Meeting calls to order. Council member Anderson >> here. >> Council member Chapman >> here. >> Council member Clayton >> here. >> Deputy Mayor Quinn >> here. >> Mayor Moore >> here. >> Please stand for a silent prayer moment of reflection. >> Now salute the flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of
America and to the stand indivisible and justice for all. >> As comply with the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL1 1975 adequate notice of this meeting has been provided the following manner. The special meeting
notice was forwarded to the Asbury Park Press and the Coaster on February 10th, 2026 and posted on the bulletin board the same date. All notices are on file with the city clerk. We're now on to a presentation by warfront redevelopment attorney Joe Marcy. >> Hold on.
>> Apologies. Can you hear me? >> Can you hear me now? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, I'd like to thank a couple of people. I'd like to thank the superintendent of schools, the board of education, the board of education staff for uh letting us use this fine
facility. >> Can you turn it up? >> Can you turn it up? >> Okay. And there are seats closer, so feel free to move down. >> Okay. And there are seats closer in the first five rows. So, if you want to move
down, we won't have to do that again, but I'll keep it posted. So, again, I thank the board of education. I thank the city staff, be it uh Nate, Joe, and Andy for getting all this ready in such a short time frame.
Wasn't easy to do, but we got it done. Tonight's meeting is basically going to be we're going to have Mr. Maraziti, our redevelopment attorney, make a presentation and then after that we'll open it up to questions. Now, for this to go smooth, we need everybody to
cooperate. We can't have cross conversations. When you get up to the microphone, you'll have three minutes. If the buzzer goes off, feel free to finish your sentence, but don't make it like war in peace sentence.
Uh, and again, no cross conversations. We want everybody to get a shot at the microphone. So, the easier everybody is as far as making it go smooth, we can make sure everybody gets to the microphone tonight. And with that, we'll open up
Mr. Marisi. Hold on a second. It's only a couple minutes after 6. Let's wait till like 6:05 or so in case a couple people are late so we don't have to do it twice. Okay, it's uh 5 after so everybody would just settle down. We're going to start
and Mr. Marisa, the redevelopment attorney, is going to start off with a presentation. Thank you. And again, let's everybody just be respectful and we can all get through this and everybody can ask all their questions. >> Mayor, members of the council, and
members of the Asbury Park community, can you hear me? Okay. When you can't hear me, raise your hand and I'll know what that means. Can you hear me now? You can hear me now. Okay. So, uh, as the mayor said, my name is Joe Arziti.
My partner Joanne Fos is with me. Uh, we are a special redevelopment council. You can't hear me? >> Uh, I I'll try. Can you raise the volume? >> Okay.
>> Yeah, I think they're working on the volume. Just give us a minute. Uh, is that better? >> No, not better. >> Okay, I hear you. I hear you. I want to be heard, so we're going to take time to get it done. Okay, good. Thank you.
Thank you for your patience. So, as I was saying, my name is Joe Mariti. Uh, and my partner Joanne Boss is with me. We serve as special redevelopment council uh to Asbury Park for the waterfront redevelopment area. We have
served in that position at our firm since 2018. So, we were not here when these documents that I'm going to talk about tonight were were drafted and executed. But I was delighted uh when we were appointed in 2018 because I spent many
of my uh summer teenage years in Asbury Park and I love this city. Uh so what we're going to do tonight is give it a an information session about uh the many documents that affect the issues that I
know you're all concerned about. The mayor has asked me to present a transparent uh explanation of all these documents that represent the situation we are in. Uh I am of course uh going to be
operating within the bounds of attorney client because I am in a public session here. I have to be careful that I don't say something that gives a basis for an adversary at sometime in the future. uh
to put Asbury Park Barkin in a uh a disadvantaged position. So, I'm not going to be giving any opinions tonight. I'm going to be laying out the facts of the documents. I'm not giving any position any comments on the merits of
of the claims here. uh this is a not a confidential setting and I know that everything I say here will be preserved and uh reviewed uh perhaps in the future. So let me give you an overview what what I am going to
do what we are going to do. Uh first I'm going to go through uh the identity of the key documents. There's many documents many thousands of pages but there are key documents that that need to be understood. Uh, I'm going to
describe the redevelopment agreements with Asbury Partners, now known as AR, sometimes as Starfield. I'm going to talk about the redevelopment agreement with Madison Asbury Retail. I sometimes refer to them
as MR. They are a subsidiary of a much larger entity, Madison Marquette. I'm going to review the uh alternatives of litigation and in a general way talk about what litigation would mean, what
it would involve. I'm going to talk about u condemnation or eminent domain as it's sometimes referred to. Those are interchangeable terms. Um, and I'm going to then uh update uh the situation with
respect to the grant uh for the uh partial repair of Paramount Theater. And I'm finally going to talk about the historic tax credits and cafe uh tax credit applications that are pending
before uh NGD NJA right now. Uh we also are going to uh go through a few uh frequently asked questions before I finish my presentation. Joanne and I are going to to do that uh because there's a
lot of confusion understandably uh about the situation the city is in. It's understandable because the documents are multiple and they are confusing. And the purpose of tonight is to try to clarify
and lead to a better understanding of the actual situation that presents itself uh in Aspbury Park. So I am going to start with now why isn't this working?
Did we not charge it enough? Might have charged itself. speakers are not on. >> Well, I'm not talking. >> Okay, here we go. >> Thank you. So, one thing I want to do, uh, and you're all familiar with with
this, uh, oops, >> can't hear you. >> Okay. >> I wasn't talking. >> I sometimes pause. So, here here is uh the first slide to orient us. And you know this scene. Uh, I'm going to be
talking about the waterfront redevelopment area. This is a piece of it. I'm circling now the convention hall Paramount Theater Grand Arcade. I call it the convention hall complex.
That is a an M project as you know. Uh in this end of the boardwalk is the casino, the carousel and the boardwalk arcade. That's sometimes referred to as the breezeway. That's not the proper terminology in the documents. I will
sometimes use it by mistake, but the proper designation is the Boardwolf Arcade. Now, those those items I've just mentioned are under the control of Madison Assbury Retail.
The boardwalk is city and the beach is city. And then back here and and many many blocks back, this is Starfield or Raspberry partners. There's a distinction between what
Asbury Partners is doing here in the name now of Aar as between what is happening up here with Madison Asbury retail? >> The power plant is part of the casino complex. >> Yes, the power plant is uh the question
was is the power plant part of the casino project? Wait a minute. I have to get back to that. It is down here. This when I talk about that, right? That's what I'm talking about. So, um I wanted to make that
distinction because I I re read that people are mixing up and M and this is to just orient the the distinction. So, the the condo buildings that you're seeing going up are
they're not Madison Hazbury Retail. An important uh distinction. So these are the key documents that I want to talk about and I'll talk about them individually in more detail. The waterfront redevelopment plan that was
adopted in March of of 20 of 2002. That's the operative redevelopment plan. Then we have the uh what's formerly called the Aspbury Partners LLC amended and restated redeveloper land
disposition agreement October of 2002. And then uh we have the shipo state historic preservation office historic preservation easement that was entered into January 1st 2004.
Then we have the CAFRA permit, the coastal areas facility act permit. We'll talk about that in much more detail, but all these documents are important. And now we come to the Madison Asbury Retail subseer
agreement and that's June of 2010. And also in the mix is the aolitan arbitration opinion that was issued in 2011 that was uh as a result of arbitration. We'll talk about that in
more detail as we proceed. So the waterfront redevelopment plan just to give you an idea what that is. That's the that's like the birth certificate of all of this. It it sets forth the vision. It sets forth the the uh the plan for the waterfront.
redevelopment area. Uh it it is a visionary document. It is something of a zoning document as well. And that is the document that gives the power to the city to enter into agreements with private parties to enter into the
redevelopment process. it it and the disp the the details of each of the projects are then set forth in subsequent in redevelopment agreements and we have subsequent redevelopment agreements. We have
redevelopment agreements in this in this case. >> Uh my next document, my next slide is to identify the waterfront redevelopment area. I mentioned we're special counsel for the waterfront redevelopment area. We do not
provide any legal advice to the city in any other part of the city and that is that area is depicted on uh on this slide and and it's divided between the prime uh redevelopment area which is
this area here and that's where uh the intention of planning is for uh large blocks to be to be uh built on and large large structures and behind that it's less uh less intense.
Moving to the next one is the historic preservation easement with Shipo. And now I'll give you some relief from listening to me and I'm going to ask Joanne to talk about that. >> I got applause
noticed. >> Yeah. I hope you can hear me. I I've never been accused of being quiet, but if you can't hear me, then raise your hand and we'll do the Joe thing. Um, so I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the document that's called the New Jersey Shipo Easement Agreement. That's
what we call it. It's not the oldest document in the list of pertinent documents, but it is one of the cornerstone documents. If the redevelopment plan is the birth certificate, then maybe the shipo easement is, you know, a foundational brick. This document is an agreement
that was entered into in January of 2004 among Asbury Partners, which as you heard Joe say is now known as IR or Starfield. It's with the city of course, and it's with Shipo. Shipo is the New Jersey
State Historic Preservation Office. Um, the obligations in this agreement were transferred to Madison Asbury Retail. Although the original agreement was entered into with Asbury Partners, it sticks to M because of the fact that
they own the building. The building and when I'm talking about the building now, by the way, I'm talking about convention hall complex. This agreement applies only to convention hall complex. It does not apply to casino carousel um power
plant. That's an important distinction to make. This agreement applies only to the convention hall complex. And the reason it sticks to M as I was saying is simply because the property was transferred to M by Aspbury Partners. And when that happened, the obligations
in this agreement automatically went to M because this agreement runs with the land in perpetuity. That's just legal mumbo jumbo for saying it applies to anybody who owns the building. So if M
sold the building tomorrow of Mickey Mouse, which they couldn't do, but if they did, they couldn't do it without city council approval, but if they did, Mickey Mouse would be bound by these same obligations. So what are the obligations? What does
the Shipo easement do? There are really three primary obligations that are imposed upon the owner of the convention hall complex at any given time. and they are one to prevent deterioration of the property, two to maintain the protected
features in good condition. I'm going to come back to what good condition means in a second, and three needing no more than minor repair or routine maintenance and keeping the property accessible to the public. So, good condition, what
does that mean? According to the agreement itself, it means intact and structurally sound and having few or no cosmetic imperfections. That's that's the obligations that are set out in a shipo easement. And and
I'll be back to talk to you again later. So now I'm going to tell you quickly about the CAFRA permit. It is a fancy word of saying that it's a permit uh an omnibus permit that
the state department of environmental protection gave to the entire concept of the redevelopment of the waterfront area. Rather than having to go to DP project by project,
this idea of a CAFRA permit was instituted to to speed the process of redevelopment in in areas needing it and the first one was involving uh Long Branch. This was the second that I met.
uh and it basically uh in overview terms allowed the construction of 3,64 residential units, 450,000 square ft of commercial. Uh multiple infrastructure
projects are improve are approved in this permit. uh it it calls for the and approves the rehabilitation of the boardwalk, the casino, convention hall, the powerhouse, etc. Those are all touched on in this document. Uh and it
imposes conditions and one of the conditions we'll talk about later. So that's that's sort of DP saying from an environmental point of view, this is all fine. Now each project must come in and and get clearance but it's a much more
accelerated process than it would otherwise be otherwise be. Uh now uh we're going to talk about the first agreement. This is Asbury partners in 2002 and that agreement says something very
important. Uh you can't read the small print, but it's summarized by the larger print which says it supersedes all prior agreements. So they're all wiped away. There's language in many of the older agreements that looks great and we'd
love to still have it, but it is gone. There are many agreements that lead up to this. This is not the first. There are many redevelopment plans that lead up to the redevelopment plan that was adopted in 2002. The slate was wiped
clean with the Asbury Partners uh 2002 agreement. So what what does that call for? In broad terms, it uh implements the residential and retail aspects of the waterfront redevelopment plan. uh it
it provides for a maximum residential density as I talked about before of 3,164 units that since has gone down to about 2,000 units because a number of the buildings that AR is is putting up are
shorter than they could otherwise be. So you're not going to see the density that was permitted in that redevelopment agreement over time. It's less. It talks about the convention hall complex, the pavilions. Um, all of these these
facilities that we're here to talk about tonight were sold by the city in 2002 to Asbury Partners. They're private property. They were sold at that time. It was a different time in Asbury Park
than it is today. And they were sold in in very bad condition. sold to Asbury Partners for the purpose of renovating and rehabilitating the conventional complex. The casino and the power plant were to be renovated
regarding an Ashbury uh partners' proposals. Now, I'm going to talk about M. Some of this goes away when we get to M. They were responsible for infrastructure projects. Now, what do I mean about
that? The city needed and still does many uh important infrastructure projects uh streets uh sewers, water, um storm water control, curbs, all of that which is stated at that time the city
could not afford to do. So the developer took on the responsibility to do that at least on paper and there is a consequence of that uh in the politan decision
Mr. Judge Paulin was a retired judge. And the story of this is very interesting because at that period of time in 2010, now remember the agreement signed in 2002 is 2010 and the city
issues four or five or six notices of default to Asbury Partners files a lawsuit to terminate the redevelopment agreement. It goes to court. It goes to judge
Rosson uh in freehold and he said he because of motions are made uh in the litigation you know when you sue somebody they don't say okay you have fight so what happened was that the asbury partners at
that time pointed out that the agreement provided an arbitration clause meaning what that it had to go to an arbitrator it couldn't go to the court so the arbitrator is appointed and it's retired judge politic.
So what happens as a result of that arbitration? It it it it is it concludes unsatisfactorily because it he decides that many of those defaults were not actually material
defaults with respect to the he did not the termination of the agreement is denied. uh with respect to the key issue about the failure to proceed with the
infrastructure projects that I talked about before, he said, "Yeah, that's a problem, but you guys should work it out." And so that's what happened after this decision when the law when this lawsuit
was filed by the city in 2010. After that the 2011 decision in the arbitration then the parties got together and came up with the mechanism to finance the infrastructure projects.
>> Excuse me. Was this still Asbury partners? >> Hey sir sir, we're going to finish the presentation. You can ask all the questions. Thank you. >> This is Asbury partners when this is happening.
