Blogfinger

Vigilance is needed to protect Ocean Grove’s North End. Paul Goldfinger photo

This painting of the Aurora by Jack Bredin shows the relative size of the Ocean Grove North End “parcel” which is partially revealed as the tan area bordering the boardwalk and Lake Avenue.

By Jack Bredin, reporter/researcher @Blogfinger and Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor.

In parts I and II  you saw how the North End Redevelopment process began in 2008 with the (public) North End Redevelopment Plan (NERP) and then went 10 years without any real progress.  The Mayor’s negotiation team was appointed in 2008 and has had some personnel changes since then.  It still exists to this day and so far has accomplished nothing.

In 2011, WAVE and the OGCMA came up with a new private plan, but it was submitted to the Township, and no action was taken.

In 2013 the CMA was supposed to break-ground  with their new private plan, but that never happened due to Sandy.  No  plans were ever filed or permits issued.

Then in 2015, Committeeman Randy Bishop publicly  introduced the 2011 plan for the first time,but the Township Committee took no action.s

The only plan which was ever approved by law in Neptune Township was the North End Revelopment Plan of 2008 which is still in effect to this date.

Nothing further happened, at least as far as the public was concerned, until 2018.

In April, 2018, Michael Badger, President of the OGCMA, announced  by press release, that they had signed an agreement with a new developer called OGNED—-Ocean Grove North End Development,LLC.  We posted that information (see link below)

In June, Blogfinger posted a piece about the sloppiness of language used in discussing these latest issues:

North End: sloppy ideas and language June 25 , 2018.

This month we learned the  identity of OGNED and find that it is probably a reincarnation of WAVE. The information below came from the Clerk’s Office in Neptune Township.

“The Stockholder Disclosure Certification submitted by OG North End Development, LLC shows the stockholders who hold 10% or more of the issued and outstanding stock:”

William P. Gannon II

Paul R. Gannon

Joel S. Brudner

Christopher T. McCallion”

The certificate also revealed their addresses, which we did not include here.

Recently we also learned the identity of the Mayor’s negotiation team:

According to the Township Clerk, “The Redevelopment Committee” consists of Dr. Michael Brantley, Mayor Nicholas Williams, Land Use Administrator, Township Engineer, Business Administrator, Chief Financial Officer, Township Planner and Redevelopment Attorney.    Brantley has remained on this committee for the last 10 years.

The Clerk also informed us that “the Redevelopment  Attorney is Maraziti Falcon, LLP  at 150 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Short Hills, NJ.”  This attorney is part of this negotiating team, representing the Township.

So here we are in September of 2018, and this is what we know:

a. The “options agreement” signed by the CMA and OGNED  (April, 2018) names OGNED as as the “developer of the North End land parcel.”  This agreement was signed by the CMA even though they are not a “redeveloper.”

This is a private agreement which has nothing directly to do with the public Redevelopment Plan approved by Neptune Township in 2008. It would be a violation of land use law for the Township to change the NERP for this private plan without lawful procedures.

b.  Mayor Nicolas Williams and his committee have been re-negotiating a 10 year old agreement with a “self-appointed” redeveloper  (OGNED).  The original unofficial redevelopers were the CMA and WAVE.  Mayor Williams  refuses to explain the nature of the secret negotiations.

The principals now (developers and politicians) seem to be in a heated rush to get this done ASAP after years of little or no movement. But they have stalled because the Mayor says that his team  is “not getting what we want.” 

But he won’t disclose what he wants despite public pleas at recent Committee meetings.  The lack of transparency is over-the-top.

c. If or when the Mayor signs off on this new private plan he will be certifying that this new private North End project is in the best interest of the residents of Ocean Grove, something that no prior mayor has done since 2008.

If this new Redevelopers Plan with new re-developers is to replace the 2008 NERP, the Township will have to begin the process all over again including bidding for redevelopers, a bona fide Redevelopers Agreement, certification of financial integrity, public hearings, all necessary permits including DEP, and then Committee resolutions and approvals.

After all, this was and is still a public project.  That’s how the CMA and WAVE originally got the blank check for whatever zoning they wanted in the first place. Before that NERP ordinance in 2008, the North End was zoned for single family houses.

Mayor Williams recently said that that he was given a “Pre-redevelopment Agreement,” during negotiations,  but what is that?   He says that the document has gone back and forth over “a couple of items missing on it, so they gave it back to them to work on.”

Vito Gadaleta, the Business Administrator, is on that negotiating team and he said, “The next step would be to get the documents which will be reviewed by the Redevelopment Committee and the Redevelopment Attorney.”

He also said, “If there is a comfort level, there would be a discussion about appointing a conditional redeveloper for the site while the formal development is negotiated.”

This makes no sense.  New Jersey  Land Use law makes no provisions for “conditional redevelopers” or “comfort levels.”

A review of the history of all this reveals that the “formal development” is the March 24, 2008 North End Redevelopment Plan by Martin Truscott.

d.  At the last Committee meeting, Jack Bredin and Diane Harris requested that the Mayor invite the new Redevelopment Attorney to attend the next Township Committee meeting so he can explain why this Neptune Township process appears to be inconsistent with the Local Housing and Redevelopment Law.

e.  So the CMA and OGNED and the Mayor seem to think that they are on the verge of a breakthrough, but they continue to be silent about the details, and, as before, we worry about the perception of impropriety at the Municipal Building.

perception of impropriety

f.   Plan below is from Asbury Park’s Redevelopment Plan for the Wesley Lake area.

Nature abhors a vacuum, so here is one conspiracy theory:  In 2002, Asbury Park came up with a Waterfront Redevelopment Plan and Waterfront Redeveloper’s Agreement for the construction of Wesley Lake Village  (see above). The diagram shows “several smaller scale residential structures and pedestrian ways on the Asbury side.”

But if you look at the graphic, you will see the outlines of the Ocean Grove North End parcel.  Nothing else in OG is shown. This leads us to suspect that the OG North End Plan will result in the Asbury developer  (iStar) taking over the OG North End in order to pull Asbury and the Grove together near the lake. Remember, iStar has done nothing so far by way of development at the other side of the Casino.

Part II of this report.

Who is OGNED? Sept. 2018

The bottom line is to demand that the Township take down that wall and offer complete transparency to the North End public process.  Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

THE FIFTH DIMENSION:

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