At a meeting Monday the commissioners debated whether the borough should pay $2,800 towards a study, already supported by five neighboring towns, that will analyze the feasibility of sharing certain services among the participating municipalities.

The study, supported by Belmar, Bradley Beach, Lake Como, Neptune and Neptune City, is 75 percent complete and mainly concerns police and municipal court services including dispatch, prisoner detention, use of K-9 units, and management among other aspects.

The commissioners dedicated the Washington Avenue Gazebo to Hauselt, who graduated from Avon Grammar school in 1953 and lived in the borough until five years ago and said he “still can’t figure out why I moved.”

“I always loved being in community service,” Hauselt told the crowd. Dressed in long pants and socks on a hot and humid August night, Hauselt said he couldn’t remember the last time he had done that.

The Army Corps wanted to begin pumping sand from deep waters off the southern end of the borough, near the border with Belmar starting Sept. 1, and, through a pipeline, distributing it to the north end of the borough’s beach at East End Avenue.

Avon officials were not happy with this arrangement for two reasons.

But even after a nearly three hour meeting with state legislators, mayors from the five towns surrounding the Shark River and a standing room only crowd, no solutions to the one remaining problem could be found – a site for the dredge materials to dry out.

Funding for dredging a portion of the Shark River, estimated at $1.7 million, will come from the Department of Transportation and a permanent site has been found for the dredge materials after they have been dewatered and desalinated.

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Senator Sean Kean, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini and Assemblyman Dave Rible are hosting the forum at the Wall Township Intermediate School beginning at 7 p.m.

The school is located at 2801 Allaire Rd.

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On Tuesday, borough commissioners gave Mayor Robert Mahon the authority to sign a contract for the purchase of the land, owned by James Fowler, for $800,000. Both sides have agreed upon the price.

Commissioner Robert McGovern said the borough hopes to receive approximately $790,000 in grants to acquire the property. The remainder, he said, will come from surplus funds.

Avon residents will be facing a small increase in taxes this year if the proposed budget is approved.

At a budget meeting this week Avon Business Administrator Timothy Gallagher said the proposed budget includes a 1.2 cent increase, costing the average homeowner $102 next year.

At a budget meeting this week Avon Business Administrator Timothy Gallagher said the proposed budget includes a 1.2 cent increase, costing the average homeowner $102 next year.

The average house price in Avon is fixed at approximately $850,000, Gallagher said.

Previously, promotions were handled strictly on a seniority basis and in many cases the borough’s hands were tied as to the make up of the force and when promotions were necessary or appropriate, the commissioners said.

To read the rest of this story get the March 26 edition of The Coaster on your newsstand now.

Borough Administrator Tim Gallagher said the funds will be used primarily to renovate the borough’s two public bathrooms at Lincoln and Norwood Avenues on the boardwalk.
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It is typical in recessionary times for people to turn away from buying books and movies and head to their local libraries.

In Neptune, Library Director Marian Bauman said she has noticed more and more people coming in to use the library’s computers to apply for jobs.

“This week we had about a dozen young men in here early in the day applying for jobs,” she said.

Bauman said now that most larger employers use only online applications, those who don’t own a computer often go to the library where they are available for free. And for those who have never used a computer help is available.

Bauman said she has seen an increase in 40 to 50-year-olds seeking help.

They are too old to have had computers in school, she said.

“They have never held a mouse,” she said. “There aren’t many places they can go where someone will help.”

Bauman said one of the library workers will actually walk through the entire process with someone applying for a job online. For those with no email address for employers to respond to, they will help set up an online account with yahoo or hotmail.

In fact, she said the library has had a 200 percent increase in patrons applying for jobs or unemployment benefits online since September.

For those with laptops Bauman has seen a 300 percent increase in people using the library’s wireless connection.

“They come for several hours at a time, and many of them plug into our power to save their battery.”

Bauman also said the library offers about 30 computer classes for free in addition to Microsoft Office classes in Work or Excel with a certified Microsoft Trainer.

“They want to be able to put that on their resume,” Bauman said of students.“Those classes are really doing well.”

