I was at last night's special meeting of the Middletown Township Committee to hear the introduction of the new Town Hall Municipal Complex. I was interested in hearing how much it will cost us taxpayers.
The township entered into a public /private P3 agreement with a developer called Brandywine Acquisitions & Development . Brandywine will front upwards of $56.7M to build a new 72'000 sqft Municipal Complex. Brandywine will then recoup its investment by leasing the new complex back to the Township for $3.6M a year for 30 years. At the end of the 30 year lease Middletown can buy back the property from Brandywine for $1.
Sounds like a great deal until you try to work out the fuzzy math.
The Township can build a new municipal complex on its own for ~$60M (or less) but appears to prefer to pay Brandywine $108M in lease payments over the life of the 30 year lease just so the town doesn't have to payout any upfront costs. When the documents become available they must be looked at closely to see the structure of the payments. In the meantime, Middletown plans on signing the development deal within the next 10 days.
The Asbury Park Press has an article online this morning concerning the project. It pretty much confirms what I posted last night to my Facebook page.
Showing posts with label Special Meeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Special Meeting. Show all posts
Friday, December 7, 2018
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Special Meeting To Introduce New Town Hall Municipal Complex December 6th
When members of the Middletown Township Committee are afraid of presenting something to the public during the regularly scheduled monthly meeting, they do so via Special Meeting to limit attendance and potential controversy. This meeting should not be missed.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Letter: At Special Meeting, Township Committee Attorney Violated Rule
To the Editor:
I just watched the video of the at 3:30 p.m October 30, 2017 Middletown Township Special Meeting about the proposed recycling and garbage contract. Only one committeeman was actually present; neither of the candidates for reelection bothered to attend.
It certainly sounded as if a public commenter, who asked a simple question about the reason for meeting in the afternoon, not at night as usual, was being disrespected The township attorney kept jumping in to answer her, as has been his practice, acting as if he were a sixth elected committee member, while Committeeman Scharfenberger mostly sat silently.
That process violated their own meeting rules. Years ago I pointed out to them their own official policy that all comments need to be directed to the chair and answered by a member of the committee. Then, if they so choose, they can direct someone else, e.g. , the attorney or administrator to respond.
They did not seem to be explaining patiently to the (female) commenter! I doubt that Tricia Maguire ,who has been most gracious to me, will treat a public commenter that way!
It is past time for new blood in Middletown.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Schwebel
Leonardo, N.J.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
October 30, 2017 Special Middletown Township Committee Meeting; Ask A Simple Question ...
Yesterday, the Middletown Township Committee held a hastily called meeting to introduce an ordinance that would dissolve the current garbage district. The meeting was considered a formality by the committee so only acting mayor, Gerry Scharfenberger was in attendance. The other members of the current committee, Kevin Settenbrino, Tony Fiore and Stephenie Murray phoned it in.
What's of note here is that when the meeting was opened for public comments, the individual asking questions about the process of holding a meeting at 3:30 in the afternoon, as opposed to later so that other members of the public could attend, wasn't just rudely answered, this person was totally disrespected and accused of grandstanding due to the upcoming election by township committee attorney, Brian Nelson.
Nelson, has a history of interjecting his own thoughts and comments during meetings. Nelson is not an elected official but often acts as if he is the 6th committee person while the others sit back idly and allow him to do so.
Yesterday, his actions where cringe worthy and unprofessional.
As for the ordinance, if was approved and will be officially adopted at the next committee meeting on Nov. 20th.
Here is a copy of the Meeting Agenda
Monday, August 22, 2016
BOE Special Voting Meeting - August 17, 2016: Selection of Middletown BOE Member Was a Farce
There was a special voting meeting of the Middletown Board of Education (BOE) last Wednesday night, where the order of business was to select a new member of the board, to fill the unexpired term of Board member Helene Henkel. Henkel stepped down from the board for personal reasons last month. Out of a dozen candidates to fill the position, ten of which were present to be interviewed, the BOE settled on Andy Nicholes. Nicholes, some may recall, ran unsuccessfully last year for a seat on the BOE. He teamed up with Board President Jim Cody, but came in 5th (there were 3 seats available). Nicholes’s selection raised a few eyebrows Wednesday night.
