NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP BUYS PROPERTY; ADOPTS REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

BY MICHELLE SAHN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

NEPTUNE — Edythe Douglass stood in front of Ridge Avenue School on Wednesday, clutching a brick from the old building.

One of her daughters, who lives in California, was upset when she heard about plans to tear the school down. So Douglass asked a member of the crew demolishing the school this week to give her a brick, so she could tell her daughter she salvaged something from the place that held so many memories.

Douglass, 83, of Shorebrook Circle was one of a handful of township residents who stopped by the school Wednesday morning. Its demolition began Tues-day, and work was expected to continue Wednesday afternoon.

The school, built in 1924, will be replaced by Midtown Community Elementary School, which is under construction a few blocks away, near Route 33 and Embury Avenue. Meanwhile, Neptune Township has struck a deal with the school district to purchase the Ridge Avenue School property for $2.26 million.

The township’s governing body already adopted a redevelopment plan for the property, in the Midtown section, and plans to seek proposals from developers interested in building housing there. Under the deal, the school district is paying for the demolition work.

Township officials initially suggested 76 homes be built there; however, Mayor Thomas J. Catley said, officials heard residents’ concerns about density “loud and clear,” and they do not anticipate the final project will be as dense.

While the replacement school is being built, students are taking classes in modular rooms nearby. Construction is expected to be complete by the spring, said Kevin McElroy, a spokesman for the New Jersey Schools Construction Corp.

Meanwhile, for the past two years, the state leased Ridge Avenue School for $335,000 a year, so students from nearby Asbury Park could take classes there while their own school, Thurgood Marshall Elementary, underwent renovations. Those students are scheduled to be back in their own school in September.

As for Douglass, all five of her children attended Ridge Avenue School, and she was active in the parent-teacher association. Teachers were friendly and good role models, recalled Douglass, who lived on Heck Avenue when her children were young.

She said her four living children, who range in age from 61 to 55, are successful. One owns a human resources business, another is a budget analyst for the government. Another works for a radio station, and the fourth is retired.

“It all started with the education they got here,” she said.

Gail Oliver, 54, of West Lake Avenue attended kindergarten through sixth grade at the school. When she was 3 years old, her mother brought her to a recital there, she said.

“It’s where I got started with dancing,” she said. “She put me on the stage (when the show was over), and I’ve been dancing ever since.”

Arden R. Thorne, 82, of Myrtle Avenue remembers when the huge trees at the edge of the school property were tiny.

Nate Cave, 62, also of Myrtle Avenue, said in his day, when teachers gave instructions students followed them. If they did not, they would be tapped with a ruler, said Cave, a member of the Ridge Avenue eighth-grade class of 1957.

“The biggest fear was teachers sending a note home to your parents, because you knew you were in a world of trouble,” he said. “They taught self-respect and pride.”

Here are a few pictures of the Ridge Avenue School site in early demolish stages

]]> http://www.neptunemurc.com/home/2006/08/15/ridge-avenue-school-site-preliminary-demolition-pictures/feed/ 0 http://www.neptunemurc.com/home/2006/05/03/neptune%e2%80%99s-redevelopments-could-increase-tax-revenues/ http://www.neptunemurc.com/home/2006/05/03/neptune%e2%80%99s-redevelopments-could-increase-tax-revenues/#comments Wed, 03 May 2006 04:34:17 +0000 Joe http://www.neptunemurc.com/home/?p=27 As Printed in The Coaster
By ANDREW CANGIANO

Neptune’s multiple redevelopment projects could give the township an additional $12.3 million in tax revenue, Stanley Slachetka, a consulting engineer for the township, said at the Township Committee meeting on Monday.

Currently, the township receives about $278,000 a year from the properties that could be developed, he said.

All except one of the properties in the estimated tax evaluation are a part of the township’s strategic redevelopment plan – which includes the Shark River North Channel Inlet, West Lake Avenue, the former Whitesville School site, and the Ridge Avenue School site.

A proposed development of 600 age restricted units in a parcel of land bordered by Route 66 and Route 18 (where a high-tech park had originally been proposed), was also considered in the tax estimate.

Slachetka showed via power-point the current tax revenues for each of the possible redevelopment sites and a projection of how much tax revenue these properties could generate in five years if they are redeveloped.

The anticipated tax revenue for each redevelopment site was based on an annual five percent increase on the current tax rate projected over five years. Based on the current tax rate of $1.97, the rate in five years would be $2.60.

The Whitesville school property, which is vacant, is currently assessed at $535,000, producing $10,694 in tax revenue under the current tax rate.

If a proposed 76,000 square foot medical office complex is built, the property would be assessed at $11.4 million and would produce $296,400 of tax revenue in five years under the future tax rate.

