PLUMSTED – The Township Committee held a special meeting to hear input from the public to consider the sale of and potential uses for a historic Main Street property.
Over the years, there have been many uses for 31 Main Street (Block 19, Lot 13), including a bank, a small library, the town hall and a welcome center.
Official action was not taken during this session of the Township Committee but many views were voiced as residents were invited and encouraged to partake in the featured question-and-answer segment.
Ocean County Administrator Mike Fiore made a presentation regarding potential acquisition of the building that included future utilization of the property by Ocean County as a satellite office that would showcase various services to the public.
“In the last several months we’ve been talking about 31 Main Street and one of the options presented to us was possibly working with the county to bring one of their satellite offices here to Plumsted,” Mayor Robert Bowen said at the start of the meeting.
Previously Committeeman James Hagelstein had opened a dialogue with Ocean County officials regarding this property that focused on providing assorted county services in the reconditioned premises of that site.
The mayor said, “I know we are looking for a significant use for 31.”
Committeeman Hagelstein elaborated saying a preliminary discussion with county officials “led into some of the financial woes we have in our township such as the sewer bills that we all know are going up and some of the other issues of increased costs that could lead to people not being able to afford things.”
He also noted the doubling of the town’s senior population which would make an office for county senior services beneficial.
“This led to discussion of what kind of services could the county bring here and maybe we could bring it to a county satellite building,” Hagelstein added.
School Superintendent David Ytreboe’s presence was also noted by Mayor Bowen. The mayor said the township also works with Catholic Charities “who work with us on emergency housing, the (New Egypt) American Legion have been key in highlighting veteran services and mental health services, the school district obviously works with families and a variety of services our Municipal Drug and Alcohol Alliance have been doing a great job.”
He noted these agencies were the front-line representatives who are involved in working with the services provided by Ocean County within the township.
Fiore said, “the concept of this project started around November to offer some of our services to your community that would be closer to what you have right now.” He noted a recent tour of the facility that he had with township officials.
“We don’t have any kind of agreement. The township hasn’t authorized any contract. This is a conceptual idea. I don’t want anyone to think that this is a done deal… These are discussions to find out what you need in the community. We want to make sure your tax dollars are spent wisely,” he added.
Fiore noted the model of neighboring Manchester Township where office space is shared “and on different days we come in. We have veterans and senior services that come in and the County Clerk comes in and we help out with things like passports and a variety of different services.”
“We have our County Connection would come in to talk about different types of services and different departments could come in,” he added.
The services could also include:
Consumer Affairs
Senior Services
Surrogate Services
Veterans services & job assistance
Notary
Health screening & services
Ocean County College calendar of events
Ocean County College programs
Ocean County Library services
Passport applications
Parks and Recreation programs
Government directories
Ocean Ride schedules
Cell phone recycling
Safety information
The utilization of a portion of the renovated building to meet the need for a NJ Code Blue Warming Center in the area was also mentioned. This is a program that provides temporary, emergency shelter to individuals experiencing homelessness during extreme cold weather conditions, from November through March.
The Ocean County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) issues a Code Blue Alert when the National Weather Service predicts temperatures below 25°F or 32°F with precipitation anticipated.
The mayor referenced comment submission forms that were made available at the workshop for those who wished to remain anonymous and for those who were unable to attend. The comment forms are posted online on the township website Plumsted.org and from the clerk’s office.
Mayor Bowen noted that the night’s session was “From now until our meeting in April we would like to hear from you.”
Resident Laura Jameson said “I feel sorry for whatever buyer is out there hanging on a thread thinking his offer is being considered, not to the degree that this is being considered. Two words, right time and right place and economically feasible. What other properties have you considered in Plumsted or was it the low price of the foreclosure that brought you here?”
“We were unaware of the situation at the time we were originally invited to come out and see the building. At that time we were told it was in the middle of a foreclosure or sale but that isn’t why we came out here,” Fiore said.
He noted that anytime the County government purchases a property whether it be through the county’s natural lands trust or through their budget “we have to do our own appraisal and there is a very small opportunity that we can pay anything different from what that appraisal says. It was more of an opportunity for services.”
A county staff member responded to a question of Code Blue staffing saying it was difficult to talk about staffing for Code Blue until you know what space is available. If you have a non-profit coming in, there is a site coordinator who would determine what was feasible economically “and all of them are all a little different. It all depends on what your population looks like. If the township ends up operating the Code Blue, we would of course work with them.”
Ann Funck the head of the municipal alliance said she was in favor of the idea of the county coming in, noting that during last year’s senior health fair when representatives from the county senior service office came out, “it was such a help. They also need those services without having to go all the way to Toms River for them as many have problems with transportation.”
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