By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – To ring in the new year, the Holmdel Township Committee adopted resolutions for fair and transparent governance.
Also during the annual reorganization meeting Jan. 2, the governing body unanimously chose committee members Rocco Impreveduto and Brian Foster to lead the town as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, for 2024.
Impreveduto’s father, Patrick Impreveduto, a former Holmdel mayor himself and also a former Monmouth County commissioner, administered the oath of office to his son. Rocco has been a committee member since 2022 and served as deputy mayor in 2023.
Foster was sworn in as deputy mayor by Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas Arnone. Foster previously served on the township’s planning board for five years and the education board for three years. He currently also serves as a commissioner on the Monmouth County Parks and Recreation Board.
Former Mayor DJ Luccarelli and his running mate Jay Romano were also sworn in as township committee members during the meeting.
Beginning on a positive note, Impreveduto said, “We’ve got a big year ahead of us and your governing body is ready for it. We’re committed, we’re fully prepared to face the challenges in the year ahead.”
“We intend to usher in a new era of transparency, fiscal responsibility and commitment to the unique culture (of) Holmdel,” he added.
With several redevelopment possibilities on the agenda this year, particularly the Vonage site and developments related to the Holmdel Horn on Crawford Hill, the township established an Ad-Hoc Redevelopment and Economic Development Advisory Committee for 2024. It will include 7 members appointed by the township committee that has already received two applications. Interested residents are invited by January 12, 2024, with appointments anticipated to be made at the January 23, 2024, township committee meeting. The township will be appointing two additional members; a member of Financial Advisory Committee to serve as an ex-officio member and one member of the township committee to serve as a liaison to and ex- officio member of the Ad-Hoc Committee.
The Ad-Hoc Committee shall serve in an advisory capacity, providing guidance to the Township Committee regarding redevelopment and economic development issues.
“The focus here is largely going to be around Vonage. It’s an enormous site and it’s going to be a big item for us this year,” Impreveduto said. He noted the governing body decided to bring in the “layer of an advisory committee,” not just for “citizen oversight” but also “intervention.”
“We’re going to make the best decisions we possibly can with the proper guiding light in determining what’s best, but more opinions to me is always better.”
The governing body also adopted a resolution regarding future campaign donations. “To the best of our ability, we will not accept donations from developers, people with active developments in Holmdel. And if we do find that something has slipped through, that money will be donated to charity,” said Impreveduto.
Residents congratulated the officials on their swearing in but a few were not so enamored by the optimism of the ceremonies and wanted to address bigger issues during public comments, like the Vonage redevelopment process, township plans for a solar charging station in town, and the progress on the Holmdel Horn Antenna property.
“These are the elephants in the room,” resident Jay Yannello said.
Yannello was especially concerned about the Vonage redevelopment process. The water quality in that area “is a sensitive waterway which goes to our drinking water,” Yannello said, implying that the installation of a package plant stands to risk clean drinking water to the community. Additionally, he said, any new development could have significant impact on traffic on County Route 520, noting some of the roadway’s intersections “are already very challenged.”
Township attorney Michael Collins explained that the township committee did authorize the planning board to undertake a blight study for the Vonage site last year. It is a process that would enable the township to utilize the redevelopment law, “but that is certainly separate and distinct from any discussion about a potential use,” clarified Collins.
“We’re going to have residents watching which is why we’ve set that committee,” Impreveduto said, “and I think, what I can say with confidence is, we’re going to do every study and every layer of due diligence we can do to make sure there’s no adverse effect on the township itself.”
The township committee’s first regular meeting of 2024 is scheduled for Jan. 23.
The article originally appeared in the January 4 – January 10, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