And so what and by that time came in to pick up the pieces left by Asbury partners which went belly up a couple of these successive uh entities that tried to build and some of you may remember the buildings that were attempted in
that period of time. There was a um there was a a skeleton at the beach. How many of you remember that skeleton up by the beach? >> Okay. So that skeleton land lasted there for so many years. I was the chairman of the state planning commission around
that time and I always use that in my talks as an example of the what goes wrong with redevelopment and why you should have a very strong redevelopment agreement and vet carefully the people you're entering into
I don't think I am allowed to respond comments from the public >> because it's not fair >> it's not fair to everybody else in this room so I can't respond to what you said. So therefore, uh they came up with
a a plan that is in effect today that provides for the financing of the infra infrastructure project and it is a complicated system that calls for special assessments to be made
um uh with respect to people who buy condos. They pay a special assessment to pay for the infrastructure. The infrastructure is not paid for by the
citizens of Asbury Park who who live here before the new owners come in. It's paid for by the new purchasers of the condos in Aspberry Park. And there's a a a uh I don't know what just happened.
Lights went down. Um uh and there is a redevelopment bond issue. It's very complicated, but to date, uh, about 43 or 42 million has been spent on all of the infrastructure
improve improvements that you are enjoying, not paid for from the city budget, paid for by new occupants and residents of Asbury Park through this complicated system. So that's what happened after
the politan decision uh in 2010 and now uh uh it started in 2010 and uh the decision was in 2011 but in 2010 arriving at the scene actually they
arrived Madison Asbury retail came a couple of years in 20 before 2010 they started doing work under MO in 2008 as I recall and they they claimed and I I haven't verified this that they claim
they spent a lot of money before they got to this stage of the agreement in 2010. So what happened in 2010 is that Aspbury Partners by this time it's AR
decides to split its control of the waterfront and hang on to the residential piece Ocean Ocean Avenue and West and to transfer the retail aspects of it to
Madison Asbury retail. Right. uh a subsidiary area as I said of Madison Marquette. That transfer transfers uh all of the projects that we are now
concerned about the convention hall complex. And when I say convention hall complex, I'm talking about convention hall, Paramount Theater, and the Grand Arcade in one complex. It transferred the casino, the boardwalk arcade, the
building between that and the the carousel, the the power plant, all go to uh Madison retail as well as the pavilions along the border with the
restaurants are so where that comes from. And now we have Madison Ashbury retail on the scene. And that uh agreement in 2010
wiped away another document that we would love to have today, the dispute resolution agreement. That agreement laid out a schedule of work to be done in all of these facilities over time, identified it, set
up escros, uh, and was, you know, a rather, uh, robust document. The 2010 agreement with Madison Asbury Retail
abolishes it. And then it also says Madison Asbury Retail only assumes obligations of Asbury partners retail of their retail properties. Very important to the extent expressly set forth in the
M document. That's important because that wipes away any other provisions about those documents that that apply to M. And the other the other concept that is introduced
is that they have to use commercially reasonable efforts to do all of this reasonable commercially reasonable efforts to develop, finance, construct, operate and maintain the retail properties. There's a qualifier
there that that must be uh must be born in mind. Now their obligation. This is the quote about their obligation regarding the conventional hall complex. I'm going to read it. Uh Madison Asper
MA retail shall develop, finance, construct, operate, and maintain the retail projects on the retail properties consistent with applicable laws, governmental approvals, and the project documents. retail properties, as I said before, are all those those facilities
that we're worried about falling apart. So, that's that's their obligation. Uh it goes on to say after the you may not be able to see in the smaller print after the completion
of limited improvements that are set forth on two exhibits in the document, exhibit O and exhibit P. After they do that work, then M shall have no obligation to perform
any further construction or renovation work in or to the convention hall property whether pursuant to the project documents or otherwise. That's powerful language.
So what's on O and P? O is a list of four or five things they had to do and they got them done. And P is two or three items and P included the fire suppression system, uh steps to the to the boardwalk and
another minor item that doesn't come quickly to my mind, but I know the steps are done and the fire suppression was done. So then this is the language we have. Now there are obligations regarding it
says remember they had no obligation except uh what's set forth in the document. Now this is what it says about the casino project and the power plant project. The parties agree, the parties remember is Asbury Park and
Madison Hazbury Retail agree that the future undertaking of the casino projects and the power plant projects shall require subsequent development. How long did I do that for?
Did I turn it off? >> Okay, sorry about that. You're doing a great job. You're doing great, Joe. So good. >> Yeah. >> Okay.
>> Uh, this is the one I had up. Many of you maybe can't see it. The parties agree that the future undertaking of the casino projects and the power plant projects shall require subsequent development agreements.
prior to the right to commence construction and I'm going to search the word prior to the obligation to undertake these projects arise. So that means we're waiting for a
proposal from Madison Asbury veto but what they're going to do to improve those projects and then when we get the proposal is necessary to enter into negotiations to enter into a subsequent development agreement.
That's an important thing to remember. Now I I know that there's some uh some thoughts out there that there's no default provisions in the agreement. There are default provisions in the agreement. Um and that uh those remedies
uh this is important replace and and and supersede remedies in the remember I was talking about Asbury Partners 2002 agreement. There's a bunch of stuff in there we like. It's gone. Now the defaults uh in section uh 8.02 O2
uh with respect to each of the retail projects. This subsequent developer agreement shall replace and supersede article 8 of the redeveloper agreement and any one or more of the following
shall constitute an an event of default by MA retail. provided however that the exercise of particular remedy with respect to an event of default involving one one retail project saw no effect on another. So there are default provisions, but
they're not what they were not what they were in the earlier agreement. And and you know, remember too the timing here. It's 2010. It's right around the Great Recession.
The economy is in a shambles. The leverage that the city had was impacted by that situation in 2010. and and uh effective language. So the the
remedies of the city in in the event of a default are that you have to give a notice and an opportunity to cure uh and then if you prove it it's a default you can terminate resend the developer designation
undertake any action in law or equity including specific performance or an injunction. Those are the listed remedies that the city has if it proves that there's a default. So what are the alternatives to the city
given this background of of the legal situation? I lay them out in more detail as we go forward here. One is condemnation or eminent domain. >> Do it. >> Another one is litigation.
Another one, another uh which I referred to before is that $13 million grant to repair to some degree Paramount Theater and then the M tax credit application. So, I'm going to go down each one of
those. >> Uh condemnation, uh there's a there's a desire to use condemnation, but it it should be understood what condemnation is all about. When you condemn private property
as a public entity, you have to pay the fair market value of the property and that requires appraisal and that is that an outcome we don't
know. Uh I understand that they think it's worth 20 $30 million. Convent I'm going to talk about convention hall now. uh there is a an active uh retail operation in in in the Grand
Arcade. All those assets, restaurants and so on are figured into the valuation of that property. Um once the appraisal is prepared, it must go to the other side. Um, and then the
law requires that there be good faith negotiations because there's a great uh disincentive to take private property in our country because of our constitution and our focus on property rights.
>> So, uh, what is good faith appro negotiations mean? And there's cases about this where the process gets stuck because the property owner says it's not good faith negotiation. It's not good faith negotiation. If you're sitting
across the table from me and you're offering to pay me, I'll pick a number of $30 million, but you don't have $30 million. That's not good faith negotiation. So courts have said in order to have good faith negotiation and a condemnation,
the the entity, the city, Asbury Park must have the $30 million example in its pocket either by way of an appropriation or by way of a bond board. And that means you go into the process
having the funds, but you have to appropriate the funds in one of those manners. and that has an impact on real estate taxes right away even before you own the property. So, uh let's say
you complete the good faith negotiation, you complete the negotiations and you think they're good faith, then you're only then are you allowed to file the complaint in combination. And at that time
uh there is a process whereby the in my example I'm using 30 million is deposited into the the superior court of New Jersey and at that moment that that deposit is
made the city can take ownership of the property. the money's in in court and then the law also provides that the property owner can apply uh to the court to take that money out
while the debate goes on about the final valuation number because the fact that the city says it's worth 30 million doesn't mean that's going to be the final answer. And you may not get the final answer for a number of years.
You have litigation in that process unless the parties agree and and and I've just finished a condemnation action where the parties did not agree and gone through the whole process. It's it's uh very expensive to do. And so the the big
the biggest unknown is a very fearsome one uh for a condemning party because you will not know how much the property is worth until you go through the process with the condemnation commissioners. These are three uh people
appointed by the court to hear the testimony in the case and make a judgment about what they think the property is worth. They might think it's worth 20 million. They might think it's worth 40 million, then you have to pay 40 million. Or you can uh the city
or or the other party can appeal and the appeal goes to a jury and you don't know what to expect for the jury trial. But all those steps cost money. The other consequence is that um
the the if the once the city takes title then it steps in the shoes of the owner of the property and has the responsibilities to ensure to secure
safely repair maintain uh and and also the taxes that are paid. that have been paid are gone during that period of time. So these are uh these are the realities of condemnation. It
sounds very appealing to say let's condemn the property and take it back because public bodies do have that power but it is very controlled power because as I said we have a very strong adherence to property rights in our
country and in our constitution. So the property owner must be paid the fair market value of the property which is only determined after you go through all of this process. It might take several years to know what that that amount is.
So then if uh if at the end of the jury trial the award is uh 20 million the city's happy because we said it's worth 30. If the award is 50 million, the city's got to adopt another bond ordinance because
you've gotten the property. You you you've taken the property. You have to pay that money. And so this is the stark reality of condemnation. Now I'm going to turn to another alternative which is u litigation.
Um, and I'm focused on the the conventional complex for this slide, but it applies to any of these properties or any property uh that is in in the default.
So the realities of litigation uh are that once you file a complaint, that's just the beginning. That's not the end. That doesn't mean that the relief you asked for in your complaint is awarded immediately. And we have an example of
that in the politan situation where the city did sue in 2010 and went to court. The court said no, you have to go to arbitration. The city was seeking termination and the arbitrator said you can't terminate. So when you uh when you
undertake mitigation in any case uh there are uh multiple steps that take place before you have the final judgment. And any lawyers in the room know the first thing that happens is there's motions. There may be a whole series of
motions. There may be inter interlocatory appeals. There will certainly be there certainly will be discovery and and discovery is the process of the each party finding out what the real
truth is before you get into the courtroom. It's not like the old days where you see on TV you walk into the courtroom and there's a surprise witness. You can't have that in our modern system of of uh of the judiciary.
So what does discovery involve? It involves interrogatories, written questions and answers that are very detailed and burdensome to answer. It involves document discovery.
So in this case there's a thousands and thousands of documents that go back a very long time. This process uh is one that consumes a lot of staff effort in just responding to discovery requests.
And the other uh aspect of uh of discovery are depositions and a an aggressive defendant will try to depose everybody they can think of. Maybe some of you in this room, I don't
know, but they will they will uh leave no stone unturned. And if you have on the other side of the table a deep pocketed defendant, which you happen to have here in Madison
Marquette, you you have the tendency, I don't know, does this happen of that that defendant just trying to wear out the other party to the point where it's too expensive to
continue. And so all of that is part of the process in litigation. And while the litigation is going on in our situation, Madison Hazbury Retail still owns the properties, they're still deteriorating.
It doesn't give you an instant gratification uh to to sue. I wish it did. I am in the business of litigation. I can speak from experience about what happens when you're in
litigation with a deep pocketed party. I have been defending, our firm has been defending a case involving tens of millions of dollars at state, tens of millions. The complaint was filed in January 2010.
We have had multiple discovery uh activities of the type I described. We've had multiple motions. We've had multiple trials. We've been to the appellet division where we won in the
appellet division. It has been appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court. As I stand here today, I'm still waiting for the date of oral argument in the New Jersey Supreme Court in a case that started in >> In all due respect, can you please tell
us where we stand as a city and with the casino that we don't want to >> we want to know what we're going to do. >> I I've heard people say it's a waste of time. It's not a waste of time because you need to know you need to know the foundational principles so you can make
an intelligent decision about what you want the city to do. It's so I'm I have more on litigation for some reason. I don't know what it is. the print the font is smaller. Uh in litigation the city would be the
plaintiff and then bear the burden of proof. That means we have to prove beyond by prepundonderance of the evidence that our case is is valid. We have to approve a breach of the obligation to repair operate maintain
subject to commercial reasonability. remember that qualifier. Uh we have to it's not a legal cost here. It's also a cost for multiple experts to come in with respect to pro
proving the condition of the complex and and also addressing it's a different expert to address the commercial reasonability of what needs to be done. uh mention that because that all costs money and the city
bears that cost. The taxpayers of the city would bear that cost as it goes on. And as I mentioned in my example, the case I'm involved in, that case has been going on for 16 years now. Um when you,
as I said, uh when you have a deep pocketed adversary, they can try to wear you out. So be aware of that before a judgment is made about what the next step is. Now I'm going to turn to to a different
topic which is a more positive topic. Uh some of some of the uh comments I've been reading is about the $20 million grant that the city got that went to the city
not to Asbury Retail. Um, and that was uh under a program uh from the American Rescue Funds um that was adopted by the legislature of New Jersey that authorized $und00
million of those funds to be used for the preservation boardwalks. Asbury and many other communities with which had boardwalks applied for that funding. Asbury sought 40 plus
um and got 20 and that number was the highest of any applicant. I I believe it was Asbury and Atlantic City that each received 20,000 and then it dribbled down from there. So what's that money for?
Part of that money, 7 million of that of that money went for the purpose of the city to repair the boardwalk, lighting benches. I don't recall all the details and construct two bathrooms on the boardwalk and they are under
construction now. That left $13 million uh for the purpose of of repairing to some extent the Paramount Theater. The application, as I mentioned, was over 40 million. There was a a a lot more ambitious program
that was outlined for the Paramount Theater, but it it it whittleled down to 13 million. And so, here's what's going on with that 13 million. The first 1 million3 of that was uh
identified in what we call a subgrant agreement between the city and M to do an investigation of the structural condition of Paramount
Theater and find out what needs to be done to make it secure structurally and also identify what needs to be done to make it waterproof. That work has concluded.
Now we're ready for phase two on Paramount Theater, which is to utilize the 11.7 million, which must be spent by December 31st of this year
to do the work that has been identified in that investigative stage. That phase 2 agreement we hope will be ready for a vote at the meeting next week
and and if that happens we had a meeting yesterday with the mayor the deputy mayor business administrator the city's engineers Joanna and myself and representatives of M and March
construction which is the company that they have engaged to do the actual construction. They have engaged Michael Graves company uh to do the uh the work on the historic aspects of it. Michael Graves is an internationally known firm.
