Wednesday, January 30, 2013
CommVault now allowed to begin construction process
The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) and CommVault have closed on a deal that will bring the software company from Oceanport to Tinton Falls property on Fort Monmouth. Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera said the deal was finalized on Tuesday afternoon and that the transfer of the property is complete. "I signed off on the final paperwork last week, the county did the same," Skudera said in an email to Patch. Skudera said CommVault is expected to start its initial site work in the next several weeks. He added that a ground-breaking ceremony will also take place in the "not too distant future." The deal between FMERA and CommVault is the first sale of property at the fort. The sale price of $5.9 million, down from a …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Financing an issue with healthcare facility to be located in the former Army clinic in Oceanport.
The first new ratable promised to Oceanport from inside the gates of Fort Monmouth received a tweak to its deal this week. The board of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) unanimously approved a change the $2.7 million purchase agreement for the Paterson Health Clinic approved in September. AcuteCare Health Systems, which is affiliated with Monmouth Medical Center, will reuse the space once slated for demolition, to provide care for seniors, veterans and other patients. Fort redevelopers expect that the reuse will eventually net 200 new jobs for the area. The sale price fort the property hasn't changed, but details of how it will be paid have. In the original agreement FMERA reserved the right to buy back the …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The original contract has run out and must go out to bid again.
The Suneagles Golf Course and Gibbs Hall could be under new management this spring. Both are owned by the Army which is temporarily leasing the property to the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), the authority that oversees the redevelopment of the fort from Army installation to civilian properties. For more than a year now Atlantic Golf has managed the Eatontown course. It subcontracts the banquet facilities management to McLoone's. The successful bidder for the contract will pay FMERA $10,000 per quarter to reimburse it for the cost of leasing it from the Army. The Army has extended it's lease to FMERA for an additional 18 months. FMERA officials say they hope to sell off the property to a private owner in the near …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The historic homes in Oceanport, including the general's stately quarters, are slated to be preserved.
They're not ready for the multiple listings service yet, but the historic residential properties at Fort Monmouth are one step closer to market. Wednesday fort redevelopers issued a request for offers to purchase (RFOTP) the historic housing on about 36 acres of land in Oceanport. This is the process where by developers submit their bids to buy the property. The Army is said to be applying for the area's place on the national historic registry and the land and buildings, including the row homes and the general's stately home, are to be preserved. These homes, featuring brick facades with patina and white trim, wrap the circle drive at the fort's main gate in Oceanport, with views of the enormous green lawn, flag pole and the former …
Friday, January 4, 2013
Forty-three displaced families are currently living at Fort Monmouth.
FEMA is working on renovating more apartments for families displaced by Hurricane Sandy to Fort Monmouth. Robin Smith, of FEMA Media Relations, said 70 apartments are currently being fixed up so they can be used by the families. There are 28 1-bedroom apartments, 18 3-bedroom apartments and 24 4-bedroom apartments currently being renovated, Smith said. Most of these apartments will be located in the Fort Monmouth lodge area of Oceanport. FEMA has already completed renovations on 30 1-bedroom and 15 3-bedroom apartments in the McGill Commons area of Fort Monmouth. Smith said 42 families have already moved into these apartments and the remaining three families are scheduled to move in "over the next few days." State Assemblyman Declan O'…
Thursday, December 20, 2012
No word yet on where these families originally hail from.
This story was updated at 1:50 p.m. Thursday and includes information from the Department of Community Affairs received after the original story posted. Displaced by Sandy, some families will be celebrating Christmas this year in a new, temporary home at Fort Monmouth. According to Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon, Friday will be move-in day at Fort Monmouth for between 42 and 45 families. Mahon said the borough was notified Wednesday that the families would begin arriving Friday and that Oceanport is asked to provide fire response. "FEMA will not tell us if any local families are included in this temporary housing," he said in an email Thursday. The long term temporary housing is located in the lodge area of the fort in Oceanport and in …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
It's not Sandy housing or temporary FEMA units. These homes will be for the next phase of the recovery process.
There has been a lot of confusing news about post-Sandy housing, said to be available at Fort Monmouth. To be clear: This story is about fort housing for a new wave of the recovery process - permanent housing, for what is expected to be a whole crop of people who won't want to live in a flood zone anymore or, who just won't be able to afford to anymore, if flood and homeowners' insurance rates rise in correlation with the waters of Oct. 29. On Thursday. the board of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) took a first step toward selling off two large residential housing properties in Eatontown and Oceanport, in what it (and the governor) says is a response to "an acute need for housing in the Shore region" because of …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
In a later interview, Rep. Declan O'Scanlon clarified his earlier remarks about the role proximity will play in selecting who gets into Fort Monmouth housing.
(see bolded text for update) State Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon today clarified a statement that came from the governor's office Monday night, regarding housing for displaced Sandy victims. According to O'Scanlon, the Sandy housing units at Fort Monmouth will all be temporary and will initially total 180 (this includes the 45 currently being prepared for move in on Dec. 20). O'Scanlon told Patch this includes 42 units on Megill Drive in Eatontown and 130 in the lodge area of Oceanport (pictured here), "give or take 10 units." "That might be able to be expanded by another couple of hundred units if the need arises," he said, adding that the expansion would come in the lodge area. All units would only be available for about 18 months. O'…
Saturday, December 8, 2012
FEMA is expected to make an announcement on Monday about whether it will open up more units at the fort.
The promise of temporary housing for storm victims at Fort Monmouth is showing signs it will become a reality. Oceanport borough is reporting that one of its residents received a call from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about relocating to long term temporary housing at the fort. This signals that the wheels are beginning to turn for displaced people, but not fast enough for many, and not for as many as have a need, says Oceanport's mayor. At its town hall meeting two weeks ago, Oceanport surveyed the needs of its residents and found that 119 were in need of temporary housing. Mayor Michael Mahon called this the "uncounted need" and is hoping his town's survey will convince FEMA to offer up more housing at Fort Monmouth. And if it…
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Affordable Housing Alliance: 'We help people make the decision to rebuild, replace or relocate.'
There's a lot of talk post-Sandy about adapting to a new normal. But what does that look like if you are now living in a hotel or on the pull-out at your in-laws? "When I read the papers it seems like the emergency is over," said Donna Blaze, CEO of Eatontown-based Affordable Housing Alliance. But what Blaze and her colleagues see when they visit folks in Sea Bright or Union Beach is a prolonged disaster morphing into a whole new set of problems for people displaced from their homes and jobs and every comfort they once took for granted. This is a critical time in the recovery process, where many in the area have moved on in their minds and the immediate needs seem gone with the debris trucked out to landfills. "Housing is absolutely the …
Thomas A. Blasi
9:42 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
At one time the property that Fort Monmouth sits on once was a camp for the KKK! I kid you not, it was their property and I believe the federal government ‘acquired’ it to get rid of the KKK. Most individuals do not realize that the clan had camps in NJ. more ›