Raccoon Island purchase
is under consideration
By sherry conohan
Staff Writer
Voters in Monmouth Beach will be asked whether the borough should acquire land on Raccoon Island near the sewer plant for recreation or open space.
Members of the Borough Commission, at their Dec. 10 meeting, informally agreed it was time to come to a decision on whether to proceed with purchasing the land, and Commissioner William C. Barham said it should be put to a vote.
The commission would be remiss in not taking the proposal to the public in a referendum, Barham said.
But when the vote will be held and whether it will be binding or nonbinding was left to be determined at a future meeting.
Barham said he would bring a proposed timetable to the commission’s meeting on Feb. 14.
Barham said the borough needs the land on Raccoon Island. He said the borough already has a $375,000 grant from the state and can take out another $25,000 in a low-interest loan from the state in order to have $400,000 to apply to the purchase. The balance could be paid either with a 2-cent open space tax or out of the budget, he said. He said he believed the grant and loan were available through the Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres program.
The idea of an open space tax was discussed by the commission and dropped earlier this year. A 1-cent tax would raise approximately $32,000 a year.
The asking price for the land was not publicly discussed, but Barham told Mayor James P. McConville III and the commission’s third member, Commissioner James F. Cunniff, "I shared those numbers with you guys" and said he thought they were "realistic."
McConville said the issues presented by the proposed acquisition were the cost and what taxpayers would have to pay, the use and the impact on the area. He said Griffin Park needed to be remodeled first.
When the commission began talking about the feasibility of acquiring the land on Raccoon Island a year ago, in November 2001, it was envisioned as a new park with soccer and baseball fields and a walkway along the Shrewsbury River. Barham said at that time that it probably would be very similar to Griffin Park.
At last week’s meeting, Barham said a 90-foot ballfield for use by older boys and adults could be built on the land being considered at Raccoon Island.
The borough has no 90-foot ballfield now, he noted.
Barham said there’s always been soccer and baseball play on Raccoon Island and pointed to the baseball field the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority has built on its property for borough use.
"So this is nothing new," he said.
The ballfield has not been used during the expansion and upgrading project now under way at the sewer plant and won’t be available again next year, as the project isn’t expected to be completed until the end of the year.
Borough Clerk Bonnie Moore suggested putting the acquisition on the ballot at the same time as the general election on Nov. 4. She said that if the borough opts for a special election instead, it will have to bear a cost of "thousands" of dollars — she estimated $6,000-$8,000 — with absentee ballots and legal advertising.
Cunniff, however, said they shouldn’t wait until November. He proposed holding public meetings in March and May on the possible acquisition of the land to find out how borough residents felt about it.
Cunniff noted that interest rates are at a 41-year-low, but said they can go up quickly. Barham said the interest rate on bonds sold through the Monmouth County Improvement Authority is around 2 percent.
Borough Attorney Dennis Collins recommended the commission check with the Improvement Authority to see when it will hold the next bond issue, saying he thought it would be in June.
In other action, the commission reappointed Renate English, Timothy Britton and Brian Sheprow to the Planning Board. English was appointed to a four-year term and Britton was appointed to a three-year term as members. Sheprow, the first alternate, was appointed to a two-year term.
The commission also appointed the borough’s professionals for 2003. Collins, who had been serving as interim borough attorney, was named borough attorney. Reappointed were Municipal Court Judge John Colannino, Prosecutor Robert Holden, Public Defender Thomas Smith, Bond Attorney John O. Bennett III, auditor Robert Oliwa and Engineer Richard M. Schulz of T&M Associates.
The commission introduced an ordinance to grant a construction easement and permanent utility easement to the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority. The easement is needed for laying conduit as part of the construction project.
A public hearing will be held on Jan. 14.
The commission also agreed to vacate a paper street adjacent to the property of Paul Sgro, who lives on Patricia Court, off Columbus Drive. A paper street is a street that has been laid out by a town, but never built.