BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer

EATONTOWN — Ongoing sprucing up of the downtown and easing traffic flow in the heavily traveled Route 35 corridor top the to-do list of two Democratic incumbents who will be returned to the Borough Council for another three years beginning Jan. 1.

Council President Theodore F. Lewis III and Councilwoman Joyce A. Englehart won re-election to their seats by more than 400 votes over two Republican challengers in the Nov. 2 elections.

Lewis, a 27-year council veteran who has presided over the governing body for 16 years, led the pack of four candidates with 2,699 votes. Running mate Englehart, who was vying for a third consecutive term, followed with 2,654 votes.

Republicans Joseph Aretino and Anthony “Bubba” Gaetano came in with 2,196 votes and 2,181, respectively.

The tallies released last week by the Monmouth County Board of Elections do not include absentee or provisional ballots.

A lifelong borough resident, Lewis sentimentally recalls the days when Main Street was the central business district and Eatontown’s hub of activity.

Refurbishing the building storefronts along Main Street to restore them to some semblance of their former glory is part of the overall plan, Lewis said.

New sidewalks and landscaping and parking lot upgrades are now in place and enhancements to the park around Wampum Lake have been made due to the borough’s receipt of Community Block Development Grants (CBDG), he pointed out.

In the coming year, Lewis expects that the council will continue to study redevelopment schemes and work with the business owners there to devise architectural plans that make the downtown more attractive and marketable, he noted.

“We need to find a purpose for downtown and figure out the best use for the area,” Lewis said.

Persuading the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT) to expedite improvements to the busy intersection of routes 35 and 36 is another priority for both council members.

With so many state and county highways crisscrossing and running through Eatontown, it is all the more important that reconfigurations and upgrades be done as soon as possible, not in 2007, as the state has promised, said Englehart, a lifelong resident.

“We have a lot of traffic problems here,” Englehart said. “It takes so long to get the state or county to get something going.”

Specifically, getting state or Monmouth County officials to commit to helping pick up the tab for the improvements is another challenge, along with the time factor, Englehart added.

“It’s getting them to move on it,” she said.

Lewis, too, would like to see the state put on some speed in fixing the busy crossroads.

“We’re trying to push the state to speed up work on the Route 35 [and] 36 intersection,” Lewis said.

The interchange of Route 35 and Industrial Way could also use some improvements, with the state DOT’s support, Englehart noted.

Initial plans are in the works for new cutoffs to that intersection located near the borough’s border with Ocean Township, she added.

Meanwhile, Lewis, a longtime member of the Save the Fort Committee, expects to team with U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. and Rush Holt (both D-NJ) to protect Fort Monmouth from any possible realignment or closure.

Fort Monmouth, like many other military installations, is currently under review by the federal Department of Defense for another round of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process next year.

Englehart is looking forward to seeing the borough’s Pop Warner organization soon relocate to playing fields off West Park Avenue in neighboring Tinton Falls, through a shared services agreement with that municipality.

After years of relocating, only to be booted out of various facilities, the football and cheerleading league will have its own fields and grandstands on the land owned by Tinton Falls, she explained.

“It’s a beautiful facility,” said Englehart, who formerly coached the local Pop Warner cheerleaders. “They really need a field of their own.”

Stabilizing municipal taxes and overall maintenance of the quality of life in town remain at the top of Englehart’s agenda.

A paralegal with Amdur, Maggs and McGann, Englehart is the council’s liaison to the Eatontown Community Center as well as to the borough’s Parks and Recreation. She also serves as the borough’s liaison to the Meadowbrook Housing program for seniors and volunteers with the local food pantry.

“I enjoy working with the town,” Englehart said. “I’ve volunteered all my life. [Serving in public office] is just the next step.”

Both Lewis and Englehart are veteran members of the town’s first aid squad. Lewis, a volunteer firefighter as well, chairs the borough’s Fire and Water Committee and serves as the council liaison to the Environmental Commission.

A registered architect and professional planner, Lewis works as a construction official in Long Branch. He is the council’s representative to the Planning Board.