There are some, myself included, that believe Andy Nicoles had be given the interview questions prior to the selection process, to ensure that he’d have an upper hand during the interview for Henkel’s seat.
Three questions were asked of each candidate; what do you think your role as a Board member is? What do you think you can contribute as a Board member? And, what do you think is the biggest problem with the Middletown school system?
Each candidate was given an opportunity at an opening statement or comment to introduce themselves to the board members, followed by each candidate being asked the same 3 questions by Board President Jim Cody. There were no probing or follow-up questions to any of the candidates answers from any the board members present; I found out afterwards, follow-up or others questions from sitting board members were not allowed by Cody and that each interview had a 10 minute (or less) time limit.
As the interviews progressed throughout the meeting, it was pretty obvious that Andy Nicholes, who had the opportunity to be interviewed 3rd, had been given the questions early. Unlike those that went before or after, Nicholes had an extensive and well prepared opening statement, that he had taken out of a folder and read as if a script. The answers to his first two questions were pre-prepared and also read (with apparent bullet points) from a piece of paper. Only his last answer, which seemed well thought out, appeared to be off the cuff. Watch the video below, Nicholes questioning begins at the 11:54 mark and finishes at 17:29.
No other candidate was as prepared for the process like Nicholes was. Sure, as the night’s proceedings progressed, the answers from the others being interviewed became more thought out and detailed. I attribute that however, to the fact that the same 3 questions were being asked and they had time to take in what was being said by others to formulate their ideas and give some very good answers.
In my opinion, those that stood out during the selection process and should have been given better preference over Nicholes were in no particular order, Robin Stella, who was the first to be interviewed, John Little, Scott McPherson, Peter Memon and Keshia Guthrie. All have professional backgrounds and had ideas to move the district forward.
Andy Nicholes’s selection to fill Henkel’s seat on the BOE was a farce and looks like a good ol’ boy appointment that could lead to some issues going forward; there are reasons why he came in 5th last November.
Nicholes is a teacher who works in the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District. There will be numerous votes that take place which he’d be prohibited from voting on such as, union and pension issues and possible tenure or other personnel issues. Superficially but no less important to some, Andy Nicholes doesn’t own a home in Middletown (last I’ve heard, he lives with his parents in Leonardo) and unlike others, he has no children attending school in the district.
I don't know if Andy Nicholes will turn out to be a good member of the Middletown Board of Education or not. I've watched the video of the meeting and feel that better choices were available. I do know however, that the dynamics of the BOE isn't likely to change with his appointment.
You can read more about the controversy of Nicholes's appointment to the Middletown Board of Education on the Facebook page MIDDLETOWN New Jersey.
There are some, myself included, that believe Andy Nicoles had be given the interview questions prior to the selection process, to ensure that he’d have an upper hand during the interview for Henkel’s seat.
Three questions were asked of each candidate; what do you think your role as a Board member is? What do you think you can contribute as a Board member? And, what do you think is the biggest problem with the Middletown school system?
Each candidate was given an opportunity at an opening statement or comment to introduce themselves to the board members, followed by each candidate being asked the same 3 questions by Board President Jim Cody. There were no probing or follow-up questions to any of the candidates answers from any the board members present; I found out afterwards, follow-up or others questions from sitting board members were not allowed by Cody and that each interview had a 10 minute (or less) time limit.
As the interviews progressed throughout the meeting, it was pretty obvious that Andy Nicholes, who had the opportunity to be interviewed 3rd, had been given the questions early. Unlike those that went before or after, Nicholes had an extensive and well prepared opening statement, that he had taken out of a folder and read as if a script. The answers to his first two questions were pre-prepared and also read (with apparent bullet points) from a piece of paper. Only his last answer, which seemed well thought out, appeared to be off the cuff. Watch the video below, Nicholes questioning begins at the 11:54 mark and finishes at 17:29.
No other candidate was as prepared for the process like Nicholes was. Sure, as the night’s proceedings progressed, the answers from the others being interviewed became more thought out and detailed. I attribute that however, to the fact that the same 3 questions were being asked and they had time to take in what was being said by others to formulate their ideas and give some very good answers.
