The following is an ‘Ask The Mayor’ question submitted to TLS, and the Mayor’s response. Email your questions for the Mayor to [email protected].

Question:

Hi Mayor Coles,

Thanks so much for all that you do for us in Lakewood!

I have a few thoughts I would like to bring up.

There are areas throughout town that have a grass median between the roadways. Ave of the America’s, Cedar Ct. at Rt. 9, just to name a few. Just wondering if the township would consider dressing up the landscaping a bit as opposed to having grass / weeds. I think doing so would add a lot to our roadways.

I’ve been using the lakewood.mobile311.com portal for the past few years to report potholes (not just where I live but around town) as well as scheduling bulk pickup. Recently I noticed that the pickups were not taking place. So I called DPW and was told that they will try to send a truck. A month later I called again as the pickup never happened and was told by the operator that the portal is no longer monitored and I need to wait almost a month till the next pickup. So my question is as follows, is the portal still monitored? If yes, can it be upgraded to let the user know when to put out their trash? Right now there is no way for me to know when the next pickup is. And if it’s no longer active, perhaps the website should be taken down as I’m sure there is a cost to keep it running.

I spoke to DPW a while ago regarding Sunset park. They told me that there is a new playground coming. The old playground has been taken down a few years ago and the area where the playground was is currently full of tripping hazards. I’m just wondering if there is any update as to when the new playset will be installed?

Thanks again for all that you do for Lakewood!!

A proud Lakewood resident.

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good afternoon,

We have actually been having conversations and gathering ideas to do just what you suggest in the grass medians around town, particularly in and around The Cedarbridge Campus.

I am also looking at ways to revamp the scheduling and pickup surrounding bulk, particularly when the mobiule311 system is used

We are receiving many back ordered items for our pairs and playgrounds. I wasn’t able to get confirmation on the Sunset schedule before sending this request, but I will look into it and see what we can do to prioritize it

Thanks for you patience

Ray

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