The library also offers to print resumes and cover letter for free when patrons bring them in on a flash drive. There has been a six percent rise in those looking to the library for entertainment purposes, with 8623 movies rented in 2008 over 8169 in 2007.

“People come in and say I just gave up my NetFlix account, I lost my job, and they rent a movie,” Bauman said.“We have the newest DVDs.”

Bauman said the cost to rent a movie is only $1 which goes into an account to purchase new ones.

“It’s a self sustaining thing,” she said.

And it allows the library to have the newest releases.

Other patrons come in looking for the latest best sellers.

“They tell me they can’t afford to go to Barnes and Noble anymore to buy the hardcovers,” Bauman said. “For your entertainment dollars it’s a great deal.”

Parents, she said, are looking for inexpensive entertainment for their children as well, and the library is a safe place.

She has seen a 21 percent increase in children’s programs and a 61 percent increase in attendance with 412 children in 2007 and 665 children in 2008.

In Ocean Township Assistant County Librarian Neva Pownall said, “We‘re mad busy here.”

Pownall who has worked at the library since May said many patrons come in to fill out applications and print resumes.

“They’re not going out, they’re renting movies and taking out books,” she said.

“Looking up information on the Internet looking for jobs, that’s the biggest thing.”

Robert Stewart, director the Asbury Park Library, said the Department of Labor, which is being overwhelmed with job applicants needing to use its computers, has been sending the overflow to local libraries.

“Employers only accept applications online. Even Family Dollar, minimum wage jobs,” he said. “A lot of people come in for that.”

Stewart said use of the libraries computers is free to card holders and $3 per hour for non members.

Overall, Stewart said he has seen more people using the services the library has to offer.

“Business is up,” he said.

In Avon, Librarian Sheila Watson said she has seen a big leap in Internet usage as well as best sellers and books on CD.

“It’s been very positive for us, people are seeing what we have to offer,” she said.

Watson said even those who might buy books at discount places like Costco and BJ’s are now forgoing the $10 or $20 and coming to the library where they can get it for free.

The rise in computer use, Watson said, is a direct result of people letting their Internet service at home go.

Another example of the computer age is many patrons taking advantage of the inter-library loan service, which allows the librarian to order a book online from other public libraries.

“There has been a lot more resource sharing with other libraries,” she said.

Watson has also noticed many people coming in to take out the 52 magazines she keeps in stock as well as daily users who have cancelled newspaper subscriptions and read the paper on line.

Attendance at children’s program has also increased as parents are foregoing purchasing books and are enrolling their children in library programs.

“They used to create libraries at home, children’s’ books were cheap, but now they are not buying books for their kids,” she said.

Another area are books on CDs, which Watson said are very expensive.

Watson said some people also come in to check their emails if they are out of work and have applied for a job on their Monster account.

In Bradley Beach, Library Director Karen Klapperstuck, said she has seen a major increase in the amount of materials being checked out from 2007 to 2008 with an increase of over nine percent.

Movies and DVD rentals have increased by 15 percent after taking a dip from 2006 to 2007 in both books and movies, Klapperstuck said.

“It’s so expensive to go to the movies now,” she said.

Klapperstuck also said she has seen many younger people coming to the library to work on or print resumes.

“Our computer usage has always been high, but I have noticed more people coming in for help with resumes or to post them on job sites.”

Those who may have a computer at home but not a printer can use the library’s printer at a cost of 10 cents per page.

Klapperstuck said she has already seen an increase in 2009.

“Using January and February statistics alone for 2008 and 2009, our overall circulation is up by 31.5 percent and our video/DVD circulation is up by an astounding 78 percent,” she said.

Klapperstuck said she can’t say for sure the increases are solely due to the economy, but admits it would make sense.

She did say the increased use of patrons posting and searching on jobsites appears to be directly connected to the poor economy.

Inexplicably The League of Municipalities recently moved to cut funding in half for libraries, with the state assembly introducing a bill this week to do just that in an effort to control costs and tax increases.

Neptune Township is drafting a resolution to counter the attempt Bauman said.