If Lakewood wants to expand at such a rate that it becomes the third-largest city in New Jersey in little more than a decade, then it's up to the township to make sure it can handle it.

That was the message from the Ocean County Board of Freeholders while perched on their dais at the county administration building. At a recent public meeting, the five-member, all-Republican board expressed irritation with a Lakewood resident who opined that not enough investment was being made in the county’s northern infrastructure amid the township’s extraordinary population growth.

The board’s reluctance to get involved in the thorny politics of Lakewood comes at a time when more and more Lakewood residents have been attending its meetings to ask the freeholders: What have you done for us lately?

The municipal government itself projects that its current population of more than 100,700 will reach 220,000 by 2030, the result of a steady influx of mostly young Orthodox Jewish families and a staggering 4,000 births per year — more than occur on an annual basis in nine of the state's 21 counties.

However, the county government has sought to downplay such statistics — pointing out that the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority projects that Lakewood’s population will reach only 133,730 by 2040.

“There has been tremendous growth in that part of the county,” acknowledged Freeholder Jack Kelly, director of law and public safety on the board. “The road system as a system — not only the county roads but including county roads — the state roads, the municipal roads and the county roads are failing. There’s not enough roads to take care of the traffic.”

Watch the video above to see some of the effects of Lakewood's extraordinary growth

At the end of the summer, the freeholder board expects to have in its hands a report from its professional planners of an accounting of which roads and highways in northern Ocean County need to be reconditioned to handle the increased traffic loads, Kelly said.

“The county roads in Lakewood are a disaster, you can’t drive on them,” complained Shlomie Klein, the Lakewood resident who grilled the freeholder board about how much money it was investing in its largest municipality. “Does the county send a letter to Lakewood, telling them, that if you increase density our roads are not able to handle it? Did you ever? Did you, in any letter, tell them: ‘Hey guys, you’re increasing density, you’re putting more cars on the roads? Our roads are not able to handle it?' Did ever such a letter go out?”

“I don’t believe I am the boss of the towns,” Kelly replied. “The towns have a responsibility; they have a land use responsibility that the county does not have. We have no authority for land use. We have no responsibility for land use. What our responsibility to do is to make sure our roads work.”

More:Lakewood $600,000 contract to school board lawyer draws complaint

More:Lakewood Historical Museum plans a toast to Mayor Ray Coles and the Township Committee

More:Developer appeals after NJ kills Lakewood 1,800-home plan at Eagle Ridge

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for putting it down that way but the way the roads look now, you guys did a lousy job with getting this thing done,” Klein said.

“Have you seen the growth in Lakewood in the last five years?” Kelly shot back. “For the last 10? We can’t fix the roads as quick as Lakewood is building.”

“So why don’t you tell them?” Klein replied.

“You’re not listening, you’re not listening,” interjected Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., director of finance. “We have no authority to quote ‘tell them’ what to do in their town.”

Klein said the freeholder board should at least use its political influence, if it cannot use its statutory power, to warn Lakewood’s municipal government that the county roads cannot handle the traffic loads.

“Well, I think you only need two eyes to know that,” Bartlett said. “It is their responsibility to decide what they want to do in their town, in your town. It is not for the Board of Freeholders, sir, to tell any town in Ocean County – and you’re from Lakewood and you want to talk about Lakewood, obviously, but there are 33 towns. We are not, we do not superintend 33 towns. OK? That’s not our job and we cannot do that.”

A city in Ocean County

As the fastest growing town in New Jersey, the fears in Lakewood go beyond its outdated transportation network. There are concerns there may not be enough potable water available through the county’s current infrastructure if the township should ultimately hit that critical mass in just 13 years to become the third most populated municipality after Jersey City and Newark.

David J. McKeon, director of the county Department of Planning, said the last projection — which is a few years old — shows that water availability had been based on a population projection of 108,282 by 2035.

However, Lakewood’s municipal government continues to work with the State Planning Commission on a smart growth plan that is pending adoption with the 17-member panel, McKeon said.

Moreover, water supply and water treatment capacity are factors that the state Department of Environmental Protection holds local governments accountable for as their population projections grow. As Lakewood’s own population hits certain benchmarks, the township will be required to demonstrate that it can provide such basic services to its residents before any additional new construction will be allowed, he explained.

Currently, New Jersey American Water and the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority sell water to Lakewood and both monitor the amount of consumption, just as electric and gas utilities monitor the demands for their services.

“As with any growth, you’re going to be make sure you can increase your capacity and you need DEP approval for that,” McKeon said.

Lakewood Mayor Raymond G. Coles said he himself thinks that the township’s 220,000 population projection by the end of the next decade is overstated. However, he noted that it is possible that the Orthodox Jewish community in the greater Lakewood area — this includes Lakewood and all of its neighboring towns in Ocean and Monmouth counties — could reach that size by 2030.

In actuality, the number of people living in Lakewood proper in 2030 will probably be less than the town’s own 220,000 projection but higher than the 138,000 population estimate projected by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, Coles said.

“(Lakewood) will definitely have more influence than it did 20 years ago, but I don’t think it’s turning into a city,” Coles said.

Yes, there is a feeling in town that the county government could do more to invest in Lakewood, the mayor said.

More:Lakewood Orthodox leaders to Trump: Rethink Charlottesville

More:Exit 91: New Garden State Parkway exit, entrance ramps set to open

Beyond infrastructure, there are demands for other public services such as a county vocational school in Lakewood — one that would specialize in the instruction of skilled labor such as plumbing and carpentry, so as to provide more opportunities for the town’s young people, Coles explained.

Recently, the freeholder board announced plans for a $26.7 million new performing arts vocational school on the campus of Ocean County College in Toms River. It would be the second vocational school located in the county seat. There are none in Lakewood.

Lakewood wants a freeholder seat

Beyond additional services — as Ocean County’s largest town — the time has come for Lakewood to have a seat on the freeholder board, Coles said. But that would require that the major parties run a candidate from Lakewood who could be elected countywide.

“I personally think so, yes,” said Coles, who is a Democrat.

The five Ocean County freeholders serve at-large, meaning that voters in all 33 municipalities get to vote for each one when their staggered terms expire every three years. Currently, two freeholders are from Toms River, one is from Pine Beach, one is from Eagleswood and one is from Surf City.

Coles quipped that naturally he would like to see a member of his own party from Lakewood be elected to the board, but he conceded that the political makeup of the county would suggest a Republican would have a better shot.

As of the June primary, there were 126,114 registered Republicans and 82,602 registered Democrats on Ocean County’s voting rolls. A Democrat has not been elected to the freeholder board since 1989.

“The community is going to want to see representation on the freeholder board, regardless of whether the Ocean County Republican Party wants to make a leap of faith,” Coles said.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com