Construction is now under way at The College of New Jersey’s Campus Town mixed-use development. Pictured is an architectural rendering.
The township will begin to perform more than $1.5 million in renovations to the township municipal building. The work will include structural repairs to correct water damage caused by leaks in the roof.
Mayor Bert Steinmann, pictured at the township’s Veteran’s Day ceremony on Nov. 11, 2013, believes Ewing Township is set up for success moving into the future.
Mayor Bert Steinmann sits down with the Ewing Observer to discuss the township’s past, present and future
Ewing Township has become a hot spot in Central Jersey for economic growth and development.
In the past 12 months, the township approved a redevelopment plan for the former General Motors and Naval Air Warfare Center sites, saw a successful new airline open at the Trenton-Mercer Airport, and welcomed Church & Dwight to its new 250,000-square-foot world headquarters in the Princeton South office park.
But what does the future hold for 2014 and beyond? Will growth continue? What is the township’s current economic situation? What’s going on with the Parkway Avenue Redevelopment Plan and the Campus Town project at the College of new Jersey?
Mayor Bert Steinmann recently sat down with Ewing Observer editor Bill Sanservino to answer questions about those issues and more in a conversation about the state of the township.
Ewing Observer: In general, how are things going in Ewing?
Bert Steinmann: We are keeping our head above water. Every year since I was elected mayor we have taken steps to secure a better bottom line, and that’s certainly not because of me. I drive the economic development in this town, that’s certainly true.
I’m on the phone every day talking to individuals and encouraging them to come here and take a visit, but my finance people, especially my CFO (Joanna Mustafa), have done a tremendous job. She keeps everybody in line and says (to the departments), “Listen, you’re getting to that period of time where your money is starting to run out so be very careful.”
If she sees that there’s something that’s not quite right, she calls the department head to task immediately so we don’t get into a position where we have to fight our way out of it. Basically, the finances are the bloodline of the town, and if they’re not managed well then we have a problem.
I’m out there visible every day. I visit all of the departments, I drive around the town. Everybody knows that I’m looking, and they all step up a little bit.
For example, (maintenance of) our parks has been improved 100 percent. Before grass wasn’t being cut regularly. There was no weeding. Now you can go to any of our parks and they’re well manicured and flowers are planted there. We’ve made significant differences.
The general public is starting to notice that. They’re starting to compliment that the town has never looked better. We’re starting to crack down on people who put out brush and stuff at inappropriate times of the year. They’re being fined. The town, appearance-wise, is much improved.
We still have things to do. There’s no question about it. Every day there’s something new that you have to address that you really didn’t think about.
We went out to bid and we’re going to be starting renovations on the municipal building.
It hasn’t been done since the building has been open. We were starting to get major damage because the roof was leaking.
Previous administrations said, “We’ll just put a patch on it.” You know what? You can’t keep putting patches on things. It got so bad that we wound up with a lot of walls that were deteriorating, and ceilings were starting to get holes in them. So we had to address them.
All of the main common areas in the building are getting a major makeover, and we’re going to invest a little bit over a million and a half dollars to do that.
We just finished redoing the parking lot. We put high efficiency LED lighting to cut down on the cost of electric. They run at a third of the price of what a regular light fixture costs.
On the economic side, it’s all positive. From the day I took office our ratables have increased. Our (tax) penny used to be about $185,000. Right now its $196,000. Is it a big jump? No. But its a jump that’s heading in the right direction. I think this year it’s going to be a little better.
We’re certainly watching every nickel that we spend and how we spend it. Our overtime budget has been cut by a third, if not in half.
My understanding is that state is looking to sell some property that is in Ewing Township, which would benefit us because we could put them on the tax rolls instead of them begin exempt.
To be quite candid, we’ve had a lot of inquiries about those particular properties. People are coming to Ewing Township and saying, “Hey, is there an opportunity here? We really like what you’re doing. We really like that you’re close to a train station. We really like that you’re right on a highway, I-95.” It’s easy access and corporations look for that. They don’t want their employees sitting in traffic constantly.
