Bill Heller
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On the article What Pieces of Land Would You Like to See as Open Space?
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On the article What Pieces of Land Would You Like to See as Open Space?
Bill Heller
5:39 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
ReplyIt's time that Conaskonk Point in Union Beach was acquired from JCP&L...and also the parcel that the BRSA recently from JCP&L via Eminent Domaine...and converted to Green Acres parkland. This was the plan years ago and was a promise that was never fulfilled. Conaskonk Point is a crucial wetlands area. Many threatened and endangered birds use it as a migratory and breeding ground, as it is one of the few wetland areas on Raritan Bay left. Eagles and Osprey are often seen there...red knots too. I've seen foxes there several times. The Audubon Society has a wonderful webpage for it:
http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionCenters/SectionSHBO/ConaskonkPoint.aspx
Also, check out Bob Devlin's sublime bird photographs on Conaskonk:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndcsbd1/sets/72157600004658841/
Many of these birds will die if the BRSA gets to build their 386-foot industrial wind turbine with blades each the size of a cell tower there. It would be a crime...literally. -
On the article Union Beach Residents Face Limited Options After Sandy
Bill Heller
10:34 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
ReplyMike...we can learn from what wasn't done and what happened...and the real question now is, " What action do we take with what money to help mitigate the next major tidal surge?" Sandy was an exceptional storm. Another Sandy is not likely to happen for many years, but the way statistics work a cluster of similar storms is possible. One of the things that killed the berm project was that it came up for a vote in Keyport and they voted it down. Another was the financial crash in 2008. This time out the will is there...I think...but will the money be there after all the other Sandy spending? We'll see what tomorrow brings.
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On the article Union Beach Residents Face Limited Options After Sandy
Bill Heller
11:45 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
ReplyMike....I supported the effort to not have berms on the beach, but was not the ring leader. The berms wouldn't have done it anyway and would always have preseneted a problem with blowing sand and kids using them to hide for all sorts of reasons, Keansburg flooded by the beach and their berms breached. If anything we need a sea wall there to give the town an extra 3 to 4 feet along that part of Front Street. Oddly, the beachfront is one of the higher parts of towm. As for carpetbaggers, that is a serios issue with the town moving forward. But I can send you countless studies and articles on the damage large industrial wind turbine installations do to small quiet towns like UB. That threat is real too. We have a lot to overcome here, and the BSRA IWT is still one of them...and I won't stop fighting that until it's a dead deal.
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On the article Union Beach Residents Face Limited Options After Sandy
Bill Heller
10:18 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
ReplyMichael...I do not disagree with you on the need to build a flood mitigation system throughout UB as well as the entire Bayshore. In a recent article on Mulshine's blog, Mayor Smith put the projected tab at $141 million for UB alone...and where will that money come from? We can only hope that some Federal funds will find there way here to get it started. However, the wind turbine is very valid issue too, and it would damage the town and make UB the place you really wouldn't want to buy a home in. The government wastes money on folly all the time...industrial wind being one such folly...that could otherwise be spent on necessary projects. But that's been the way of the world as long as I can remember. Only time will tell how much mitigation money finds its way to UB. Some homes in a few low-lying areas in Keansburg near the levee there had no damage. I wonder how much will be spent on raising homes and if that would be better spent on mitigation infrastucture.
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On the Blog Post Restoring Homes for Ospreys in Middletown, NJ
Bill Heller
2:32 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
ReplyWay to go Joe and other volunteers!!! I and many others care (to repsond to the above comment). We not only need to restore our homes, we need to restore the environment, animal habitat, and the character of the Bayshore. And how much wood is involved anyway...hardley any.
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On the Blog Post Wind Power In Today's World
Bill Heller
9:32 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
ReplyIf we need to fight global warming we need solutions that work. However, INDUSTRIAL WIND TURBINES ARE A SHAM AND DO NOT PROVIDE CLEAN ENERGY! Not one coal or gas plant the world over has been decommissioned because of IWTs...and eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels is their whole purpose. To quote an expert: “Because wind blows intermittently, electric utilities must either keep their conventional power plants running all the time to make sure the lights don’t go dark, or continually ramp up and down the output from conventional coal-or gas-fired generators (called “cycling”). But coal-fired and gas-fired generators are designed to run continuously, and if they don’t, fuel consumption and emissions generally increase.” This is happening worldwide, and in places like Colorado and Texas where CO2 and power plant pollution have increased since installing wind farms:
http://www.forbes.com/2011/07/19/wind-energy-carbon.htmlhttp://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_15081808
http://www.clepair.net/IerlandUdo.html
http://www.thespec.com/news/ontario/article/610422--cost-of-green-energy-40-higher-than-government-estimates -
On the article Union Beach Residents Face Limited Options After Sandy
Bill Heller
8:17 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
ReplyUnion Beach is facing a tough haul and much of what’s still going on here is heartbreaking, but I have no doubt we'll rebuild and keep much of the character in place. We have a good mayor and council and lots of Borough staff working hard to make that happen. However, we are still fighting with the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority, located in UB, over their plans to build a 38-story noisy Industrial Wind Turbine with blades each the size of a cell tower way too close to our homes. The last battle pre-Sandy was won by Union Beach when the Appellate Court in a unanimous decision ruled our Planning Board does have the final say and remanded the issue back to the board. The BRSA has yet to bring it before the board following the ruling. For a number of valid reasons, it would be a home-value killer. Besides, would you welcome one being installed just down the street from your home? The BRSA is on the ropes in this fight and state that they have put the issue on the back burner for now. The plant sustained $10 million in damages and has to deal with that. They also fear that the mercy rule (as in softball) may be invoked in the current climate. But that is precisely why the BRSA needs to abandon the IWT project now. The back burner only means that they will pursue the issue when the time seems right for them and they believe that UB has lost its will to fight. That will not happen. So for the love of Union Beach, STOP THE WIND TURBINE NOW!
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On the article Union Beach Proves Hope Grows on Trees
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On the article Overcrowding Forces Cops to Halt 'Stop FEMA Now' Meeting
Bill Heller
2:34 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
ReplyOK, everybody living anywhere near the shore or along rivers or marshes or the like - businesses too - abandon your properties and move inland NOW! We'll leave it up to the taxpayers to clean up the mess. And since the government will lose all the tax revenue we generate, they can borrow and hike taxes a lot to make up the difference. The "common man" won't mind.
Bill Heller
5:46 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
It's time that Conaskonk Point in Union Beach was acquired from JCP&L...and also the parcel that the BRSA recently from JCP&L via Eminent Domaine...and converted to Green Acres parkland. This was the plan years ago and was a promise that was never fulfilled. Conaskonk Point is a crucial wetlands area. Many threatened and endangered birds use it as a migratory and breeding ground, as it is one of the few wetland areas on Raritan Bay left. Eagles and Osprey are often seen there...red knots too. I've seen foxes there several times. The Audubon Society has a wonderful webpage for it:
http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionCenters/SectionSHBO/ConaskonkPoint.aspx
Also, check out Bob Devlin's sublime bird photographs on Conaskonk:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndcsbd1/sets/72157600004658841/
Many of these birds will die if the BRSA gets to build their 386-foot industrial wind turbine with blades each the size of a cell tower there. It would be a crime...literally.