After a face-to-face with Council at the Thursday, September 20, Council meeting, members of the Grover Homestead Committee were left with questions on the whereabouts of several items taken from the property. But on October 1 Council President Khanna said he has not yet received a list of the questions the committee wants answered to help formulate their recommendations for the vacant house.
Specifically, the committee might need to learn more from the West Windsor Police investigation into the theft of items from the Grover house. Police Chief Pica told residents that his department’s involvement began in the last week of September and is being headed by Detective Mark Lee.
As of the October 1 Council meeting, Khanna said the October 15 deadline to bring a final report and recommendations to Council was still in place. But as of the WW-P News’ print deadline, members of the Grover Committee were not 100 percent sure of their next move.
“Det. Lee told me he has a long list of people to interview. I for one am not going to ignore a police request. With as much time and effort as he has been putting in, I will not insult the detective by ignoring his request. Detective Lee asked me why the urgency to report on this date of October 15. He is curious if there is any significance to this date,” Rocky Procaccini, chair of the Grover committee, wrote.
Jonathan Word, correspondence secretary for the Grover committee, is interested in keeping with the deadline which had already been extended from an original date of October 1. “October 15th is important because it is already our third deadline, and [Council President] Kamal Khanna visibly expressed dissatisfaction with the committee looking to move the deadline again. He even made a comment that in his mind October 29th would have to be the final deadline,” Word wrote to the committee.
Procaccini spoke with Khanna after the October 1 Council meeting, and he reports that Khanna agreed for the Grover committee to take as much time as it needs. Word still encouraged quick action.
“I do not believe that that will change his emotion towards this committee. I am concerned about his emotion and general public opinion, because I find that people are significantly more likely to do what you want when they are happy with you,” Word said.
As police investigate, the committee is not done trying to find a solution for the homestead. As of October 2, Word told the committee that he had heard from Green Acres about a potential lease for a caretaker.
“This is fantastic detail and already is sufficient to present our case — though I have requested a follow-up for some minor clarifications on how the bidding procedures work,” Word writes.
Those who attended the October 1 Council meeting witnessed a minor commotion as resident Paul Eland spoke in objection to the efforts the Grover Homestead Committee has put forth to date. Eland continues to circulate a petition for not using any taxpayer money towards restoration of the former Grover house (WW-P News, August 24) submitting an additional 25 signatures to Council at the meeting.
Councilman Maher became unnerved when Eland identified himself as active in the Community Gardens, FOWWOS, and other volunteer causes in town but chose not to state his loyalty to Mayor Hsueh, having worked on past mayoral campaigns.
After Eland finished three minutes of public comments, Maher asked him to be clear when stating his credentials and to tell the public about his full involvement in West Windsor. But Maher was interrupted by Township Attorney Michael Herbert, who said eliciting a speaker’s political affiliation was not permitted under Robert’s Rules.
Eland said he was not at odds with Maher, stating that his suggestion on September 20 for the Grover Committee to come up with a business plan is most appropriate. But others at the meeting saw the moment as a political conflict, and shouting ensued. Residents including Janet Lerner, Debbie Hepler, and Rocky Procaccini exchanged remarks before Council President Kamal Khanna tried to bring order to the meeting.