EO: Property values have significantly changed, I would think, since 1992, when the township last performed a revaluation. Is there any thought about the town doing a revaluation in the near future?
BS: We are actually addressing that at this very moment. It looks like the revaluation for us will be in 2015. We’ll probably go out to bid with an assessment company to be performed in 2015.
What has kind of saved us is that our ratio was at 68 percent of actual value, so the gun wasn’t put to our heads to do it. They (the county) want it in the 70s, but we were very close to that. Once if falls below 60 percent, you’re ordered to do a revaluation.
EO: It’s getting to be budget season. How do you see the budget shaping up this year?
BS: Our CFO is working on it now. We’re looking to call in our department heads and say, “You can’t have this and you can’t have that.” I’m a good “no” guy.
I’m hoping to introduce the budget the first week in February. We’ll try to shoot for the second meeting in January, but that’s a little tight.
The council needs to do their work, too. They need to be able to talk to the department heads. I’m going to give them that due and that respect, but I’m not going to get to a point where its going to slow the process down. They’re going to have to come in and do it in an expeditious way.
EO: How do the numbers look? Did you come in pretty much where you expected to in terms of revenues, etc.?
BS: I think we’re going to make the numbers. We were thrown some curve balls, though, that we weren’t anticipating.
With Superstorm Sandy we wound up spending over $500,000. Obviously when the storm hit, we had a lot of damage. Wind blown damage, trees, power lines. We had to have our inspectors out there because some trees went into homes. Our fire companies were constantly on standby, and they were there almost 24 hours a day to help with power outages, fires, and things of that nature.
The total bill was around $500,000, and they basically said we were going to get 75 percent of it back. We sent all the records off to FEMA, and as it turned out, we only got $168,000. I said, “What the hell’s going on?”
They didn’t pay for the fire department because they were on standby. If they were actually out on the street, we would have gotten reimbursed. They wouldn’t pay us for the weekend for cleaning leaves and storm grates because we didn’t have a rain event. It was a wind event. It was stuff like that.
Finally, I called the governor’s office (and complained). They called me back and said, “We’ve got some good news for you. We’re going to make you almost 90 percent whole.”
I said, “Wow that’s great!” Then he said, “We’re going to send you another $33,000.”
I said to the guy, “I’m not a math genius here, but we spent $500,000. We got $168,000. You’re going to send me another $33,000. That’s not even 50 percent.”
The line went silent. Finally all he said we was, “Really?” So now they’re looking at our file again.
So that took out a big chunk out of our surplus. Money that we thought we could put toward next year’s budget.
You have to be very careful because if you have too much surplus, they (the state) criticize you for having too much surplus and make you spend some of it. If you don’t have any surplus, then they criticize you for that.
I’m trying to keep it at a fine line, where we’re going to have surplus built in, but we may have to do a couple of pennies in taxes. I think that’s a frugal way to approach things.
Not just our municipality, but 90 percent of the municipalities out there, have this yo-yo effect. You’ve got an election year, all of a sudden there’s no tax increase. Then the following year (when there’s no election) you’re up 20 cents.
I think if everybody kind of prepares themselves and says, “You know what, I know fuel costs increase, my cable bill went up, my electric bill went up by a couple of cents. I think if you plan your budgets like your family budget people are not going to be upset. People are going to be upset when it gets to be 20, 30 or 40 cents. If you do a penny here and a penny there and you try to keep everything stable, and you try to keep your surplus at a nice level in case of an emergency, like we had, so you have something to draw on, I think people will understand that.
I’m trying not to be a gimmicky guy. Unfortunately, some people play that game. Things like delaying payment of a sewer bill by a day because it puts you in a different calendar year. We went down that route. It’s something that the Democrats got criticized for very heavily, and that the Republicans reinstituted.
EO: You’ve seen a lot of commercial development in town. How have you cultivated an atmosphere where Ewing is an inviting place for commercial development?
BS: When I hear someone is interested, even if it’s mild interest or curiosity, I get them into my office right away and we talk about it. I tell them, “Listen, if you’re looking for tax incentives, you’re talking to the wrong guy. I can’t give you anything at that level. But there may be some help we can give you with the state.”