Uh and we were told yesterday if all this goes well, I'm not promising this because I h I haven't seen the paperwork yet. We're supposed to get it on Friday, so we get the dockets ready for a vote on Wednesday, but if that happens, uh
it's been said that construction could begin in March by March construction. So that is where things stand with that fund. And by the way, this is not money
that has been given directly by the state to M. There's an agreement between the department of the community affairs and the city that controls how this is to be dealt with. It's very strict uhly controlled
and as regard as regards the the agreement between the city and M. They don't get paid unless they done the individual work that will be set forth on what's called a schedule of values.
And they don't get paid until they prove uh to the CFO that any requisition they're asking for has already been paid to in this case March. So M has to put that money out
first and then maybe only then will the city pay for that. There will be uh an inspection by TNM, the city's engineers to make sure that the work that they say they're going to do on that schedule of
values has been done as is set forth in that voucher that they submit. So that money is not in M's hands. It's in the hands of the city. Can I >> There will be questions later. I hear I
hear them. Uh and I'm happy to answer any questions that come later. Uh now I'm going to talk about the u the pending applications by M before
the economic development authority. There's two types. One is a STAR preservation application uh for $8 million doesn't do much because uh M has said
it's going to be over $100 million to do what they plan to do with conventional paramount the Grand Arcade, but there is an application for $75 million in tax credits under what's called the
cafe program, the cultural arts facilities expansion program, a new program. Um there are some recipients of tax credits from that. Uh the um uh Mayo
Theater in Marstown, some may know of that. They received multi-million dollars from that. Uh and the uh the science center in Jersey City, also a big recipient. So the money is going out from that program.
And it it will, if that happens, and we don't know if it will, if that happens, it will provide the nearest opportunity by far, the nearest opportunity for those buildings to be rescued from
from the deterioration that's going through. The other alternatives I've laid out would take time and would be of uncertain outcome and would be expensive. This option is the clearest and most present
opportunity for for those facilities to be refurbished and that is uh pending before the environment economic development authority as I
mentioned. We want to see that happen because if that happens, it infuses funding into that program. Now, it's not it's not a total free process for the recipient. Uh 10% of the project cost,
not 10% of the of the tax credits, 10% of the project cost has to be put up as equity by the owner in order to qualify. There are uh many conditions that will
take time to play out. There has to be an agreement between EDA and uh the recipient. There is requirement that the agreements provide public access on certain times and and hours for public.
Um there is uh a uh a a process also where the tax credits are not money. They're credits that are sold to people who pay to pay taxes and they buy those credits. The example is if you owe $10
in taxes, you find somebody who has these credits and you pay them maybe 85 cents on the dollar. So it will not it will not produce catch in the amount of the credits that
are provided. There's some loss of of of the cost of doing that. So there are many steps. It will not immediately provide uh boots on the ground and and the repair of those facilities but it
will set in motion if that happens the process for for that uh to to be the outcome. Um now um the next part of our presentation is
uh to talk about some frequently asked questions. I know you can't read this so we are going to take turns. um explaining what these say. >> So, I'll just go through some of these with you. Um and you're going to have your own opportunity to speak obviously.
Uh but these are some frequently asked questions, things that maybe you're too shy to ask or or maybe not. But these are the things that that we've heard about the most. Let's start with the most popular one. Can the city take back title to Convention Hall or the casino
or any of the other properties if there's a default? The answer to that is no, because as you heard Joe say, that was a remedy in the 2002 agreement. But the 2002 agreement was essentially replaced by the 2010 agreement which set
out its own remedies which do not include taking back or anything of that sort. Does the expiration of the redevelopment plan mean that the agreements with Asbury Partners and MA retail also expire? No. The redevelopment plan can
expire, but the redevelopment agreements are agreements between parties and they are binding outside of the efficacy of the redevelopment plan or not. So, if the redevelopment plan expires, the city can adopt a new plan if they want to,
but the agreements are still around and they're as binding as they were before. Oh, Joe, I don't know how to use this thing. So, the next one, does M pay real estate taxes to Asbury Park? Yes. uh they pay
conventional taxes. And the last time we uh asked, this is the number that was being collected by the city, almost a million dollars amongst all of those boardwalk uh buildings that we talked about. If the city wins in a litigation,
if the city starts a litigation and the city wins in the litigation, does the city get their legal fees back? No. that in New Jersey, we follow the American rule of litigation, which is every party pays for themselves. Nobody gets any money back. There's very few types of
cases that allow for fee shifting. This would not be one of them. So, I'm going to go back to Joe. Uh, so the next one is the do payments of move taxes take money out of kids' pockets for developers? No, we're not getting into pilots tonight. There's
been a pilot demonstration. There may be another one, but just to deal with that, no. The school budget if approved by whatever the mechanism is by whether it's approved by a vote or whatever is
fully funded by the taxpayers. >> Then the other one is uh oh that's you already dealt with that one except for school taxes. >> Oh I'm going the wrong way. Oh. Uh, this one is I I touched on this
earlier. Do do city taxpayers pay for the instruction infrastructure in the waterfront redevelopment area? No. As I said before, the sidewalks, the curbs, the the drainage, the storms, all of that is paid for through the special
assessment process. and it it is part of the bill that's paid by the new condo owners. Um if the properties are demolished or fallen to to collapse, uh is MAR
entitled to build residential or commercial properties on those sites? No. I think some people have been saying, oh, they want them to go down so they can build highrises on those sites. They cannot. And that that is certainly true uh
because of that easement with conventional all property that's in perpetuity. But with respect to the other sites, it's controlled by the redevelopment plan and the cath permit which do not permit those types of uses
uh on those properties. I think we are done. Is there one more? Oh uh yeah timelines. Are there specific timelines or schedules that govern M's performance in
the 2010 agreement? No. No, they're not. There's no timelines or schedules. They were included in the dispute resolution agreement that I spoke about earlier. uh and that dispute
resolution agreement was expressly terminated by the terms of the 2010 agreement with M. So so that uh that option of using the schedules is not
they're not explicit schedules. Lawyers always argue that they're reasonable schedules implied but it's heavier. And I think that finishes the slide and thank you for your attention. We are now on to public participation. May I have a motion to open the meeting
to the public? >> All in favor? >> Public participation portion of the meeting is now open. Any member of the public who wish to speak, please use the microphone. State your name and address for the record. And there will be a threeminut time limit for each speaker.
Raise up. >> All right, that'll work. Can everybody hear me in the hall? Yes. Hold on one second, sir. Just as I said at the beginning, when the 3m minute expires, feel free to
finish your sentence. All right. Thank you. Hello, my name is Charles Lada. I reside at 35 Charles Court, Ocean, New Jersey. I am the treasurer and founding officer of Save Azri Parks History, a New Jersey profit organization. Henry Beer Bruce
Belelfur and I created the nonprofit out of frustration four years ago when the Parammont Theater and Convention Hall were closed to the public. We tried to get some traction and the place went dormant. Now, I have to throw away my prepared speech because our attorney was
very helpful in helping us understand the mess we're in. And my first comment is, I have extensive experience as a CPA, an auditor, a controller, and a CFO. I've been through the condemnation court twice in my history, as well as in commercial litigation. So, I feel I'm
fairly authorized to speak on these opinions, and they are opinions. And the other thing I want to say is we don't want to fight the city. Everybody here wants to save the buildings. We're not FIGHTING NOW. It's too late to do anything about it. But do we have recourse to sue the
living daylights out of the attorney who advised the council and mayors who signed the 2010? We should sue the hell out of them. They destroyed our opportunity to get relief under the US Constitution. And I I don't
know what to say. I'm flabbergasted when I heard that we gave away all of our rights because we felt these people from Europe who were billionaires were going to be good stewards of our history. Now, these are all off the cuff. So, I apologize if I'm a little emotional. All
right. Now, what I'd like to say is in a 30 second review, I agree if we go into litigation with these people, I we can discuss it further, but it looks like a a path to nowhere. The most logical path to success in my opinion is
condemnation. And here's what I'd like to announce to the crowd. All right. I got to find the right page. Okay. I'm happy to announce an anonymous donor has contacted me and pledged to fund
$100,000 to the city for from our nonprofit. If we can vote to move this process forward to save these buildings and if it's decided it's for condemnation, it will go to the lawyer fees for condemnation. In addition, this uh benevolent uh anonymous individual
will match another h 100,000 if this group can feel within themselves to start donating to save as parks history worth $300,000 to start the condemnation. Now, respectfully, Mr. Attorney, I know a lot
about commercial real estate appraisals. I was in the land development and home building business for 11 years, including commercial buildings. The smart thing to do is for you as an attorney to order an appraisal under attorney client privilege. If the number is too high, it disappears and you find
a friendly appraiser to get a reasonable appraisal. Do you agree? >> Mr. Land, your time is up. >> All right. I have to finish this by saying that um the only thing else I have to add is that um I I think his appraisal number will be lower because
the rents are low and I don't think that building will appraise for 20 minute 20 million because of the low rents. Thank you. Thank you. We want to work with you. Good evening. My name is Senator Carol. I was part of the original development
and am I pissed? You're damn right. When I hear this tonight on how these documents were changed, >> it's somebody belongs in jail. >> Somebody say people in the back are saying, "Don't take nothing." >> People in the back are saying they can't hear you. >> Okay. I'm sorry.
>> Let me start off. I was part of the original development when it was formed in closer >> in 1984. I bought the Berkeley Carter Hotel for $300,000. They were going to tear it down. And guess what? I restored it.
Public private funding and I put a van up to guarantee it would be done. As far as these changes, somebody belongs in jail. That was the original agreement to have the city always owning the convention hall, Parammont Theater, and
the other buildings. Another thing, I built the Sunset Avenue Pavilion. When I built it in 1963, we had a 20-year bonded roof, which meant the roof was good for 20 years. 60 years later, they
just put a damn roof on that building. And you wonder why the damn things are falling apart. We have to do something to get rid of Madison Marquette and and we'll raise the money to do it. That's all I can tell you. That's right. >> We formed this nonprofit and the board
members are Ernie and Ashes the anchor man on the news in New York Carter Sackman, myself, Bruce Belelfford, Chuck Ladola and and Philip Michaels of the Michaels family who owns a hedge fund. We have
the wherewithal to do this and we want to do it. We want your help. We don't want to be against you. We want to work with you. That's all I got to say. >> Dan Sho 65. >> Thank you. >> Dan Shameo, 615 Asbury Avenue. uh want
to thank the council for having this meeting and you guys uh have been good stewards and you would have handled a mess. Over 20 years ago, I railed against this agreement, this project. Al faella and the prior councils sold us
down a river. Uh I don't speak lightly about condemnation. I've been doing eminent domain in New York City for 40 years. 42nd Street redevelopment project I was involved in Hudson Yards, Atlantic Yards, Metro Tech, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center.
I said the original Asbury Park uh Asbury Partners, the fisherman's a bunch of thieves, they were no good. They got out. what I said even decades ago when this agreement was signed and this is the problem we're facing now and I can't
believe Madison Marquette were fools enough to believe the fishermen the the the retail could never make it alone it could not pay to redo these buildings
the whole quote from the agreement from the beginning was you got the money from selling the condo land and that went to that went to fix the buildings. Madison Marquette, you know, I I stopped in 2007, 2008 when Madison Marquette came
in and they put the roof on the carousel building and stuff like that. But how long do we do we have to be abused by them? So, I'm not saying rush into condemnation, but I'm telling you council, you have to get rid of Madison Marquette. They will never do it. And
I'm telling you, I pushed Terry Reedi, even though it didn't work out great, the arbitration, I pushed him to litigate. You know, I said to him, "A gun is like a ham sandwich. If the other side knows you're never going to pull the trigger, you have you are the 800B
gorilla in the room is the city. You need to come down once. I know why can't even control its partner Madison Marquette. There is much that you can do to make it very uncomfortable for Madison Marquette
and Asbury Park. Be afraid of litigation. Again, what I said, a gun is as good as a ham sandwich if you're not going to pull the trigger. Thank you. This is Tom. >> Yeah, I would like to thank
>> you didn't thank me. >> I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. I apologize. >> Um Tom, thank you so much for for your time. This question is is really direct. >> Can I have your name and address, please, sir? >> Uh I will in a second. My name is Isaac Fredell. I'm the founder of the Jersey Shore Dream Center, also a member of the
uh Runa Palooa Committee. And our dream center uh we do a lot of outreach work in Asbury Park. Uh help a lot of the children, a lot of the displaced youth here in the Aspbury Park High School. And we are the beneficiary for the run of Palooa, which is taking place on
April 11th. And this race, it brings in so much business to the town. There's over 4,000 runners that participate in it. Uh the race has been going on for over 25 years and without this race it would really jeopardize a lot of the work that the dream center is doing and
to see that the casino has now been shut down that is the route that we run directly through and my direct question is on April 11th number one um is it going to be open by then? And if not, secondly, would it be able to be open
specifically for that race that does so much for the city of Aspbury Park, so much for the children, so much for um the high school here and the work that our dream center does. Let me answer that. We can't tell you when it's going to be done, but we do
have an alternate route that may be great for your Mr. Booth. Okay, you can disagree. We're working on an alternate route that other people have used very successfully so you don't have to like cancel all together. We'll do our best to work together with you in case it's
not done that you have a plan B. >> The problem alternate group is to go no wait. If he's done, then submit your name and your address and you can My name is Bob Oath and I'm the uh member of the Churches Shore Running Club and I'm the race director for Runup Blues
that we just talked about. And as Isaac indicated, um we we could use an alternate route. We've been actually looking at alternate routes. The problem is if the alternate route goes over the flip bridge from over Wesley Lake into Ocean Grove, that that path is very
narrow. And we have 4,000 runners. They're coming from 20 different states and several countries. And they're all expecting that course to be the course must be it's a New Jersey state championship race and that course must
be measured and certified and approved and that takes time. So we need to know as soon as possible when if that route is not going to be available so we can have it alternate and we have to start measuring now. It it does we can't do it
within 10 minutes. It takes a couple weeks to to measure it and then get the approvals. So we need to know. So that's all I have to say. If we could if you have an alternate route that we could use, I'd love to hear that alternate route. >> Okay. Call Lisa Floyd tomorrow. She'll
give it to you. You talk to Joe Fiori who you've worked with before who will explain it to you. Other people I'm not we're not saying use the foot bridges into Ocean Grove. An alternate route just in Asbury Park like two other people have used this past winter.
