COURT HOUSE – Truthfulness and transparency were themes that reverberated through Middle Township Committee’s Oct. 6 meeting. After 27 items on the agenda – which included swearing in of a new police officer Joseph Gamble – were handled, the public commented.
Eileen Fausey congratulated Mayor Timothy Donohue for supporting the neighborhood people who opposed Patsy’s Way project and asked why there was no such passionate support from him for those trying to stop the low-income housing development commonly known as Conifer. Fausey wanted to know, specifically, why there was no support to “keep them from building where animals are endangered.”
She read from a letter written by Triad, the management company for Conifer, which she said deliberately, misled the Council on Affordable Housing board as well as others about the location of the building projects.
She said that Triad did not make it clear that there are two separate building sites for the 160 low-income housing units. But that they made it seem as if the site was located solely in Rio Grande, where there are no endangered species. The Court House Railroad Avenue site is adjacent to a national wildlife refuge and there are endangered species at that location.
Betty McGurk echoed Fausey’s concerns about Conifer’s failure to list the endangered species on the 3.1 mapping as required under the National Environmental Act. McGurk accused Conifer of lying to obtain CAFRA approvals. She also said Conifer lied to get Superstorm Sandy funds.
The next to speak was Fran Rambo of Benny’s Landing Road. Rambo spoke of her love for the property on the water and complained that the proposed plan to replace the bulkhead was based on an “illegitimate claim to blame damage on Sandy.”
She said that the residents of the street had complained about the broken bulkhead for 24 years and no action was taken. She accused township officials of throwing “us off to the federal government through FEMA.”
Rambo used such words and phrases as “dishonest” and “misuse of federal money.” At this Donohue took umbrage. “Please don’t walk in here and call us liars,” he said.
Middle Administrator Constance Mahon informed Rambo that the township had heard from many of the residents and there were differing views.
Rambo’s neighbor, Chris Stalone, told committee she did not want to see any substantial changes. “We love the way it is,” she stated. She told committee that she feared changes would make Benny’s Landing look like Coney Island.
Michael Zuckerman told of his love for the “little hamlet off the rest of the world.” He said the proposed fence options for the project were of concern due to their visual impact. Zuckerman also expressed concern over the process used to develop the project.
He spoke of truthfulness and transparency. He said he did not question the legality of anything but only the “spirit of the law.”
He said he was looking for a more “open process,” and he said that the neighborhood did not have sufficient input.
Donohue apologized for putting too much emphasis on safety and not giving enough attention to aesthetic issues. “What do we agree on?” he asked Zuckerman. They went item by item and then he took Zuckerman’s suggestion about consulting more closely with the neighbors at Benny Landing and they arranged to meet in the coming week.
Mahon explained that the Benny’s Landing bulkhead work was part of a larger FEMA grant project that included South Beach Avenue at Reed’s Beach. “It is not something new,” she said. As soon as that was finished work would start on Benny’s Landing.
Sam Kelly, Democratic candidate for Middle Township Committee, read from his notebook and emphatically told committee and Mahon that the statement ascribed to him regarding his “concern for the type of people who would be living there” referring to subsidized housing, was not made by him.
“I made no such statement and I am weary of the name calling,” Kelly said speaking directly to Donohue. “You continue to make statements in Spout Off. It is absolutely ludicrous to govern from Spout Off.”
To contact Helen McCaffrey, email hmccaffrey@cmcherald.com.
