Neptune Authorizes Funds For Ocean Grove North End Plan
By ANDREW CANGIANO
Neptune officials have set aside funds for the townships planner to coordinate future community visioning sessions and prepare a final draft of the Ocean Grove North End redevelopment.
The Township Committee passed a resolution at its recent meeting to allocate up to $6,850 for T&M Associates to finalize the draft plan and conduct three more public sessions.
Previously, the township had allocated $24,000 for the planner to create an initial draft plan for the North End and hold two public input sessions.
Mayor James Manning Jr. said that costs for the planning of the project will be recouped by the township through the developer.
The North End of Ocean Grove is a 3.2-acre tract of mostly unused land owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which owns the land in the historic district.
In 2006, the OGCMA named Wesley Atlantic Village Enterprises as the redeveloper for the site.
Last year, the Neptune Planning Board decided that the site met the criteria needed to be considered an area in need of redevelopment.
Committeewoman Mary Beth Jahn said that the townships planner will work to come up with a draft plan for residents to give their input on.
Ocean Grove resident Joe Krimko said he would like to see the committee and township residents driving the details of the plan.
In other news, the committee decided to amend the redevelopment agreement for another area in the township – the Garden State Hi-Tech Park area.
The redevelopment zone, a 167-acre area in the western portion of the township, was originally going to be turned into a high-tech park, but now has been approved to become a senior housing complex.
Neptune Business Administrator Phil Huhn said the main change to the redevelopment agreement is that it now will allow the township to retain a landfill, which may be used to store material dredged from the Shark River.
The most important thing to this ordinance tonight is the fact that in the original redevelopment ordinance, we agreed to include the old Neptune Township landfill in the deal, Huhn said.
Were taking that out now. Were keeping that [landfill], because were going to need that to put dredged materials there in the event that the Shark River gets dredged; which is what were working on right now to make happen.
Manning said the high-tech property is being sold and that the deal will likely take place in October. He said the ordinance passed at Mondays meeting, however, had nothing to do with the prospective sale.
Huhn said that if the property does change hands, the developer could ask that modifications to the redevelopment agreement be made. Any changes to the agreement would have to be approved by the Township Committee.
The committee also unanimously approved a resolution to oppose the U.S. Coast Guards plan to convert the Coast Guard Station Shark River to a seasonal station.
The resolution said the committee is concerned that a seasonal only operation would compromise the safety of township residents and boaters on the water during parts of the year when the station is closed.
The Coast Guards plan is to close the station from Sept. 30 until one week before Memorial Day.
In addition to its other business, the committee voted to remove committeeman Thomas Catley from the Board of Library Trustees and appoint Manning to the position.
Catley, who is the committees library liaison, said he was unaware that he had been appointed to the Board of Trustees.
He said that he is not able to attend Board of Trustees meetings because they take place at 4:30 p.m., which is the prime time for his law practice.
Catley said that had he known that he was being appointed to the board, he would not have accepted the appointment.
He said that it is important that a member of the committee attend Board of Trustees meetings, and that Manning will be able to do so.
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