By Laura Kolnoski
OCEANPORT – Controversy over two redevelopment sites within borough borders drew more than a dozen borough residents to a recent meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA).
HOMELESS SHELTER CHALLENGED
When Super Storm Sandy destroyed the former Fort Monmouth barracks that housed county homeless persons, tenants were relocated to the John L. Montgomery Care Center in Freehold. The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders oversees that facility and recently voted to approve its potential sale. The residents must move to the county’s new homeless facility on the fort in Oceanport by Nov. 1, said Freeholder Lillian Burry, the county’s FMERA representative.
“Hence the urgency in finding a suitable place,” she said after the meeting. While residents at the meeting expressed concerns about declines in property values, safety and quality of life, as well as a change in the shelter’s location from its original Oceanport site, officials at first indicated the matter was out of their hands, and then floated the possibility of reconsideration.
Bruce Steadman, FMERA executive director, explained that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a formal commitment with New Jersey and the fort’s redevelopment authority to locate a county homeless shelter in Oceanport as part of the “reuse plan” created after the base’s closure in 2005. HUD approved the re-use plan in 2010. Officials, working with an engineer, were involved in the building selection process.
“Persons may only stay at the shelter for 30 days; it’s temporary while they find work or a new home,” Burry said. “Usually there are never more than 24 residents. Men and women are separated. If there are problems requiring police, the town responds but the state police are stationed right there. Residents are not allowed to hang around, they must go look for work or do other things. If they drink or do drugs, they are removed; it’s very strict.”
Councilman John Patti, filling in for Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon on the FMERA board, read a statement, commenting, “Residents are at their wit’s end. Relocation of the homeless shelter must be thoroughly discussed in the best interests of Oceanport. We are seeking good neighbors. We want to work together with this board to find a suitable place, if in fact it must be placed in Oceanport.”
Councilman Chris Paglia added, “The council has been besieged on the homeless shelter in recent days.”
“The re-use plan is the driver for all redevelopment of fort properties and this site seems best to fulfill the goals of the plan,” Steadman said. “The plan has occasional changes due to changes in the market. HUD has authorized a homeless shelter in Oceanport be operated by the county, there is a legal agreement. There’s no way to deviate from that, but thequestion is where we will place that.”
Steadman noted that Mahon has been a member of
FMERA’s real estate sub-committee and other council members have sat in on other board meetings. Meetings between FMERA staff and the three mayors (Eatontown, Oceanport, and Tinton Falls), occur at least once monthly as policy. He also directed the public to the board’s professionally revamped website, for fortmonmouthredevelopment.com.
FMERA Chairman James Gorman thanked residents for attending to offer their views and options. “It’s a wonderful thing and the process works,” Gorman said. “If the public has questions, use our email rather than listening to innuendo and rumors on Facebook. Please continue to come to our meetings.”
DRUG REHABILITATION OPERATIONS QUESTIONED
Oceanport and state officials are scrutinizing the arrangement between AcuteCare, which took over the fort’s former Patterson Clinic last year, and its new tenant, Unity Place of Monmouth County, a behavioral health service with a partial day care program. Unity moved into its new headquarters on Fort Monmouth July 7 according to its Facebook page. The site states Unity accepts referrals from health care sources, crisis centers, probation/parole, and drug court. Unity, formerly located on Heck Avenue in Neptune, has been posting photos of its new location’s renovation on Facebook since May. A letter to clients announcing the move was sent out June 25.
At the Aug. 26 meeting, Councilman Patti said police were called to the location on Stephenson Avenue recently to handle disturbances, alerting the police and township officials that drug-related treatment was going on there for the first time. Borough, FMERA and state officials maintained drug rehabilitation was never mentioned as a potential use during the proposal and approval process.
The acquisition of the former clinic by AcuteCare of Lakewood has been touted as one of the fort’s redevelopment victories. AcuteCare Health System, LLC, formed in 2002, establishes and manages long-term acute care hospitals. The firm purchased the 15-acre, 98,000-square-facility for $2.73 million, spent about $5 million in renovations, and expects to generate at least 200 jobs.
“We were told it would be medical suites not drug rehab,” Patti said. “Nothing at the planning board ever mentioned a rehab facility. We’re not against that, but come and tell us.” Patti said the council is discussing the matter with its attorney.
“They made broad statements in their proposal,” Steadman said.
Gorman asked the state Attorney General to, “Look into it. It’s fair to say that no one on the FMERA side knew this was what it would be used for, but we have to verify that.”
