Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Wow, what a storm! We are still cleaning out: plowing street ends, clearing around fire hydrants, and opening easements. There was a lot of snow.
Our team started at 4:00 am on Saturday and are still at it. The wind kept the snow drifting and filling-in opened areas as soon as they made a pass with the plow. We were fortunate that the dunes remained intact despite the strong northeasterly winds.

We will begin to hook up the directional drill on Bay Terrace shortly. We have ordered the parts and, as soon as they arrive, we will complete the water loop on Bay Terrace. This will greatly improve the water pressure and help circulation. The drainage project on Essex Avenue will begin next month and we are planning to have a portion of Essex Avenue and North Holly paved as soon as the asphalt plants reopen.

As you may know, the windmill farm off our shores is moving along. Green energy is the passion of our leaders, but we are concerned for how the windmills may affect our island, and are working to try to have them moved further offshore. They will be over 800 feet tall, and we will see them on the horizon.  If you would like more information, click on this link https://www.savelbi.org/. People are not talking about this, but it will increase our electric bills significantly. Our efforts are not to stop the project, but to move the windmills further offshore.

Please stay safe and warm.

I hope everyone stayed safe, healthy, and warm through this past weekend’s blizzard! I want to thank the Chief, all of the Officers of the HCPD, and all of our Borough workers for their excellent work before, during, and after the storm.

Speaking of healthy, I want to thank the LBI Health Department for conducting a Covid Vaccine Clinic at Harvey Cedars Borough Hall on January 25th. It was terrific outreach on their part and a good demonstration of the benefits of relationship building with other agencies and officials in the County and State.

Chief Burnaford and I took advantage of the good relationship we have with our State Legislators to meet with them in January to discuss State funding for the Body Worn camera mandate. We met with Senator Chris Connors, Assemblywoman DiAnne Gove, and Assemblyman Brian Rumpf and laid out for them the significant shortfall between the costs to the HCPD of the cameras themselves and ancillary costs, such as hiring additional personnel, upgrading computer systems and the funding provided by the State. All three local legislators expressed their support for seeking more funding for the program.

The HCPD has signed a Shared Service Agreement with the County for the Move Over Law Enforcement Program (MOLEP) - specifically to address reckless driving. We successfully participated in this program last year.  MOLEP is a traffic safety program for the purpose of identifying, educating, and removing reckless drivers from the roadways.  The County covers the cost of the program and the HCPD provides in-service training to those officers assigned to MOLEP.

This year, beginning in April, we plan on holding the HCPD Community Forums, which were planned for 2020 and again for 2021 but postponed due to Covid. At these HCPD Community Forums, you will have the opportunity to meet and learn everything about the HCPD and its Officers through a series of six meetings. Once a month, in April, May, June, Sept, October, and November, members of the HCPD will present their backgrounds and their specific responsibilities within the HCPD. The series will start off in April with Chief Burnaford presenting the HCPD Organization Chart and the day to day operation of the department. All sessions will include a question and answer period. Exact dates and times, and the full details of each session will be announced soon; look for them and come to Borough Hall for these informative sessions.

A couple of quick reminders:
       In case you are just now getting away for the winter, you can still register for the Winter House Checks Program,  a service that has our officers periodically checking in on properties when they are unoccupied for any period of time, and notifying the owners of any issues. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this free and invaluable service!  Visit www.hcpolice.org and click on “Winter House Check” to sign up today. We do ask that everyone signs up every year to ensure that the department has the most current contact information.
       If you're one of the hearty individuals out walking, running, or biking when it is dark out, stop by Borough Hall and pick-up a free “High Reflective Visibility Reflector Bands for Wrist, Arm, or Leg.” These bands are worn to enhance your visibility and safety.

DID YOU KNOW?  Continuing the “Did You Know?” section, Did You Know that the HCPD utilizes the off-season to concentrate on the bulk of their training? Some of their training includes, but is not limited to, crime scene investigation, ethics, leadership, deescalating techniques, use of force and more.