Dems introduce $9M in bonds for NL loan GOP opposes appropriation, saying ordinance drafted in secret BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer Sayreville officials engaged in a heated debate Monday over the proposed issuance of $9 million in bonds to repay Middlesex County for a loan used to condemn the National Lead property. The Borough Council, split along party lines, voted 3-2 to introduce the bond ordinance, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against. Democratic Councilman Stanley Drwal was absent from the meeting. The council is looking to make the partial payment on the $42 million owed to the county as the county's latest deadline for payment approaches in April. The loan was issued by the county so that the borough could take ownership of the 400-plus-acre National Lead property with hopes of redeveloping it. The borough is currently in negotiations with a private developer for a mixed-use redevelopment project. Also at Monday's meeting, the council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA) to apply for a Brownfield development grant from the state and open up more funding sources for the redevelopment. The council was initially going to enter closed session to discuss the bond ordinance, which did not appear on the agenda for the March 17 agenda meeting. Republican Mayor Kennedy O'Brien expressed concerns with the council going into closed session, since he said that he was unaware that this ordinance was going to be up for consideration at this meeting. Before the vote took place, Borough Attorney Brian Hak said that the council could go into closed session, since the matter falls under contract negotiations that the agency is currently engaged inwith the designated redeveloper, O'Neill Properties, of King of Prussia, Pa. Council PresidentDennisGrobelny,who is a SERAcommissioner, noted that the governing body was going to discuss the ordinance in public after they went into closed session. Grobelny added that the council needed to at least introduce this ordinance this week, in order to allow the county to complete its budget. O'Brien said that this was the first time he was seeing this ordinance, and he repeatedly noted that SERA is a completely separate entity from the borough that should not share its risk with borough taxpayers. "I have some issues with this," O'Brien said. O'Brien said that he would prefer that the meeting not go into closed session, and SERA professionals then addressed the mayor and council publicly. SERA Executive Director Randy Corman said that the agency is nearing a signed agreement between the county, NL and O'Neill for the redevelopment project. He added that the various parties reached a substantial agreement regarding the economics of the agreement several months ago, but environmental liability issues still need to be settled. The Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders is anticipating revenues in the amount of $7.2million in their budget under the assumption that this deal will go through and they will receive a significant payment down on the outstanding debt, Corman said.He added that their statutory deadline for adopting their budget isMarch 25. "Nowthat has created an artificial deadline in all of this," Corman said. "That deadline is now looming." The SERA attorney received a request from the county to have the borough introduce this bond ordinance this week, so that they can go forward with their budget, Corman said. The state Division of Local Government Services will decide whether the county can anticipate the money in their budget, Corman added. "We are confident that they will be able to count on that money," Corman said, adding that SERA did not have the kind of finances necessary to guarantee $9 million in appropriations. Corman also said that the borough would not have to issue any bonds and the ordinance can be cancelled if the parties come to an agreement. The agency is indebted to the Middlesex County ImprovementAuthority for theNL project for a total of $42 million including interest, he added. Councilwoman Paula Siarkiewicz and CouncilmanDavidKaiserman, both Republicans, expressed concerns over the lack of communication in regard to this ordinance. They both said that they were not aware of this ordinance until itwas brought up for introduction onMonday. Corman said that SERAanticipated this ordinance last week, on the night when SERA had a workshop meeting at borough hall March 13. He added that he assumed that the proper channels to inform officials would be followed when the matter arose last week. O'Brien said that the borough's professionals drafted this ordinance without authorization from the governing body, which he added is contrary to law, since the taxpayers incur costs for such legal services. Grobelny said that the borough should proceed with the ordinance as a show of good faith and to prevent the county from taking over the project. "As of Thursday, we were hoping to have a signed agreement between the four parties," Grobelny said. "Now if that had happened, would not be discussing it." "There is nothing back door about it," Grobelny later added. "Everything was out in the open." O'Brien said that the borough should not be involved in the land development business. He added that taxpayers should not have to take the risk for this project. "SERAwas created so that the residents and the taxpayers of Sayreville would not have risk," O'Brien said. "We don't want to be in the land development business, nor should we be in the land development business,"O'Brien added. Democratic Councilman Rory Zach accusedO'Brien of grandstanding, noting that SERA's professionals have indicated that they are close to an agreement for the project. He added that SERA needs the borough's support, so that the county does not take over the project. "If the contract is signed and the deal closes on May 1, we will undue our [ordinance]," Zach said. "This is a precautionary measure," Zach added. Siarkiewicz said that the risk to the taxpayers is too great if the agreement is not signed, since $9 million is at stake. "Do we really want to take that chance," Siarkiewicz said. O'Brien questioned whether Zach had a conflict of interest in thismatter, since he is a county employee. "I think the right thing to do is to recuse yourself from this," O'Brien said. Zach refused to recuse himself from this matter, saying that Hak assured him that there is no conflict of interest onmatters regarding the county. "It is your opinion that I should recuse myself, it is notmine," Zach said to O'Brien. "We are closer thanwe have ever been to having this project move forward and now is not the time to back down," Zach later added. Borough Councilwoman Kathy Makowski told O'Brien that he should have taken more interest in the redevelopment process by attending SERA meetings and calling the appropriate people for updates on the status of the project. O'Brien rebutted, saying that he was a member of the agency until the council refused to reappointed him two years ago. He added that since negotiations are discussed in closed session, he would not learn more about the negotiations process by attending SERA meetings. O'Brien said that while SERA Commissioner Carmine Spezzi and Chief Financial Officer Wayne Kronowski told him about the possibility that bond councilwas preparing $9million in bonding documents, he assumed that it was only conjecture since he was not informed of the matter by the borough attorney, the council or the bond council. Grobelny later told Greater Media Newspapers that it is unclear whether the council will approve the bond ordinance if the agreement is signed. "Hopefully, we won't have to," Grobelny said. "At this point, I can't say yes or no." O'Brien toldGreaterMediaNewspapers that he feels that this bond ordinance was only a rumor to him last week. "One of the things I learned over the years as an elected official is not to investigate rumors," O'Brien said. "I as the mayor have a reasonable expectation that the borough's professionals will inform me of what is happening and what is coming up. That never happened." O'Brien said that the borough attorney exceeded his authority in this matter. "I'mvery upsetwith the out-of-town borough attorney instructing the out-of-town bond council to prepare the documentation to put the borough taxpayers on the hook for $9 million without discussing it with all of the elected officials," O'Brien said.