Council adds legal funds
for hospital, FRHSD costs
Mayor: It’s now unclear
if Marlboro will ever
purchase hospital tract
By larry ramer
Staff Writer
For the second straight month, the Marlboro Township Council in a late-night action appropriated funds for use by the town’s legal representatives. As in July, the measures did not appear on the council’s public agenda for that evening’s meeting.
On Aug. 14 at about 11:50 p.m., according to the township clerk’s office, the council voted to appropriate an additional $20,000 to the law firm of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole and Wisler, which is representing Marlboro in its negotiations with the state regarding the potential purchase of the Route 520 land which formerly housed the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital.
Council President Ellen Karcher and council members Mary Singer, James Mione and Paul Kovalski voted for the measure. Councilman Barry Denkensohn was not present at the meeting.
Another resolution, passed by the same vote at about the same time, increased the cap on expenditures by the town to the law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland and Perretti, which represented the township in litigation with the Freehold Regional High School District, from $100,000 to $140,000.
The resolution says the law firm will "represent the interests of the township vis-a-vis the Freehold Regional High School Board of Education." The law firm charges the township $175 per hour for its services, according to the resolution.
The township’s public information officer did not respond to requests for clarification of this matter, since it was believed that Marlboro’s litigation vs. the FRHSD had concluded.
Both measures increasing the caps on legal fees were voted on following an executive session of the council which began at the conclusion of the regular Aug. 14 meeting. News of the action regarding the approval of the additional fees was published as a small legal notice in a local daily newspaper sometime after the resolutions had been passed by the council.
Asked why the council did not wait until its next meeting to consider the measure, Singer said, "There was no reason not to take action (on this measure at 11:50 p.m. Aug. 14). We didn’t want to hesitate. We’re doing the same thing we’ve been doing — knocking down barriers so we can obtain the hospital property."
Singer noted residents are informed that action may be taken by the council following its executive session. Any resident with questions or concerns can call the township clerk to obtain Singer’s cellular phone number and should feel free to call her, the councilwoman said.
"We want public input," she said.
Questions regarding the resolution that increased the DeCotiis firm’s cap could not be immediately answered.
The resolution states that, "it has become necessary to authorize an additional increase (in the cap on payments for the legal services of DeCotiis, in order) to negotiate a redevelopment agreement with a developer for the redevelopment of the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital property."
A notice released by the township states that a ceiling of $50,000 has been established "for negotiating the redevelopment agreement with a designated developer for the redevelopment of the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital."
However, Marlboro has not announced that it has selected a developer for the hospital property, and at the beginning of last month Karcher said many elements of the hospital redevelopment plan were "in flux."
Asked why the council appeared to be authorizing the release of funds for negotiating with a developer that has not been chosen yet, Kovalski said he had to study the matter further before replying.
Karcher said she had to make inquiries about the matter and did not return a phone message seeking further comment on the issue.
Singer and Mione were, however, able to offer an answer. They said the word "developer" referred to North American Realty Advisory Services (NAR), New York City, a private company which is advising the council on redevelopment plans for the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital property.
"NAR provides ideas and agendas, and the attorney (DeCotiis) advises us on actions to take regarding them. Our goal is to aggressively purchase the property," Mione said.
However, the reason why the council’s resolution refers to "negotiations" between the "developer" and the DeCotiis firm remains unclear.
Neither the public information office or Business Administrator Chris Marion responded to requests by the News Transcript for further clarification of this matter.
According to the notice issued by the township, the cap on payments to the DeCotiis firm for its work on matters involving the hospital property now totals $165,000. The cap for the fees paid to the DeCotiis lawyers, who charge the township $150 per hour, is broken down as follows:
• $105,000 for negotiating the purchase of the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital property from the state.
• $50,000 for negotiating the redevelopment agreement with a designated developer for the redevelopment of the property.
• $10,000 for conducting due diligence on developers who have submitted proposals for the redevelopment of the property.
Mayor Matthew Scannapieco said the negotiations with the state regarding the 411-acre hospital property "have gone on longer than we expected."
Scannapieco, a Republican, cited new environmental regulations enacted by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which have affected the property and the change in administrations in Trenton as reasons for the delay.
There are some indications that negotiations have continued longer than Gov. James E. McGreevey expected, as well. In July 2002, McGreevey told the News Transcript that negotiations on the hospital property would be concluded within a year.
Asked by a reporter on Sept. 1 about the status of negotiations and whether Karcher or other members of the council had raised new ideas on how to move negotiations on the matter forward, McGreevey said negotiations are "moving forward … and making good headway."
Neither the governor; nor Matt Golden, a spokesman for the state Treasury Department, which is handling negotiations for the state on the hospital property; nor Denkensohn, who negotiates on behalf of Marlboro in the hospital property matter, would discuss the substance of the negotiations with a reporter.
Scannapieco said there is now less certainty that Marlboro will be able to recoup the money it has spent on negotiations with the state and other costs associated with acquiring or attempting to acquire the hospital property.
Previously, Scannapieco said, the township planned to obtain reimbursement for these expenditures by allowing a developer to build on the site. However, the new DEP regulations which may make the hospital property more difficult to develop may limit Marlboro’s ability to profit from development on the land, the mayor said.
"Now there is a bigger question if the site can be developed in ways that will benefit the town and there is a question about our ability to recoup the fees" spent on the property, the mayor said. "These issues need to be examined more thoroughly."
The mayor also raised the possibility that Marlboro may never be able to buy the hospital land.
"There’s always the possibility that Marlboro will not be able to acquire the property," he said. "In real estate, you don’t have the property until you’ve closed. We’re not near the point of closing yet."
In regard to the resolutions passed to appropriate legal funds, at its previous meeting in July, the council, acting after its executive session ended at about 1 a.m., voted to approve an emergency appropriation of $350,000. That money will be used to pay for legal expenses that exceed the amount budgeted by the town for legal representation in its 2003 budget.