So there is another route out there that we're working on. So >> but but remember we're a half marathon 13.1 miles >> and and make make the call tomorrow we start working on. Okay. and we appreciate everything the jurisd
uh I live in Howell, New Jersey right now, 1508 Solo Way. I am uh uh looking to buy and or rent in Aspberry Park. If anybody's renting, hi. I need somewhere to live so that I can vote here. Um so, good evening. Thank you so much for planning and executing thisformational
session in response to our concerns. Thank you to the attorneys as well for the redevelopment plan. You did an excellent job. Really excellent job. Thank you for explaining all of that. It had to be a lot of work. Originally, I had planned to compile a list of unfortunate missteps uh by the municipal
council, previous municipal councils, including a tally of votes and/or redevelopment plan and uh other plan changes which benefit key developers in town and not the city. Instead, I'd like to be a voice to encourage this council
to act in a way that no other council before you has acted. Asbury Park can be the absolute best version of itself. it can be in a very long time. I know about being the best version of myself. I know Asbury Park's going to be the best
version of itself with your leadership and with our help if we can all work together and put our differences aside. I would like you to be aggressive, be strategic, enlist help from allies, artists, residents whom you represent.
We need you as much as you need our votes. And let us be more than just button pushing balladers. We're on your team and you're on our team. You'll never hear people like us out here in the audience say that this is
impossible. We're visionaries. We're dreamers. We hope that you can see what we see for the ocean, for the waterfront, and for our skyline. Please don't let Madison Marquette or any other developer in the future steal that from us. Please,
please continue to be strong for us. Continue to look out for the city. We need you. This city and convention hall, the casino, the carousel house, and the steam plant are our identity.
Buildings, historical buildings like this are the identity of the city. We live, our spirit lives in those buildings and we need you to carry that spirit on. So, thank you very much for listening and thank you for allowing me to explain
what I believe the blueprint of our community looks like. I've lived here for over 20 years. I was pushed out because I was priced out, but I'm on my way back and I can't wait to stay. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Good evening. My name is Thomas Detto. My law office is on Route 66 in Neptune. Make a motion to increase my time by two minutes. Motion to increase my time by two minutes. never works.
>> In any event, I'm here to tell you that contrary to what was asserted on these screens, the 2010 agreement, I'm talking about just the casino, the 2010 agreement does not apply to the casino. What you didn't see up on that screen, but you can see up on my website,
desenolaw.com. Go to the blog. I wrote three recent articles about this. What you didn't see up there was section four, the operative section that says what buildings are governed by this contract in 2010. It lists the pavilions, first, third, fourth, fifth,
sunset. It lists convention hall. It lists the camera theater. It does not list the casino. It is not covered in the 2010 agreement. More proof, go down to the construction se uh section. Also in section 4 just later, list dates for
each project. No dates for the casino because it's not in there. The default section says specifically it only applies to the to the buildings referenced in section I'll give it to you 42. That's the buildings I read. Casinos not in the 2010 agreement. And I
agree with Mr. Maridi on the part that he did show that said to the this this only governs Madison Marquette or M to the extent that it differs from 2002 or that that there's a conflict of 2002. That's exactly right. There's no
conflict with the 2002 agreement on the casino because it's not in the 2010 agreement. You have to go back to the 2002 agreement for that default provision which says you can start litigation, not condemnation, a contract
action to take declare them in default and take that building back. And anybody who wants to CALL I will give you more than three minutes to talk to me. I promise you because this has been going on for 45 years and you deserve it. Also on my website
absolutely have we entered into pilot agreements that take money from the schools and give it to the developer. I GIVE and you can see go to the blog section and I give that whole detail. Um, I want to remind everybody too because this has
been going on for so long. This con these contracts were front-loaded for the developers. They got all their benefits up front. The redevelopment rights, the the the the buildings do practically nothing. We let them eminent domain our neighbors. Ask Elepposopouloolis,
ask Carpinsky, ask uh George Carrick. We let them take their homes. We we then when it came time for them to do their infrastructure, they said no. And we let them take the school money. All we were supposed to get in return was these two big buildings fixed and they refused to
do it. So, I'm going to ask you please take a look at what I wrote on there. We definitely can take the casino back and I pray that three or five of you, which is all it takes, votes to do that. Thank you. My name is Bruce Belelfer. I'm in 9004th
Avenue Park. >> My name is Bruce Belelfer. >> And I'm in 900 4th Avenue Asbury Park. I'm here because I love Asbury Park. I think everybody else is here because
they love Asbury Park. >> Is Madison Marquette here? I don't see him. >> I would like to thank the council and the mayor and the attorneys for this presentation. It's exactly what you needed to do. People of Ad Park need to understand what's going on. And as Tommy
Denno just said, it's been going on for far too long. >> Many of you may know me from bouncing and security work I've done in town, but I have a day job. And my day job is I'm a mechanical engineer. here. >> You should try talking to this
microphone. I'm a mechanical engineer and I work on a lot of old buildings and one of the old buildings that I just worked on was the Grand Central Station in New York City. Grand Central Station was designed by the exact same architects that designed the casino at
uh the convention hall building. Um and we're in the middle of another round on uh uh Grand Central Station. I want to draw attention to one thing in particular, and that is that back around 2011, the copper panels were removed
from the side of the convention hall ostensibly or purportedly for the purpose of an inspection. They were then put in a pavilion building where they were reported as stolen sometime later, months later. I was at the uh Steven Crane building
when that whole issue was discussed. And as much as I was hoping that Madison Marquette would get these jobs done, when they did not rust proof the interior of the building and recover the sides of the building where those copper panels were, it made me question their
motives. Why are the sides of the building still open to the elements? >> Why has it been left that way for over a dozen years now? And when it comes to the discussion of uh what was it the standard was uh
>> commercially reasonable >> commercially reasonable and the burden of proof was on Aspbury Park. The burden of proof was just plastered to the side of the casino. Little red tag that said demolition. There's your proof
right there. That's their intent. Number one. Number two, when a client has deep pockets and refuses to do what's necessary, what is to stop us from doing what is necessary in sending Mr. Deep Pockets a bill? And then if they don't pay the bill, then you take
them to court for not paying the bill. Nobody's got to lose this stuff. If if we don't act, these buildings are going to come down and they'll be gone forever. They're the jewel of the Jersey Shore. Can't be let go. Can't be let go.
>> Howdy. Uh my name is Steph here. I live with 314 Park View Avenue, Ocean, New Jersey. Uh got four things I'd like to to uh get out there. First and foremost um thank you very much for the presentation very
um lot of talk about things other than a lot of talk about um derction things falling apart so on and so forth two things come to mind when I hear that first and foremost code violations
if if we're watching >> if we're watching things fall apart before our eyes and there's now a 16-year history of this from 2010 to the present. Where are the code violations? >> In addition to that, where are the safety violations? Because these are
historic buildings. Um, you can't simultaneously have a demolition order and then say that it that it's in good condition. That to me just I I can't intellectually come to terms with that. Um secondly,
um in addition to living here in Asbury, my girlfriend and I also live up north in Hoboken. And I'm very happy to say that Hoboken was able to through imminent domain as I'm sure you
take uh take control of uh the um the waterfront from New York waterfront. >> We're working on >> right that is a success story. that is something that we can look to as something that we could we could steal
ourselves with. Uh third thing, um when we look at New Jersey and where things are, we we've got a lot of buildings that are going up, but what is the long-term plan?
um uh and when it's sitting had a lot of buildings happen, had a lot of casinos that went up and that is the main role there, but their infrastructure is not in as good a condition as ours is. And if we don't
steal ourselves with the historical nature of this community and really invest in making that our future, then we're doomed to a similar fate as an asphere as u when it said city. Finally, we're
citizens. I I'm a 100% disabled veteran and that means a lot to me that we are citizens and we can come together and hold others to account and by that I mean hold them
account to being in compliance with the code hold them to account for being um in uh in compliance with what's required for safety and we can do this if we mobilize and utilize the resources that
exist in this community. Thank you. >> Hello, my name is Chris Ol. I live at 306 Deal Lake Drive and I'm very impressed by people who can speak extemporaneously without notes. Ergo, I'm going to read what I wrote for this meeting. Um, I really appreciate uh the
meeting tonight and was really coming here to urge you all to prioritize transparency in our town's development processes, not as a procedural formality, but as a foundational principle of good governance.
Development decisions shape the physical character of our town and determine how residents experience our neighborhoods for generations. These decisions matter deeply to people and people deserve to understand them. Meaningful transparency
means providing clear timelines, accessible documentation, and early notice of proposed developments and changes. It means explaining not just what is being decided, but why. It means creating opportunities for dialogue like
this tonight. Before plans are finalized, not after decisions are made or feel inevitable. Our town is strongest when residents feel and are informed, respected, and included. By committing to transparency
and openness, you demonstrate confidence in your decisions and respect for the people you serve. I applaud the hosting of this session tonight and urge you to continuing strengthening communication practices so that growth in our community reflects both sound planning
and shared understanding. After hearing the wonderful presentation tonight, I'm wondering if you could continue to provide such transparency by providing a specific timeline for the short-term and immediate repairs of the
casino building and the reopening of our boardwalk. Also, we would love to see an additional page on the city's website that would include all archived and currently publicly available information on this issue and really to encourage the
residents to continue to work with you. After the demolition uh permit was filed a few weeks ago, I began working with a small but mighty committee of area residents and we formed a group called Save Our Structures Asbury Park or SOSAP
for short. We invite everyone here to please visit our website sos-ap.org for updates. We must organize to create a sustained movement for the historic preservation and respectful adaptive
repurposing of our historic structures. Thank you very much. Put your phones down. Put your phones down. People come here and talk to you. Put your phones away. >> Trying to take notes.
questions and then if anyone wants pizza then question. >> Okay. >> Good evening. Thank you to the council for calling this meeting. We needed these facts.
Thank you for the presentation. It was very enlightening if depressing. Thanks to everybody who came out tonight, too. We all love Asberry. And as Chris just said, a group of local residents has formed Save Our Structures, Asbury Park, that's
sos-ap.org, because we believe these buildings and the community deserve better. Come see one of us after the meeting and we'll connect you with resources and keep you up to date on our next steps. Even before I moved here, one of my greatest pleasures was walking or biking the
boardwalk to Asbury. Imagining the day I'd lived close enough to have that boardwalk as my front porch. Walking through the casino always felt magical. That deep cool and a hot summer day feels like you've stepped into another world. Now at the casino, all I see are
fences, do not enter signs, red stickers, and lack of repair. account. I can't count on bumping into my neighbors anymore, which is exactly why people move to walkable cities. As one of the gentlemen said earlier, we need access
and instead of access, we have empty promises from Madison Marquette and a Berlin wall of cheap fencing between us. We need the boardwalk open. Weeks ago, Madison Marquette had posted from the Asbury Park Boardwalk account, a name
that sounds like the city's own friendly voice, and many people trusted it. When it said repairs were coming and the path would reopen, has anybody seen the path reopen yet? >> Hell no. But I walk there almost every
day. Nothing has happened. No work. I still see red stickers everywhere and a red dumpster. Madison Marquette has betrayed us and we need a solution that involves a builder who can do the job right. To borrow from the Wizard of Oz, pay no attention to the man behind the
curtain. Madison is selling a sedative that was meant to lull people back to sleep while the casino continues to disintegrate. Asbury Park is a boom town now. People want to be here. We should not be held hostage by questionable decisions made
20 years ago while our historic buildings crumble ON OUR WATCH. THE CONDITION OF THESE CONTRACTS are complex and daunting, but that doesn't mean we should roll over and die. We need development that respects our past and our future. We commit to working
with you and making life very uncomfortable for Madison Marquette. They need to go. Hi everyone. Um Annette 43 second Avenue. Um thanks for joining us tonight.
>> Better. >> Okay. This may not be co but I'm still not going to see my mic. Um thank you so much for having the meeting the presentation as well. I was late. So, what I was going to talk about I will not mention because I missed the first
bit and you probably covered it or in fear that you did. Um I will say in a week you're supposed to be approving an agreement to um to start the work on the Paramount. Um
and that's going to be paid in a rears for work done. Got 10 months to get that done. just under $12 million to do it. That's an incredibly tight timeline. That long details. I mean, do they have materials stockpiled? Do they have labor
lined up? Um, is there a project manager or someone responsible from the city who is overseeing that? Um, at least an accountant who's going to be taking stuff in because they're going to have to front a great deal of money to hire
people to get materials. you know, that's it's just not that easy. We only have 10 months to get that done. You know, $1.2 million a month. It's a reasonable burn rate. Um, I mean, I'm happy to go shopping, but I
don't think that's what we want done with the money. So, I just hope someone's on top of that. And that is not just an approval. And then we have to go into contract negotiations. Thank you. Oh, and if we could hire some locals as part of that. That would be
really great. >> So I think the last part was hire locals. >> If we can have that as part of it, that'd be great. >> It's got to be a PLA. Yes, it is a P a project labor agreement. It is. >> And as far as you're right, it is a
tight contract and that's what scares the heck out of us. That's why we've been having bi-weekly meetings with them which haven't been that productive until yesterday when and the good thing about it is you're right they have to front the money. So if they front the money
and we don't reimburse them because it's something Mass Marquette just lost the money. We're not going to give them any money until we have to. And that means they did the work and the work is completed. I which is great and I'm I'm glad that
the town took control of the grant and that Madison didn't you know get it themselves. However, it does mean the work might not get done right if it needs to be done by the end of the year for us to receive that money and disperse that money.
