By KENNY WALTER
Staff Writer
OCEANPORT — As the borough continues to search for a new home, the Borough Council has agreed to extend an agreement to use the Shrewsbury Borough Court.
Borough Administrator Raymond Poerio said that Oceanport and Shrewsbury have agreed on a two-year extension on the arrangement, made after the borough’s facility was damaged during superstorm Sandy.
“As many of you know, there has been some drama in the past regarding Shrewsbury court,” he said. “Myself and the mayor have met with the leadership of Shrewsbury — we had a good, frank conversation with them.
“The good news is at the end of the day they agreed to extend our lease agreement with them for the next two years if needed.”
Poerio said that the borough will pay Shrewsbury $2,500 a month for the next year and $3,000 a month for the second year. However, he anticipates the new borough hall to be in place by the second year and the borough would be able to void the contract. The borough uses the Shrewsbury court two days a month, while Sea Bright also uses the court an additional two days a month as part of a shared service agreement with Oceanport.
Poerio said while agreeing on the court, the two municipalities came to an agreement to share the purchase of a street sweeper.
“With your approval, we’ve been able to facilitate a shared service agreement with them — they are in need of a street sweeper, as we are as well,” he said. “We had a conversation about partnering with them on the acquisition of a street sweeper.
“We’ll basically purchase the street sweeper, and instead of paying them a fee to rent the court facility, we would take it off the payment of the street sweeper.”