Eminent Domain & Fiscal Waste in Fair Haven

Fair Haven Herald

October 20, 2019

Fair Haven, NJ

By Jeremy Chandler

The plans by Fair Haven to build a new Borough Hall could leave homeowners in this small community with an enormous projected bill: $20 million. Including financing costs, this project will likely cost over $20,000 for every household in Fair Haven. And that’s assuming no cost overruns, which is a near certainty with large municipal projects. Mayor Ben Lucarelli announced the hiring of architect Eli Goldstein, who recently designed the Atlantic Highlands Borough Hall renovation, a much more limited project, which cost $6-10 million.

In 2019 with the ongoing shift to online operations, Borough Council members Jonathan Peters and Jacqueline Rice propose to demo the cavernous and half empty Borough Hall to rebuild
a bigger and more expensive version.

Eminent Domain Borough officials are threatening to use eminent domain to obtain the property to build a new Borough Hall on the site of a former gas station on River Road. This means the Borough will use the court system to force a local property owner to sell against their will, for a
price which will likely be below market value. M&M Realty Partners acquired the 626 River Road site and have proposed to construct a three-story 24-unit family rental development, of which 4 units would be affordable housing, on the site. Fair Haven has a current lawsuit pending in Superior Court to try to resolve the Borough’s affordable Housing deficiencies. Yet now that a developer has proposed to help them meet that goal, the Borough’s reaction is threatening to confiscate the property by eminent domain. This raises the question: Why is Fair Haven using such a heavy-handed approach to take this property from one of its own taxpayers?

Lost Tax Revenue Fiscal responsibility is perhaps the most important duty of local politicians. But
this eminent domain plan by Fair Haven will remove a tax ratable currently paying $17,500 as a vacant lot. And with the average property tax bill at a whopping $14,609.20 in Fair Haven, the Borough is also removing from the tax rolls a proposed 24 unit development which would pay many times that figure in property taxes every year. Instead the remaining taxpayers are left to foot that additional bill every year.

Other Options The Borough Hall project is only one of several related projects Fair Haven
is proposing. Officials have previously said that rehabilitating the police and Department of Public Works (DPW) structures is not economically feasible. However, the DPW building was only built in the 1970s and the police station is no older than many of the houses around this historic town. Town residents are able to rehabilitate and renovate older homes rather than building new, and it strains credulity for Borough officials to argue that renovating existing space isn’t a viable option.

Many feel the Borough should reconsider this option. Further, the current Borough Hall is a former school which is a large, well-maintained structure with several floors and plenty of space for all operations of this small town. Whatever needs the Borough may have for additional space can be solved by using the existing facilities or sharing services or office space with neighboring towns.

Many residents believe this plan is a vanity project residents cannot afford. It is a legitimate question for taxpayers to ask whether it is fiscally responsible for Fair Haven to use taxpayer dollars to tear down the existing serviceable facilities, take a property from a Fair Haven taxpayer against their will, remove $100,000+ from the property tax rolls every year, and then spend perhaps $20 million or more to build a new Borough Hall. Compounding the problem of
these questions regarding taxpayer funds, Borough officials have consistently voted to exclude public access to discussions involving obtaining the Borough Hall property at council meetings.

Pull Back the Curtain When town officials refuse to publicly provide information on how
a significant, if not unprecedented, amount of public funds are being spent, this could be considered a violation of their duty to their constituents, and suggests government corruption
or fiscal malfeasance. Neither of these things may be present, but with information so closely guarded by our elected leaders, taxpayers are left to wonder why. More transparency by Fair Haven officials would help alleviate these types of concerns, and a closer look at the issues raised above make the choice to proceed with this Borough Hall project something which many residents feel should be reconsidered.

Open Government? In response to questions submitted by The Herald about these issues,
Borough officials have responded in a defensive and angry manner, refusing to answer a single question. Borough Administrator Theresa Casagrande, after receiving a list of questions as requested in the Borough's weekly newsletter, was especially nasty, responding that "I
will not consider addressing your questions below, or answering any of your future emails." She continued, "engaging you in this manner would be nothing but a waste of my official time."
This was Casagrande's only response to a list of questions, despite the posting promising to "maintain open and honest communication" on the Borough's website.

On behalf of the Governing Body, I am pleased to announce the first
release of Fair Haven’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) public
forum. This question and answer format is another feature of
the Borough’s ongoing commitment to maintain open and honest
communication with our residents. If you have a question that
you would like answered in a future FAQ posting, please email it to
me at tcasagrande@fhboro.net
Best regards, Theresa Casagrande, Borough Administrator

Promising open and honest communication is easy, but it appears Fair Haven's secretive government culture has not changed.

Questions, concerns, or comments?

jeremychandler1816@gmail.com

Fair Haven Herald