The Fort Monmouth Base Realignment and Closure

Fort Redevelopers to Meet Wednesday in Oceanport

Patch is going to this meeting. Will we see you there?

A board meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Maple Place School in Oceanport.  Formal action may be taken at this meeting. Click here for a copy of the agenda. In addition to committee reports, FMERA Executive Director Bruce Steadman will give an update on meetings with the Army and State Police operations on Fort Monmouth. There will also be an executive session to discuss real estate negotiations. The board is expected to approve its proposed rules for property sales. The public is invited to attend.

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The Fort Monmouth Base Realignment and Closure

Long Island Man Sentenced for Bribes at Fort Monmouth

Thanomsak Hongthong was sentenced to two years in prison for offering a bribe to a government contracting officer.

Five months after the closing of Fort Monmouth, a federal judge handed down a sentence to a Long Island contractor who tried to bribe his way to an $800,000 raise on a contract he was awarded. He was turned in by the official he tried to buy, a Department of Defense contract official who was working at the fort at the time. This statement was issued by the US Attorney's office, district of New Jersey on Thursday: The president and CEO of a defense contracting firm in Long Island, NY, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for offering a $100,000 bribe to a Department of Defense contracting officer at Fort Monmouth, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced Thursday. Thanomsak Hongthong, 58, of Shoreham, NY, had previously pleaded guilty …

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Fort Redevelopers to Approve Agreement Wednesday

If all goes as planned, redevelopers will sign off on their agreement with the Army over the Fort Monmouth property.

The board of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority is scheduled to vote on its agreement with the Army at its regular meeting on Wednesday. The Memorandum of Agreement and the Economic Development Conveyance (EDC) application are the two biggest pieces to the redevelopment puzzle. They'll spell out how proceeds from the sale are split between the Army, which still owns the property, and FMERA, which is charged with the redevelopment and will act as the fort's marketer and/or broker. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Tinton Falls Municipal Building. The agenda is available here.

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The Fort Monmouth Base Realignment and Closure

Resident Pushes for Study of Wampum Lake

Previous studies say that Wampum Lake is the most polluted in the county, but so far no one has proved how it got that way.

Eatontown resident Ed Dlugosz believes the Army is responsible for the pollution of Wampum Lake and wants to launch a study to prove it. Dlugosz, a member of the Resident Advisory Board (RAB) for Fort Monmouth's redevelopment and the environmental staff advisory committee of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), addressed the Borough Council on the topic Wednesday after a Patch story revealed that one member of the RAB has the intention of proving the Army has no responsibility for Wampum Lake's pollution. Federal law requires that the Army clean up any environmental messes it makes. Dlugosz, chairman of the Eatontown Environmental Commission, said if Eatontown wants the Army to clean up Wampum Lake it's going to …

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Undisclosed Federal Agency Could Bring Jobs to Fort Property

Redevelopers may vote to approve initial stages of lease process which could generate local jobs.

It's still a bit of a mystery but apparently an unnamed federal agency may be setting its sights on vacant space at Fort Monmouth.  If all goes as planned, this week redevelopers will kick off a lease process with the US General Services Administration (GSA) to locate a federal agency at building 2525, a 86,000 square-foot office building located in the Tinton Falls section of Fort Monmouth. GSA is responsible for meeting the space requirements of federal agencies. Bruce Steadman, executive director of the Fort Monmouth Revitalization Authority (FMERA), would not give any information about what federal agency would eventually locate at the site since it is part of confidential real estate negotiations. He did say, however, that the lease …

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Farewell, Fort Monmouth

A goodbye to good memories and strong bonds.

The final Retreat Ceremony at Fort Monmouth Thursday got underway beneath a foreboding grey sky, heavy with rain clouds. And as the rain began to fall softly, the chaplain prayed, "We come with heavy hearts... saying goodbye to an old dear friend." As his prayer rose with fervor, the halyard of the great flagpole began a resonating clang, like that of a drum, or a heartbeat, the kind you hear in your ears when you have been crying too long. And then it came, the wind, as if on a mission, to drive everyone away and the cold rain with it, wetting the faces of so many gathered there who would soon have cheeks streaked with hot tears. "It's the end," said Barbara Folk, through tears, almost unable to get the words out. "I've been coming here …

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The Fort Monmouth Base Realignment and Closure

The Closing of Fort Monmouth: 'The Colors Remain Steadfast'

After almost a century of service, the Fort Monmouth garrison flag was cased Tuesday, symbolizing the formal closing of the installation.

"The flag represents every individual that served as part of th US Army Garrison team and their many and varied accomplishments,"  -- United States Army. "I had a hard time holding back my tears thinking about the events that have happened here over the years," said Pete Peterson as he stood on the grounds of Fort Monmouth, for what will likely be the last time, in the bright hot September sun Tuesday afternoon. A Neptune resident and a retired Army educator to soldiers, Peterson spent much of his career, from 1961 to 1984, here at Fort Monmouth. Peterson was among an estimated 300 Army and civilian attendees at Tuesday's Garrison deactivation ceremony and flag casing held outside Russell Hall on the Oceanport side of Fort Monmouth. …

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FMERA Meeting Time Discussed, Then Tabled

Authority weighs whether a schedule change would exclude public participation.

Out of all the topics up for discussion at Wednesday's Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority meeting -- leasing regulations, policing, environmental issues, fair housing and more -- the time at which meetings should be held brought the most debate. Brandon Minde, a representative from the Governor's Office of Authorities (which oversees bodies like FMERA and the Economic Development Authority which oversees it) made a motion to move the meetings to 6 p.m. He cited the meeting's late running time as his reasoning. Members of the board seemed to be divided on the issue, but the public was not. A show of hands of the approximately 20 members of the public, only two were for the change. Nine said they wanted the time to remain 7 p.m…

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Bob English

10:39 pm on Thursday, May 19, 2011

In fairness to people who have to work during the day, they should keep the start time at 7 PM.   more ›

'Living Document' Will Drive Plans at Fort Monmouth

As uncertainty continues to hang over the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth, the revitalization authority makes progress toward a sustainable plan.

Matrix is the name of the firm hired by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority to negotiate the conveyance of the property from the Army to the community. A matrix is also a good description of the plan it presented to the board last night.  The Geographic Information Systems, which Matrix uses, is essentially a database of all the information Matrix has gathered on the characteristics, assets and liabilities of the fort, which will allow it to form an electronic master plan. Unlike a typical business plan that shows a snapshot in time, the electronic master plan is designed with GIS to be a “living document,” which will adapt to changes in the market and on the property, said Dan Schnepf, a principal at the Denver, Colo. …

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