Security, Light, Heat Problems at Marina Bay

NORTH WILDWOOD — Residents of Marina Bay Towers say that their community room is barricaded, pigeons and seagulls have taken over the observation towers, lighting is scarce in the parking garage, problems with heat persist, there is no security presence and the carpets are worn and uneven.
And that’s just a short list of their reported list of problems.
After asking for help from developer Paul Cocoziello and the city, residents in the 141-unit senior complex have decided to form a tenant’s association in the hope of resolving the longstanding issues with the building. A vote was scheduled Aug. 23 to select the association’s officers; president, vice-president, secretary, sergeant-at-arms and treasurer.
The newly formed group will have legal standing.
The seven-story residential complex opened in 2001 and is available to seniors 62 years old and older that meet specific income requirements. However, despite promises of living out their retirement in peace, residents said that maintenance issues and qualify-of-life con-cerns occur frequently and go unresolved.
In 2005, the city agreed, under the conditions that repairs were made to the building, to support an application Cocoziello filed with the Essex County Improvement Authority to re-finance the building for $7.4 million.
The funding was secured, but the maintenance issues still haven’t been addressed.
“They put a wooden barricade and locked us out of our community room,” resident Winifield S. Myers wrote to the Herald. “When we had Bingo in this area, the city Fire Marshal declared it a fire hazard.”
“We have two observation towers, that we were told were for sunbathing and beautiful sights,” he wrote. “We were told it’s out of bounds for us, but the pigeons have taken over the place.”
“When we asked to remove rugs that were rising from the floor, they started before Thanksgiving of 2006 and they are still not done yet,” he added.
The city is holding on to about $81,000 in state grant money in order to force Cocoziello’s hand in the repair process. According to Mayor Bill Henfey, the city hasn’t heard from the developer since July of this year.
Cocoziello had said then that it was the city that was being uncooperative. He said the building is inspected regularly and the fire-code violations had been completed.
“Management and City Hall are at a standoff, the victims are the residents of this senior high-rise,” Winifield said.
Once the tenant’s association elects officers, Winifield said he hopes that they can begin to “right a wrong that has been thrust upon us.”