Republicans cry foul over appointments
Democrats laud agency for progress with Nat'l Lead BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer
Sayreville officials on Monday debated the appointment of two Democrats to a redevelopment agency that has made gains recently in the town's largest redevelopment effort.

In the end, the Borough Council resolved to appoint two new members to terms on the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency — former Borough Council President Thomas Pollando and current Councilwoman Kathy Makowski. The council voted 3-2 along party lines for both appointments, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. Democratic Councilman Rory Zach was absent.

Pollando, who is deputy chairman of the Sayreville Democratic Organization, ran for mayor in 2007 when Republican Mayor Kennedy O'Brien won re-election. Pollando will take the place of former SERA Commissioner Jacqueline Berg. Makowski, a Democrat, will fill the agency's ninth slot, which has been vacant since its creation in 2006.

Pollando's term will end in July 2013; Makowski's in July 2009.

Berg's term on SERA expired in June, but the council opted to leave the seat vacant despite Republican efforts to return O'Brien to the agency he helped create. Democratic Council President Dennis Grobelny, who made the motion to appoint Pollando and Makowski Monday, said earlier this year he did not want Berg's vacancy filled until the National Lead redevelopment deal was settled.

O'Neill Properties closed on the largest portion of the former National Lead site last month, allowing SERA to pay Middlesex County $32 million for the county-issued loans the agency used to condemn the site in 2005.

O'Neill, which is paying $83 million overall for the NL site, plans to build an estimated 2,000 residences, more than 1.1 million square feet of hotel and convention center space, along with a marina, performing arts center and other recreational uses. The contaminated waterfront site extends from west of the Garden State Parkway to east of Route 35.

With $32 million now paid back to the county, SERA Attorney Michael Baker said SERA still owes the county approximately $11 million, and $8 million of that amount is expected to be paid when O'Neill closes on Parcel A, the site's 60-plus-acre bay area, in April. That parcel is going to be preserved. The remaining balance due after that should be paid off by October 2010, Baker said.

State Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski of Sayreville told Greater Media Newspapers that SERA took a different strategy in recent years, favoring negotiations over litigation with National Lead Industries. The redevelopment of National Lead is a significant opportunity for the borough to expand its economic base, provide jobs and create a destination for businesses, he said.

"And what that fundamentally means on a municipal level is more revenue for them to stabilize taxes," Wisniewski said. "I think it's a win."

At the most recent SERA meeting last week, agency engineer David Samuel updated commissioners on the status of the NL project, saying that O'Neill is having its architects draft charrettes for the 400- plus-acre site that the public should see by spring or summer of next year.

Samuel told Greater Media Newspapers that the state Department of Environmental Protection recently designated the NL site a Brownfield Development Area.

"It means we can get up to $5 million a year in assistance from the state in order to remediate the site," Samuel said. "We applied before a year ago. We had to go through the necessary grant applications."

At Monday's council meeting, O'Brien asked the council to hold off on the vote for Pollando and Makowski's appointments to SERA until Jan. 1, when the new council will take over. Republicans recently gained a seat on the dais, meaning that starting in January, the six-member council will be split evenly between both political parties. O'Brien could then be able to break tie votes in the GOP's favor.

O'Brien said it is not fair to the voters that Democrats are filling these vacant spots late in their terms before they lose the majority.

Borough Attorney Brian Hak said state statute only allows three public officials to join SERA at a time, and those commissioners, as of Monday, are Grobelny, Makowski and Michael D'Addio, chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Hak also said state statute only allows members of the council, not the mayor, to take the two seats slated for council members. However, O'Brien could be appointed to one of the seats not designated for council members.

O'Brien was removed from SERA in 2006, the same year that Wisniewski introduced legislation that enabled the council to add two of its members to the agency.

Grobelny was the only council member appointed to SERA until now. He told O'Brien Monday that the mayor could not be appointed to the agency.

"Unfortunately, there is no position on SERA you can take at this time or going into next year," Grobelny said.

O'Brien said Pollando stepped down from his seat on the Zoning Board recently in order to be appointed to SERA.

"I have always known of that conflict," O'Brien said.

Republican Councilwoman Paula Siarkiewicz accused the Democrats of playing politics with the appointments and said the council should defer the matter until next year when the governing body reorganizes.

"I believe this is again a political issue and it should wait until the council people come in," Siarkiewicz said.

Grobelny, whose terms on the council and SERA will expire at the end of the year, noted that the new council will have an opportunity to fill his spot on the agency next year.

Democratic Councilman Stanley Drwal promised to vote in favor of appointing a Republican council member to SERA so that there is a member representing each party in the agency.

"You can take that to the bank," Drwal said.

Karen Surratt, O'Brien's volunteer assistant, spoke during the public portion of Monday's meeting. She said SERA appointments were an election issue for residents who voted in the last two elections, in which the GOP made significant gains. She requested that the council defer its decision to residents.

"We took part in a historic election two weeks ago," Surratt said. "I think it's equally important that this governing body listen to the will of the people. It's my hope as a resident that when we engage in an election and there's a result, that the body who represents the people would respect that vote."

O'Brien said Democrats were going to push this through, no matter what residents say.

"It's been packed and stacked," O'Brien said. Grobelny took offense to O'Brien's comment, and Drwal described Surratt as biased in the mayor's favor. Responding to a comment made by O'Brien questioning his bipartisanship, Drwal said O'Brien was resorting to insults.

"I voted for over 90 percent of your appointments," Drwal said.

"Most of mine are Democrats," O'Brien responded.

Last month, Drwal commented on the signing of the NL agreement at the Oct. 20 council meeting — the same meeting where the council voted to get $9 million worth of bonds off the books that the council had guaranteed to the county if the NL deal were to fall through. He said the redevelopment deal's signing was one of the most important events in Sayreville in his lifetime, yet there was little recognition of what was accomplished.

"I am astounded by the silence, all of a sudden," Drwal said.

He said that the success of negotiations vindicates many of the decisions that had to be made and some of the delays that the process has undergone over the years.

"One of the things I have learned is if you're not willing to take a chance being wrong, you shouldn't be leading anything," Drwal said.

Grobelny expressed gratitude to fellow SERA commissioners at the Oct. 20 council meeting, saying this was a remarkable accomplishment in light of the obstacles the agency faced.

"When it's completed, it will mean jobs for the town and neighboring towns," Grobelny said. "I don't see how anyone can complain with that."