DUI Lawyers in South Toms River, NJ

TOMS RIVER — A funding ordinance for the planned $15.4 million purchase of 1144 Hooper Avenue, the Toms River Regional School District’s corporate-like headquarters, was introduced Wednesday by the Ocean County Board of Commissioners.

Although a public hearing on the proposed measure is not scheduled until April 16, a critic of the proposal accused the commissioners of providing a “bailout” for the largest school district in Ocean County.

Krista Whittaker, 45, of South Toms River, said during public comment, that she paid enough in school property taxes and didn’t think her county tax dollars should now be going to supplement the operation of the Toms River Regional Board of Education too.

“I am also looking at the fact that you guys also represent Jackson, who is on their second school closure, and Lakewood, who is potentially closing three schools this upcoming school year,” Whittaker said. “And how you’re not bailing them out, but you’re bailing Tom River out with taxpayer dollars.”

Toms River Superintendent of Schools Mike Citta has said the sale of its 92,000-square-foot office building is expected to close a $12.4-million budget gap for the 2024-2025 school year.

Public school districts throughout the Shore are dealing with crippling budget deficits due mainly to years of cuts in state aid.

Last week, the Jackson School District announced the sale of the Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School to a private Lakewood school for $13.1 million. The sale of Rosenauer is meant to fill a budget hole in the 2024-25 school year.

Commissioner Jack Kelly, director of the Board of Commissioners, insisted that the acquisition of 1144 Hooper Ave. was not a bailout.

The county government, which has presided over a nearly 50% increase in Ocean’s population since 1990, has outgrown its existing campus in downtown Toms River and there is “a need” for more office space, Kelly explained.

Nonetheless, Commissioner Frank Sadeghi said after the meeting that the county was expected to allow the district to remain in the building through at least 2026. He pointed out that the school board also has commercial tenants in the complex, who will need to be properly notified about the eventual termination of their leases.

Where would the administration of Toms River Regional Schools relocate to after that? Sadeghi said one possibility being discussed would have the district move its offices into the sprawling new county administrative complex, which remains under construction on Hooper Avenue for the Board of Social Services and several other departments.

That complex, approved in 2020, was initially expected to take a couple years to complete at a cost of $56.8 million, but has since become a source of increasing frustration for county officials five years on.

“We are over the schedule for the new building that will house the Ocean County Board of Social Services and other county departments at what is now 1005 Hooper Avenue in Toms River,” said County Administrator Michael J. Fiure. “We are closely working with the contractor to bring the project to completion. Move in is now anticipated sometime during the summer.”

Sadeghi said that the building was designed with a surplus of space in anticipation that the county will need it in the future. In the short term, however, the Toms River district’s administrative staff could be accommodated there. And yes, the school board would be required to pay rent to the county government, he noted.

Commissioner Jennifier Bacchione, who was elected to the board in November, said that before she took office, the county was poised to spend about $130 million to build a sheriff’s headquarters elsewhere in downtown Toms River.

“It’s not bailing out the school,” Bacchione said. “The property is on Hooper, adjacent to our other new (Social Services) building, and that’s the only reason. … I wish we could bail out all the schools. Gov. Murphy has put us in this position — targeting Ocean County.”

Before Bacchione took office in January, she was president of the Berkeley Board of Education.

Commissioner Robert Arace, the former mayor of Manchester who ran for commissioner with Bacchione last year, said that the acquisition of 1144 Hooper Ave. means that the county will not have to spend $130 million to build a sheriff’s headquarters.

“There had been discussion previously, where they were looking to build about a $130 million complex,” Arace said. “We had thought as new members and in speaking with various members of the board, that number was too large of a sum to ultimately put forward on behalf of Ocean County. This particular purchase is by no means to bail out any school district.”

This was a “prudent purchase” to house county agencies and departments in need of new office space, which will “serve the needs of the county,” Arace said.

The acquisition is part of a $20.5 million funding package that includes funds for the acquisition of other real estate on or near Hooper Avenue that the county government is interested in taking ownership of in the near future, Sadeghi said.

“There are other potential properties,” Sadeghi said. “It’s sort of in that corridor that we’re looking at for potential purchase, because it’s not just the sheriff’s needs that need to be addressed. … The county clerk, they’re in that outdated (courthouse) building.”

Despite the fact that most of the commissioners envision a repurpose of 1144 Hooper Ave. as a sheriff’s headquarters, Sadeghi said no final decision can actually be made about that at this time.

While a sheriff’s headquarters is the consensus of the board, the building would need to be renovated and fortified so that it meets any state safety and security requirements that regulate the operation of law enforcement facilities in New Jersey, he said.

If the county’s architect determines that the repurposing of the building’s use for the sheriff is not a practical option, it’s likely the complex would then be renovated for use as an Ocean County Hall of Records for the county clerk’s office and Board of Elections, Sadeghi said.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

Sarah Griesemer

Dave Portnoy of YouTube's "One Bite Pizza Reviews" is back at the Shore.

Following visits to several North Jersey pizzerias, the opinionated pizza reviewer stopped at PaciDough's Pizza Joint in South Toms River. He visited Thursday, Feb. 20, and ordered a plain pizza.

He awarded it an 8.2 out of 10.

"The sauce is a little bit sweet. I like it," Portnoy said. "I really love this pizza. I think this is an 8.2 in any league."

"I'm a big fan of his pizza reviews of course, but outside (of) those, I feel like he does a lot for small businesses and always is sticking up for the little guy," said Anthony Pacitto, who opened PaciDough's with his wife, Donielle, in 2024. "To be able to tell him that in person meant a lot, and the fact that he was reviewing my pizzeria made it an even greater experience."I’m not usually one to get star-struck, but I definitely was this time, probably because he was there to critique my life’s work," Pacitto said.

Which New Jersey pizzerias did Portnoy visit?

Portnoy has reviewed pizzas at more than 30 Shore pizzerias and restaurants, plus plenty of others across the state. In addition to PaciDough's, his recent visit to New Jersey included:

Send restaurant tips to sgriesemer@gannettnj.com, follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to her weekly newsletter.