APP:

Lakewood, NJ – Word of what the township plans to do next as it struggles to solve its day laborer issue won’t come quickly.Committeeman Robert W. Singer said after last week’s Township Committee meeting that officials are holding closed-door meetings with interested organizations to determine a course of action. Singer and Deputy Mayor Raymond G. Coles are set to meet later this week with eight groups, Singer said.But Singer and Mayor Meir Lichtenstein have not elaborated on meetings they’ve held because they say they don’t want to publicly introduce options until the ideas generate some public support.In the meantime, Lakewood’s battle to figure out how to deal with its day laborers continues. Scores of men line up along Clifton Avenue each morning waiting for work and merchants say the men intimidate shoppers and give the township a poor image.The township recently abandoned the idea of a publicly-funded muster zone and continues to research whether it could turn the downtown into a “no-stopping” zone.