Grant will help fund traffic enforcement

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Municipal officials have approved a resolution for two grants that will help to ensure safety in the township.

At a recent meeting, Township Committee members gave approval for Freehold Township police Lt. Robert Brightman to apply for a New Jersey Department of Transportation grant in the amount of $48,000.

According to the resolution, the grant will fully fund Safe Corridors enforcement efforts, which may include education programs and capital improvements.

Officials said the grant money will be used to pay police overtime for traffic enforcement operations.

Committee members approved an application for a grant of $59,548 for a project under the Safe and Secure Communities Program. This grant money will be applied to the salaries of two of our regular police officers.

According to the resolution, the township “wishes to participate to the fullest extent possible with the Department of Law and Public Safety.”

According to the resolution, the Division of Criminal Justice will be responsible for the receipt and review of the applications for the funds and will also initiate allocations to each applicant as authorized.

In other business, the members of the governing body approved a resolution for a proposed settlement with A&M Plaza LLC in regard to a 2007 and 2008 tax assessment appeal made by the business.

A&M Plaza is on Route 9 north near Three Brooks Road. The shopping center contains a lighting store, several restaurants and a hair salon.

According to the resolution, the township has contracted with Nowell, Amoroso Klein Bierman, P.A. for tax appeal legal defense services.

The resolution states that the firm has reached a settlement per its Jan. 26 letter as follows: “The proposed settlement calls for a withdrawal of the 2007 appeal and would reduce the assessed value to $2,483,356 for 2008. The market value indicated by the proposed settlement for 2008 would be $5,277,000. This number also reflects the 2009 revaluation number.”

Any settlement containing a greater than 15 percent reduction in assessment requires approval by the governing body, according to the resolution.

According to Freehold Township tax assessorWilliamFitzpatrick, the 2007 assessed value of the property was approximately $2,766,600. The 2007 market value was approximately $5,561,000. Had the tax assessment appeal not been approved, the shopping center’s 2008 market value would have been $5,878,000.