Borough candidates discuss development

By Davy James, Staff Writer
   JAMESBURG — Candidates seeking seats on the Borough Council say that with little room left in the borough for development, the revitalization of Jamesburg is contingent on expanding the borough as a business center.
   There are two, three-year seats open this year. Republican challenger Brian Duke and Democratic incumbent Otto Kostbar, who currently serves as council president remain on the ballot.
   Incumbent Thomas Bodall, a Democrat who had been seeking his first full three-year term, recently resigned from the council and will not be seeking re-election after he was charged with attempted endangering the welfare of a minor and distributing obscene material to a minor.
   Bernie Long, chairman of the Jamesburg Democratic Committee, said former Library Board of Trustees member Daria Ludas will serve for the remainder of Mr. Bodall’s unexpired term and will be running for one of the two open seats. Paperwork for her entry into the election was filed Thursday morning.
   Ms. Ludas, 59, teaches third grade at Our Lady of Peace School in Florence, where she has taught for 14 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Keane College. Ms. Ludas has lived in Jamesburg for 21 years and served eight years on the Library Board of Trustees with her term expiring last year. She said she hopes to see the borough expand as a retail center.
   ”I’d like to see Jamesburg prosper and look to attract new businesses and non-profit groups,” Ms. Ludas said. “I’d like to see Jamesburg become a thriving community in Middlesex County.”
   She said she was attracted to Jamesburg’s village feel and the sense of community in the borough when she and her husband moved to the area.
   ”People take pride in Jamesburg and their property,” she said. “It’s a safe place to live and walk without fearing anything.”
   Ms. Ludas said Jamesburg’s location is the key for turning the borough into an attractive destination for businesses, but maintained Jamesburg must keep its village atmosphere.
   ”Jamesburg is located in a convenient location for businesses because we’re close to the turnpike and several major county roads,” Ms. Ludas said. “The retail town center we have right now is nice but there are some changes and improvements that can be made.”
   Mr. Duke, 36, is the national director of marketing, engineering and consulting for an engineering and consulting firm in Manalapan. He said the groundwork exists for the borough to develop and become a retail hub.
   ”If you look at the core area, from the frontage of the lake to Railroad Avenue, we have the good makings of a town center in the traditional sense,” Mr. Duke said. “We have good characteristics downtown that lend to future development.”
   Mr. Duke said the downtown area should continue to keep storefronts on the street level while keeping apartments on the upper levels of the buildings. He said the tenants provide revenue to the owner and offer in-house clientele for the downtown area. Mr. Duke said developing more businesses along Railroad Avenue will be crucial to Jamesburg’s future.
   ”The downtown corridor is the key to making Jamesburg the destination center it should be,” he said. “We need to make the sidewalks more user-friendly and offer sitting areas. There needs to be modifications to existing structures and we have to work with the owners. We need to offer incentives and have standards for landscaping and appearance. We need to have consistency because that goes a long way to keep the look and feel of downtown.”
   Mr. Duke feels that the traffic problem in Jamesburg needs to be addressed as the town looks for new ways to develop as a retail center.
   ”To make the borough a destination we need to make the area grow by promoting it as a pedestrian-friendly area,” he said. “The (intersection of Lincoln, Gatzmer and Railroad avenues) by the train tracks as you come into town is a free-for-all. We need to have a study of traffic and flow patterns to try and improve the situation.”
   Ultimately, Mr. Duke said, future development in Jamesburg is contingent on bringing in investors to see what the borough has to offer as a center.
   ”If you look at the properties on the lakefront you can see they’re not being utilized to their best potential,” Mr. Duke said. “Outside investors can easily see the potential of the area because location is everything. Investors must match the downtown village feel because the more you make it a retail center, the more people will come. There is a great customer base and if you have a destination center people will come and that will be great for the borough.”
   Mr. Kostbar, 58, is an attorney and longtime area resident who has been involved in public service for a number of years, including his current third term as police commissioner. He has served on the Borough Council for three and one-half terms, three of those terms as council president. Mr. Kostbar also said that the development of the borough as a retail center is crucial to the borough’s health.
   ”We’ve had success in reforming land uses to become more business friendly and that’s reflected by the new businesses we’ve seen come to town,” Mr. Kostbar said. “We bring that success to the citizens (through) help with ratables for taxes. We’ve been tweaking and refining ordinances to bring new businesses to town.”
   Mr. Kostbar said the council has been working on making it easier for business to come to Jamesburg by making the process easier.
   ”We’ve cut a lot of the red tape to make Jamesburg more business friendly,” he said. “We need to make the process easier for the individual to see the potential. We have an extraordinary business climate and have some impressive businesses in town like CVS and Commerce Bank.”
   The traffic issue in the borough is also of major concern to Mr. Kostbar and he said the council is working with police on improving the situation.
   ”Traffic is becoming more of a problem especially with all of Jamesburg’s children walking to school,” he said. “We have to stay on top of the situation and we discuss it a lot in Police Committee meetings. We need to continue to provide police patrols, increased signage, lights and crossing guards to keep things under control, because we’re buried in traffic right now. We’re also working with the county to provide more mass transit.”
   Mr. Kostbar said the traffic problem and revitalization of the downtown area is crucial to Jamesburg attracting the necessary businesses in order to continue to develop.
   ”There are some properties in town that can be utilized for other purposes,” he said. “I’m not sure what more we can do because we have to wait and see what the market tells us. But we’re always looking to upgrade.”