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Dear Neighbors,
I hope you had a great holiday season and that your 2009
is off to a good start. In this issue, there is an
update on the Route 38 redevelopment project, solar
power, low income housing, Verizon FIOS,
the township re-organization, a list of upcoming
recreation programs and some new events on the
community calendar. Route
38 Redevelopment: In December, the Township
Committee appointed River Development of Red Bank, NJ, as
the redeveloper for the first three areas along Route
38. The first area is the northwest corner of
Route 38 and the 541 Bypass. The plan calls for a
jug handle to allow west bound traffic on Route 38 to
turn south on the Route 541 Bypass. The second area is the
southeast corner of
Route 38 and the 541 Bypass. The plan calls for a
12 acre retail center. The third area is the
northwest corner of
Route 38 and Madison Ave. The plan calls for
either retail or medical offices with a national
restaurant out front. The redeveloper told the
Township Committee that they expect it to take all of
2009 to assemble to properties, retail partners and get
all the required approvals. The redeveloper also
expects to start and finish construction in
2010. The full redevelopment plan is available on
the Township
web site. Low
Income Housing: In December, the Township
Committee approved Lumberton's new, Low
Income Housing Plan. Under New Jersey's low
income housing laws, municipalities either have to prepare a plan
to create a certain number of deed restricted low
incoming housing units or subject the municipality to what is
called "Builder's Remedy". A Builder's
Remedy is where a developer can acquire land and build
low income housing superseding all local zoning and
building codes to create new high density low income
housing projects. Municipalities like Lumberton with a
lot of undeveloped land are very vulnerable to a
Builder's Remedy, potentially resulting in large, high density housing developments
that would require a new school and other property tax
intensive services. Under this backdrop, the
Township Committee decided to submit a housing plan to
the Council on Affordable Housing. Under the plan,
the state requires Lumberton to add 368 deed restricted
low income housing units between January 1, 2004 and
December 31, 2018. The state also requires
Lumberton to rehabilitate 49 existing housing units and
deed restrict as low income housing. The
state determines this number of units using complex
computations taking into account many factors including projected population and
business growth (based on past growth) and undeveloped
land. Lumberton is a party to a lawsuit
challenging the state's computations because the
computations are
severely flawed. In Lumberton's case, the state projects
population growth to continue on the same pace that it
did from the mid 1990's through 2004. They also
count some flood plains, airport crash zones and preserved
farmland as available for development. In June
2008 , I went to Trenton in my capacity of Mayor to
challenge these numbers. The Council on Affordable
Housing (COAH) made some cosmetic reductions in
projected population growth, but increased commercial growth
projections. The net was no real change.
Additionally, the state
formula does not take into account market housing that
meets its criteria for affordable housing. For example,
Lumberton has almost 1,000 apartments (or 25% of our
housing units) that meet the one of three required
housing categories. To pay for all these
houses, the state has imposed a 2.5% tax on commercial
development. However, independent analysis has
show that this tax will only raise a fraction of the
cost to provide the required low income housing.
The state also expects municipalities to pick up the
difference through bonding or additional debt and and
higher property taxes. Lumberton's
Low Income Housing Plan has four phases.
- Phase 1: Partner
with non-profit organization to acquire and convert
26 existing housing units to low income rental units
for handicapped people.
- Phase 2: Have a
developer build and pay for an additional 86 low
income senior units as part of an already zoned
senior development across from Eayrestown Road from
the Middle School in 2011.
- Phase 3: Partner
with a private charity to construct a new 75 unit
low income housing complex behind Wal-Mart in 2014.
- Phase 4: Partner
with a private charity a new 72 unit low income
housing complex somewhere to be determined in 2018.
As you can see, these
number do not add up to 368. This is because the
new low income housing rules provide extra credit for
rental and handicap units. The
goal of the Township Committee was to put together a
plan that minimizes the number of new units, minimizes
the impacts on property tax intensive services and use
as many non-property tax sources of revenue to pay for
the units. If the plan is executed as submitted,
the Township Committee anticipates that a large tax
increase will be required to pay for Phases 3 and 4.
Finally, the Township
expects these rules to change again. The state
legislature is considering changes to the rules
again. Plus, it is also expected that if there is
a different governor in January 2010, the rules will
change as well.
