New manager addressing
rug mill residents’ issues
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — Life at the Rug Mill Towers apartment complex is going better these days. But then again, maybe it isn’t — it really depends on whom you ask.
Borough Council President Sharon Shutzer said the council has made certain changes over the last few months at the Jackson Street apartment building and that residents are more comfortable.
Shutzer told the New Transcript that residents now have a more dependable on-site security operation that operates from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m.
She said additional handicapped parking spaces have been provided. This was a major concern of many residents who were having a difficult time walking the long distance from the assigned parking lot to the building. The spaces were added on July 1.
Shutzer said parking signs designating the spots have been ordered and the painting on the pavement has been done.
Another concern of residents who came to borough officials several months ago was the lack of screens and window guards for the apartments where children reside.
Shutzer said all residents need to do to obtain those items is to fill out forms provided by the management. There is no cost for these items.
"All they need to do is ask," she said.
"We have been working on the problems at the [apartments] diligently since two days after residents first appeared at a council meeting months ago," Shutzer said.
She said the council was instrumental in changing management companies which, according to residents, has finally begun to make a measurable difference in their lives.
"We do have to sift through what’s reasonable, though, and what is not reasonable," the councilwoman added.
If you’re Gloria Barron, however, who has appeared at numerous council meetings along with other residents of the apartment building’s senior side, you’d say that things are not all that much better.
Residents of the apartment building have been frequent visitors to council meetings to voice their concerns about life at the recently renovated structure on Jackson Street.
Issues brought to the council over the last few months include poor ventilation in the hallways, with temperatures that residents claimed reach over 100 degrees in the summer; non-regulating heat that requires residents to wear as little clothing as possible or a winter coat in their apartments; leaky walls; and inadequate security, among other complaints.
Over the last few months, Barron said, certain issues have been addressed. She cited of primary importance the hiring of a new on-site manager.
Maureen Krenz of Interstate Realty Management has made a world of difference, according to Barron.
Referring to the manager as "our only hope," Barron said Krenz is doing whatever she can do to affect change but that certain things are beyond her control.
Security, for instance, has been an ongoing problem for the residents, according to Barron.
Although there is a security guard on duty from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., Barron said residents are not comfortable with the security operation, including what she said is the security guards’ lack of enforcement of parking regulations in front of the building.
Another important issue Barron said has been neglected at the complex is emergency preparedness on the premises.
Citing elevators which were not functioning on Aug. 14, Barron said one resident had to climb up six flights of stairs only to find that the door to her floor was locked. If not for a passer-by, Barron said, the woman would have had to carry all her groceries back down again and would not have had access to her apartment.
"There is no one to call here in an emergency," Barron said.
Barron said there is no emergency generator that she was aware of, therefore, there was no auxiliary power when the power outage occurred, leaving residents to fend for themselves.
"There are no lights and no fans in those elevators either," Baron said, adding that although there is an emergency phone in the elevator, she wasn’t sure where the number was directed to, then added that, "it’s pitch black in there with no lights, you wouldn’t able to find it anyway."
As to the situation with the elevators, Krenz said that when the security guard was notified of the problem on Aug. 14, all of the stairway doors were unlocked.
Krenz said any problems in the building should be reported to her.
The security guard reset the elevators and the power was on in about 90 minutes, she said. According to Krenz, no one was in the elevators at the time the power shut down.
On Monday, she said, fire alarms were sounding in the building when there was no apparent fire. Krenz said she called the alarm company to come and check the system. A representative of the elevator company was also expected to visit the building this week to check the elevators.
In response to Barron’s comments, Shutzer said she was not aware of the lack of auxiliary power in the complex. She said that management must be made aware of these problems.
She expressed concern over the lack of auxiliary power, stating that this could cause serious consequences, in the elevators or anywhere else on the premises, and she was anxious to know how management will address this concern. Shutzer said she believes the building’s management firm is trying to meet the concerns of the residents, but said many issues need some time to correct.