They don't really have that much to lose unless there's penalty clauses in the contract itself. >> Mhm. Well, if they if they pay March construction to do work and it doesn't come in within the time frame, we're not paying them. So, Madison Marquette loses the money. >> No, that's fair. What if they don't
bother doing it? >> Then we won't let it go that far. We'll send the money back to the state of New Jersey, make them look even dumber. >> Okay. But then we the paradigm's done. Not done rather. It falls down. Whatever. Right. So, I'm just saying I
hope I hope the people on our side will be on top of >> We are. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, council. Good evening, everyone. My name is Spencer Pelis. I'm at 10:18th Avenue. I want to give a huge
thank you to everyone in Asbury Park that came out tonight. There was a protest organized two weeks ago that I attended. It was negative8° windchill and people were out there. I WANT TO WHERE ANY OF THEM WERE FOR THAT PROTEST CUZ IT'S one thing to be a talking head on a desk and everything, but it's
another thing to be boots on the ground showing up to our events. It was a peaceful protest where we shared stories and frankly it was a really heartwarming moment. I didn't want to wake up hung over on Saturday and go to a protest in subderee weather. Um, you know, you had this wonderful presentation and we keep
dillydallying over the main issue that you did a wonderful job showcasing that billionaire oligarchs can do whatever the hell they want as long as they can just ride out the processes. Oo, they're not going to get the money that we're going to give them. Yeah, they're really hurting over France right now. I'm really uh I hope they can afford
Christmas. Um, why should we have faith in any of you that any of this is going to play out? It's been decades of the same crap over and over again. And thank you everyone for supporting way before I came up here. You all level heads and I appreciate your words. Uh back to you
all though. Uh why should we think that you're going to actually do anything? >> The floor is yours. >> Is that your questions? Because I got to turn off the >> Sure. We're proceeding forward with
information like this, taking it all in. Some offers have been made. We're going to study some of the offers. We're not agreeing with everything that's being said tonight where we may like uh ask for something down the road. And you
know, you got five people up here that probably been in Asbury Park. I know I've been in Asbury Park not as long as Henry, but a long ass time. My great-grandfather moved here in 1888. I worked for the city. You're right. Everybody in this room loves Asbury
Park. Trust us. We're going to do the best that we can do. We got the city's interest at heart. But again, let just to openly say we're going to sue you. I don't meet person. This is my personal opinion. Sure. >> And I asked the lawyer if he could do
this. I said, "Can we do a referendum and let the taxpayers, the homeowners, the people that live in Asbury Park, not the people from how Romson, whatever, decide because if we take this case and we lose, this could
put the town in bankruptcy." And that's something I don't know if I could morally vote on because when Dan convinced Terry Rey to sue in 2010 and it was like we got him by the balls. We're going to win this case and the city got their ass kicked and what happened? They spent hundreds if not
millions of dollars on the lawsuit and then we got the 2011 politan agreement where it said work together and I was at those meetings with dad in >> but no no no there's no cross conversations >> but you got a lot of those >> there's no cross conversations dad
>> you saved a lot of properties >> there's no cross conversations dad right the George Kerry house was not condemned by eminent domain so again you know it's this tough for me to say, "Hey, we may take this law case and we
may lose and that could put a lot of people in worse shape than they are now." But the lawyer said, "We're not like a board of education. The quickest we could have a referendum is November and that's way too long to figure this out." So, all options are on the table
and I hear you. I hear you loud and clear. I mean, again, I morally right now could not vote to sue them knowing like if we lose, you know, we're going to maybe put the city in bankruptcy if we lose. And that's that's a that's that's a big if.
>> Give a million. >> Thank you. >> Don't start it yet because I want to talk to Tommy who's also been in town for many, many years. And um Tommy, everyone who's looked at his website has
sent me this decision about how we can take back the casino. So I went through his analysis. The council talked to Joe and we we disagreed. We disagreed. We believe the casino is listed in the 2010 agreement under the paragraph Tommy's talking about. That being the case,
knowing his analysis thinks that we can, we're going to have an independent retired judge adjudicator of some sort, review Tommy's analysis, review the city's analysis to determine whether or not Tommy's analysis is right. The
casino is not governed by the 2010 agreement. I want to be on the record. The city believes it is. But with all due respect, a guy who's been around a long time, a smart guy, says that you know what, I don't think it is. I think it's governed by the 2002 agreement. We'll have an independent third party
reviewing. OKAY. >> Good evening. I'm Michaela Murray, 408 Asbury Avenue. Uh, I want to thank you. First of all, we've all been reading the, you know, Facebook keyboard warriors who just graduated from Facebook law school and think they had this thing solved in the last three
weeks. Um, and, uh, I appreciate laying out all the pros and cons. Uh, I understand that some of the options could be awesome, right, if we won. Um, they could be very risky. They could take another decade. They could cost $10
million that we don't have. Um, or you know, people keep suggesting Bruce Springsteen could fall from the sky and fix the whole thing himself. Uh, but I'm a pragmatist, so it sounded like the best possible option right now while we
look at what Tommy had to say and review the options and keep all options on the table is that this EDA funding at 75 mil would come through. So, as the very energized, passionate tax base of Asbury
Card, who, if anyone, could we lean on to have that grant funding come through? Is it a matter of talking? Is it a matter of rallying to the governor's office? God knows we have enough political things to call all of our politicians about, you know, this
decade. But, um, I also I also deeply deeply love that building. I love what Jen is doing with it. I love this town. Um, and I want to see it saved. So, if there is someone that we could be rallying to to see those funds granted,
I think that the citizens of the town would like to know that and would certainly activate our collective voices. Also, I have said this to member of the council before. I will say it again. I'm a professional grant writer. I do proono work for various nonprofits in the town. I am not the only one here
in town. Um, we raise eight, you know, figure grants like it's having a cup of coffee. Uh, we could help match some of those funds. We could get OUT and there's at least 12 of us in town I can think of off hand who would help do
those proono grant applications um, without thinking twice about it. So, activate us. we are your assets and we're here. Um, and if if it's a matter of harassing some politicians, like I work from home, I got time. SO,
>> what are you doing tomorrow afternoon? No, I'm good. I mean, you're late. I want you to go to city hall. >> Okay. talk to the city manager. >> And I love people volunteering to write grants.
>> Yep. >> You're hiring. >> I'm busy. >> You want to do whatever whatever they work. >> I can do it. I I'm I'm literally meeting with Father Chase tomorrow to finish Trinity's roof and repointing and windows and handicap access for the code
blue shelter. So, but Friday morning, I can be yours. Hold on a second. There's a couple meetings Friday morning. >> Angela knows. >> How about How about Friday at 12? >> Friday 12. >> Friday 12. Meanwhile,
who can you call? Who can you talk to? >> The EDA's it's their decision. Who does the EDA work for? The governor. Who does the governor have? >> What chance are they giving this money to a private? >> Come on, guy. You know how many times Mr. >> gave me her time. The government's not
giving his money to a private owner. >> Mr. His opinion. >> This is like the fourth time you interrupted. It's the last time. It's the last time. Mr. Lou, we said >> please do before we bring you out. I mean, >> so Friday, but who do you get contact
with? >> We're district 11 at least. I am as we part our elected representatives and the governor's office. >> Thank you. to your >> Hello, my name is Felicia Simmons. I'm the president of WCC Historic Innovation
Association, formerly known as the Westside Community Center, a historic building on the west side of town. Um, I could be louder, >> right? On on the other side of town, but I've lived in this town, what the best side, right? I've lived in this town on
all parts of the town my entire life. In fact, I used to go to the jump off point, that's what we called it in our day, the other side of the casino, the black beach, right? My whole life. I walk through the casino. But I sit here and watch and listen, right? To to mention what Amy just said that she
didn't agree with Tommy. Your own lawyer said earlier that um the casino was not mentioned in this presentation inside of the 2010 um agreement. I sit here and listen to all the things being in these meetings for the last couple decades being in almost similar one about the
beach club a few years back when the first SOS came to be. Right? And I I I'm I'm sitting here appalled because I've talked to you some of you about 13 years about these certain things and I'm on a a edge of tears sitting up here understanding that we blame it on
Madison Marquette. It's a a fingerpointing game. But the truth is the people who are supposed to represent us have not represented us. Right? We bow down to these developers when we had a chance to sit up there and hold them to a fire. When we sit up there, we have
permits. They don't own the land. These are people's private homes which we've taken to turn into parking lots so we can give to big developers to make million-dollar houses. And that is not fair for y'all to sit up there and say, "Well, we might spend too much money. You just bonded for the the firehouse.
You bond for other kind of things. We give hundreds of thousand dollars every year to the to the water treatment plant. We don't do anything for the people. The infrastructure still not done. Hence, we were swimming and boating down these streets a couple years ago. So, what are we really going
to do? Right? I sat up there and listen to watch the plan saying, "Well, there's no um negotiation. It was never written. Why haven't you written a plan? You know, this was happening for over a decade. you've been sitting there, some of you, most of you, for over a decade, right? We can't blame it on other
people. Is when you get into the job, you take up the the the the the the cross for everybody sitting here. And for me to sit up here, some people, this might be your first one, right? It might be your second or third, but me, I've been coming to this for decades, and I'm
offended. I'm offended. You can do something. And to say that pilot programs don't steal from children, that is a flatout lie. when you come when the S2 is cutting by millions and then the pilot program is not um paying and but they're assessing the property for
everybody in town. That is why you get double hit. You get triple hit and you're assessing your property by the county every year to market rate. We're being screwed and there's nobody defending us and there's nobody defending. It's not
they don't have a responsibility to us. We're a toy to them. They're a billion dollar industry. It is y'all. And we have to do something. Don't just sit there and talk about it. Actually do it. >> My name is Dante Toro. I live at 515
Third Avenue. Uh I actually just have a bunch of questions. Um so when I started transferred um the boardwalk structures the retail to M. When you say transfer that means sell. What was that number? Do we know?
We have no idea. >> Do we anybody know what AR sold the convention center to them to under? >> Okay. >> Two and a half million. >> I'm sorry. I got a credit for building
the boardwalk also, but sorry we don't have that information tonight. If you leave it with us, we'll get it all to you. >> I was just curious myself. >> Yeah, we'll get it all to you tomorrow. >> Yeah. Um, a lot of my questions, um, Annette kind of went down a path I was going to go. So, a lot of my questions
are specifically about the job that's lined up uh for the waterproofing and I think was the structural elements of the Paramount where uh you said that there was something coming up in a week that we were waiting on. What is that? What's coming in a
week or at your desk now? You have a week to respond. What What is that? Joe answer >> I don't have a microphone so Oh yes I do. Okay. >> So the question is uh about the
Paramount Theater and what I said earlier about what might happen in a week and that is uh the approval of the addendum to what we call the subgrant agreement between the city and Madison
Hasbury Retail. uh that the first phase I'll just repeat that provided a million3 >> to do an investigations you know to to see what had to be done and now >> that happened >> that happened all those results are done
we have been told that the construction documents are done uh we met yesterday with the representatives of M as well as uh the Lou March from March March construction
>> and what we're waiting for are a few items. We're waiting for the project description of exactly what are they going to do, >> right? >> Uh we know it's not going to be anything interior. It's not going to be open. >> Waterproofing and structure. >> Waterproofing and structure. Well, we
don't we don't have a full description of that. We want a project schedule. >> These will be exhibits to the agreement. We want a schedule of values. What's a schedule about? It is a you see you seem
to know it's a list of all the sub things they're going to be doing, >> what it's going to happen and how much >> what each item is worth. So that when they look for a payment >> after say a month uh they submit a
requisition to the engineer the city's engineer TNM uh we'll review that to check it against the schedule of values to make sure that what's in that requisition has actually been done >> right
>> and then uh the uh payment will be made only if we have proof that M has actually paid the contractor for that work. So, we're waiting for that schedule of values. That's very important. >> That's all stuff that we're you guys. We
are waiting. >> We have been we've been asking for that for months and >> you're expecting it this week. >> We are expecting it Friday, >> right? >> And maybe it'll dribble into Monday. I don't know. But I'm ready to drop everything to get this. >> And according to them, I'm sorry. I'm
not finished. So the other thing we're waiting for is comments on the language in the sub grant agreement which they have had the addendum which they have had for months. So we're waiting for that as well. Now >> that that's they have to get back to you
on that >> and they are >> and they have to get back to some >> right and then according to them they're telling you hey we're going to send you these documents that you just described. You're going to review them. I'm sure you have a period of time in which you have to review them two weeks, four weeks, whatever it is. Um, and then
they've said, "Okay, once you approve, they're going to start." >> Yeah. The the the plan calls for, and it may not happen. It it calls for all these documents to come for them to be acceptable to the engineers are going to
review them. I'm going to review the legal aspect. We're going to be plugging in these documents as exhibits to the to the binding agreement. And then if all of this happens on next Wednesday at the
meeting, it would be ready for a vote by the city council to approve it. They have to submit to us signed documents before the city council will vote so that they're committed. >> I'm sorry. >> March.
>> No. How you getting that done before Wednesday? >> That's the promise we've got. And I am and Joanne, we drop everything to deal with this. We've been pressing for this for a very long time. I'd rather have had it a long time ago, but I'm uh
committed to do whatever we can to grab this opportunity so that as been as been said earlier, they can get this done. They have a very short time period. >> Okay. We're going to have we're going to have to move. Do we have an unccalerized schedule from them saying once we start it's this long?
>> We're waiting for that schedule. That's one of the items I mentioned. Project schedule. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hello. Believe it or not, I'm ner always nervous at these things. I'm never nervous with a saxophone in my hand, but
speaking extemporaneously. My name is Karen Lee Schwarz and I am the retired music teacher, one of the retired music teachers of this fine district. I gave 35 years to my teaching career, 21 of them in this district. And for 14 years,
this was my playground, this room you're in right now. So, I want to take in this room. I want to point out that in the 14 years that I put on concerts on that stage with the Osbury Park High School Band and Chorus, it would have been great to look out and see this many
people from the community at all my concerts. So the concern that I have really I don't know anything about buildings and money and I can barely make ends meet monthtomonth on a pension and social security. I know about music
and I know about children. I haven't heard the word children mentioned too many times here, but I'm here to raise awareness. I don't really have too much to say to the group up there because I I don't know about these things. I know about the convention hall crumbling on
our heads during graduation ceremony when I had the band over there at convention hall. I do know about that. Um I don't care about Tilly. I really don't care about your it's Tilly sign. Um I like to appeal to the community to get more involved in the school system.
