News

By Dan Moffett

    Town Manager Linda Stumpf says construction work to make the Manalapan Town Hall compliant with federal accessibility standards will be completed in time to accommodate voters in the March 10 election.
    Stumpf said only a few details — handrails on an entrance ramp and some parking lot signs — need to be done to bring the building in line with Americans with Disabilities Act standards and satisfy Palm Beach County elections officials, who are expected to inspect the improvements in mid-February.
    “There’ll be no problem with the March election,” Stumpf said.
    Town resident Kersen de Jong (who lost his legs in a 1976 accident) had complained to town and county officials about accessibility problems with the building last year, and election officials could reject Town Hall as a polling place if it fails to meet the federal guidelines.
    Stumpf said that the total cost of the fixes will run about $64,500.
    Meanwhile, work also is continuing on making the town’s library ADA-compliant. Changes to that building will cost at least $43,000, she said.
    Much of the library’s structure is 35 years old and will require retrofitting inside and outside.
    “The disabled in Manalapan will be pleased that improvements are being made at the Town Hall,” de Jong said, but he lamented the slow pace of progress since he first complained to the town in September 2013. “Looking at it, nothing is being done to ramps and access at the library. In total there were 48 violations. Almost done? As President Reagan once said, ‘Trust but verify.’ ”
    In other business:
    • Mayor David Cheifetz and the commission rejected a request from LeAnn Elder of Loggerhead Lane to discuss race relations in Manalapan at the February meeting. Elder told commissioners the town needs to acknowledge that “Manalapan as a community is represented by many ethnicities, including having a population of black residents.”
    She said that she and her family had endured racially offensive behavior in recent months, including an anonymous letter with hurtful comments, and the town should publicly profess its intolerance for racial profiling and discrimination.
    Cheifetz said police and postal officials had investigated the letter thoroughly and increased police patrols on Elder’s street. He called the sender a “coward” and said the town had done all it could.
    “To be critical of this town because of the actions of one jerk is not appropriate,” Cheifetz said.
    • The town has gotten no bidders yet for the Audubon Bridge project, Mayor Pro Tem Peter Isaac said, possibly because of the distractions from the holiday season. Isaac said the project was put out for bids again in January, and he still believes construction will begin on time at the beginning of April, with a completion date before the end of the year.
    Stumpf said creating a staging area to run materials to the bridge site is proving to be a complication. “Several contractors have indicated that’s added to the cost of the project,” she said.
    • Representatives from Florida Public Utilities will answer questions about proposals to install natural gas lines to Point Manalapan during a meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. on  Feb. 12 in the town library.
    • The commission’s four incumbents who are up for re-election on March 10 have requested candidate applications from Town Clerk Lisa Petersen: Mayor Cheifetz, Vice Mayor Tom Thornton, and Isaac and Commissioner Chauncey Johnstone appear headed for another run for office.