By Stephen Appezzato
MIDDLETOWN – A plan to provide 12 affordable residential units for veterans crept closer to fruition after Mayor Tony Perry and the township committee announced how they were addressing the project’s final hurdles.
At its March 18 meeting, the committee passed a resolution to award the contract for soil excavation and site restoration, a key precursor to construction. According to officials, this will take two to three months. Additionally, a $9.2 million bond ordinance for the construction of the complex was introduced; it will be heard and voted on April 8.
The township committee anticipates awarding the construction bid for the project at its May 6 meeting.
According to Perry, the project was originally put to bid last year. The township set aside $5.5 million for the housing complex but the lowest bid received was $8.3 million. This posed a setback for the township committee and the township’s housing authority, which manages affordable housing matters.
Perry acknowledged the project moved slower than anticipated but said, “Everybody got their heads together, nobody rushed anything.”
“We did it the right way,” Perry said.
We “figured out the way to make it work, where we were not putting anybody at risk from a financial perspective in terms of the town housing authority or any other parties,” he said.
The veterans’ housing project was originally announced in 2021 when the township purchased a former tool rental property on Leonardville Road in Belford for $355,000. The acquisition was paid for by the Middletown Affordable Housing Trust Fund, with Middletown Redevelopment Corporation, a nonprofit organized for the project, tasked with overseeing it. The 21,660 three-story building will provide 12 affordable units toward the township’s designated fair share, required under state law.
In 2023, Perry worked with state legislators representing the area to include an additional $1 million in the 2024 state budget for the project. The state Department of Community Affairs helped Middletown receive this funding once the budget was passed.
“The township is a firm supporter of investing in affordable housing projects that make sense and we will always step up to create affordable housing for those in need of assistance, especially our veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country,” Perry said.
During the March 18 meeting, officials also discussed other projects being developed in the town. Work on Middletown’s newest all-inclusive playground, located at McMahon Park, started this week, while the long-awaited
Tindall Dog Park should be completed by the end of March. The community also celebrated the grand opening of a new skatepark in Kunkel Park March 12.
“To see all these projects at different phases coming through – not all of them are moving at the speeds that I thought they would, but all of them are moving and I’m very proud of that fact,” Perry said.
Appropriately, in time for the introduction of the $9.2 million bond ordinance for the veterans’ housing, Middletown resident Robert Siemer was honored as the township’s 2023 Veteran of the Year at the meeting. A Vietnam veteran, Siemer has been an active member of the township’s Veterans Affairs Committee for the past six years and spearheaded the Thank a Veteran program, working with local businesses to provide discounts to service members. Siemer also serves on several veterans’ committees and works with local youth to maintain war memorials in the township, educate students on the Vietnam War in local schools and more.
“I really think I’m accepting (the award) on behalf of all Middletown veterans,” Siemer said. “We do have a lot of veterans in Middletown,” he said, and “in their own way, I think each veteran contributes to our community. We have a great community.”
Serving on the Veterans Affairs Committee, Siemer has helped many other local veterans file for veterans’ benefits from the federal government.
“You have done more for veterans than you’ll ever know in this township,” Perry said as he thanked Siemer.
The article originally appeared in the March 21 –March 27, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