What we say is, “We’re not going to be an impediment. If you come to us with a viable plan that we believe strongly in and works for the town, we will absolutely work for you, and we’ll move any mountain that we possibly have to move, including talking to state officials. I don’t care how long it takes me.”
I think my relationships with those individuals in those different (state) departments are really critical and they really work well. I think they share the same vision, not only for Ewing Township, but for the whole area.
We are a very hot commodity at this point in time, and I want to keep it that way. I don’t want anybody from the outside looking in to lose any enthusiasm for coming here. We’ll help them with the planning process. We’ll help them if there’s a zoning issue. We’ll help them with getting building permits and getting buildings done on time and on schedule. We’re not going to be the ones who are going to hold them up.
Now having said that, they’re going to have to follow all of the rules. There’s no shortcuts. An inspection is an inspection. The only thing we do is expedite.
EO: Do you ever feel like Ewing needs to compromise what it wants to do in order to attract a developer to build a certain kind of project? How much flexibility do you want to have?
BS: We have enough flexibility that when they come with a particular plan, and if we ask them to make some changes, we try to accommodate what they really really need. To me appearance is critical. I don’t just want a four-corner building slapped on a piece of property and that’s it. We want to make sure there’s landscaping and things like that.
We allow the developer to have a lot of input as to how it’s done. Are there alternatives to what we feel is the right way to build it? Absolutely, there always are.
EO: As far as development goes, The College of New Jersey seems like its moving pretty fast now with the development of its Campus Town. How are your relationships with the college and what are your feelings about what they’re doing with Campus Town?
BS: As for my relationship with TCNJ, it’s excellent. I reached out to the college from the day I was elected. The college is not going anywhere. They’re going to be part of this community forever. I always said from day one, even when I was a councilman, that The College of New Jersey is an asset to this town. Whether people want to believe that or not, it is true.
They have their tentacles out there. Their students teach in our schools. They’re involved with our community. Their nurses come here to do our flu clinics.
The only strain (on relations) is the issue of off campus housing (for students), but I believe that has improved 100 percent since I took over. We’ve initiated some tough ordinances to clamp down on underage drinking and on housing requirements.
But at the end of the day, a knucklehead is a knucklehead, and we’re going to continue to clamp down on the knuckleheads of the world.
They (off-campus housing students) are moving into an aging neighborhood. Me, I’m 66 years old. What I tolerated when I was 40 and what I tolerate now that I’m in my 60s is entirely different. But kids are kids. Whether it was the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, or whatever, they still act the same way. Some of them feel their oats. It’s their first time away from home, with no supervision by mommy or daddy, and they sometimes do things they’re not supposed to do.
If it’s underage drinking, they’re going to get arrested. Trust me, its not one or two, it’s hundreds who come through our court system. But that has dropped down significantly. They’re being fined, and they’re being given community service. The judge is hard on them.
Also, the neighbors are involved with the college itself. We’re doing a neighbor to neighbor program where students will come out and they will do things like cut people’s lawns. This is mainly for senior citizens or people who have disabilities and can’t do it. The students are going to go out there and try to help them.
They’re also involved with park cleanups. They come in for five or six hours and help clean up the parks.
EO: What about Campus Town?
BS: The township has entered into an agreement with them on taxes.
There’s a fine line (as to whether the property is tax exempt). It’s a gray area. They seem to think they are tax exempt. Our opinion is that they’re not.
If it is totally taxable, the only thing we could have charged them on in is anything above ground. The land we could not (because it’s owned by the college, a non-profit).
Here was the roll of the dice. Do we take them to court and challenge them and say that it’s 100 percent taxable, including the residential part, where there’s going to be student housing? Are we just going to tax the retail portion — but not even the Barnes & Noble store, because that’s going to be the school book store? The Starbucks, would that be taxable? The fitness center, which is basically only for the college. Would that be taxable?
