Noreen Bodman, the new president of Jersey Shore Partnership, will also be working for Sandy Hook Partners LLC, which has proposed a $90 million redevelopment plan for historic Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook.
James Wassel, head of Sandy Hook Partners, said Bodman will be business development director for the private developer.
Bodman succeeded S. Thomas Gagliano as the part-time head of the partnership last month.
"Her role will be to develop strategies that attract tenants, attract uses that fall within the agreement we have with the National Park Service," Wassel said.
"She has a background in terms of nonprofits and educational institutions. She is a well-connected person," he added.
Bodman said she didn’t see holding the two part-time jobs as a conflict. She said she had cleared the job at Sandy Hook Partners with the Jersey Shore Partnership board of directors before taking it.
"The board of directors of the Jersey Shore Partnership is aware of what I’m doing with Sandy Hook Partners," she said. "I’m going to be working to attract the right kind of business" to Fort Hancock.
The Jersey Shore Partnership will soon share offices with Sandy Hook Partners in Building 26 on Fort Hancock.
According to Wassel, Sandy Hook Partners is improving the building in lieu of paying rent. The office will serve as the company’s project management office during development of the project, and will eventually be leased to a tenant.
Wassel confirmed that the Jersey Shore Partnership, a public/private partnership focused on shore preservation issues, would not pay rent but would contribute to improving the building.
Wassel said he doesn’t see Bodman’s dual role working for both organizations as a conflict of interest.
"We’re not in the same business," he said. "Her job with the Jersey Shore Partnership is to promote the interests of the entire Jersey Shore, from Sandy Hook to Cape May. Her job with Sandy Hook Partners will be to promote the interests of Sandy Hook. I don’t see how they’re in conflict."
"I actually think there’s a nice partnership," Bodman said. "The idea is not to make something new out there, but to be respectful of what is there now.
"I don’t think you’ll ever see a big motel out there," she added. "Whatever we do will be in the confines of the buildings there."
Gagliano also saw no conflict on Bodman’s part. "I think the situation is that the proposal for Sandy Hook is a special project. It only affects a small part of the Jersey Shore, while the Jersey Shore Partnership is involved in shore protection of 127 miles of beach," he said.
"It was discussed by the board [of the Jersey Shore Partnership] and the board has no problem with it," he added.
Lawrence M. Downes, chairman of the Jersey Shore Partnership and chairman and CEO of New Jersey Natural Gas Co., did not return repeated calls seeking comment.