Video: Town Hall on Economic Development

A Town Hall on Economic Development was held Monday night at the Middletown Arts Center. One year after being organized, the Middletown Economic Development Committee opened their doors to the public to seek input from the business community. It was sparsely attended, about 30 people were in attendance. A few in attendance were business owners in town. Many of the other attendees came to express concerns on how to make the areas they live in better.

A presentation was given by Township Administrator Tony Mercantante showing various  lots around town that could be better utilized to attract businesses to Middletown but the Town Hall, while geared towards the theme of economic development, seemed to be more of a campaign event designed to highlight Gerry Sharfenberger's business savvy.  Many of the attendees who came out for this event however, came to express concerns on how to make the areas they live in better and what  more could be done to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The best that Township officials could do though was to explained that they were not in the real estate business and could not force property owners to develop land they owned. They did say though, they could help in keeping properties maintained and safe through code enforcement.and added that they could use the help of the residents to report unsightly properties to the township code enforcement officers so that those properties could be maintained.

Watch the video, it's interesting to say the least.