Fireworks at Holmdel Township Committee Meeting
- Kin Gee
- May 3, 2021
- 5 min read
[This article was updated to reflect that 11% of survey respondents and not residents indicated that synthetic turf field was important. However, more than 1,000 responses were received and the company that did the survey indicated 95% confidence in the results of the survey.]
Last week’s Township Committee got a little tense and excited over turf field, again!
Before the renewed push for a turf field, there were questions and concerns raised regarding an ordinance to change the “planning area designation” of a large area north of the NJ Transit railroad tracks from Suburban Planning Area (PA2) designation to Metropolitan Planning Area (PA1). The ordinance is intended to facilitate the development at Middle Road to move forward under the affordable housing plan agreement reached with Fair Housing Center. Concerns were raised that Planning Area designation change could allow the potential for future redevelopment to higher and/or denser structures like in urban areas such as Newark or Camden. The Township’s affordable housing attorney indicated that the PA designation doesn’t change underlying Zoning ordinances and permitting regulations. However, concerns remain that once a precedent is set (the Middle Road development), there could be pressure for other developers to follow suit in the future. The motion was passed by a 5 - 0 vote.
Most of the discussions after that were around an artificial turf field. Before the public comments session, Committeeman Tom Critelli gave a version of artificial turf field history starting with the attempt at Cross Farm Park in 2016. He indicated that it has taken too long to get an artificial turf field and we need to do now it “for the children”. This was followed by a motion by Committeeman DJ Luccarelli to make the 2019 turf field plan at the Holmdel Swim Club as a public information presentation and discussion at the next TC meeting.
When questioned about the urgency by Committeeman Prakash Santhana, Luccarelli replied that “We know what we need. The town knows what they need and the needs are not going to change.”
Interestingly, in his review of the history of the artificial turf field, Critelli mentioned Phillips Park but only said that was scrapped because there is not enough parking space. However, Critelli omitted the fact that after the 2016 attempt at Cross Farm Park, a comprehensive town-wide recreation survey was conducted in 2017, at a cost of over $50,000.
The results of that survey indicated the following top five rankings of facilities considered important to residents:
(1) walking & hiking trails at 100%,
(2) nature trails at 41%,
(3) biking and mountain trails at 33%,
(4) indoor recreation center at 20%, and
(5) swimming facility at 19%.
Where did synthetic turf field rank? At number 13 with 11% of respondents considered it as important.
Equally telling is the ranking of the top priorities for investment (i.e., where the Township should spend money on) for a synthetic turf field at number 18!
Despite this survey, which was released in March 2018, then-Mayor Critelli unveiled a concept plan a few months later that would transform Phillips Park into a multi-sport complex with modern amenities at the September 25, 2018 TC meeting. This plan includes a larger turf field that is 360 feet by 210 feet and includes 50 additional parking spaces, along with LED lighting and equipped with new scoreboards. However, despite this unveiling and the inclusion of a full-page description of the plan in his October 2018 Newsletter, this plan was scrapped in favor of a detail list of recreation improvements to existing fields just one month later. This list was attached to the agenda for December 2018 TC Meeting and was supposed to be the basis for the $2.5 million bond ordinance in February 2019.
It seems a little disingenuous by Luccarelli to say that “the town knows what they need” in pushing for an artificial turf field when residents have clearly indicated what their preferences are in a comprehensive town-wide survey just back in 2018.
Also interesting is when Deputy Mayor Cathy Weber asked to wait for recommendations from the Recreation Committee, which has already started a comprehensive review of the needs of all sports, Critelli tells Weber to “stop ducking, bopping and weaving.” So, after the unveiling of the Phillips Park plan in 2018 which included a multi-sport artificial turf field and, just one month later, scrapping it for recreation improvements which did NOT contain any plans for an artificial turf field, Critelli develops a sense of urgency for an artificial turf field with about 8 months left in his term as Township Committeeman.
Santhana pointed out that Critelli didn’t make this a priority all last year when Critelli was the TC liaison to the Recreation Committee and, in fact, it had been revealed in prior meetings that Critelli did not hold any Recreation Committee meetings at all. Critelli responded that the pandemic happened and he was busy defending against attacks by Santhana, which was “bulls***”.
It appears that Critelli’s statement was about last year’s revelation that then-Mayor Pat Impreveduto and other TC members including Eric Hinds and Critelli himself, voted to pay an additional $10,000 to Critelli’s company Danitom in 2013 for storm damages even though there was an insurance settlement and Critelli signed a release months before that. Santhana was vocal last year that since this was an illegal payment to Critelli’s company, the Township has a right and obligation to recover this payment. While Critelli characterized this action as an attack, the Township received a letter from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office regarding this $10,000 payment and specifically asked the Township to refer charges of ethics law violation to the New Jersey Ethics Board regarding this payment. See the April 8, 2020 article for more details.
Luccarelli raised the point that Santhana had no problems with finding revenue for the centrally located firehouse or the new fire engine but now seems “hyper-focused” about finding revenue for the turf field. In a detailed response, Santhana said that beyond the public safety aspects of saving homes and family due to fire risks, which should be a priority, he wanted to reduce the indirect tax burden that residents have been paying.
Santhana explained that in 2014, then-Mayor Pat Impreveduto and the Township Committee closed Fire Company #1, not only did it increased the fire risk to about half of Holmdel, it started a chain of events that led to the downgrading of Holmdel’s community fire rating by an insurance organization called ISO. Santhana noticed that his homeowner’s insurance premium went up by about $1,000 even though he had no improvements to his house. He called the insurance company and was told that his premium went up because Holmdel’s community fire rating went down because of the fire response time and other concerns. This was an indirect tax increase to all Holmdel residents and it was important to rectify the situation and reduce the indirect tax burden on Holmdel residents. Santhana explained that he is not against sports or a turf field but that (a) we should not subvert the process for the Recreation Committee to comprehensively review and prioritize the needs among all sports and (b) given the uncertainty about our revenue, in particular, the PILOT payment from Bell Works due to the pandemic impact on their rents, we need to proceed cautiously.
Santhana also mentioned that a significant portion of Holmdel residents are seniors and since they do not use the artificial turf field, this is, effectively, an added tax burden on seniors.
Luccarelli's motion did not pass by a vote of 2-2-1. Critelli and Luccarelli voted Yes, Santhana and Weber voted No, and Mayor Greg Buontempo abstained.
Stay tuned. It appears that the pressure for an artificial turf field continues, at least for this year.
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