OCEANPORT – The New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) will cease designating Fort Monmouth’s former Megill Housing as a potential quarantine site for those returning from Africa by Sept. 15. The property, located in Eatontown and including the Suneagles Golf Course, is going on the market in July.
No one had been quarantined at the Megill site as of June 22. The state identified it last December as temporary housing for asymptomatic health workers and others entering the area via Newark Liberty International Airport to wait out the standard 21 day isolation period. The original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) and DHS commenced on Jan. 1 and is due to expire on June 30. The state asked for an extension to the end of this year, but following discussions between the parties, proposed a more limited time period.
Come Sept. 15, “DHS would vacate the site entirely, irrespective of any use or occupancy at the time, and would no longer look to Fort Monmouth as a potential site.” When the state initially designated Fort Monmouth a potential quarantine site, local officials balked, accusing the DHS of inadequate notification and little opportunity to comment.
“The DHS did not do a good job the first time communicating with the mayors and freeholders,” said FMERA Chair man James V. Gorman. “Not many know it, but we complained bitterly about the lack of transparency the first time.’’
On June 17, all three mayors of the towns Fort Monmouth encompasses Eatontown, Oceanport, and Tinton Falls voted against the MOU’s reduced extension request.
“This process should have been followed the first time when there was no public airing,” said Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon. “As a mayor, I can step into the shoes of my fellow mayors and think about how I would vote if it affected Oceanport.”
Longtime Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo was in office when the designation process began last October. His successor, Dennis J. Connelly, said after the June 17 vote, “(Last year), we didn’t have a chance to have a say. I didn’t believe in that use in the first place.”
Joining them in voting no was Tinton Falls Mayor Gerald Turning.
The agreement paves the way for the property to be marketed as the hotel/conference center the authority envisions. Once the Request for Offers to Purchase (RFOTP), is issued in July, tours for prospective bidders will begin approximately the third week of September, said Bruce Steadman, FMERA executive director.
The Suneagles Golf Course, currently leased and run by Atlantic Golf Management, has undergone upgrades, improvements, and stricter maintenance. The 10-acre property includes the historic, 37,125 square-foot Gibbs Hall banquet/meeting facility formerly used as an Officers’ Club, which can accommodate up to 600 persons. The 171-acre, 18- hole golf course, designed by A. W. Tillinghast, opened in 1926 on land owned by Max Phillips of The Phillips Van Heusen Clothi ng Company. Allowable uses include a 151-room hotel with a 20,000- square-foot conference/ meeting center. Also included in the parcel are two tennis courts, a pool, a pro shop, and a bar and grill. Officials have said there is interest in the property, and that the golf course is intended to remain.
Story and photo by Laura D.C. Kolnoski