You're the people I want to talk to today that don't go to board of education meetings, that don't know or care about the children that live on the other side, the brown children who are the ones that are in this school system. How many of you know that there has not
been a note of music played in this building since 2023? There is no high school band. Do you see what's on the back of my shirt? 14 years I gave my life, my blood, sweat, tears, put socks, sneakers, food in the mouths
of these children because there wasn't enough money in the budget to buy pizza or to have band camp to have band camp. There was no money for band camp, but there is money for everything else. You folks need to start going to the school. I know this is not your jurisdiction. My
beef is not with you. I am taking advantage of a room full of people. Asbury Park has not had a band since 2023. When there's a foot homecoming football game, you know who provides the music? Tanya Peterson, the M middle school band
director, does it as a volunteer, brings her middle school kids over and I round up all the alumni and the kids get to hear music for one football game. This is a town that says where music lives. Music say Park. Where's the music in
this building? This is our music. This is not our music. This is a youth local meetings and fight for our school music programs. We don't start music band until sixth grade. That's 3 years too late. Neptune Neptune starts in third
grade. By sixth grade, they're either on the football team, a cheerleader, or in a gang. Thank you for your time. Please bring music back to the town hall high school. Thank you. I love you. >> Thank you.
>> Hold on one second, please. Now, Joe, before too many people leave and then they're going to say, "Well, why didn't you tell us?" Like, we're going to vote on two resolutions tonight at the end. So, Joe, explain the two
resolutions, please. >> Thank you for your service. Thank you. So the the two resolutions are one uh to uh support the EDA tax credit applications, the cafe and the
start credit applications citing the fact uh in the resolution that has been said that the uh convention hall is iconic uh designed by the same architects as
Grand Central Station in New York and it's a key aspect of the Jersey Shore. goes on in more detail than that and and asking that the um resolution be forwarded to the governor, to the
chairman of EDA, to the executive director of EDA, to the uh head of state historic preservation office, uh to Senator Gal, uh to Assembly Women uh Don
and Peter Paul, and make the point that Asbury part uh supports that application. As has been said, it is the nearest opportunity to fund get money in for that project. That's one resolution.
The other resolution deals with the u the various other items that we've talked about tonight. The boardwalk arcade. I'll start with that. Uh the point has been made that there's been a red ticket on the carousel. It was put
on that building because it's connected to uh the broad the the boardwalk arcade. It's all one building. Uh the problem is with the boardwalk arcade. Now the uh pressure
has resulted in uh a decision by M to repair. We have a a letter uh from the engineer describing what needs to be done and I believe it was yesterday that a a permit was issued for that work to
begin. This resolution acknowledges that fact and goes on to ask for what what I heard was said when schedule when it's going to be done. Number two, the letter from Collier's uh Mr. Doll the engineer
also said that there is work that must be done in the next year uh and if it's not done the building will need to be demolished. So we are uh requesting the schedule of what they're
going to do for that and the plan to do that and hold that commitment. Uh the resolution also deals with the casino and the power plant casino building carousel and power plant. And I'll say
one more time u that those projects are mentioned in the 2010 agreement. I had a slide on the on up that showed that what has to be done there. It's mentioned specifically in that agreement that there needs to be a separate
development agreement. And so what this resolution is asking M to do is give us your plans for those buildings so that we may undertake the negotiation of that subsequent development agreement which is specifically provided for in the
agreement. I don't know how I can emphasize the fact that the casino buildings are mentioned in the 2010 agreement. Uh so those are the um uh items as well as lastly there's one more
and that is to uh then a structural report with respect to the condition of the power plant the carousel of the building adjacent to it uh and give us a a schedule of when that will
be submitted. So those are the two resolutions. >> Thank you. >> Ask instead of telling them you know, you've totally scooped me because my ending thing was going to be what are action items? So, thank you. Um, but can I in the line I
just um uh thank you Angela, Amy, John, Ivon, and Eileen. I am Nicole. I own at 1035 Summerfield Avenue. I bought on the southwest side in 2008 defying my finances for the iconic uniqueness of
art and music. Everything is different than anything I'm sure world pick up on other commenters. I've run nine marathons. I've trained for five of them here for possibly a thousand miles involving runs through those buildings.
To the logistics and practical if we think the legal system could fail us. Is there a project plan that tells what needs are the most problematic costs that could possibly be handled in different ways? as are there a set of
endeavors that we could put our own hands on at the book physically help as we can however and whatever happens if not architecturally helpful show our love the way that we can for our emotional
perhaps sharing with our networks and ourselves and our lawmakers to create these images possibly finding a pro boner lawyer who will be helping with this perhaps at Polyiana bringing this to the capitalist site. If the
needs of the buildings are brought up and offered as opportunities, are there companies who would eagerly sign on for a piece of it? Maybe that would take time, perhaps ultimately less time than 15 years of more lawsuits.
Is there a train, however this goes down, is there a training and awareness opportunity for our local schools chip by chip as a grant and a and a set of funding? What if we have a music
project there and and put it around the world to to bring up? Wouldn't that possibly create the imagery of who we are that could bring in funding to support emerging musicians?
Many hands make light work. So, most importantly, as citizens, what our are our action items? Are there deep talk at corporations we have? How do we reach to our networks? How do we show up and do
the work to support the funding in the caf in the in cafe? Make sure that works forward. Is that a lobbying campaign, fundraising campaign, but it possibly could be? Jen Hampton of Parlor wrestled 500 grand from the state. We have heard
someone who wants to contribute 100. Maybe that's a drop compared to the need, but it's not insignificant. If there is a drum beat, if we each put our hands on it, fix it. Is there a completely different model that says this city's people come forth and do
something ourselves that shifts the legality? Then does that change that legal weirdness and chip it chip by chip? Um the lady who said volunteer, you just gave us action items.
Is there a thing that we all can do? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Check. Thank you. My name is Joseph Keith Miller, 516 Summerfield Avenue, musician, barber, local contributor of culture here. Uh my statement won't be much of a
technicality, but a little more of sentiment uh a little more of a moral uh substance or so. Uh thank you all for having this meeting and and extending yourselves to do so, giving us information so eloquently. I do not envy your position at the moment unless that's another profession. Um that being
said, uh the issue with all of the structure in the boardwalk, I mean it is just a symbol. It is a vessel for what is going on in this town uh and the greater picture of it. It is just a way of saying that we are being overrun by
obviously multi-billion dollar corporations from out of state out of country with no interest of ours. We are complete digits of them. Our community is getting replaced with gray condos by the week. Uh it's it's it's way beyond Madison Marquette. It goes to high star. It goes to sack and it goes to everybody
who's just dulging their interest in our town. And I don't mean to say that to be hurra. I don't mean to say that to nonashionable items. But when it comes to the uh any intersection that you may be Mr. Mr. mayor or anyone on the council when you say hey I don't know if I have a moral obligation or if I can
vote on these things if you do not vote in favor of the people here you are we are bending to the will of everyone outside of us we are we have no voice we have no power you guys are our arm music save park the culture here save Asbury Park there's going to be no culture I
have stood in this mic before and said that I have said that when Sackin was raising the rent to 30% and drove the whole Steinbeck building out I have been there to say that there's generations of people in this crowd that love this town that are here for whether they're born, they have history, they're transplants,
there's culture here that needs to be preserved, there's only one way to do it. This is how it has to get done. There can be no question we will take them at every single corner. I'm sure everybody in this building will say that whatever resolution, whatever litigation model, however long, however daunting,
however, whatever, we all want it done. Let's get it done. No one's going to say no on that. Nobody feels sick of it. You may not feel differently. You may in the legality of it, but it the sentiment needs to be remain the same. Nobody came out here because they don't care. Nobody spent the time here. This room should be
sold out. This room should be sold out to the brim. This meeting should not happen on an emergency basis. It should not be a special occasion to see this flyer. This should be monthly. This should be quarterly. Whatever it has to be, this needs maximum transparency. You need events around this. You need better marketing around this. Give me a call.
My band will headline. We'll do whatever. This needs to get attended. I don't know if Bruce is coming. The folk hero that we want is sitting right here. You all, everybody, myself included, we are the folk heroes that we want. If we do not put pressure and we show up to
you respectfully and have this discourse, these decisions we made behind closed doors with none of our future at all in mind, let alone our present. We all need to be here. Music can save Asbury Park. So can we. There's only one way to do it. THANK YOU.
GOOD EVENING. MY name is Patty Cronin. I live in Ocean Township. Uh, and I am fourth generation in this area. My mother graduated from this high school and even wearing her ring tonight. So, she's here with me, class of 1946. Um, I have some questions and I'm going to keep it short so hopefully some of you
can get answers. Um, >> who are the parties at the table for the 2010 Medicine Archet Agreement? Was New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office present? And if not, does that challenge the legal integrity of the
agreement? That's my first question. The second question is regarding the Palletan decision after 15 more years of demolition, buying neglect, because that's what this is, demolition, buying, neglect, has Madison Marquette truly
worked in good faith as ordered? No. >> And can't the arcade be declared as blighted and drastically devalued in any eminent domain hearing? Yeah. >> Thirdly, with the pending tax application that you're voting on a
resolution for tonight, what level of oversight and safeguards would the city and state be providing to ensure a timely and robust historic restoration of the site can the state or the city actually ensure there is significant
consequences if Madison Arquette fails again? And lastly, what states uh what steps is the city taking to have conversations with the current NJD and the governor about all this to
gather your support? And I'm happy to bring you some answers. >> There's a minute 15 seconds left. >> I'll try to remember all those questions. Um I don't know who was at the table in 2010.
presumed to know. You asked, was the shipo or state star involved? Yes, they were. They actually sent entered into that easement agreement that specifically uh authorized the uh the
transfer of the property uh to uh Asbury Partners at that time and that was done by uh that agreement. It had to be done because it was green acres involved. Um the uh other question was politan uh the
politan decision was not focused on good faith with M. It was focused on the good faith negotiations with Asbury partners which is now to work out the infrastructure financing agreement and they that has been done that is
underway. That work uh on the infrastructure is continuing as you drive through the waterfront redevelopment area that's done pursuant to the result of those good faith negotiations following the policy decision.
Uh trying to read my own writing. You asked about oversight. If uh the tax credit program is issued by EDA, that's an EDA controlled transaction. It's not the city, but the requirement of the
program is that there, as I mentioned, there be a a very specific agreement covering many aspects of the transaction. Uh my understanding is that EDA has engaged private consultants to review applications to vet these
applications and and make sure that uh the projects are doable and can be done. And with respect to the historic aspects of the building, part of that is pursuant to plans prepared by uh Michael
Graves Associates. They are uh internationally known architectural firm very very uh highly regarded in in reg in connection with uh historic restoration and I think both I think I got them all.
>> I just have one followup because I had a minute 15. So I just quick question the um the the I understand that the agreements will be state written but I'm wondering if there are any significant financial consequences on the other end. I work with state issues and I do
advocacy for many years, environmental advocacy for many years and I know that enforcement is low. >> So what are the real enforcement and this is a big company they got to be significant and meaningful for this to actually >> Yeah. Well, let me let me get into a
little bit of the weeds on how that program works. The the uh if the application is approved for 75 8 it's 83 to combine the two, right? So that means, as I said, they don't get $83
million. They of tax credits that they sell. They have to find a buyer for those tax credits, and they're not going to pay uh on the dollar. They're not going to pay the full value. However, there is a
project that is more than the net amount they're going to get from those tax credits. I mentioned that they have to put in their own equity 10% of the project. The project has been various described in my presence as being 100
million or 120 million and uh in that case it would be you know something like $20 million of an infusion of equity and when that is granted that that approval is given the tax credits don't come in
one lump sum they come over a five-year period so the recipient has to front the money, enter into a construction loan with a bank to finance the project
before they get their tax credits. It's it's sort of like what I was describing. It's how we're dealing with the Paramount Theater. We want to be we want proof that they've they've exper spended the money. I don't know what the agreement is going to say that EDA is
going to have, but I believe that it will be very firm and tight because uh under Governor Murphy, uh you may remember that he came in to reform this program, this tax credit program, uh
there was criticism of how the earlier administration had done that and they revamped it uh to make it tighter and more transparent and more uh solid and responsibly. >> Thank you.
>> I don't know if this is going to be high enough for me. I'll scoot down. Can you hear me? >> I'm Maline Monaco. I live in 1501 Ocean Avenue. I have been in Asbury Park for 10 years. And I have stood by and listened to Madison Marquette lie to us
and watched them as they really don't want to put any money into this city. They want to take money out. So, I actually had this question that was one of the FAQs. If they do succeed in letting our iconic structures fall into
the ocean, what can they build? If they can't build commercial or residential properties, what is their incentive to keep those properties? Is there a way for us to think out of the box? Is there a way for Madison Marquette to be incentivized to
donate those properties to the city for our stewardship stewardship as opposed to theirs? We don't have to answer that now. I've been trained to think outside the box. Maybe it's a naive question, but I wanted to bring it up. Then we could perhaps create a public private
partnership as has been done with the gorgeous St. George Theater in Staten Island and in many other structures around the country to restore our iconic structures. So that's one thing. The second thing is some of you may remember
that I was one of the leaders of the organization called Save Asber's waterfront and we fought against developing an elite pool club between sixth and seventh avenues on the waterfront. There were many other factors involved. We fought for over
three years against ISO. We rallied people from all over this city. People came to us for various reasons, environmental, uh, social issues, etc. Maybe it's time for public outcry to come back again.
Maybe we need to stage protests in front of Madison Marquette or Madison M, wherever they are, their local offices on a regular basis. when we won against the pool club and again I know there are other factors. It was not just public
outcry but it was a major factor. We got on major network news. We got on all the big major newspapers. We were all over the place every local newspapers as well. Maybe there's a chance for us to stage regular massive
protests like we're seeing going on in our country right now. Maybe not quite as big as that, but make some kind of public outcry. I know there was a protest in front of a casino a few weeks ago, a small protest. It was freezing temperatures. I understand.
Weather is going to warm up. We can get out there. Thank you. Thank you for having this meeting. By the way, >> um I just want to tell you that I'm disabled. My spine is oneird. Excuse me. I'm supposed to say I'm disabled. My spine is one/3 metal. So standing on
line is leaning and there's nothing here like a chair except this and this is the best I can do. Okay. I'm Joseph Meanie 10003rd Avenue 531 in Asbury. I have a couple simple questions. Who put in Thank you so much. You are so sweet.
