By Allison Perrine
MONMOUTH COUNTY – Monmouth County is getting back up on its feet. Many businesses are reopening under new regulations for the first time in months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the freeholders announced June 11 in a press conference.
Monday marked the long-anticipated reopening of outdoor dining at restaurants, nonessential in-person retail shopping and childcare centers, with salons, barbershops, tattoo parlors and others to follow June 22. But because Monmouth County business owners and residents have already seen a “big impact” from the closures, the freeholders urged the state to take further steps.
“While I am glad that restaurants will be permitted to open for outdoor dining next week, we cannot ignore the fact that this isn’t enough,” said Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone. “There will be days when it is raining or too hot to eat outdoors.
We are already seeing thousands of restaurants throughout the state close, which is completely unacceptable.”
He suggested that the state allow restaurants to reopen for indoor dining and allow at least 50 percent capacity “if we want them to survive,” he said. Restaurateurs have been demanding that the state allow limited indoor dining for several weeks, including during a press conference May 29 attended by at least 60 local restaurant owners.
“The governor has said many times that he commends New Jersey residents for doing the right thing and taking the right precautions, so let these restaurant owners do just that,” said Arnone. “They understand they’re going to need changes, but at the end of the day, they welcome the changes as long as they can open their doors. And I’m going to be a big proponent of it.”
Outside the restaurant world, and unlike most in-person activities permitted thus far this summer, beaches have been open since Memorial Day weekend. The turnout has been “extremely active,” said Arnone, suggesting that the best way to address the crowding is to reopen other recreation spaces. That could mean reopening parks to allow for full capacity, he said, or other areas for people to go to.
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone spoke about restaurant openings and more during a press conference June 11.
“We have to look at some of our indoor recreation facilities and find ways to work with those owners and make it work because they’re struggling they’re struggling hard.”
Additionally, Arnone stressed the impor tance of in-person education for the special needs community. The at-home instruction with limited resources has been “totally devastating” to moving their lives and education for ward, he said.
“For nearly three months, these children have been without these programs that are essential to their well-being,” said Arnone, a board member of the Monmouth Ocean Foundation for Children. “These extended school year programs are instrumental in helping these children maintain structure and routine in their lives,” Arnone said.
“I understand that this is extremely important for our special needs community and their families. The setback is detrimental to the progress they have made,” he added.
A day after the press conference, June 12, Murphy announced that the restriction on such programs will be lifted July 6.
According to Freeholder Deputy Director Susan M. Kiley, over 75,000 Monmouth County residents have filed for unemployment since March 21 at the beginning of the pandemic in New Jersey. With help from the county’s financial hub they have been able to help those unemployed residents with job training, childcare, financial coaching and more to get them back to work.
The county has also received notice of impending grants from the state Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for $1.5 million from the Community Development Block Grant and $2.5 million from the Emergency Service Grant, she said during the press conference.
“We are currently waiting for direction from HUD about how these awarded grant funds can be distributed and who is eligible to receive this assistance in Monmouth County,” said Kiley. “As of right now, we know that these grants are designated to assist vulnerable populations who have been impacted by the pandemic.”
The article originally appeared in the June 18-24, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
