CORRECTION Tinton Falls Boro Council: Lots of Talk, Little Action

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the Lennar Corporation had declared bankruptcy prior to completion of construction of Greenbriar Falls. According to a spokesman for Lennar: "LandSource Communities Development LLC and some of its subsidiaries declared bankruptcy.  The LandSource subsidiary that owned Greenbriar Falls was LandSource Holding Company, LLC. This entity declared bankruptcy and prevented Lennar from continuing with the community.  Lennar attempted to buy it from the trustee in a subsequent auction but was not the successful high bidder."

The first borough council meeting of the month in Tinton Falls offered a lot of talk, but very little action.

Debating the Budget, Redux

A significant amount of time at the May 3 meeting was spent debating the 2011 budget, which council members were hoping to have finalized and adopted by the end of the month.

At issue, in particular, was how to fund the borough’s road program and maintain the approximately 84 miles of roads coursing through Tinton Falls.

According to the council, maintaining borough roads had not been a top priority for the last few years. “We skipped a couple of years and shame on us,” said council president Gary Baldwin. “We’re catching up slowly.”

Aside from some previously bonded money dedicated to road improvements, there is little set aside in the 2011 budget to cover maintenance and repairs and council members went round about how to fund these capital improvements.

Councilman Stephen Schertz suggested the borough come up with a five-year-plan, not just for a road program, but all areas of the borough.

Another issue the borough faces is allotting legal fees to fight a tax appeal by Seabrook Village.  Tinton Falls Chief Executive Officer Stephen Pfeffer told council members, “You could be looking at a huge amount of money.”

Council members agreed that money needed to be kept in the budget’s surplus to fund that possible litigation.

Pfeffer said he would revisit the budget to address feedback from council members.

Baldwin said the council’s goal was to have the budget adopted by the May 17 meeting.

Greenbriar Frustrations Continue

A member of the Greenbriar Village’s Homeowners Association chided the council and administration for failing to force two developers to amend a number of ongoing issues in the community located off of Hance Avenue.

Joe Largey, who represented Greenbriar and who pointed out that the matter has been going on for over four years, said, “You’re allowing developers to say you can’t do anything.”

Borough Attorney Brian Nelson assured Largey that the borough has done everything in its power to help Greenbriar residents see drainage issues fixed by developer Putnam Group and its predecessor, LandSource Holding Company, LLC, that declared bankruptcy prior to completion of construction.

“There’s only so much the borough can do,” said Nelson. “The developers are the ones who are going to have to act.”

Summer Rec Opportunities

Sherri Eisele, who is Tinton Falls’ recreation superintendent, filled the mayor and council in on what’s on tap for some of the younger residents this summer.

Summer camp this year will be held at the high school due to roofing projects at the Tinton Falls schools this summer. She said that 300-350 children from Pre-K to ninth grade.

Councilman Scott Larkin, who is also the assistant principal at Monmouth Regional, said he thought is would be nice to hear the sounds of all the younger children filling the school this summer.