Apparently, some cars on Clark Avenue and on Main Avenue have had rocks thrown through their windows. “We were woken up last night by the police who were patrolling OG following a rash of incidents of someone throwing rocks at [cars] on Clark,” this reader writes.

He continues: “Apparently these same culprits had thrown a rock through the rear window of our car on the 2nd beach block of Main Avenue. While disappointed that we were the victims of a random, thoughtless crime, we are thankful that the Neptune police are on top of the situation and proactive.”

The writer says there was another such case on the first beach block of Main.

If anyone else out there knows of a similar incident please write us a comment about it. –  CL

Mayor Randy Bishop. Blogfinger photo

Given the chorus of objections from Ocean Grovers to parts of the Neptune Township Master Plan, it was a surprisingly civil crowd that greeted Mayor Randy Bishop Saturday.

The Ocean Grove Home Owners Association invited the new mayor to its first monthly meeting of the year, and he seemed unsure whether he would face a friendly or a hostile group. Bishop, an Ocean Grove resident and member of the Planning Board, was among those who had promoted creation of a Land Use Advisory Committee to review certain building applications. The proposal was a part of a draft of a new Master Plan written under the supervision of Bishop and other Neptune officials.

The OGHOA feared that such a committee could lead to influence peddling and that the judgments of existing citizens’ boards could be replaced by those of  various Neptune Township executives, outside of public view. Last November, the HOA expressed its objections in a strongly-worded letter to the Township.

The result: On Wednesday the Planning Board voted to approve a new version of the Master Plan that did not include the creation of this controversial governmental committee – an apparent victory for the HOA.

Saturday’s HOA meeting was the first opportunity Grovers had had to publicly discuss the Planning Board’s action.

If there was lingering bitterness over the controversy, Bishop tried to diffuse it by taking responsibility and moving quickly through his agenda.

“What we were trying to do, I will tell you, we presented poorly. There were some questions about it, we regrouped and instead have adopted [a model] used by the [Historic Preservation Committee],” Bishop told the audience of about 45 people packed into the Community Room.

Going forward, Bishop said, instead of having the committee that was proposed, a building application will be reviewed by the Zoning Board chairman, another member of the Zoning Board and several professionals. At that committee’s discretion, members might decide to meet with the home- or business-owners to resolve any issues that might otherwise delay the application process.

“We’re trying to become more consultative,” Bishop said. “The idea of doing this is to try to help a homeowner and business get through the process smoothly, faster and with less money.”

Bishop, who was sworn in as Neptune’s mayor on Jan. 1, also announced that once every quarter he intended to randomly select two applications, from the Zoning and Planning boards, and call the applicants for feedback.

Here, briefly, are highlights of other issues that came up for discussion during the two-hour meeting:

* Neptune Township has purchased a seven-acre parcel on Corlies Avenue, site of the former Welsh Farms dairy, and intends to turn it into Veterans Memorial Park. It will honor Neptune Township residents who have been killed in action.

* As a result of the razing of the Sampler Inn, Bishop said, there has been an uptick in the number of people maintaining their buildings. However, the Township has begun looking at buildings that have fallen into disrepair in Neptune. “We’re going to start sending a very clear message that they will not be tolerated,” Bishop said. He has set aside in this year’s budget $25,000 to be used to demolish two buildings identified as abandoned or derelict after review.

* Because of an increased number of burglaries in recent months, some members of the audience suggested that every homeowner purchase a motion detector. “It would make the town less foreboding at night,” one home owner said.

* Residents also raised concerns about hydrants that become lost in snow piles; blind spots that result from piling snow on corners; changing recycling days to a day other than Monday; fear of accidents caused by people driving the wrong way down Sea View Avenue from Central Avenue; an increase in goose droppings near parks, and the need to address the parking problems sure to arise this summer because of the meters that went up in Asbury Park.

Ed. note: For background on the Master Plan issue, go here and also here.