In my opinion, those that stood out during the selection process and should have been given better preference over Nicholes were in no particular order, Robin Stella, who was the first to be interviewed, John Little, Scott McPherson, Peter Memon and Keshia Guthrie. All have professional backgrounds and had ideas to move the district forward.
Andy Nicholes’s selection to fill Henkel’s seat on the BOE was a farce and looks like a good ol’ boy appointment that could lead to some issues going forward; there are reasons why he came in 5th last November.
Nicholes is a teacher who works in the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District. There will be numerous votes that take place which he’d be prohibited from voting on such as, union and pension issues and possible tenure or other personnel issues. Superficially but no less important to some, Andy Nicholes doesn’t own a home in Middletown (last I’ve heard, he lives with his parents in Leonardo) and unlike others, he has no children attending school in the district.
I don't know if Andy Nicholes will turn out to be a good member of the Middletown Board of Education or not. I've watched the video of the meeting and feel that better choices were available. I do know however, that the dynamics of the BOE isn't likely to change with his appointment.
You can read more about the controversy of Nicholes's appointment to the Middletown Board of Education on the Facebook page MIDDLETOWN New Jersey.
Friday, May 1, 2015
April 30 2015 Middletown Township Committee Meeting - Budget Hearing
The Middletown Township Committee held a special meeting yesterday to adopt the 2015 budget. The resolution accepting the contract with the PBA was pulled from the agenda for discussion during Executive Session and reintroduced at the May 4th workshop meeting.
Here are the links to the proposed FY 2015 Municipal Budget and Solid Waste Budget documents that were present at the March 30th Township meeting. The proposed budgets do not differ very much from what was voted on yesterday:
https://archive.org/details/151292015MunicipalBudgetIntroduced
https://archive.org/details/151302015SolidWasteBudgetIntroduced
Here are the links to the proposed FY 2015 Municipal Budget and Solid Waste Budget documents that were present at the March 30th Township meeting. The proposed budgets do not differ very much from what was voted on yesterday:
https://archive.org/details/151292015MunicipalBudgetIntroduced
https://archive.org/details/151302015SolidWasteBudgetIntroduced
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
04/30/15 Special Township Committee Meeting: Public Hearing For 2015 Municipal Budgets
A special meeting of the Township Committee will be held Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 6:30 in the Main Meeting Room, 1 Kings Highway for the purpose of holding a public hearing on the 2015 Municipal and Solid Waste Budgets. A resolution will be considered for action Authorizing Ratification of the PBA Contract4-30-15 Revised, Special Meeting Notice.pdf
Thursday, September 12, 2013
No Action Taken At Last Night's Library Board Meeting
I couldn't attend last night's special meeting of the Middletown Library Board of Trustees due to my work schedule but from what I've heard it was rather anti-climatic.
After opening the public meeting and then going directly into executive session for about 45 minutes, then meeting was re-opened for public comments, after which the library board took no action regarding the initial purpose of the meeting which was to discuss the performance of a certain staff member (believed to be Library Director Susan O'Neal).
Board members Tony Fiore and Cynthia Wilson were absent, as were Susan O'Neal and Wendy Latona.
Reporters from the Independent and Asbury Park Press were there and will more than likely have additional information on the meeting later this week.
Which leaves me to ask, what were these clowns hoping to achieve last night that couldn't have been done at a normal meeting?
After opening the public meeting and then going directly into executive session for about 45 minutes, then meeting was re-opened for public comments, after which the library board took no action regarding the initial purpose of the meeting which was to discuss the performance of a certain staff member (believed to be Library Director Susan O'Neal).
Board members Tony Fiore and Cynthia Wilson were absent, as were Susan O'Neal and Wendy Latona.
Reporters from the Independent and Asbury Park Press were there and will more than likely have additional information on the meeting later this week.
Which leaves me to ask, what were these clowns hoping to achieve last night that couldn't have been done at a normal meeting?
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Special Township Committee Meeting March 28
From Middletown Alerts:
This should be a good one, we'll learn how much our property taxes will increase due to lost property values caused by Superstorm Sandy along with some details concerning the the proposed turf fields that are to be build on Middletown Board of Education property.
