“Every parcel of land in this town is valuable. That land can be built on.” – Kathy Makowski Councilwoman SAYREVILLE – The potential acquisition of 3 acres of vacant land across from the borough’s 9/11 memorial is the focus of an intense debate at borough hall.
The all-Democratic Borough Council last week voted to have an appraisal done on the Washington Road site, which is owned by Manalapan Enterprises LLC, of East Brunswick. The company purchased the land last year from Margaret Karcher for $145,000.
Republican Mayor Kennedy O’Brien has been a vocal opponent of buying the land, because he contends it is unsuitable for development anyway. He said the costs associated with the acquisition include not just the purchase price but also professional fees.
John Rucki, a former Sayreville zoning board member now running for county freeholder as a Republican, criticized the council’s decision to have the appraisal done. Having served on a land use board, he said he knows that the parcel cannot be developed.
“We as taxpayers would like to see a parcel of property acquired that can be put to some kind of active use,” Rucki said. “… This piece of property does not meet that criteria.”
Anyone who did seek to develop the property would find the process to be too cumbersome, and that it would cost too much to meet the requirements of the Planning Board engineer, he said.
“It just isn’t going to happen, from my perspective,” Rucki said, noting that the ordinance should have been tabled pending further investigation.
“If it was buildable, the Karcher family would have held on to it,” Rucki added.
Robert “Bear” Kominkiewicz, who has lived in the borough for 55 years, spoke at length during the public session and suggested the council put the item up for a vote in the November election. He said he was concerned about the value of the land.
“This property is worthless,” Kominkiewicz said.
Councilman Stanley Drwal said, however, that people used to believe developers would never attempt to build on swamp land, clay pits, near railroad tracks or on the current site of the Winding Wood apartment community. Sayreville has seen all of this done and more, he said.
“You can build in almost any place in Sayreville or in New Jersey,” Drwal said.
He also opposed Rucki’s assertion that open space should be pursued so it can be used for passive and active recreation.
Drwal said aesthetics should be a consideration when considering open space, and the development of this parcel would have a negative impact on the aesthetics of the 9/11 memorial site and the area in general.
Kominkiewicz, while noting it is too late, said the 9/11 memorial cost the borough too much to construct, at $250,000, and he disagreed that the memorial would be significantly impacted by the loss of trees across the street.
Councilwoman Kathy Makowski rebutted, saying that she could see what the memorial means to the families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, at the borough’s ceremony on Sept. 8.
“That memorial means a lot to them,” Makowski said.
She added that the process of seeking this parcel for the purposes of open space is also in the interest of reducing development and congestion on Washington Road, a singlelane county road that is a major east-west thoroughfare through the borough.
Makowski noted that no money has been spent from the borough’s open space fund to purchase land since the open space committee was formed in 2001. This parcel is on the committee’s list of recommended properties for officials to pursue.
“This money has already been allocated for the purpose of open space,” Makowski said.
“Every parcel of land in this town is valuable,” she added. “That land can be built on.”
The larger parcels that the open space committee recommended are outside the municipality’s reach, considering the limits of the fund, Makowski said. This parcel is within the town’s means, and is land it can do something about, she added.
“We are not going to overspend for this property,” Makowski said, noting her surprise at the resistance.
O’Brien took issue with Makowski’s assertion that the borough has done nothing since the inception of the open space committee. He noted that Council President Thomas Pollando served on the committee for five years and the committee had to devote much of its time and resources negotiating with other agencies to buy the Dieker farm so that money from the borough’s open space fund did not have to be used.
The volunteers of the open space committee were diligent in their work on compiling a list of recommended sites for open space acquisition, O’Brien said. Committee members visited the various sites and ranked them according to priority.
“We have done a lot,” O’Brien said.
But O’Brien cited liability as another reason for the borough to discontinue pursuit of this property.
“If the bank collapses, we are responsible for it,” O’Brien said.
The development of this parcel has not been economically feasible for a quarter of century, the mayor noted. Such a project would require a “retaining wall of biblical proportions.”
But Drwal said there are less-expensive alternatives to putting up a retaining wall in order to develop the property. Reshaping the property or drilling and stabilizing pillars or columns are a few of these options.
Borough Engineer Jay Cornell said onethird of the property is at or above the elevation of Washington Road. He said there is potential for the property to be developed on six conforming parcels, but likely at a high cost.
“It can be very expensive to develop,” he said, “but the utilities are there to service that property.”
After Cornell and the council members finished speaking on the matter, Kominkiewicz said he was convinced it was OK to go ahead with the appraisal.
“You changed my mind,” he said, “but don’t give [them] a lot of money.”
Resident Kathy Rucki, John Rucki’s wife, said she has lived in the borough for over 22 years and this issue has compelled her to speak out. She opposes the appraisal and purchase, citing liability, the undesirability of the site and its potential cost.
“I don’t think that the motive for buying this piece of property has anything to do with the Sept. 11 memorial,” Rucki said.
Makowski rebutted, saying that the memorial is not the crux of this effort, but is only part of the reason why the council is pursuing this land. She added that the current real estate market is ideal for this purchase.
O’Brien questioned who is involved with the limited liability company that owns the site, and Borough Attorney Brian Hak said he requested the names of the individuals who make up the limited liability company. Pollando said later that the borough has learned it is two individuals, and that Karcher no longer has ties to the property.
Adrian Kroll and Samuel Barett are the owners of Manalapan Enterprises LLC, according to the Borough Clerk’s Office.