RED BANK – Municipal officials have appointed five residents and two members of the Borough Council to serve on the new Red Bank Redevelopment Agency.
The redevelopment agency will be responsible for clearance, replanning, development and redevelopment initiatives in Red Bank.
Officials have said the agency will oversee projects to ensure redevelopment initiatives come to fruition, however, they acknowledged some redevelopment plans may never advance past the discussion stage.
During a recent council meeting, Councilwoman Kate Triggiano and Councilman Hazim Yassin, and residents Wilson Beebee, Alpha Reynolds-Lewis, Megan Massey, Jan Wouters and David Huber were appointed to the agency.
Triggiano and Yassin will serve through December. Beebe and Reynolds-Lewis will serve until Dec. 31, 2021. Massey will serve until Dec. 31, 2022. Wouters and Huber will serve until Dec. 31, 2023.
“It was a very difficult choice because so many extraordinary, capable and earnest individuals applied (to serve on the redevelopment agency) … The good news is that I didn’t know so many extraordinary individuals lived in Red Bank (who would) offer their time, talent and knowledge,” Mayor Pasquale Menna said.
Beebe, according to capitalimpact.org, is an executive consultant to Thanexus Inc., a cooperative offering human resource management, marketing, communications and financial services to New Jersey’s independently owned funeral homes. Beebe founded Thanexus in 2000. He also serves as an executive consultant to the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association.
Reynolds-Lewis is a certified general real estate appraiser in New Jersey. Menna said she worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Reynolds-Lewis is a trustee of the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation.
Massey, according to Menna, has “successfully merged cooperative relationships with federal and state agencies that (offer) grants to accomplish housing and redevelopment projects.” Massey is the assistant director of Transit Friendly Land Use and Development at New Jersey Transit.
Wouters is a partner and attorney at Bathgate, Wegener & Wolf. According to the firm’s website, Wouters represents purchasers and sellers of residential real estate, developers in every phase of real estate acquisitions, financing and development. He has substantial experience in planned retirement community developments and redevelopment law and tax-free exchanges.
Huber, according to Menna, recently retired as the chief financial officer of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. He said Huber “was head of finances for a multi-billion dollar company.” He also served on the the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
Menna said technical advisers will assist the redevelopment agency. They are James Scavone, executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter; Timothy Hogan, president of care transformation services, Hackensack Meridian Health.
Also, Jeffrey Nadell, senior director of real estate and economic development at New Jersey Transit; Jesse Garrison, former employee and manager at the Department of Public Works; Michaela Ferrigine, president of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission.
And, Frank Corrado, of the environmental commission; Jared J. Rumage, superintendent of Red Bank Borough Public Schools; Adam Philipson, chief executive officer of the Count Basie Center for the Arts; and the Rev. Terrence Porter, a member of Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation.
On May 6, Kenneth DeRoberts, chief executive officer of Government Strategy Group, said Red Bank Business Administrator Ziad Shehady would serve as the executive director of the redevelopment agency.
Government Strategy Group, Shrewsbury, has been retained by Red Bank officials to work with the borough on municipal initiatives.