Land was appraised at $17.8M since 138 houses could be built there
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — The township has tapped a New Brunswick law firm specializing in condemnation to contest the appraised value of a 200-acre tract officials want to preserve as open space.
The Township Council agreed Monday to hire Windels, Marx, Lane and Mittendorf LLP at a cost not to exceed $150,000. The firm will represent the township as it heads to court to dispute the latest appraisal of the Cedar Ridge II tract, located off Morganville Road.
Two of the firm’s attorneys, Anthony Coscia and Tim O’Neill, will handle the township’s appeal of the $17.9 million court commission figure at an upcoming jury trial in state Superior Court, New Brunswick.
Coscia and O’Neill specialize in condemnation proceedings, according to Mayor Jim Phillips.
The law firm will take over the municipality’s case for outgoing Township Attorney William Ruggierio, who resigned from his post, effective Tuesday.
The council is scheduled to vote on Phillips’ nomination for Ruggierio’s successor, Old Bridge-based attorney Jerome Convery, at its public meeting this coming Monday night. Convery was recently hired as the township’s deputy director of law.
Although Old Bridge acquired the land nearly three years ago through condemnation proceedings, the township and developer Marvin Schmeltzer, who is the seller, have been in and out of court to determine the final sale price.
The township originally estimated the tract’s value at $6 million, but it was pegged most recently by a court commission at $17.9 million. Schmeltzer has produced appraisals placing the land’s value at more than $18 million.
The township has put aside $17.9 million in a fund set up by the court, Phillips noted, but would like to negotiate a better price.
The amount set aside includes $3.5 million from the state Green Acres program, $2 million contributed by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and $1 million from the county’s Open Space Trust Fund. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has also agreed to loan $3 million toward the purchase, township officials have said.
Coscia, O’Neill and their associates were chosen because of their expertise and success in dealing with condemnation disputes, Phillips said.
"This has become a runaway train and we need somebody who can put on the brakes hard," Phillips said.
Condemnation of the Cedar Ridge II tract began in 2001 after the township Planning Board denied Schmeltzer’s application to build 139 homes on the land.
"The township started out expecting to pay $6 million for this property, but the numbers have gone out of sight for the taxpayer," Phillips continued.
"We’ve already put the $17.9 million in a fund set up by the court commission," he said. "With the help of this firm, however, we’ve got good reason to believe that the township can save some money for the taxpayer by appealing the land’s value. There’s room to negotiate."
With Ruggierio’s departure and the case expected to go to trial in about 90 days, the township needed a highly qualified legal representative ready to go to court, Phillips and other officials noted.
"We’re not going to make a habit of hiring outside law firms to do township business," council President William A. Baker said. "[But] this makes sense because these attorneys specialize in condemnation proceedings and if they can save us some money, I’m all for it."
The property, located behind Old Bridge High School’s east campus, is physically situated in Ward 2, Baker’s constituency.
Residents in an adjacent development, Cedar Ridge I, have supported the council’s continuing efforts to purchase the property for open space preservation, the council president noted.
"Even though we’ve already put up the money, I believe we have a good chance of winning some [money] back in the trial appeal," Baker continued. "Whatever we save benefits the taxpayers, and Cedar Ridge I benefits because there will be no housing development next to the property owners there."
After the Planning Board denied Schmeltzer’s application in February 2001, Old Bridge began condemnation proceedings when it could not strike an agreement on the purchase price with the developer.
In October 2002, a state court-appointed condemnation panel made up of three real estate experts appraised the property at nearly $17.8 million, based on the notion that 138 lots could be developed as single-family homes, Ruggierio has said.
In related action, the council voted 8-1 to authorize acting Business Administrator Himanshu Shah to apply to the county for a $6 million loan from the Environmental Infrastructure Trust Financing Fund.
The loan would come with the condition that the land purchased with those funds be left in its natural state and not used for active recreation such as playing fields, said Phillips, who works full-time as the Middlesex County treasurer.
Ward 6 Councilwoman Lucille Panos cast the sole dissenting vote due to an objection that the decision was being made at an agenda meeting. The public should have input on such a decision, Panos argued.
However, Shah explained that the council’s decision had to be made that night because of the county’s March 1 deadline for the application.