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Sub-committee to handle redevelopment discussions
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - February 20, 2008)
The Borough of Emerson has appointed a sub-committee to handle discussions pertaining to the redevelopment project, including preliminary planning sessions with the prospective developer, Millenium Homes, Inc.
The sub-committee is composed of Mayor Louis Lamatina and councilmen Chris Heyer and Stephen Bair, who are both liaisons to the Real Estate, Zoning and Planning Boards. Borough Attorney Phil Boggia and Administrator Joe Scarpa will also be present at subcommittee meetings. The resolution to form the sub-committee was introduced by Heyer at the Jan. 29 meeting of the mayor and council, and passed with only Councilman Ken Hoffman voting against it.
Heyer said that the purpose of the sub-committee is to help simplify and streamline the process of negotiation with Millenium. He pointed out that under the Sunshine Laws, the entire council would not be able to meet with Millenium without holding a public meeting, which would draw out the process and unnecessarily complicate things. Through the establishment of the sub-committee, if the developer needs to consult with the mayor and council regarding its plans, the sub-committee can handle those discussions. Heyer said, as with all established committees, the redevelopment sub-committee will “report back to the mayor and council and tell them everything that goes on… the sub-committee is simply an extension of the mayor and council.”
At the Feb. 12 council meeting, Hoffman and former-councilman Vince Donato confronted the mayor and other council members about the sub-committee meetings, asking that the meetings be recorded and made available to the public. According to Donato, Heyer refused, citing the extra cost involved in recording the minutes of the meeting.
“What we have here is a secret meeting,” Donato said in a phone interview. He believes that all discussions regarding the redevelopment should be a matter of public record, given its significance to the residents of the town. “We’re not discussing carpeting for the rec. center here… It’s probably the most important thing to happen to the town in a long time.”
While Hoffman shares some of Donato’s concerns, he said, “It wasn’t that I was opposed to the idea of having a subcommittee, the problem is who constitutes the committee.” He believes that the mayor and other members of council established the committee in order to exclude Planning Board Chairman Jeff Bischoff from discussions with the developer. “The thing is they really want to keep Jeff Bischoff out of the meetings,” he said.
In response, Heyer said, there is a definite reason that the mayor and the majority of the council do not support inclusion of Bischoff on the subcommittee. Heyer suggests that since Planning Board will eventually be in charge of approving Millenium’s final plan, the Chairman of the Board should not be involved in preliminary discussions. “In order to avoid the appearance of any impropriety, in conferring with the borough Attorney… we both thought, as did the rest of the council, that it wouldn’t be appropriate to have Bischoff on the committee,” Said Heyer. He went on to emphasize, “This is nothing personal against Mr. Bischoff, it’s in the best interest of the town with respect to redevelopment.”
When asked about Bischoff’s potential involvement on the sub-committee, Lamatina declined to comment. Bischoff did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Hoffman also expressed dismay that since the subcommittee exclusively will meet with Millenium, the developer will not be making a public presentation of its plans. “That bothers me because I believe I should and the public should be able to address the developer,” he said. Hoffman went on to say that while he has not seen Millenium’s plan, he suspects that it will include “some very high density numbers… That is not something that the people of Emerson are going to be happy with.”
Donato shares Hoffman’s concerns that the subcommittee’s purpose is to hide the unattractive details of Millenium’s plan from the public to avoid controversy. “I don’t think they are telling the whole truth,” he said.
Heyer is aware of allegations by members of the community that the sub-committee was established as a way to exclude them from the redevelopment process. He calls the accusations “absolutely ridiculous… There is nothing underhanded going on.” He pointed out that discussions about redevelopment have been going on for a number of years now, and “the public did in fact participate in all the relevant hearings [pertaining to redevelopment].”
He maintains that the public does not need to be involved in the current discussions between the borough and Millenium, since no action can be taken at the subcommittee level. “We are at the point that we are discussing with the developer whether they can go forward with the plan.”
He also made a point of saying that while the redevelopment process will move forward, it is not yet a certainty that Millenium will handle the project. “Until I see a signed agreement with the developer, I’m not going to bank on anything, and neither should anyone else,” he said.
Millenium will make a presentation to the Planning Board once the plan is complete. At that time, the public will be able to see where the plan is going and offer feedback.
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com.
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