IN CASE YOUR INTERESTED, I SPOKE TO MY FRIEND ED GALITELLI, THIS MORNING....BELOW ARE ALL FACTS ABOUT THE LAND SWAP Berkeley Hgts Community Forum: “UNDERSTANDING THE LAND SWAP-JUST THE FACTS” BH Community Forum, I appreciate you taking the time to read this information and allowing me to set the record straight. What I am posting is FACT vs innuendo, fiction, fear etc… I’m hoping you come away with a better understanding of how this all started, how the current council has responded and their efforts to get the information out to the Township Residents. Unfortunately in today’s media frenzy world, it is too easy to spread misinformation with out being held accountable. With that I asked Craig Pastore and Kevin Hall current members of Town Council, to help provide me with an understanding of the facts concerning the Land Swap. Both Craig and Kevin helped usher in the Age of Transparency, Respect and Integrity on our Town Council going back 5 years ago when they were elected. One of the platforms they fought for and have embraced throughout their term on the Town Council has been no hidden agendas and no special interests, just doing what is in the best interest of Township of Berkeley Heights. With that, I propose “UNDERSTANDING THE LAND SWAP-JUST THE FACTS” 1. Little Flower Church approached the Township with a proposal to exchange the Township Library for the much larger church property on Hamilton Ave., across from the Firehouse. 2. Current Municipal Complex and Public Library is in need of major repair. Neither property meets the current and growing needs of the Township. Space is a major issue, the majority of the complex is out of code, it is not ADA compliant and the structure is failing. The list goes on and on, the same holds true for the Library. Continuing down the path of repairing these facilities annually, will do nothing but cost us more money in the long run, nor does it solve the Township’s infrastructure problem. 3. The Township has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Church which allows the Town to conduct preliminary due diligence into the viability of using the Church Property for Municipal purposes. 4. Given the enormity of the capital issues facing the Township Library and Municipal Complex, the Town Council determined it was in the best interest of the residents to evaluate all feasible alternatives to address our aging infrastructure. This is one of the reasons why we elect our town officials to help provide the vision and lead us. This involved: • Examining all current deficiencies in both properties; • Determining the approximate fair market value for the properties; • Assessing short and long term Township needs; • Determining if these needs could be met in the Hamilton Ave property 5. Upon analysis of the Municipal Complex deficiencies, it was determined that the property was in need of redevelopment in accordance with the NJ Local Redevelopment and Housing Law. A public hearing was held on March 26, 2014 regarding this finding and the Planning Board voted accordingly. 6. The Council engaged planning, architects and other professionals to study our existing Municipal Complex, Library along with what a move to the Church property would entail. These professionals have initially determined that: a. Repair/Rehabilitation of existing structures is not sufficient to resolve the deficiencies; b. Tearing down and reconstructing our facilities on the existing municipal site comes at a very high cost. That cost is close to the total cost of the proposed land swap and provides no future mechanism for the town to recoup our investment through re-development. Simply rebuilding on the current site also comes with additional costs because we will need to relocate the Police Depart, Town Offices, and Rec. Center etc during any construction. Lastly, this option does nothing to improve our antiquated library. c. Enhancement of the structures on the Church property would be less expensive, plus give us a new Library in addition to housing the Police Department, Town Hall/Municipal Offices, Town Center and the majority of the DPW facility. 7. With the preliminary analysis completed and finding that the Township needs could be met in the Hamilton Ave property a series of 4 Town Meetings were scheduled and held to help educate the residents regarding the complexities of this transaction while providing insight and thoughts around the Land Swap. During the last meeting a hypothetical plan for the redevelopment of the current Municipal property on Park Ave was presented. It was repeatedly stressed that it was presented only by way of an illustration and by no means represented an actual plan of redevelopment for the property. The town residents will and are having input, but this decision is one that comes toward the end of the process not at the beginning. 8. Redevelopment on the current Municipal Complex has not been decided, this project is still in its infancy. The Town Council wants to make it perfectly clear, nothing has been decided on this matter and they seek continued input from the Township Residents regarding this issue. 9. $250-$350 Tax Increase for Fair Market Value $530,000 Home. a. The $250-$350 estimated tax increase is based on a home having an assessed value of $300,000. Rumors have surfaced that the estimated $250-$350 tax increase to cover the cost of the Land Swap is per hundred thousand dollars of assessed value. This is simply untrue. b. Berkeley Heights has a 56.36% ratio which is set by the Division of Taxation for each and every municipality which then must be applied to the assessed value to determine the estimated Fair Market Value. Thus a home having a $300,000 assessed value has an implied or Fair Market Value of $532,292($300,000/.5636 = $532,292) Bottom Line: Nothing is done, input is being sought by all, and those that are out to stifle the process, shoot the messenger (we have to do something), and simply dig in their heels or negating any new ideas are not working for the Future of Berkeley Heights.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 15:47:51 +0000
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