By ANDREW CANGIANO
Neptune residents got their first look at an updated plan for the West Lake Avenue area at a meeting Monday.
The new plan includes a family medical facility on the first floor of one of the commercial buildings.
Mayor Thomas Catley, who has championed the project since its beginning, said if the redevelopment is completed, and the existing residents of Neptune Township, particularly the African American residents in Neptune Township, do not benefit from what we are doing on West Lake Avenue – I would consider it a failure, no matter how nice the buildings look.
The theme of this years Black History Month celebration and the call to action to all of us, black or white, that live in this township, the mayor said, is to meet the challenge to prepare our youth for the future so that we can take advantage of the opportunities that we hope to create on West Lake Avenue.
Catley made his comments just after the plan for the West Lake Avenue Redevelopment was presented by representatives from CityWorks to the public and the Township Committee.
The project, which has gone through an evolutionary process, will include affordable housing, business opportunities, park space, and a neighborhood center, said township architect Mark Pavliv.
Anton Nelessen, of Anton Nelessen & Associates, who helped develop the conceptual plan for the project, said most of the buildings in the redevelopment will be two to three stories tall.
He outlined a number of retail recommendations made by residents for the redevelopment, which included: family dining, family medical center, ATM machine, dry cleaners and a convenience store.
Nelessen said CityWorks had talked to residents to determine prices for housing units that would be neighborhood affordable.
Housing units would be approximately 1,230-square-feet for a two bedroom unit, 950-square-feet for a one bedroom unit, and 725-square-feet for a studio unit.
Duplex units that have more than two bedrooms will also be available, said Karen Nichols of KNTM Architects, who is one of the architects for the project.
Robert Longo of Cornerstone Architects, talked about the three story building at the corner of Route 35 between West Lake Avenue and Rutherford Avenue.
Longo, who is the projects architect for the office building, said the ground floor of the building will be a family medical center of approximately 30,000-square-feet.
The second floor will be office space and the third floor will have residential housing units, he said.
Tom Clark, CityWorks executive director, said he expects to break ground on the block where the office building will be constructed, before the end of June.
Clark said that the entire redevelopment project will take about three years total.
CityWorks estimates that the current assessed value of the properties in the West Lake Avenue redevelopment zone is $4.3 million, meaning the township could collect $77,000 in property tax revenues.
The redeveloper projects that when the project is completed properties in the redevelopment zone will be valued at $102.5 million, which would enable the township to collect $1.8 million in property tax revenues.
In a split vote, the committee voted to renew the townships contract with Jewell Marketing.
The contract calls for Jewell Marketing to help in dispersing township information out to residents, at a price of $42,000 annually.
The township hired the public relations firm last August, but the committee voted not to renew the contract at its previous meeting by a 2-2 vote.
The committee reversed its decision Monday, with committeeman Francis Paladino casting the deciding vote.
Catley said he voted to approve the contract because there is a continuing pattern of residents and committee members saying they are not receiving enough information.
Catley and Committeeman Michael Golub had voted to continue to send the newsletters, while Committeemen Randy Bishop, James Manning Jr., and then Deputy Mayor Richard Iadanza voted not to send the newsletters.
The mayor said that everywhere he goes to speak, I hear the same thing from the residents of this town and that is, We dont get enough information.
He said that the contract for Jewell Marketing calls for the public relations firm to produce three newsletters for the township this year.
I think you need to say maybe [Laura Jewell) is being punished because shes doing her job too well, Catley said, because there are certain people on this committee who really would not like to see the information get out, because they dont at this particular point control the agenda.
Thats the nature of politics, he said. We worked hard to gain a majority and we are setting the agenda at this point. That Im sure will change. But what doesnt change is the need to get information out to the public.
The mayor said the need to get information out to the public is the continuing obligation of the township committee, and added that he thinks Jewell Marketing is doing a wonderful job doing so.
Committeeman Manning and Bishop both voted against renewing the contract as they had at the February 13 meeting.
In a press release, the two committee members explained why they feel the township should not renew the contract.
The approval of this contract really concerns me, Manning said. At a time when we are supposed to be trying to trim expenses, the awarding of a $42,000 per year no bid contract for publicist services seems out of line.
Bishop agreed, as he said, this contract hires a part time firm which will make $42,000 per year, more than a majority of our employees in town hall.
He said that Jewell Marketing’s services for the township last year were a trial period and Manning supported his opinion.
During the trial last year Randy and I raised concerns about how these services could be used to further political ambitions if not carefully monitored.
While we all want to get the good news about Neptune Township out there, I dont understand why this had to be a no-bid contract, Manning said. In the environment we live in today, it just seems we would want to make certain we were getting the best services for the taxpayers dollar and trust.
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