May Council Meeting
May 17th, 2023
Hello Ringwood!
We hope that you are enjoying Spring and all that it has to offer around town! The weather has been amazing! Here is a quick update on our Council Meeting from Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
Here are Quick Highlights:
We passed a responsible Municipal Budget. Despite inflation, flat State aid, unfunded State mandates, and rising pension and insurance costs, we kept the budget under the 2% property tax cap.
The Council passed a resolution removing all housing options from both shopping centers on Skyline Drive.
The Council passed a resolution to have the Planning Board conduct an investigation for the need to revitalize the Fieldstone shopping center for a fully commercial use.
A separate resolution was passed for the Planning Board to conduct a redevelopment investigation for the former Franciscan Sisters property on Sloatsburg Road which has been left in an abandoned state for more than 3 years.
Councilwoman Kerr introduced a resolution, which also passed, directing the Borough Manager to use all available local, county and state resources as well as any professionals needed to assist and work with the shopping centers and the business community to revitalize the centers for commercial and retail uses.
The Council authorized filing a grant application to the DOT for the Skyline Lakes Drive Road improvement Project Phase II.
For a more detailed overview please read further:
The meeting started out with Mark Semeraro, our new attorney, from DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole & Giblin, LLP who is working with the Council to position the borough to encourage the shopping centers to revitalize with a commercial use and also to look at the former Fransiscan Sisters Property on Sloatsburg Road that has be abandoned for several years as a possible site for the Court Mandated Affordable housing.
He read two resolutions about how the shopping centers and the former Franciscan Sisters property are in need of redevelopment, which are both on the Borough’s website.
The Council also passed a resolution written by Beattie Padovano, LLC. They represent us on the Affordable Housing litigation, which clearly spells out that the Borough is revising the settlement with Fair Share Housing removing all proposed residential housing units from the shopping centers on Skyline Drive.
Councilwoman Kerr read another resolution asking the Borough to use all available means including the municipal planning board, Economic Development Commission, Open Space Committee, State government agencies including, but not limited to, the Highlands Council, Business Action Center, NJ Economic Development Authority, and any relevant agency of the Federal Government in order to revitalize our shopping centers and business community with commercial and retail uses only.
Both Michelle Kerr and Jaime Landis read a statement making it very clear that they are not in favor of housing on Skyline Drive at the shopping centers.
Republican candidate Zoltan Kiraly who lives behind the shopping center also made a strong statement during a public session that he is opposed to housing on Skyline Drive.
We are a new Council that is objective in our deliberations on every issue. So here are some of the reasons why we are going in this new direction. So much has changed since litigation started with fair share housing 7 years ago, and many of us on the Council now were not on when all this started. And even if we were, successful business minded people and leaders adapt to circumstances that are evolving. We can certainly all agree that a lot has changed since 2017! Costs have risen, equipment and parts are not readily available, the NJDEP has radically changed the sewage treatment requirements as we just witnessed first hand with the James Drive Water Treatment Plant upgrades. These new requirements would make a treatment plant at the shopping centers very expensive and unlikely to happen.
In addition, the former Franciscan Sisters Property on Sloatsburg Road which was previously unavailable as an option for the affordable housing obligation has since become available because of the addiction center filing for bankruptcy. All things considered, it now makes more sense to move in an enhanced direction. We have done our due diligence with the prior plan and protected the town from a builder’s remedy, as well as taken down our affordable housing obligation significantly.
This new and innovative Council took these actions to continue to protect the residents. We have new attorneys and professionals that helped us to make this decision. Our community deserves a shopping center we can be proud of, revitalizing those properties is a priority..
This has been a complex issue for all towns. Even the Highland’s Council themselves admitted in their April 2023 Newsletter that they did not help Ringwood and other Highland’s municipalities fight off the third round of the affordable housing obligations.
http://www.nj.gov/njhighlands/news/month_report/2023/HC_AprilReport.pdf
The Manager’s report consisted of asking the council to go out for an RFP for the cell tower on Cannici Drive as well as applying for a grant for electric charging stations that could be located at the park and ride in the future.
The Budget presentation showed that the average assessed home of about $302,000 will have their taxes increased to about $29 and under the two percent property tax cap. The presentation showed that the budget is tight and responsible despite some major increases to pensions. The budget was then unanimously approved by the council and will be available for public comment and input at the next meeting. We all would have loved to be able to come to the table with a zero increase. However, we all feel the effects of inflation. We all look no further than our grocery bills and gas payments at the pump to know that the cost of commodities has risen exponentially.
Unfortunately, municipal governments are not immune to price increases. Equally noteworthy is that the Ringwood Board of Education is facing an increase of $124.98 per the average assessed home and Lakeland is looking at an increase of $75.98 per the average assessed home. That makes the Ringwood Board of Education budget 4.2 times that of our proposed increase with Lakeland at 2.5 times our proposed increase.
As always we value and respect our taxpayers and as a result, have provided the best budget we can given the current economic situation.
Some other resolutions included phase two of the Skyline Lakes Drive roadway improvement project, an AWARE grant of $33,105.92, an appointment to the Board of Adjustments, a liquor license transfer from one location of Skyline Drive to another and the appointment of a new public defender since our previous defender became a judge.
This new Council is working hard listening to the public, bringing new ideas and energy to Ringwood. Look to our website for our new community events.
It is truly our honor and pleasure serving ALL of you. We are all neighbors, as always, we will continue to keep Ringwood 1st through strength and experience, while investing in our community to enhance its sense of community, beauty and growth.
Warm regards,
Deputy Mayor Jaime Matteo-Lands
Councilwoman Michelle Kerr
