By STEVEN VIERA
Staff Writer
RED BANK — At a Borough Council meeting on June 22, Mayor Pasquale Menna submitted a last-minute resolution to the agenda calling for Red Bank to formally oppose a plan by Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) to build a 10-mile stretch of power lines along the railroad tracks to a local power substation.
“Red Bank, if the council agrees, should [express] in its stated concern the health issues, the environmental issues, and also, it’s going to be coming through an area of Red Bank that’s still, in my opinion, densely populated,” he said.
Menna also said he received 60 emails and 40 calls from residents who were concerned about the impact new power lines would have on their health and property values. In his comments to the council, Menna shared his belief that JCP&L should replace existing utility poles that have been damaged by automobile accidents or weather or, better yet, install underground power lines — “like every Third World country is doing, except us,” he added.
JCP&L’s plan, known as the Monmouth County Reliability Project, would link the substation in Red Bank to another one in Aberdeen and help meet the growing demand for electricity in the area.
In the 1980s, JCP&L proposed a similar project, but abandoned it after meeting public opposition from citizens and Residents Against Giant Electric (RAGE). Residents have resurrected RAGE today in order to resist the new plan.
However, before the council could vote on Menna’s resolution, Councilman Mark Taylor said he needed more time to learn about the project and its potential effects.
“Before I want to vote on something ‘yea’ or ‘nay,’ I would like to dig into those issues more, as a council, as a responsible leader in this community, before we say ‘no’ and just throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he said. “I would like to at least get myself more educated on the subject before I pass something.”
Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels proposed inviting JCP&L to host an information session in Red Bank, which Menna suggested should take place separate from a council meeting. The rest of the council agreed with taking time to conduct research into the issues and host a public information session and then unanimously voted to table Menna’s resolution until a subsequent meeting.