Solar
Power: Just a month after the voters rejected
a bond referendum to install solar panels on the
district's schools, the Township Committee approved the
Township to advertise a request for proposals to create
a solar farm on the old landfill on Chestnut Street next
to the Walther School. The Township anticipates private
and public entities will bid on the use of the land and
for no public money to be used in the construction or
operation of the facility. If the project is
successful, it is expected to create a small new source
of revenue to the Township. New
Police Blotter: In its ongoing efforts to
provide community policing, the Lumberton Police
Department created a Police Blotter to report local
crime on the Township
web site. The goal is to keep residents
informed and vigilant. According to Chief
Jeff Smith, information from residents is an important
factor in preventing and solving crimes. FIOS
Update: Verizon continues to connect its fiber
optic TV, internet and telephone services in
Lumberton. The Township
web site has a list of streets where it is available
already. Verizon told the Township that it expects
to complete the Lumberton build out by the fall of 2009. Township
Re-Organization: On January 1st, the Township
Committee re-organized. Lewis Jackson and Michael
Petty were sworn in as new Committeemen. Michael
Mansdoerfer and Jim Conway were sworn in as Mayor and
Deputy Mayor respectively. Upcoming
Recreation Programs: Lumberton Recreation is
offering the following programs over the next few weeks
and months. For more information, contact the
Lumberton Recreation Department at 267-3217.
- Father-Daughter Dance:
Because of popular demand, the Father-Daughter Dance has two sessions this year
- Saturday, February 7th from 6:30-8:30 PM and Sunday, February 8th from 1:00-3:00
PM. Both events are at the Lumberton Middle School cafeteria.
There are still some tickets available for Saturday. The cost is $40 per couple and $18 each additional
child. This event is open to children 5 and up.
- Spanish Program:
This program combines songs, games, crafts, dancing and more to help your child learn a foreign language.
The 10 week program starts on January 22nd in the community room at the municipal building.
Classes runs for 45 minutes.
The program is open to children 3– 5 and 6–8 years.
The cost of the program is $150 for Lumberton residents
and $160 for non-residents.
- Introduction to Karate:
This program is open to children ages 5-12 and will be held at FLW School on Wednesday’s
from 6:00 - 7:00 PM and will run from January 28th – March 11th.
- Baseball:-
Recreation baseball is open to children currently in Pre-K through 2nd grade. Pre-K and K players will be co-ed and play
T-ball. 1st & 2nd grade boys will have a “machine pitch” program. This program will begin in April with most games on Saturday and practice one evening per week.
The fee is $60 for Lumberton residents and $70 for
non-residents.
- Girls Softball:
This program is open to girls currently in 1st through 8th grade.
Mandatory assessments will be held for all new players to the program. This program will begin in April, with most games on Saturday and practice one evening per week.
The fee is $60 for Lumberton residents and $70 for
non-residents.
- Street/Roller Hockey:
This travel program is open to children currently in
grades K- 8. K-2nd graders will play street hockey.
Most games will be played Sunday after 1:00 PM. The
older kids will play roller hockey. The
older kids games will be played during the week and
on the weekends. The season runs from the
middle of April through the middle of June. All players must have full protective gear
including head, face, elbow and knee-shin
protection to play. The fee for the program is
$60 for Lumberton residents and $70 for non- residents.
- Adult Yoga:
The program lasts six weeks and meets on Thursday’s
from 7:00–8:00
PM starting on January 29th. The program will be held at The Yoga Generations Studio in Mt. Holly. The fee
for the program is $60 for Lumberton residents and $70 for
non-residents.
- Adult Pilates:
The program runs for six weeks and will meet on Wednesday’s 7:00–8:00
PM starting on January 28th. This program will be held at The Yoga Generations Studio in Mt. Holly.
The fee for the program is $60 for Lumberton residents
and $70 for non-residents.
Community
Calendar: Here are some upcoming
events in Lumberton. More events can be found
on the Lumberton E-News Community
Calendar.
You
can also add your own events to the Community
Calendar - no middleman!
- GLRBA
Event: The Greater Lumberton Regional
Business Association will hold its monthly meeting on
Tuesday, January 14th from 8:00-10:00 AM at the
Lumberton Municipal Center. CostCo will
sponsor the event. The topic will be
"Recession Proof Your Business". For
more information, visit the GLRBA's web site at www.glrba.org.
- Historical
Society Meeting: The Lumberton Historical
Society will have its monthly meeting on Thursday,
January 15th at 7:00 PM at the Ridgeway Gaun
Building on Main Street.
- Free
Rabies Clinic: The Township will have a
free rabies clinic for cats and dogs on January 24th
from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
-
Blarney
Bash Benefit: The 7th
Annual Blarney Benefit to support Early
Intervention Scholarships for Children
with Autism will be on Saturday,
February 28th from
7-11 PM at the Elks Lodge in
Bordentown. Tickets are $35 and
include an Irish feast, open bar, DJ and
dancing. There will also be an
Irish Auction. There will be a bus from
Lumberton to the event. To
purchase tickets or reserve a spot on
the bus, contact Kathy Gee at tkgee@comcast.net.
As always, thanks for reading and thanks
for your continued support.
Pat Delany
122 Kingsbridge Drive
Lumberton, NJ 08048
(609) 560-8045
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