STONE HARBOR – A vote to end discussions of a potential borough purchase of Smuggler’s Cove at the Stone Harbor Borough Council meeting Sept. 17, led some members of the public to attend the Oct. 1 meeting in order to express disapproval with the decision, or with the way in which the vote was taken without being part of the formal public agenda.
One member of the public accused those who voted for the motion of “sandbagging the taxpayers at the end of the meeting.”
While most of those who spoke urged council to reopen a process of information gathering and public discourse regarding the potential purchase of the property, some argued the opposite, stating that the borough had too many expense priorities for capital spending to consider “purchase of a business.”
Before council went into closed session, Council member Charles Krafczek introduced a motion to “reengage negotiations to explore the potential purchase of Smuggler’s Cove.” That motion failed by the same 4 to 2 vote, which ended borough involvement at the earlier meeting.
