SERA accepts $20M loan for Nat’l Lead

SERA accepts $20M
loan for Nat’l Lead
Officials: Stadium still possible despite plans
to build one in Monroe

SAYREVILLE — The borough’s redevelopment agency is closer than it has ever been to owning the 427-acre National Lead site.

The Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency met May 19 and approved an agreement with the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Middlesex County Improvement Author-ity (MCIA) that will front an additional $20 million in bonds for the agency’s move to acquire the property.

The decision came one day before a meeting of the freeholders, who in turn voted to release the bonds to the agency. The bonds are likely to be sold by the end of June.

"I’d like to thank the MCIA and the freeholders for believing in SERA so much that they’re lending us $39 million," said Mayor Kennedy O’Brien after the SERA vote.

The county allotted $19 million toward the project in December 2000 with the intent of financing the condemnation of the National Lead (NL) site. The parcel was appraised at $32 million, though an assessment of the area by engineering and environmental consultants determined that $28 million in cleanup costs are necessary.

A 2003 state Superior Court ruling required SERA to deposit the entire appraised value in court to acquire the property.

"In the coming years we’re all going to be very happy with our quality of life given the scope of this project," O’Brien said.

"In relatively short order, this agency will own the NL property," said SERA Attorney Roger McLaughlin.

Until 1982, NL Industries operated a paint pigment plant on the site, located between Route 35 and the Garden State Parkway. The property is now widely considered one of the state’s most important brownfields — land whose re-use is complicated by the presence of contamination or hazardous material.

Before giving unanimous approval last week, SERA commissioners amended the terms of the agreement to allow for a two-year window during which the loan can be paid back to the county, rather than the original one-year period. If a developer is not chosen and adequate provisions are not made for the county to be paid during that two-year period, the county can take control of the land.

Some members of the public initially expressed concern over the agreement’s terms.

"It’s a very valuable piece of land and I think that the people of Sayreville have a right to all the money made from it," said Adeline Wranovics.

"I am shocked that the governing body wasn’t consulted in spending this amount of money," said Councilman Thomas Marcinczyk, questioning why the Borough Council had not been advised of the status of the project and the subsequent agreement with the county.

"It is a disgrace when this amount of money is borrowed," he said. "There is no discussion with members of the governing body at all?"

SERA Executive Director Randy Corman said the terms of the agreement will be reasonable for the agency.

"Our biggest problem is the fact that we don’t have control of the property," he said.

"The county understands and recognizes the value of this property. They have a perfectly legitimate right to see that the money is paid back," McLaughlin said.

SERA commissioners were questioned directly as to whether a baseball stadium planned for Route 33 in Monroe Township would affect the status of an earlier proposal from the English Group to construct a sports complex on the NL property. Commissioners assured the public that the proposal remains a possibility.

"The English Group’s proposal is so far beyond just a baseball stadium that it’s like comparing apples and oranges," said McLaughlin of the stadium proposals for Monroe and Sayreville.

In Sayreville, the stadium was proposed as an "arenum," or a combination stadium and indoor arena. It was proposed for the National Lead site as part of a project that would include a hotel and convention center, retail complex, as well as other amenities and uses.

Corman said the customer base for a sports complex is based largely on potential visitors within a 15-mile radius around the site, rather than the number of other ballparks in the county.

Corman gave his opinion that the Trenton Thunder baseball stadium along the Trenton waterfront would have more of an effect on a Sayreville complex — from a competition standpoint — than would a Monroe stadium.

"I don’t believe that a sports complex in Sayreville is in any conflict or competition with a sports complex in Monroe," Corman said.

According to Corman, there is still a "growing range of options" for the agency’s choice of a developer.

There has been a growing interest in the site since the announcement of the $20 million loan, Corman said.

"My phone is ringing off the hook," he said.