Our assessors calculated that if we assess them on the total property, the land taxes would be $1.3 million. Out of that, 27 percent goes to the county, 55 percent goes to the school district and the rest goes to the township. When you look at that number, our share would be approximately $245,000 a year.
Then we took the residential component out of the equation. In that case, the town would get $125,000. Knowing that, I figured I would see if a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes agreement) would work.
So we sat down with them. All the lawyers were in the room, and they were talking, and the gentleman that owns the group taps me on the shoulder and says, “Can you and I have a discussion alone?”
I said, “Sure, we can have a discussion.”
So we go into another room, and he says, “Look, I’m willing to do a PILOT with you. We don’t have to fight this out. I’ll give you $325,000 a year.”
I said to him, “That’s a fair offer, but let me think about it for a while.” He asked if I could get back to him in a couple of days, and I said, “Absolutely.”
We went back into the room and finished our discussions. Afterwards, I had my internal discussion with the assessors and our lawyer.
I said, “I’m kinda leaning that we should do the PILOT, but not at $325,000. I’m looking at $425,000, or somewhere in that neighborhood.”
The assessor immediately said, “If you can get that deal, you hit a home run.”
So the deal turned out to be not $425,000, but $390,000 a year, with an escalator. It’s a 30 year deal. In 2014 we’re getting $75,000. In 2015 we’re getting $75,000. Then after that, the $390,000 starts.
I agree with that because they still have to build the project. You have to give them time to get revenue coming in. Then escalator comes in (based on the consumer price index) in 2017 and moving forward, so it’s not a stagnant number.
I met with the school board (about the PILOT) last week. I explained it to them and told them we’re not cutting them out, we’ll work something out. I said, “Just be aware there’s no impact to your school system. (The housing) is all college related. There’s no single family and there’s no kids in there.”
EO: The state supreme court recently passed down a decision that affects the amount of affordable housing each town is required to provide. How does Ewing stand in terms of its obligation?
BS: We’re actually in really good shape. Before the court decision we were where needed to be.
At the end of the day, there’s going to be an obligation. We all know that. What it’s going to be, I don’t know. I don’t want to overburden a developer. We work with them and ask, “What is a fair number you can work with and not force you to have to sell your product for higher than you want it to be?” Then they come back and make a suggestion.”
I had one guy on Ewingville Road, who needed to do 22 units. He said the most he could do was three affordable units and not affect the price. I said, “Three is not enough. Can you give me seven or eight? Then we can work with you.” He took a couple of weeks, and then came back and said he could do eight. That’s the way we try to work with the situation.
EO: A lot of people have been amazed by the growth down at the airport. How has what is happening there helped the township?
BS: I think it’s a good thing. You’ve had an airport that was way underutilized. My thing was either do something with the airport or shut it down and we’ll build. But to sit there and have one or two corporate jets fly in occasionally made no sense whatsoever.
I think the reason the airport is doing so well is because Ewing Township is doing so well. We were the economic driver when we started with the town center. We partnered up with the county right from the beginning. That was when the county began to do their airport study. It’s been one cohesive plan, the airport and us. I think we complement each other.
It’s been a long time coming, and I think the right management not only of the airline but also the way the airport is being handled. It’s going to be a home run for Ewing Township, because businesses are looking to relocate especially those that rely heavily on air traffic.
EO: Has the hospital (Capital Health at Hopewell) being located there helped draw any interest in development, maybe for medical offices?
BS: It has, but not as much as I anticipated. There are two proposed office complexes just for that on Scotch Road where the Element and the Courtyard by Marriott are. They’re putting up two 286,000 square foot condo buildings for doctor’s offices.
It did have a positive impact on us, though. There’s interest, and there are some laboratories that have relocated.
EO: About a year ago Ewing was named as part of Einstein’s Alley. I know you were happy about that. What are your thoughts now?
BS: Just to be even thought about in that vein is good, and rightly so. We have testing labs here, we have FMC, Church & Dwight, Computer Associates. It highlights all of the opportunities that Ewing Township presents to people.
In fact we even have a brewing company here (River Horse). That requires chemistry, right? (laughs).
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