A special meeting of the Township Committee will be held on Thursday, March 28 at 6pm in the main meeting room. The purpose of the meeting is introduction of the 2013 budget.
This should be a good one, we'll learn how much our property taxes will increase due to lost property values caused by Superstorm Sandy along with some details concerning the the proposed turf fields that are to be build on Middletown Board of Education property.
Monday, November 19, 2012
11-14-12 Township Committee Meeting: Special Meeting to Discuss Hurricane Sandy
Last Wednesday the Middletown Township Committee called for a special meeting to discuss actions that the Township would take regarding the events surrounding the aftermath of super storm, Hurricane Sandy.
Shortly after the meeting opened the Committee entered into Executive Session to discuss hurricane relief efforts and emergency contracts.
During the public portion of the meeting a few residents asked for updates on the status of various relief efforts around town
You can find the agenda for both the Executive Session and the Public meeting .... HERE
*******
Tonight the Township Committee meet for its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, I will post the video as soon as it is available. At tonight's meeting I'm sure that more information pertaining to the relief efforts will be made public.
Shortly after the meeting opened the Committee entered into Executive Session to discuss hurricane relief efforts and emergency contracts.
During the public portion of the meeting a few residents asked for updates on the status of various relief efforts around town
You can find the agenda for both the Executive Session and the Public meeting .... HERE
*******
Tonight the Township Committee meet for its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, I will post the video as soon as it is available. At tonight's meeting I'm sure that more information pertaining to the relief efforts will be made public.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Middletown Settles With Police SOA Union; PBA Members Vote Tomorrow To Save 6 From Layoff
I don't have all the facts but according to a friend that attended this afternoon's special Middletown Township Committee meeting a contract settlement was reached with the Middletown Police Senior Officers Association (SOA) and a settlement with the Middletown PBA is pending union vote of approval scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Details of the settlement between Middletown and the SOA are as follows according to what I have been told:
- 4 year contract with salary increase of with 7.5% during length of contract broken down as follows - 1.5% 2% 2% 2%.
- No demotions or reduced pay for current Senior Officers.
- No layoffs of Senior Officers (thanks to 2 retirements instead)
- Members must contribute 25% of the cost of health plan if they stay with Township's current health care plan, otherwise they must switch to a HMO based plan that members must contribute a percentage of salary to participate in (details of this however are a little sketchy and more clarification is needed.
It was stated however, that if this contract between the PBA and the Township is ratified only 4 of the 10 planned police layoffs will take place , saving 6 positions.
More details as they become available over the next few day...
Thursday, April 28, 2011
FYI - Special Middletown Township Committee Meeting Scheduled For Today Cancelled
Just an FYI to readers that thought that there may be a special meeting of the Middletown Township Committee this afternoon at 5 pm, the meeting has been cancelled.
No reason was given on the Township's website for the canceling the meeting, but you can be sure that it was cancelled because no agreement was reached with either the SOA or PBA unions on contract givebacks before tomorrow's looming Township lay-off.
As they say, "Tomorrow is another day".
So let's see if tomorrow's meeting goes on as planned.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Special Meetings Scheduled For Thursday and Friday May Not Be What We think
Kudos to Redbankgreen.com and Dustin Racioppi for tracking down Middletown's acting mayor, Tony Fiore, and asking about the two special Township meetings that have been called for on Thursday and Friday this week.
According to what was written online, the two hastily scheduled meetings are just incase a contract settlement is achieved between the Township of Middletown and it's two unions.
At this point in time, there are no settlements pending or imminent and there is a very good chance that the meetings will not take place. The meetings were call for "just in case".
So as of now, the expected lay-off of 10 Middletown police officers and 16 members of the Township's Department of Parks & Recreation on Friday are still, pending unless there is an 11th hour settlement
You can read more about it >>>Here
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Breaking News: Special Middletown Township Committee Meetings Scheduled for Thursday and Friday @ 5 PM
Posted shortly ago on the Middletown Township website, two notices for special Committee meetings to be held on Thursday April 28th & Friday April 29th.