Thank you so much. You were so sweet. Um who put the orange neon stickers on? Did Did they or did the city >> city construction official? >> Okay. >> The city construction official. >> Okay. Because one says it's fixable, the
other one says it's not and they're connected. So it's like, okay, that's true. All right. Um, um, since they've been paying taxes so far, they're quote agreeing to the evaluations of the property. They might
go back later and say, "Well, worth more." But you have a ballpark. And if they say, "Well, I want it worth 100% more." Then you get to go back in time and say, "Well, then your taxes were 100% more." Because you've done zero to add to the property. You haven't did
they need a permit to payment to put a roof on. If they've never gotten it or they can't show you records, they did it. They have not increased the value of the property. The land has gone up, but the property is not. It's actually going down. So, you know, it's it's it's a nice little game to play with the taxes
because they agreed to the same thing with the Steam plan and anything else they pay taxes on, they say they don't because you don't pay taxes on something you don't own. It's just unheard of. They're a big company. They're not doing volunteer work. All right. The $70
million grant will be applied for by Asbury, but it goes to them. Are we the stewards of the money or it belongs to Asbury? because we can't be prepared when somebody else's building. So, it's their money, but they just get the full amount. All right, that was one of my
questions. All right. Um, I don't know if anybody knows the history of Azer Park, and I've been well to sign, but it's kind of new. Um, the power plant, the steam plant was there for a reason. The architects put it there to block the
view of people from Asbury Park and the end of the casino building from the negro black colored African-American beach. It's there for a reason. And on the death level, higher end people were allowed to eat up
there. Okay. So, it's an actual historical thing for the segregation of Astro Park which is started by segregationist. Okay. It is part of the history and that divider, that little bit of breezeway walkway is part of it. On the second, the large opening on the
right of the casino breezeway when you walk in, it's because it used to be for trade shows. And so it was designed not to be an arch. It was designed to be big for trade shows. So, you know, it was for retail. It was for exhibition. And they're, you know, living in that on
purpose, but you can't not with the big vaulted art. You just can't do it. So, that's pretty much all I have to say. Thank you very much for being Hi, my name is David Shrier. I live on De Lake Drive in Asbury Park. Uh my wife
and I have lived here about 5 years. Uh but we lived downtown and uh when we first moved here and I just like looking at all these green spaces all over town and water at the waterfront development area and was always wondering what's
going on with all these green spaces. I also like looking at maps and studies and I saw this Ruters study. Um, I think it was the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center that had painted some
damn pictures about well pretty much everything east of Park and Hec. Uh, and the timeline was, you know, 2030 and I'm just reading some numbers. uh it rises the sea level rises to 2.1 ft by
the year 2050 and um why would anyone want to build all these condos here? Well, maybe to sell them later, but the question sort of goes to motivation on the Madison Marquette or Mr. site.
It's my question to you. Oh, and by the way, thank you very much everyone for putting this together. But my question is, is it possible that all developers don't want to do a darn thing with these with the convention center and with the
casino, etc., because it's going to be underwater. Why would they want to do a thing? Um but my so that's just a general question but the specific question is the questions are A does
this report ever come out in conversations? B is there a competing report? The reason I asked these questions is it was just updated in 2025. I looked at the data in 2023 and the numbers did not get
better. Thank you. question. So, so your your the main question was whether there there is no interest actually in repairing and restoring just let them go. Uh >> no no the main question is
>> main question is >> are you aware questions are you guys aware of the report and if you let's say you don't take it seriously or Madison you know I don't care I'm just looking for your opinion is there a competing
report that says no no no no the water levels aren't going up that could work so soon >> well I'm very familiar with what you're talking about about sea level rise as it's an interest of mine. I've written articles on that topic. Uh there is
there is a debate about that Rutgers report. Uh and there is there is challenge to it. I'm not saying that I agree with the debate, but to answer your question, there is a uh a contrary opinion about that level of of rapid
rise over that period of time. And uh so that is a disputed point. Yes. >> Okay. In followup, if I may, is anyone aware of a competing report? In other words, some other university has done
something to counter at that on paper. I I believe that there I don't know about the university, but I do believe that there are private entities that have criticized that and have submitted reports and challenges. there's this a
new uh real uh and I can't remember what the acronym stands for uh effort by D soon going to be adopted to uh adopt the strict requirements uh for building in areas that are not
presently inundated but there's a threat of inundation. So in that process there's been a lot of challenge to the to the to the science in the comments that has been have been made by by developers challenging those those
regulations. So I think that you'll find literature out there. My name is DJ Doug. I live at 812 Prospect Avenue and uh just for my edification, you're the law firm that represents the city, correct?
>> Yes. Yes. And you started doing that in 2018. >> That's correct. For you guys, very very good presentation. Thank you for for for having this meeting. Uh the presentation I thought was very good. It really did a nice job of laying out the
issues. But to kind of summarize, we had a lousy agreement that kind of superseded everything in 2010 2011. Um, and did a nice job of also out laying out kind of the the options that we have now. And again, they're kind of lousy.
The best one is the one that has the big if if it happens. So, here's the thing that over the last several years as this has happened for me because I've been down here for about eight years now and I get very excited when when I read things I've read up about most most of
all of this. Um, when the uh state grant of the $20 million was announced, very exciting and that still is exciting. It's kind of a you know a bright spot in this presentation. However, what is the outcome of that? Waterproofing the building. Does that
mean we're going to have concerts next year in that building? What is the outcome? That's what I think most people are concerned about it. You know, God forbid that I say this out loud, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if that existing casino structure, not the
carousel building, not the but the existing overpass was rebuilt as opposed to preserved. But that's the thing. We want an outcome. We want to plan with an outcome. >> Right now, those uh month ago those
stickers went up and a panic ensued and it obviously affected mass market and they are where they came back and said, "Okay, okay, okay. We're going to fix it." Which all that means is they're going to put a
wall up to make it stand up again. Nothing new there. If they're going to waterproof the Paramount Theater and it stays as an empty beautiful theater, nothing new there. Lipstick on a pig. We need plans. Like someone just earlier
just said, we need actionable plans with consequences. I know that's easier said than done, but that's what we need. Unfinished. Hi, I'm Celia Moriceet and I've lived at 614 6th Avenue um for 25 years. As a
past vice president of the historical society, we have some members here tonight. The architectural legacy of Asbury Park has always been very important to me. Um, some of the newer members of our um, uh, city might not realize that there
were several early grassroots efforts to preserve our distinctive buildings and some efforts were more successful than others. We were able to save the old Howard Johnson's building, now MLON's, but we lost the Charms building.
20 years later, we are still continuing to talk about saving our architectural heritage. I'm a member of our newly formed group called SOSAP, which stands for save our structures. And we're concerned about the casino building, but we're also
looking at additional structures that may be in peril. Some of you may or may not know that Dr. Angelo Cheni was integral in getting the Paramont Theater and Convention Hall listed on the National Register of
Historic Places. And this was in 1979. He worked on this in 1979. As many know, the Paramont was designed by Warren and Wetmore. We all know that the same architects who designed Grand Central Terminal. The theater was completed in 1930 and in four short
years we'll be celebrating its 100th anniversary. And yet now it's in disarray. We aren't able to use it. However, unknown to me until I did some deep research is that the casino and the carousel house are also listed on the
National Register as part of the convention hall complex. These two buildings on the southern end of the boardwalk are considered a significant part of the larger convention hall and Paramount complex and should be protected as is the car paramount in
convention hall and this is actually listed on the national register. We know that the current council was certainly not involved in 1979 and I mean obviously however the city of Assbury Park had a 20-year historic
preservation easement and on the national register um website it said that this was established in 1997. I've heard other numbers being bandied around and this was with the his New Jersey Historic Trust to ensure long-term
preservation of the complex. In 1996, the New Jersey Historic Trust awarded a grant $1,245,000 to fund significant work includes including the replacement of windows and
the repair of the interior features of the paramount. Now, I don't know. I wasn't around then. I don't know if any of this work was done and how that one point $1,245,000 was used. >> Silia, finish.
>> Oh, come over. Oh, so sorry. Okay, I didn't Anyway, um anyway, quick quick quick statement. We're not a suburban cookie cutter city. The architecture as well as the art, music, and our diversity are what make us unique. We want to protect our structures, be the
casino or the carousel. the Paramount or Convention Hall. As concerned citizens, our commitment is to work together, obviously with the city, to protect our legacy. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is John. >> Hold on. One second. Silia, if you could
send us whatever documentation you have about the casino being on the historic registry registry. Joe, our records show that the casino is not correct. >> Correct. >> Yeah. I we need that documentation because our records are showing convention hall is but the casino is not
anything you have in writing. >> I found it in the national >> just send it to us that you know my email soon. >> Hi my name's Keith Keith Johnson. I've lived at the same place as that beautiful young lady 614 6th Avenue with
my wife since 2001. Um, I I I put down some words earlier today, but having heard so many sides of the coin today, I have to modify them a little bit, which is that two words come
to mind when I look at all of this, and they seem to be out of style in our country these days. Optimism and compromise. In terms of credentials, for me, I have a master's degree in art and architectural history. And prior to
moving to the east coast, I used this background to start a company in Detroit that was involved in restoring and converting industrial buildings in the first live-in lofts in the motor city. So, I'm no stranger to aging structures
that are in disrepair since I'm turning 75 this year. Snow is silly. Um, but I learned early on for a project to be successful, all the participants have to gain. I've worked with
developers for the last 43 years of my company. We can't preserve the past while working with the developer to create aesthetically appropriate spaces, but that also move us into the future. The casino building or the grand
concourse as it was once referred to can continue to reflect our unique Bozart architecture but still provide reasonable economic viability. Want to cut out some of this? Sorry. Um just an
perfect example in in Detroit. Trappers Alley was a multi-use shopping mall that I got involved with in downtown Detroit that illustrated it was possible to transform three physical alleys, industrial alleys with buildings into a
by putting a skylight over it and and building it out using the same materials. Every weekend in Michigan, there were at least four or 5,000 people down there spending money. It was a fabulous success. um you know preserving the the facade of
the casino and utilizing it as a concourse perhaps with the addition of retail stores and food venues but I think it should be incorporated as a clever portal to a new more viable structure to replace the old one they
took down and in that case since I do believe in preservation they need a worldclass architect and you sir mentioned Michael Graves who I've worked with that firm. They're absolutely perfect. They would see the past and the present, how to melt them together. But
part of that would be an insistence that it remains. I mean, look what I imp. But the loop is still there. So, um, we're still the jewel of the Jersey Shore. Let's approach this
project with that in mind. Hi, my name is Maria Callahan. I live on De Lake Drive and I'm a transplant. I've been here since 2022. I didn't even know this town existed. I grew up in New York State and we used to go to Seaside for our family vacations. I moved to Long
Branch first, got out of there, and when I but I accidentally found Asbury Park. I'm not a Bruce fan, so I never heard Park. And um I was blown away by this town and all the amazingness. And I once I started getting into like why is this
building falling down? This is the most magnificent thing I've ever seen in my life. And I couldn't figure out why is it taking the town so long to get mad? Like isn't there paperwork in place? So this meeting was great for me so that I could see that you are kind of doing things in the background and and we
didn't know. But it's still like I guess one question I have is and you may have mentioned it but there was so much information. So I'm just asking again what entity is in place that holds Madison Marquette IR names hold them
accountable like um this gentleman's waiting for some information in two weeks. We we're hoping that they give it to us. All the things that we're hoping for that they don't give. What who holds them accountable? Like who can we go tell on be like, "Hey, they didn't do this. They were supposed to do this.
They didn't do this." Who do we tell? Who do we who does that? >> You asked who we tell in connection with the you mentioned the the grant that we're we're waiting for. Well, all of it. >> Yeah. Well, well, I'll talk about there's pieces of it, you know, that
it's it needs to be said that with respect to the money for the Paramount Theater. Uh, we are waiting for the documents so we can enter into that agreement. The money will come if they do that. The
mayor has said, >> "What makes them do it?" >> Well, uh, think about it. There is a grant of money that is not a matching grant. They don't have to put in another scent. It's
free money. That should be what induces them to do it. They're still saying as of yesterday they want to do it. But the mayor has said many times if they don't step up, we're sending that money back to Trenton. >> That money goes >> nobody wins.
>> And no, nobody wins. That's right. So the question is who who can hold their feet to the fire? That's what this presentation is all about tonight. How do how does that get that get done? Not easy thing to do. Not
an easy thing to do. If they get the EDA cafe and the start um tax credits, then you have the EDA holding their feet to the fire on that. You also have, and you remember Joanne went through the Shipo
easement, the state historic preservation easement on convention center. Now that doesn't apply to the to the south building, the casino parag, but it does apply to convention hall. And the state of New
Jersey has the power to enforce that. And so that's another another lever to pull is to get the state to enforce the the the shipo ement on the convention hall complex
>> and all the other legal things that are in place all the things that you outlined that have been >> I mean if I didn't if I got surged with papers and I didn't follow I'd be in trouble. >> How come they're not in trouble? >> Well they they are in trouble if they're listening to this room. They're in big
trouble. But the issue is Yeah. But the big issue is this. If if you got in trouble, you don't Are you I don't I'm assuming something that may not be true. Are you a billionaire? >> No. >> Okay. That's the difference.
That's the difference. Does the city have unlimited resources? >> No. >> But isn't there anything over that? I mean I I probably sound like an idiot but like you know like superior court or the president or God like is it who how do you >> the president is occupied with other
things right now the the superior court yes that's litigation that's litigation or talked about litigation >> it just seems like they get to do what they want and and then when we try to be like hey hi hello you you I I don't know like how can we give them a permit to
build a building I mean like this hey when you fix this building you can build that You can't do that. >> Well, I don't know what building you're talking about. >> I know. Any I guess because they're separate entities. >> That's right. They're separate entities. >> So, they're way smarter than us. >> That's why uh that's why I went through
that that first visual to show the difference between AR that's building all the condos and the residential and M that has the the the treasured assets we're talking. >> But they're not under one umbrella.
