Hometown Chatham

Tag: ivy

  • About last night

    Pssssssst!

    It’s happening this Monday, November 10th, at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.

    Tell no one.

    Slip in the side door around 7:30 pm. Take the elevator to the upper level. Step down the hall.

    Enter the big doors on the left. Take a seat in the back. No need to speak, or even give your name.

    Listen closely for any reference to actual local issues. See if you can catch any direct answers to important questions posed by residents.

    You really can’t make it? (Grounded? Bed-bound? Moonlighting? Prepping for a colonoscopy on Tuesday morning?) You can always Zoom here:

    https://www.chathamborough.org/resident/calendar/mayor-council-meeting-23-1762817400

    To find out what happened last night, keep scrolling down!

    Yesterday shortly before 5:00 pm, our Mayor & Council made their way to Borough Hall, filed into Room 301, and shut the door behind them.

    They were behind closed doors for a special meeting to discuss recent developments in the litigation over their controversial Master Plan amendment of June 18th.

    https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/chathamborough/fd09e136-b59c-11f0-8df7-005056a89546-21f92362-28af-4727-9270-fd5a12163dfa-1761838852.pdf

    That’s the Master Plan amendment that includes sacrificing the green, vacant, Borough-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to Memorial Park.

    The Borough adopted that Plan over the objections of more than 90% of residents polled, who want the Council to consider preserving that parcel by putting affordable housing on other Borough sites.

    Nearly two hours later, the door to Room 301 swung open and out trudged the Mayor & Council.

    They refused to answer questions posed by residents, citing the advice of Borough lawyers.

    https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=429

    They didn’t promise to consider alternatives to 58 North Passaic Avenue in closed session, or even to hold off signing a development agreement for that site until residents have had a chance to weigh in.

    All we know is that the next settlement conference in that case has been set for November 20:

    The Mayor & Council also chose not to answer any questions about their plan, commissioned one year ago, to Redevelop the rest of Chatham‘s River Road, south and west of the massive, 245-unit Ivy complex at the corner of River Road and Watchung Avenue.

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/blind-faith?fbclid=IwY2xjawN-VhhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFnQk00cEdNMmhGbXB3VnI5c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHs1YfTPCVkpHiOQCPFOdpLzu2McPLqIiEyCTqs42S81935SglcEhF9Kz0cNZ_aem_wNO5zsNKxtjXGw9HyPZgnQ

    Unless a developer chooses to pay extra to set aside more affordable rental units than required by law, the new project would put 500 new apartments adjacent to the Ivy and no doubt insist on an exemption from paying millions in property taxes, just as the Ivy has.

    Wait. Another big project on River Road??!

    For more information, attend the next Council meeting, this Monday, November 10th, 7:30 pm at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. Take the elevator to the upper level. Use the big doors down that hall on the left.

    Being there counts. Speaking is optional.

  • In for a penny, in for a pound

    You indulge in restaurants, travel, parties, gifts, and concert tickets, and then discover you don’t have enough money left for necessities like your mortgage payment or groceries.

    What should you do?

    Incur more debt? Make your spouse take a second job to cover necessities?

    That’s what our Mayor and some Borough Council members seem to think.

    Faced with an urgent need for two or three new fire trucks to replace a dangerously aging fleet, they continued to prioritize lower priority expenses, like public art, street decorations, concerts, parades, celebrations, tennis courts, and the Stanley Center.

    Fire Apparatus Eval – November 2023Download

    Now they’re tying to tell us that the Borough can afford the desperately needed ladder truck only because the Borough is moonlighting as a real estate developer to bring in new PILOT income from the giant Ivy apartment project on River Road.

    That’s the thrust of the April 28 budget presentation, an extended infomercial for PILOTS, starting at approx. minute 1:39:30 here:

    https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=363 and in the PowerPoint show here: https://www.chathamborough.org/forms-documents/forms/financial-documents/2025-2/2847-chatham-borough-2025-budget-introduction-presentation/file

    That might make sense if the Mayor & Council were required to place a higher priority on the fun stuff. But it isn’t. The Council’s highest priority must be public safety, including adequate fire trucks. The fun stuff must come second.

    At that April 28 meeting, Mayor & Council ignored all that, and tried to justify the Ivy PILOT deal (and warm you up for the next PILOT project in the pipeline) by claiming a good chunk of the revenue will be put aside for the ladder truck.

    Don’t fall for that.

    In fact, the PILOT payments go into the Borough’s general fund, along with revenue from various other sources, including your property taxes.

    Because money is fungible, there is no way Mayor Council can say if a certain dollar came from property taxes, or PILOT revenue, or some other source, like the ECLC rents or the parking fees.

    Pretending they can is pure spin.

    Simple fact is, every time they raise spending, you lose the tax break that the PILOT payments could afford.

    Time to tell our Mayor & Council to do the right thing:

    First, take care of absolute necessities, like the ladder fire truck. before considering secondary expenses and discretionary items like public art, concerts, parades, celebrations, decorations, and the Stanley Center.

    Second, the Council should NOT use the PILOT revenue as an excuse to increase spending. Use it to reduce the tax rate.

    Third, if the Council wants extra goodies, let the voters decide whether or not to sacrifice the tax break to get those goodies.

    After all, it’s your money they’re spending. Find out how the Mayor & Council aim to spend it while there’s still time to influence the outcome.

    Stop by the next Council meeting, May 12 at 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. You don’t need to speak.