Money to pay planner comes after majority of council rejects resolution on "guiding principles"
By: Molly Petrilla
WEST WINDSOR Though the Township Council passed a bond ordinance Monday night that brings the township one step closer to realizing its plans for the 350-acre train station-area redevelopment site, things weren’t as simple as the 4-0 vote indicated.
After his attempt to put forward a resolution involving "guiding principles" for redevelopment failed, Councilman Will Anklowitz voiced his apprehensions about the bond ordinance and initiated a discussion on the matter that lasted nearly two hours.
While he ultimately voted to approve the ordinance, Mr. Anklowitz questioned it repeatedly and even asked the other members to table it until the council’s Dec. 18 meeting a change that would have prevented the council from approving planning firm Hillier Architecture’s contract until next year.
The ordinance authorizes the township to add $227,115 to its redevelopment funds $216,300 of which will come from bonds or notes in order to pay Hillier $400,000. That sum will cover the firm’s $330,000 fee and also provide additional money to cover unforeseen costs.
Since they approved the ordinance, council members will be able to vote on the Hillier contract Dec. 18.
During Mr. Anklowitz’s string of questions, several council members became noticeably frustrated with the meeting’s slow pace and the new councilman’s hesitation.
Over the course of the discussion, the three other council members who were present and Township Attorney Michael J. Herbert urged Mr. Anklowitz to vote in favor of the bond ordinance.
"Unless you feel Hillier couldn’t do the job, I don’t know why you’d vote no on (the bond ordinance)," council President Linda Geevers said.
Mr. Herbert said the township is already about six months behind its initial schedule for redevelopment and failure to pass the bond ordinance would put the process even further off course.
"Hillier is ready, willing and able to move quickly," he added.
Much of Mr. Anklowitz’s hesitation on the issue emerged early in the meeting when he said a resolution consisting of guiding principles would make him feel more comfortable approving the bond ordinance.
Those principles, as drafted, stated that the redevelopment area must be tax positive for the township’s residents and "at least preserve, if not strengthen, the neighborhoods in and around the redevelopment zone."
They further stipulated that the redevelopment process must improve current traffic issues rather than worsen them, provide more parking for township residents and include the minimum number of residential units needed for the project to succeed.
"If we’re going to start spending thousands of dollars (on redevelopment), we at least have a responsibility to the public to say what they’re for," Mr. Anklowitz said.
Councilman Charles Morgan, who was unable to attend Monday’s meeting, said earlier in the day that he supported the document.
"It’s really important that council sets a policy for the redevelopment area," he said. "We need to do this before the redevelopment plan is written."
He added, "The draft I saw yesterday should be non-controversial, but I thought the issue was going to be non-controversial a year ago."
Controversial or not, Mr. Anklowitz’s motion to add the principles to the agenda was not seconded, though the subject continued to enter discussion on the bond ordinance.
"We know what we should be doing. We shouldn’t have to be reminded what principles are," Councilman Franc Gambatese said.
Earlier in the day, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said formalizing the guiding principles would undermine the public-oriented redevelopment process on which the township has prided itself.
Though the mayor previously put forward his own list of principles, he said such guidelines should not be legally established by elected officials, but rather should come from the public during the charrette process.
"We can discuss (the guidelines) and we can recommend them to Hillier, but I have reservations about putting that as a resolution," he said. "We all agreed that the public will make (these) decisions."
Shortly before Monday’s meeting, Mr. Gambatese called the guiding principles "laughable."
He said that while those who support the principles as drafted "say they want an open government and an open process, at the same time they’re trying to tie everybody’s hands as to what they’re allowed to do and what they’re allowed to ask for."
He added, "It’s just a joke at this point. I don’t know why it’s being brought up again other than to waste more time, more tax dollars and stall the (redevelopment) process."
Throughout their discussion on the bond ordinance, council members assured Mr. Anklowitz that the guiding principles would be discussed at the Dec. 18 meeting and, if possible, included in Hillier’s contract before it is approved.