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Health & Fitness

March 21, 2012 FMERA Meeting-As Seen From The Back Row

Thoughts from the back row of the March 21, 2012 FMERA meeting. Topics included: Commvault move to Tinton Falls, Wampum Lake pollution and the Howard Commons mess left behind by the Army.

If you don’t know what FMERA is or what it is doing, you should.  

FMERA stands for The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority which was created to provide investment, continuity and economic growth to the communities impacted by the federal government's decision to close Fort Monmouth. Its main goal is to replace the 5,000 jobs that were lost when the Fort closed and its mission moved to Aberdeen, Maryland. Note that tens of thousands of other jobs were also impacted.

FMERA meetings are held once a month and rotate between Tinton Falls and Eatontown, with an occasional meeting in Oceanport. If you have not attended a FMERA meeting, I would urge you to go. Issues are being discussed and decisions being made that will impact our communities for generations. The next meeting is on April 18 at 7 p.m. in Tinton Falls Municipal Building. The meeting schedule for the year, agendas, past meeting minutes as well as more information on FMERA can be found on its website at http://www.nj.gov/fmera/

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I have attended many although not all of FMERA’s meetings and find them very interesting and informative. I did attend last Wednesdays (3/21) meeting in Eatontown’s Borough Hall. I took my regular seat in the Council Chamber, in the back row on the left. I never recognize very many people in the audience at FMERA meetings as many who attend are from other towns.

On this night, at that back of the room was Joe (sorry I can’t remember you last name) who heads up the State Police unit that patrols the Fort property. Tom Mahedy was in his usual seat near the front of the room. Mr. Mahedy is a frequent critic of the Authority at meetings. He feels very strongly about environmental and other issues and usually clashes with the Chairman of the Board to the point of coming very close to being physically removed by the police from the microphone. A couple of rows in front of me was Eatontown Council President Anthony Talerico Jr. Mr. Talerico is also the alternate to Eatontown’s representative on the Authority, Mayor Gerald Tarantolo.  The other two host towns, Oceanport and Tinton Falls are also normally represented at the meetings by Mayor Michael Mahon and Mayor Michael Skudera.

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Space does not permit me to recap a two hour meeting into a couple of paragraphs but I did find several items of special interest. The entire area of Tinton Falls property within Fort Monmouth will be considered for as “An Area In Need Of Redevelopment.” The Patch has previously reported on a large company in Oceanport called Commvault which is in negotiations to acquire a large piece of property (and relocate) in the Charles Wood section of Tinton Falls.

The designation as “an area in need of redevelopment” would among other things, allow for tax breaks or incentives to be given. This previously had been a very contentious issue since Commvault would be leaving one host town (Oceanport) and going to another and getting tax breaks in the process. The flip side of the argument though was that Commvault could have possibly left the area altogether and is planning on adding a large number of jobs should they relocate to Tinton Falls. Up to 700 more jobs would be added within two years and they would have as many as 3000 jobs at the site in the future. This would have a very positive impact on the redevelopment goals of the property not only for the new job component it brings but also having many more additional people with good paying jobs that would be looking to purchase a home in the area.

As an Eatontown resident I was especially interested in a question posed to the Authority by Councilman Talerico who followed up on his request at the February meeting regarding the pollution in Wampum Lake. At last Wednesday's meeting he asked the Authority to provide funding to pay for the testing of the lake since it was unfair for the local taxpayers to have to pay for this. He also pointed out that pollution does not follow man-made boundaries such as a fence or property line.   This was a follow up to question to February's meeting when Mr. Talerico asked if money can be held in escrow for clean up if it is proven that the Army did cause the pollution in Wampum Lake.

The response in February was that it was too premature to determine if the Army caused the contamination (which is why the study would be needed.) At last Wednesday's meeting the representative from Environmental Staff Advisory Committee had no update to provide. This is going to be an ongoing issue for the Borough since a costly study will be needed to determine if the Army was ultimately responsible for the heavy metal pollution in the lake. If that were proven, the Army would than be responsible for its clean-up. If you do attend a FMERA meeting, this topic is definitely something you want to be listening for an update on.

Mr. Talerico also asked about the process of how building inspections are being done by the state on fort property prior to c/o's being granted. Are they using the same standards that are used by the host towns whose codes will ultimately be in force in the years to come??? Someone on the committee basically said yes. I was thinking to myself, “let’s hope so.”

As an Eatontown resident I am always interested in an update on the Howard Commons property since that area was abandoned by the Army and left a large number of problems (safety, health, etc.) that very negatively impact nearby residents. I had personally asked the committee at its November meeting about the property and was told than that the best case scenario would be for demolition/removal of the existing buildings to take place starting the end of 2012. I asked again at last Wednesday night's meeting if that schedule still held and was told they were three months behind schedule. 

Eatontown Mayor Tarantolo turned over to the committee a long list of code violations for the buildings on the Howard Commons property and asked that they be addressed. He mentioned safety concerns from a structural perspective - holes in roof, rats, etc. In my opinion it is an utter disgrace that the Army left such a mess in the community which hosted it for decades.

The Authority has stated that the Fort Monmouth property is receiving good interest from potential developers and businesses. With that said, redevelopment is going to be a long long process spanning up to 15-20 years. It’s definitely something that residents want to pay close attention to.

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