News Bits: Township Committee Meeting

The Township Committee met Wednesday in a workshop session that lasted less than an hour. Here are some highlights:

* 1953 dogs licensed in town so far this year. There were a total of 2,500 issued in all of 2011.

* 144 of 188 food establishment licenses have been issued. More establishments, such as seasonal operations, will likely be applying soon.

* Officials looking for a shared services agreement for an animal control officer with Sea Girt and other surrounding towns

* Township pays about $62,000 annually to the Humane Society for animal control services

* New Jersey Natural Gas has notified the township that their franchise agreement expired in February. It was a 50-year agreement, according to township attorney Joseph Oxley, who said there was no reason to think the township should renew the agreement for another 50 years. He suggested perhaps 10 or 15 years would be appropriate, but details needed to be worked out.

* The committee will hold three closed personnel sessions on April 3, 5 and 9 to interview candidates for township administrator to replace There have been 44 applicants. The committee hopes to have Verruni's replacement hired by the end of April.