidewalks for residents who opted to participate in the borough's sidewalk-improvement program, Wilson said.
During the summer, Barkalow Avenue will be resurfaced.
Wilson discussed his 2006 outlook at the Borough Council's Jan. 2 organization meeting.
During the meeting, the council chose Sharon Shutzer as its president. Robert Crawford and Michael DiBenedetto were sworn in to new three-year terms. Both men have served on council since 1997 and were unopposed in the November election.
Council members at the meeting urged residents to get involved.
"This is your town — it's not the governing body's town — and we need your thoughts. We need your recommendations, and we even need your criticisms," Crawford said. "It's all important to us."
Referring to a Web site the borough will launch this month, Councilman Marc LeVine called 2006 "the year of communication" in Freehold. Officials have not yet released the site address.
"We are reaching out to you, but we need you all to reach back to us," LeVine said. "We know that we're going to try and hold the line on taxes as best we can. We know that we're trying to make for a better quality of life, but these are kind of empty catch-all phrases unless you help fill in the blanks."