The properties on West Lake Avenue are assessed at about $3.86 million and currently generate $77,000 of tax revenue.

Under the proposed mixed-use redevelopment plan, the properties on West Lake Avenue would be assessed at about $102.5 million and would create about $2.67 million in future tax revenue.

The properties on the Shark River’s North Channel Inlet, which include the Headliner and Sunsets Restaurant, are assessed at about $8.86 million and currently generate about $177,000 in tax revenues.

Under the proposal to turn the inlet into a mixed-use waterfront destination, the township anticipates the property could be assessed at $83.25 million, creating $2.16 million of tax revenue in five years.

The undeveloped area bordered by Route 66 and Route 18 is currently assessed at $670,000 and generates $13,000 in tax revenue.

A proposed development of 600 age restricted units on the property could raise the assessed value to $270 million and generate $7 million in tax revenue.

Mayor Thomas Catley said the township’s revitalization plan will address the problem of increasing property taxes on a short term basis.

He said the township is looking to increase tax revenue by $15 million over the next five years through its revitalization plan.

�The people [of Neptune] need to know this isn’t some pie in the sky dream, it’s happening now,� Catley said about the township’s plan for redevelopment.

The mayor also addressed this year’s budget, which will be voted on by the committee at their next meeting. He said he supports the budget, which includes a 4.7 cent tax rate increase, but said that property taxes in the state are �unacceptable.�

In other news, David Bacon, a longtime township resident and bus driver for S.C.A.T (which provides transportation services to seniors in Monmouth County), expressed concern that the township might not renew its contract with S.C.A.T after this year.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Neptune CFO Michael Bascom said the township has considered using its own buses and drivers to provide busing for seniors, because of the substantially increased costs of using the county bus service.

S.C.A.T. has provided busing for seniors in Neptune since 1975, but the cost of using its services has doubled in recent years, Bascom said. This year, the price for the busing service rose to $112 per-day and next year the cost is expected to be $158 per-day, he said.

However, Bascom said Neptune will continue to use S.C.A.T for senior busing services until at least the end of 2006, after which the township will re-evaluate whether to continue its contract.

Neptune will continue to provide busing to its seniors even if the township decides not to renew its contract with S.C.A.T., he stressed.

Neptune residents got their first look at the redevelopment plan proposed for the Ridge Avenue School site at a meeting Monday.

The concept plan was presented to the public at a meeting at the Early Childhood Center.

The plan is to build detached single family homes, townhouse condominiums, a limited number of rental units and home offices, as well as a recreational facility.

Mayor Thomas Catley spoke about the project and responded to residents concerns during a brief question and answer time. After the meeting residents were encouraged to look at diagrams of the conceptual plan and talk with Marty Truscott of T & M Associates about the project.

“We do envision some of these single family homes…to be live work units,” Catley told the audience.

“The focus of the Ridge Avenue site is going to be housing,” he said, adding that the township hopes to include affordable housing units for residents to purchase.

He said increased home ownership will encourage residents to take better care of their property and report crime in the area.

Catley said some residents who live in the West Lake Avenue redevelopment zone (which will be largely commercial) may be re-located to live in the Ridge Avenue site, which is about two-tenths of a mile away.

The Ridge Avenue School is currently being leased to the Asbury Park Board of Education. The lease will end in June and the township plans to buy the propoerty and demolish the school. The property would then be sold to a developer.

Last month the Planning Board reviewed the concept plan and decided that it was consistent with the township’s master plan, Catley said.

Resolutions to approve purchasing and redeveloping the site will come before the township committee at its next two meetings on February 13 and 27, he said.

After the resolutions are passed the township will be looking to name a redeveloper, Catley said.

Jeff Hunt, who owns a house on Myrtle Avenue, said the public meeting was a chance for residents to give their opinions about the plan.

“Now’s the time to speak up and voice your concerns,” he said.

Gail Oliver, a West Lake Avenue resident and president of the Midtown Urban Renaissance Corporation (MURC), said MURC will play a role in making suggestions for the redevelopment on Ridge Avenue.

“Our suggestions are just very crucial to this moving forward,” Oliver said, adding that MURC will work with the township planner, township committee, and the redeveloper.

Lynn Johnson, a Ridge Court resident, said she is concerned about the location of the recreational facility, which is an area that has already become a meeting place for gangs.

Johnson said there is frequent loitering and fighting in the area where she lives, and she would like to see police patrols on a more consistent basis to help allieviate the problem before any recreational facility is built.

“My concern is do something about the issue now,” she said.

Residents also wondered what the price of the single family housing units would be.

Catley said he was unsure how much the housing units would sell for.