MOOR, TWO INCUMBENTS WIN

Former city school board member John Moor was the top vote getter in the recent City Council election, according to updated results. Deputy Mayor John Loffredo and Councilwoman Sue Henderson were reelected.

Also elected to the council were newcomers Amy Quinn, who finished just behind running mate Moor in the vote tally, and Myra Campbell, another member of the ticket with Moor and Quinn.

Longtime council member and former mayor Kevin Sanders finished sixth and former councilman James Keady placed 10th out of 22 candidates. The counting of provisional ballots did not affect the finishing order of the winning candidates as reported on election night. [MORE]

CITY AND BOARDWALK DEVELOPER AVERT
CONVENTION HALL, PARAMOUNT CLOSINGS

Convention Hall and the Paramount Theatre will remain open after May 1 as the result of an agreement between the City Council and boardwalk developer Madison Marquette.

The developer stopped booking events in the buildings because of impending deadlines regarding the installation of fire sprinklers. All four council members present at the April 17 meeting voted to extend the deadline to submit sprinkler plans because of unforseen circumstances caused by Hurricane Sandy. [MORE]

SKATE ASBURY?

Skateboarders want to turn an underutilized lot on the city's west side into a skatepark.

Dozens of skaters came to a recent City Council meeting to express their support for such a plan. City officials agreed to work with them.

"We'll take care of it ourselves, fund it ourselves, police it ourselves, all we need is the land," said Chris Aylward, owner of Wood Shop Skateboards on Bangs Avenue. [MORE]

FREE PARKING ENDS

Paid parking in numbered slots resumed April 1. Metered parking fees had been suspended as the city worked to replace meters damaged during last fall's superstorm.

New pay stations have been installed in many locations.

Metered parking costs $1 per hour and is in effect from 9 a.m. through midnight. [MORE]

INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN SPURS CONSTRUCTION

A plan to pay for infrastructure improvements at the oceanfront has allowed work to begin on Vive, a 28-unit luxury condominium project at Kingsley Street and Asbury Avenue.

Bonds for the improvements will be paid for without a further burden on taxpayers, according to city officials and the waterfront redeveloper, iStar Financial. [MORE]

MUSIC BOOSTS SANDY RECOVERY

Asbury Park is using the magic of music to speed the city's recovery from superstorm Sandy.

The Asbury Park Musical Heritage Foundation had planned to open an exhibit space in 2014 but accelerated its plans after Sandy hit.

"Our intention is to keeping building it and to change it all the time," said Tom Gilmour, city economic development director and chair of the foundation's board. "So even if people have been here once, they have a reason to come back."

The space at 708 Cookman Ave., now named Where Music Lives, is currently featuring a Stone Pony exhibition. [MORE]

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH BEGINS

The Asbury Park Board of Education wants to hire a company to conduct a search for a new superintendent of schools.

Current Superintendent of Schools Denise Lowe was notified by the board in November that her contract would not be renewed when it expires in June. Lowe served as assistant superintendent of a school district in Long Island, N.Y. before taking the Asbury Park job in 2009. [MORE]