Thurs, April 28 Special Meeting 5pm
Notice is hereby given that the “Open Public Meeting” of the Township Committee of the Township of Middletown is scheduled for:
DATE: Thursday, April 28, 2011
TIME: 5:00 PM SPECIAL MEETING
PLACE: Middletown Town Hall, Main Meeting Room, One Kings Highway, Middletown, NJ 07748
at which time the following matters of business will be conducted:
KNOWN ACTION ITEMS:
Possible Adoption of Resolution Ratifying Collective Bargaining Agreements (SOA and/or PBA)
EXECUTIVE SESSION TO FOLLOW
and any other matters that may come before the Township Committee.
Heidi R. Brunt, RMC, CMC
Township Clerk
April 26, 2011
The Independent
Asbury Park Press
Two River Times
The Star Ledger
Fri, April 29 Special Meeting 5 p.m.
posted: April 26, 2011
Notice is hereby given that the “Open Public Meeting” of the Township Committee of the Township of Middletown is scheduled for:
DATE: Friday, April 29, 2011
TIME: 5:00 PM SPECIAL MEETING
PLACE: Middletown Town Hall, Main Meeting Room, One Kings Highway, Middletown, NJ 07748
at which time the following matters of business will be conducted:
KNOWN ACTION ITEMS:
Possible Adoption of Resolution Ratifying Collective Bargaining Agreements (SOA and/or PBA)
EXECUTIVE SESSION TO FOLLOW
and any other matters that may come before the Township Committee.
Heidi R. Brunt, RMC, CMC
Township Clerk
April 26, 2011
The Independent
Asbury Park Press
Two River Times
The Star Ledger
It seems that contract settlements with the Township's unions, the SOA and PBA are imminent.
No further details are given.
The question is however, did the unions give enough in concessions to the Township to avoid the planned April 29th lay-off of 16 Park & Recreation workers and 10 Middletown Police officers?
If so, than it would be a sure bet that the Middletown Arts Center will, more than likely, remain open and other doomsday service cuts will not be implemented.
Below are the notices:
Thurs, April 28 Special Meeting 5pm
Notice is hereby given that the “Open Public Meeting” of the Township Committee of the Township of Middletown is scheduled for:
DATE: Thursday, April 28, 2011
TIME: 5:00 PM SPECIAL MEETING
PLACE: Middletown Town Hall, Main Meeting Room, One Kings Highway, Middletown, NJ 07748
at which time the following matters of business will be conducted:
KNOWN ACTION ITEMS:
Possible Adoption of Resolution Ratifying Collective Bargaining Agreements (SOA and/or PBA)
EXECUTIVE SESSION TO FOLLOW
and any other matters that may come before the Township Committee.
Heidi R. Brunt, RMC, CMC
Township Clerk
April 26, 2011
The Independent
Asbury Park Press
Two River Times
The Star Ledger
Fri, April 29 Special Meeting 5 p.m.
posted: April 26, 2011
Notice is hereby given that the “Open Public Meeting” of the Township Committee of the Township of Middletown is scheduled for:
DATE: Friday, April 29, 2011
TIME: 5:00 PM SPECIAL MEETING
PLACE: Middletown Town Hall, Main Meeting Room, One Kings Highway, Middletown, NJ 07748
at which time the following matters of business will be conducted:
KNOWN ACTION ITEMS:
Possible Adoption of Resolution Ratifying Collective Bargaining Agreements (SOA and/or PBA)
EXECUTIVE SESSION TO FOLLOW
and any other matters that may come before the Township Committee.
Heidi R. Brunt, RMC, CMC
Township Clerk
April 26, 2011
The Independent
Asbury Park Press
Two River Times
The Star Ledger
Monday, September 29, 2008
Special Meeting of the Middletown Township Committee 9/30/2008
Mountian Hill, LLC is the developer of the proposed "Town Center" project, which won it's court appeal against the township earlier this month.
The Township Committee will vote to ratify a resolution of petition to the NJ State Supreme Court. The petition will ask the court to overturn the lower courts decision against the Township in the matter of Mountain Hill, LLC v. Middletown Matters.
If anyone wishes to voice their opinion in this matter the open public portion of this special meeting starts at 8:30 pm at Town Hall.
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