Present were:

Mayor Barbara Cannon	Kevin Calogera, Councilman	Michael D'Agnes
Patrick Gillespie, President	Larry Redmond, Councilman	Dave Merwin
Peter Davis, VP	Edward Testino, Councilman	Kiran Desai
Mark Proudman, Treasurer	Russell J. Azzarello, Director	Susan Gieser
Robin Rosen, Secretary	John Vincenti	Rocky Donatelli

 

 

 

Absent were:

Alayne Shepler

Roman Sohor

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:40 p.m.

Salute to the flag was followed by roll call.

Statement was made that the meeting was held in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meeting Act.

A motion was made by Larry Redmond, seconded by Peter Davis, with Mayor Cannon and Kevin Calogera abstaining for the approval of the September 25, 2002 bill list. The motion carried.

Approval of the August 28, 2002 meeting minutes was deferred until the October 23, 2002 meeting. The minutes will reflect Kiran Desai as absent and on page two, the first paragraph will read "A motion was made by Mark Proudman, seconded by Kevin Calogera, with Peter Davis, Susan Geiser, Robin Rosen and Kevin Calogera abstaining for the approval of the July 24, 2002 meeting summary. The motion carried.

Russell Azzarello gave an overview of the Director's Report. Mr. Azzarello assisted John Vincenti in applying for a grant for Town Center in the amount of $100,000 from Middlesex County.

There has been active interest in the O&Y property. Mr. Azzarello is working with the YMCA in pursuing their goals in Old Bridge.

A motion was made by Peter Davis, seconded by Kiran Desai, and unanimously agreed upon for the acceptance of the September 2002 Executive Director's Report.

A motion was made by Kevin Calogera, seconded by Mark Proudman, and unanimously agreed upon to convene in closed session to discuss matters of personnel and potential litigation.

A motion was made by Edward Testino, seconded by Dave Merwin, and unanimously agreed upon to come out of closed session.

Mr. Azzarello's employment contract needs to be amended to include language of his participation in PERS.

Mr. Gillespie informed the board that Mr. Azzarello has raised other issues regarding his contract that need to be resolved by the board.

A motion was made by Rocky Donatelli, seconded by Edward Testino, with Mayor Cannon abstaining to approve the resolution to include the Old Bridge Economic Development Corporation in the Public Employees Retirement System. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Edward Testino, seconded by Kevin Calogera, with Mayor Cannon abstaining to memorialize our agreement with Mr. Azzarello with amendments to his employment agreement to reflect the fact that A) he will be responsible for both the employers and the employees contribution for the PERS and B) should the corporation be denied membership in the PERS that the corporation will not pursue any appeal activity before the PERS Board. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Edward Testino, seconded by Kiran Desai, and unanimously agreed upon to approve the contract agreement with Anne Babineau in a form substantially similar to the September 2, 2002 draft with the authorization of the chairperson and counsel to negotiate the cap for disbursements.

Patrick Gillespie will appoint a sub-committee to meet with Russ Azzarello to consider any other changes to his contract.

Michael D'Agnes, Raritan Bay Medical Center, was present to introduce Allen Kopelson, Architect, for the presentation on the expansion of the hospital, which will be a multi-phase project.

There will be a single point of entry which will serve the entire building. State of the art operating rooms will be included, as well as a cardiac unit and radiation therapy area. A medical wellness center is being considered.

There will be an expansion of parking and improved infrastructure.

Brush and some trees will be removed on the Route 18 frontage and a new sign will be installed for the hospital.

Mayor Cannon, Kevin Calogera, Councilman Testino, Councilman Redmond, and Kiran Desai recused themselves and left before the Greg Matzel presentation.

Mr. Downs stated that he conferred with Mr. Doyle regarding a lawsuit which is being filed against the mayor and council for the vacation of Spring Valley Road.

There was a discussion as to whether Greg Matzel's property was incorporated in the redevelopment zone.

Mayor Cannon feels we should not be hearing housing presentations even though age restricted housing may have some benefits for the community, especially in an area that is zoned for economic development.

Mayor Cannon proposed that we establish a policy on this issue next month.

Matzel is proposing 450 active adult retirement units. Recreational and common facilities are also included. This will generate positive tax revenues for the municipality. This would represent a buying power of 600 - 700 new residents.

This in no an affordable housing project. These are rental/luxury type units. Comparisons in assessed value and tax revenue between the existing golf center, an office complex and the proposed Covington Village were discussed.

The impact that Covington Village would have in terms of traffic would be significantly less than an office building.

Wetlands on the property create physical hardships on the property in terms of development.

A market study was done by Cushman & Wakefield for Monmouth County and north and currently there is approximately 26 million square feet of office space that is built and unoccupied. Middlesex County has an 18% vacancy rate.

Senior/residential rental housing is one of the fastest growing markets in the country because it is not around. It gives you the ability to keep existing residents in town.

A one bedroom rental unit will start at $1,300 per month and a two bedroom between $1,500 and $1,600 per month. This includes all the amenities of a gated community.

John Vincenti stated that the density of the property is on the high scale and would be an issue that the zoning board would have to handle. The Matzel property is in essence a gateway into the O&Y property and we need to look very hard as to how Matzel's development impacts on how the township can proceed with the O&Y redevelopment.

We need to look at the entire COI zone, inclusive of the Matzel property, as a partnership.

Russ Azzarello put up a map of the O&Y tract.

Mr. Matzel would be interested in working in harmony towards something that is economically reasonable period of time until we all figure out where we want to go.

The board assured Mr. Matzel that we are going to be moving ahead.

Patrick Gillespie designated Russ Azzarello as Mr. Matzel's focal point for communication.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.