By John Burton
OCEANPORT – The mayor and Borough Council want the public to weigh in on what appears to be the preferred plan for a future borough hall and complete municipal complex at a former Fort Monmouth location.
The governing body has scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 12 at 3 p.m. at the Blackberry Bay Pavilion, 440 Port Au Peck Ave. The purpose of the public hearing is to allow the public to offer opinions and ask questions about the proposal for Oceanport to purchase a former Fort Monmouth structure to eventually serve as the community/senior center.
That plan calls for purchasing the 918 Murphy Dr. building, located in the Oceanport section of the fort property.
The public hearing is a requirement under the Monmouth County Open Space Program, which could award the borough $250,000 toward the purchase of the building.
The public meeting will be an initial opportunity for borough officials to lay out one of the long-discussed plans under consideration for a new municipal complex, Mayor John “Jay” Coffey told The Two River Times this week.
“We’re very excited about the potential of relocating our entire facility there,” using former fort buildings, Coffey said.
According to the mayor, he and the council do plan to conduct a couple of town hall-style forums in the near future to fully outline what Coffey said is the leading scenario for establishing the community’s permanent municipal complex.
“I think we’re almost ready to start the public dialogue, the most important part of the process,” Coffey said.
The plan would be for Oceanport to acquire a number of now vacant structures and approximately 13.25 acres located on the Oceanport property of the former fort, and renovate and upgrade them to accommodate borough police, Department of Public Works (which has been using a fort site), the community center, public library, municipal court and all other municipal departments and offices in about 40,000 square feet of building space.
“They were government buildings before and they can be government buildings going forward,” Coffey said.
The former fort property is under the control of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, or FMERA, a state authority coming under the auspices of the state Economic Development Authority. The borough would have to acquire the property from that state entity and Coffey said officials would search out available grants to help should they move forward with this plan. Oceanport is also expecting approximately $5.3 million in financial support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to replace the former borough hall damaged by Super Storm Sandy four years ago.
OCEANPORT – The mayor and Borough Council want the public to weigh in on what appears to be the preferred plan for a future borough hall and complete municipal complex at a former Fort Monmouth location.
The governing body has scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 12 at 3 p.m. at the Blackberry Bay Pavilion, 440 Port Au Peck Ave. The purpose of the public hearing is to allow the public to offer opinions and ask questions about the proposal for Oceanport to purchase a former Fort Monmouth structure to eventually serve as the community/senior center.
That plan calls for purchasing the 918 Murphy Dr. building, located in the Oceanport section of the fort property.
The public hearing is a requirement under the Monmouth County Open Space Program, which could award the borough $250,000 toward the purchase of the building.
The public meeting will be an initial opportunity for borough officials to lay out one of the long-discussed plans under consideration for a new municipal complex, Mayor John “Jay” Coffey told The Two River Times this week.
“We’re very excited about the potential of relocating our entire facility there,” using former fort buildings, Coffey said.
According to the mayor, he and the council do plan to conduct a couple of town hall-style forums in the near future to fully outline what Coffey said is the leading scenario for establishing the community’s permanent municipal complex.
“I think we’re almost ready to start the public dialogue, the most important part of the process,” Coffey said.
The plan would be for Oceanport to acquire a number of now vacant structures and approximately 13.25 acres located on the Oceanport property of the former fort, and renovate and upgrade them to accommodate borough police, Department of Public Works (which has been using a fort site), the community center, public library, municipal court and all other municipal departments and offices in about 40,000 square feet of building space.
“They were government buildings before and they can be government buildings going forward,” Coffey said.
The former fort property is under the control of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, or FMERA, a state authority coming under the auspices of the state Economic Development Authority. The borough would have to acquire the property from that state entity and Coffey said officials would search out available grants to help should they move forward with this plan. Oceanport is also expecting approximately $5.3 million in financial support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to replace the former borough hall damaged by Super Storm Sandy four years ago.
Coffey said local officials are currently negotiating with state representatives over the price.
While other proposals are still under consideration, such as rebuilding on the former borough hall property, the mayor is supportive of this plan, believing it is the most efficient and cost effective way to establish a new facility without the price tag of constructing a new one.
“When you look at the structures,” he said, “building new as opposed to retrofitting or remodeling, from a financial standpoint, I don’t know how anybody could opt for the new building option.”
To build a new all-encompassing municipal complex could be up to four times as much, according to Coffey. “It would be great to have a brand new place, with all the bells and whistles,” he noted, “but there’s a cost attached with all those bells and whistles.”
An engineering study in February 2014 determined the former borough hall, 222 Monmouth Blvd., has sustained more substantial structural damage from Sandy in October 2012 than had been previously thought. So much damage that continued use of the 50-plus-year-old structure was deemed a safety risk.
Officials had relocated government offices to the borough-owned Old Wharf House, 316 East Main St., a tight fit for the offices in the building that had been used as the senior center. Police had operated out of a trailer and municipal court has been using Shrewsbury Borough’s facility. The public library has been using the former community center on Iroquois Avenue.
Since then an ad hoc committee convened by former mayor Michael Mahon and the council has been studying the options.
The U.S. Department of Defense shuttered the approximately 90-year-old Fort Monmouth military and research and development facility in 2011. Since closing, federal, state, county and local officials have been working on redeveloping the 1,126 acres made up of property from Oceanport, Eatontown and Tinton Falls for the economic betterment of the area.
While other proposals are still under consideration, such as rebuilding on the former borough hall property, the mayor is supportive of this plan, believing it is the most efficient and cost effective way to establish a new facility without the price tag of constructing a new one.
“When you look at the structures,” he said, “building new as opposed to retrofitting or remodeling, from a financial standpoint, I don’t know how anybody could opt for the new building option.”
To build a new all-encompassing municipal complex could be up to four times as much, according to Coffey. “It would be great to have a brand new place, with all the bells and whistles,” he noted, “but there’s a cost attached with all those bells and whistles.”
An engineering study in February 2014 determined the former borough hall, 222 Monmouth Blvd., has sustained more substantial structural damage from Sandy in October 2012 than had been previously thought. So much damage that continued use of the 50-plus-year-old structure was deemed a safety risk.
Officials had relocated government offices to the borough-owned Old Wharf House, 316 East Main St., a tight fit for the offices in the building that had been used as the senior center. Police had operated out of a trailer and municipal court has been using Shrewsbury Borough’s facility. The public library has been using the former community center on Iroquois Avenue.
Since then an ad hoc committee convened by former mayor Michael Mahon and the council has been studying the options.
The U.S. Department of Defense shuttered the approximately 90-year-old Fort Monmouth military and research and development facility in 2011. Since closing, federal, state, county and local officials have been working on redeveloping the 1,126 acres made up of property from Oceanport, Eatontown and Tinton Falls for the economic betterment of the area.