>> No. >> They're so smart, right? Well, maybe they are. And I don't know if they're smart. I don't know. They've invested a lot. They tell us they've invested $25 million. >> And if they fall apart, they lost $25
million. >> Doesn't make sense. I don't know. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hello. My name is Steven Satka. I'm an author. Uh I'm sorry if I'm a little shaky. I'm recovering from a bad auto
accident in Asbury Park. And uh but the thing is that I am writing a book and in the book the casino and the carousel house are fondly remembered in my book 60 gates which is going to be produced probably in the next three or four
months hopefully to be a worldwide bestselling book. So, what I'm trying to do is I can't add anything to any of the logistics or the contracts or the big deals or whatever that came and went because I don't know anything about
that. But I do know that when I was four years old, my grandma took me on that that Philadelphia Tobago Company's carousel and I remember watching all the gear works in that as it spun me around, listening to the air brakes in that
carousel. and uh I became an engineer and worked all my life as an engineer. And so what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to bring whatever I can bring attention to the situation that's going on here with the property at the at the
beach and I can't add anything to it otherwise than that the Asburg Press is going to be interviewing me tomorrow and getting some parts of my book so that they can do a a book review page on me. So that this whole contest here that's
going on today is going to probably be in the next few days in the Aspbury Park Press as a feature article. So that's the little bit that I might be able to do to help the situation is that that's what I'm going to do. My grandfather came to this country in the 20s and one
of his first jobs he never could speak English. who's Ukrainian uh contractor and he uh toured down the Waldorf Histori Hotel on 34th and Fifth Avenue. And uh ironically, I did a lot
of research on that, found out what was built on that on that property, the Empire State Building. My grandfather did that. My grandmother probably corrected every tax map that the city of Asbury Park has for the past 20 years
because that's what she did and that's how she got me to come down here to Asbury Park. She would get on the train to do the tax maps and drag me along with her and throw me up on the carousel. These memories are in my book and I want to share them with the world
and I hope that they come out pretty soon. Like I said, I've had a setback of six months with an accident and uh you know, I I think it's going to fly. So anyway, thank you for your time and I appreciate it. BUT
>> HI, my name is Lori. I live at 3016th Avenue in Asbury Park and I've been here about four or five years. um came over from Shrewsbury. I was there 9 years. Born and bred in uh New Jersey uh Beth
Israel Hospital from New York. And uh I just have a question or just a statement really is about the carousel was fine when Bruce made his movie. It had no and that was only what that was even a year ago. A
year maybe a little over a year. And then these town homes and this all this stuff that's going up, stock options, they don't pay taxes. My taxes four years ago were $4,500. Today they're $10,000. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> And it's a glorified apartment, two bedrooms. >> Hi, uh Jameson Miller, uh Daily Drive. Uh I've been here for 2012 when I moved. Um, I just got a couple quick questions. You said there's two resolutions that you're going to be voting on tonight.
Um, I didn't see them on the agenda. I don't know if we're going to get copies of them. I don't know if that agenda is going to be updated. Uh, just on the city website. I just pulled up the agenda and it was not included there. Um, and just to understand them, the first is basically saying that you
support M getting tax credits for the Paradise project. And the second is saying that we're going to define that there's work that needs to be done in the next year or the building is going to be, you know, needing to be demolished. Is that
a correct understanding of those two or can somebody explain that second one a little bit? >> Well, I think the second one is we want a better explanation of what's going on. It it's the entire complex be the
breezeway the old uh casino that was over the ocean but the pad is still there. The building in between the carousel and the eating plant or steam plant are on the same lot. So they specified that block
that lot. So, like the attorney said before, "Hey, look," and I have pictures of uh four or five years ago, the steam plant was in much worse shape than the casino. So, if their engineers think the
casino is going to fall down, we want to engineer a report of every building to see what else is in bad shape or good shape or whatever to put our minds at ease because that stack which was got rid of all the
bunker fuel to heat the entire boardwalk. It's quite hot. If that thing ever fell, like you know this it's going to be a lot worse than the casino breezeway. So, it's to get it where are you doing? What are you doing? When are you going to fix it? And then give us an
engineering report of the other three structures. Okay. Uh so that makes more sense. Thank you. Uh also thank you for setting up this meeting and having this meeting. You know, it was big fire start getting everything. >> I think I think over there is a copy of the leg.
>> Oh, it's a presentation. >> Oh, it's a presentation. >> Well, it'll be up on the website. The the two resolutions we passed tonight and the presentation one. There's a hard copy over there that we probably should have handed out, >> whatever. Um, anyway, the presentation
will be up and these two resolutions will be up on the website. Give us 12 hours. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, also just the next week's meeting, uh, I know you guys, you know, nobody can post the agenda right now. Um, but that vote pending you getting the documents on Friday and it
being reviewed and you all being ready to vote next week. Um, will that be during the public portion of the meeting? Is that going to be the closed executive session or whatever you guys call that or is there going to be a presentation and public comment and then you guys voting on that next week? will
it will be voted on separately and because we're talking about tonight, we'll make a short presentation on it. Okay. Thank you. >> Hi guys. Thank you so much for doing this. I know a bunch of people have said that, but it really means a lot to the community that you're holding this in a
bigger situation for people to kind of really rally and show their support for things and ask their questions. My name is Caitlyn Dabney, 400 VA drive. I've been in Asbury now since 2008 2006ish. Um I just have a few questions and then statements. I know a lot of information
has been given out tonight, but um if they were to receive the $75 million, does the obligation for the one I'm sorry, 11.7 million still hold true? And how did we go from 40 million to 11.7 without an assessment or property
appraisal? Just kind of wondering how we got there. Um, and then if we don't get that, like if they don't get that funding, like the $11.7 million, where does that go? Does that come back to us, to the town, would it go to upgrades or repairs on the boardwalk as it's kind of
delegated towards that part of town? Um, and then what is the town doing to ensuring that we're maintaining green space and common congregation areas for people of Asbury the way the town kind of used to have with pavilions on the boardwalk, pools, the casino, uh, the carousel, and the former palace itself?
Kind of just common areas for people to be in town and enjoy aspect the way it is. And does the redevelopment the waterfront redevelopment agreement have anything in that agreement about maintaining green space and what they plan to do for the quality of life that it provides. And then not really a
question but just a statement. And I have a lot of friends who work on the boardwalk and throughout town. And I was told to share with you guys that the businesses don't have working heat, air conditioning in convention hall. And Madison Marquette offices and the mutiny bar which is owned by Madison, the food
is not just really isn't functioning for people that are working there day in day out trying to make money and survive in this town. So, I'm not in that situation, but friends that I know that knew I was coming here wanted me to mention that even though they're operating and generating revenue,
they're not actually providing good working conditions for the people who are in that building or buildings that they are operating and functioning out of. So, again, thank you for your time. I appreciate you guys. And kind of >> Okay, rolling a second. So Adam, you can
have code and the health department go down and look at these buildings tomorrow that in the grand arcade that there's complaints that they're being run >> well unsafe work environments. You know, there's no heat, no air conditioning,
>> right? That's a that's a that's a health issue and everything. And then >> people can call the the city anonymously. People can complain. You don't have to wait for I'm not busting your back. >> You don't have to wait for special meetings. There's a place on our website that you can make complaints >> and anybody working any place in the
city under unsafe conditions or not great conditions should make those complaints every day till they're fixed and to us and the county >> to us and the county health department. The only other question I remember that I could answer is like where would the money go? It would go back to the state
in New Jersey who would either have to spend it quickly or send it back to Washington. There's not like a clause that it could go to a different part of Aspberry, even the west side for development or something over there that could use the funding. >> Even with like the $20 million, they got
13, we got seven. We wanted to use some of our seven to do, we were limited to the boardwalk and the bathrooms. We wanted to do something with showers on the beach and the state told us we couldn't use it. So, it's very limited. And as far as like who oversees this, if
the people that o overseeing this project oversee cafe, they're not going to get away with anything because these people won't let us spend money on anything unless it was applied for. >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Albert
Hutchinson. I live on Lake Ocean Grove. And I'd like to thank you, Mr. Mayor, for the transparency this evening, thanking the rest of the council as well, and to the city's attorney for the clarity that we uh obtained this
evening. I would like to suggest though that uh Mr. Mayor, your proposal that the stiffest penalty that these individuals face for not meeting the 11.7 million to be spent by
the end of the year. You suggest that perhaps they're going to look stupid. Mr. Mayor, it is time to figure out a mechanism by which these individuals have a stiffer penalty than looking stupid. They already look stupid.
They're letting architectural splenders fall into the ocean. Mr. Mayor, it's high time to figure out a stiffer penalty or a mechanism by which penalties can be enacted. Maybe it's going to take individuals more intelligent that are present in
this room today. But that is the method by which we can actually make some change beyond them looking stupid because they already knew this, right? Okay. And I totally agree with you because you heard tonight's some people
got up and said like you never knew like this is a legally binding contract. You cannot unilaterally change a legally written contract. >> I would never suggest you do such a thing. I would I just suggest identifying mechanisms of action by individuals that are more intelligent
than us currently in this room by which these individuals can be had their feet hugged to the fire as you suggest. Thank you, Mr. >> Okay. Thank you. And that's why the presentation was made and I I wish there was more we could do. >> There is.
>> What? What? What? What? >> Would anybody else like to be heard? move to close. >> Somebody come on up, >> please. >> Sorry about that. I just want to ask one question. I've been My name is Adrian
Nicholson. Uh I live at 12 Ridge Avenue in Asbury Park. I moved there in 1991. So I've lived in my house for 35 years. My taxes are ridiculous. um not knowing what year I'm planning on
moving. Last year my taxes went up $2,93. The year before that it went up $1,965. The year before that it went up another thousand something dollars. I just retired at the Ashbury Park Press
working there 30 34 years. My goal was to move in the house in Ashbury Park where I have been born and raised here. The thing is is that I can't even retire now because every year I feel like I got
to get ready to move out of town because my taxes are so high. I can't afford it. I don't know when it's going to stop. They telling me the school system because we're paying most of the money. I I'm not sure what to do anymore. So I
I I really don't. And the thing is is that 2026 is coming up. I'm assuming my tax is going to be another over 2,000. It seems like it's going to be 2,00 2,000 2,000. I can't even afford that. So, I really
don't know what to do. I really don't know what to say anymore. I'm just trying to live and I really don't want to move out of New Jersey. I went to the Bangs Avenue School in 1964.
That's where I started from. Ashbury Park. I don't know what to do. This wasn't the dream. The dream was to live here, get a good job, try to do the right thing, live in my house, retire,
and then live the American dream. It's not an American dream. It's like a disaster. And I have no I have no I don't know what to do. Honestly, I really don't know what to do. So, I don't know when this is supposed to stop
or even if it's going to stop because I could be next year and I'm like, "Okay, I I can't do it anymore. What am I supposed to do?" >> All good questions. And we all wish we knew the answer. And I believe you're right. There's going to
be another tax increase this year, because of the S2 bill, not because of the board of education, because of a bill that was passed eight or 10 years ago that increased the weaned the board of education off of the money. And
people talk about Mr. Sak, you know, uh the 2013 agreement when the city and I start, master everything, they were high-fiving like they won the Super Bowl. And I'm thinking, why are our lawyers high-fiving their lawyers?
Because they did hit the Super Bowl because they just passed $68 million worth of profits. And I was at that meeting. I said, "Well, what happens when if the state starts weaning the board of
education off of the all the money they were given because of being a perverse per case?" And the answer was, well, we can't worry about that. And it came back and that's exactly what happened. And there's uh you can make an appointment,
you come down to city hall, you you can give me a call. I mean, a lot of people don't know about the senior freeze. Are you aware about the senior freeze? >> Yes, I am. >> Okay. I mean, it's a it's it's a great great program.
Uh we we can help you with it. Angel's had programs at city hall, Ben Gopal's office. We'll have people come and meet him. We do stuff at the senior center to get people in the senior freeze. And you're absolutely right. I mean, the tax increase is going to force a lot of people out. If I wasn't on the senior
freeze, I'd be out. And I just got on. Thank goodness Mr. Murphy raised the amount you can make. So, that's that's the only option I can think of. If you want to meet, I'll definitely meet with you one day at city hall or talk to all the department heads and whatever you want to do.
>> Okay. I appreciate that. >> Okay. And look, where are you on Rich? How great to end the fridge at Fort? >> I'm right on the corner. I tell everybody if you're driving down Fourth Avenue, you don't have no brakes. You're
going to run right into my house. And it happened already three times. You can go to the tax office. I'll tell you who owned that house in the 1920s. >> Yeah. Mr. >> The Bronley, >> right?
>> The Bron who owned all the concessions in the casino. >> Absolutely. >> Yes. >> Had a business down there and he used to pump his own gas in his garage. >> Mhm. Well, I'm I'm in 14074. those.
>> Yeah, I think I'm I'm not >> You can walk to me. I can walk to you. Whatever you want to do, sir. And again, it it's I don't think it's going to be a pleasant year. I'm not going to fit to anybody. That's why again, like I said, I don't know if I can morally pass along another tax increase to anybody without
like the public voting on it. Like, I honestly mean that. I mean, so if I get beat up for being honest, I get beat up. >> Okay. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. Move to close. >> All in favor? >> Public participation is now closed. We
are now moving on to our resolutions. First off, I have resolution 2026125, resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Asbury Park acting as a waterfront redevelopment entity to support the pending applications of Madison Asbury Retail LLC for historic
and cultural arts facility expansion tax credits and urging New Jersey Economic Development Authority to approve the applications to enable the restoration of the historic Asbury Park complex. Do I have a motion? >> Move it. Second, >> council member Anderson. Yes. Council member Chapman, yes.
>> Council member Clayton, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Quinn, >> yes. >> Mayor Moore, >> yes. >> Resolution 2026126, resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Asbury Park acting as a waterfront redevelopment entity, requiring actions be taken to repair and renovate the casino building, including
the boardwalk, arcade, aka breezeway portion, the structure between the boardwalk and arcade and the carousel and the power plant. Do I have a motion? >> It council. Council member Chapman. >> Uh, Council Member Pña, I >> Deputy Mayor Quinn, >> yes.
>> Mayor Moore, >> yes. >> If that is all for tonight, do you have a motion to adjourn? No, not yet. I just before we adjourn, I'd like to thank everybody for attending. I'd like to thank everybody for being polite and courteous to everybody. And
uh, like to thank uh, Joe and Joanne for putting on a great presentation. Uh, so said like three weeks ago they counsel me when someone said you know you should have this meeting I'm thinking to myself Jesus Christ we just found out about it two days ago so we did as quick as we
could thank you >> all in favor >> I >> thank you everyone had a good nights for