A controversial executive session, expected to result in a mayoral recommendation for a planning consultant, has not produced a decision on which firm will create the draft plan for West Windsor’s 350-acre redevelopment zone. Instead the meeting resulted in a plan for negotiating with the three firms vying for the position and in a plea for more time to make the decision.
Councilman Franc Gambatese said everyone at the meeting, held Wednesday, October 12, made individual recommendations to the mayor, in the form of a list prioritizing their preferences for the firms. “We didn’t come to a consensus,” said Gambatese. “We had a discussion and a dialogue among council members, the planning board, and the mayor.”
Charles Morgan, who before the meeting had criticized the decision to hold it in executive session, also said the meeting was a success even though it came to no decision. “It was not what I expected. It was very good from a couple of perspectives. We talked about what everyone thought. We talked about strategy. The only decisions made last night were on an approach to getting the planning consultants to come back to us with revisions.”
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, having taken into account the advice of those at the meeting, will now begin negotiations with each of the three firms. “The decision that was made is they delegated me as representative for the whole township.”
The negotiations have begun, but the mayor has not decided on his recommendation. “I’m still in communication mode with all of them, they know what I’m asking for, and what I want them to do,” said the mayor.
Hsueh says that his recommendation to the council “will be made publicly. If there is confidential information I get before then, with review by the township attorney, I’m going to tell the council about it, but I won’t be able to make it open to the public. Some of the information I will be receiving will have to be confidential, because it could affect the township’s position in the negotiation process.”
Although the RFP/Q states that the decision would be made 30 days after the final public presentation was made, it is now clear that there will be no selection by October 27 (Hillier’s presentation was on September 27). “We need more time,” said Hsueh. “I’m shooting for before the end of this month. There is a council meeting on October 30, but I don’t know if it will happen by then. It has to do with how quickly the consultants can pull all of this information together for me.”
Morgan said prior to the meeting that many of his constituents had told him they felt a decision had already been made, and that the open process for making the choice was a charade. “I can credibly tell those who have worried about it being pre-decided that it was patently obvious at the meeting that there was no pre-judging. If they could have heard what I heard, their cynicism would evaporate,” said Morgan.
Morgan said his preference for planning firms changed over the course of the meeting, after hearing what some colleagues had to say about all three candidates. The firms in the running are Street-Works, from White Plains, NY; Michael Graves and Associates of Nassau Street in Princeton: and Hillier Architects of Alexander Road in West Windsor.
Morgan had also criticized the closed-door nature of the meeting. He felt the process should be entirely open, and should be deliberated in public. “At the meeting I asked several people if they felt we could have had the first part in public, and most of them agreed that there wasn’t any information exchanged that couldn’t have been in the open,” said Morgan.
“At the end of the meeting, even Charlie agreed that if we had held the discussion in public, we would have no bargaining chips,” said Hsueh, who has maintained that the meeting had to be held in executive session so the township maintained a strong negotiating position. He says through the course of his negotiations, he would like to see the potential firms adjust some tactics, and possibly lower their asking price.
“There were a lot of things said that might have hurt the firms if they had been made public. I know they all said they wouldn’t mind if we deliberated in public, but if they’re up for another job somewhere else and the people from that township heard our criticism, it might cast some things in a bad light, and we don’t want to do that to any of these three. The meeting had to be held in executive session to protect the companies,” said Gambatese.
Morgan, who sparred with both Gambatese and Hsueh at a council meeting held the previous night, said, “I commend the mayor on the job he’s done, and I’m sure he will do his best to bring closure as soon as he can. The devil is in the details, and he is about to get into the details.”
Who Will Control Planning Process?
West Windsor Township attorney Michael J. Herbert made a plea to Council to allow the Planning Board to be recognized as the entity that will deal most closely with the planning consultant chosen to create the draft plan for the township’s 350-acre redevelopment zone.
At the Tuesday, October 10, council meeting, Herbert brought to the attention of council a March 3 memorandum stating that the planning board will be the entity to have a direct working relationship with the planning firm.
“There are three reasons,” said Herbert, “You have to go to planning board anyway. They have knowledge and expertise. They have staff available to assist in the formulation of the redevelopment plan is going to be enormously time consuming. It is the most important issue facing the township, but the council has other issues, to deal with and you have representation on the planning board.”
Council was split on whether to approve the suggestion as a resolution. Councilman Charles Morgan said he wasn’t willing to approve the resolution after having been only recently notified of the issue. Heidi Kleinman felt there should be more language added to the resolution to more clearly delineate the process by which the planning board would consult with the planning consultant and with council.
“They’re not elected officials. They’re not experienced in fiscal analysis,” said Morgan of the planning board, “This redevelopment is all about the fiscal health of this township, whether or not ratables will change. That is our responsibility. Maybe we should really ponder this decision.”
Franc Gambatese moved to pass the resolution, and urged that it be done with haste. Earlier in the meeting, Gambatese said he calculated that a council meeting cost the township $350 per hour. “I don’t think we’re qualified. We don’t have the resources, we don’t have the money in the budget. The simplest things that we could fix take years in this town because of this council. We are not the body to take this on.
“I want to know one township that has had a successful situation where the council was the entity. You want to look at one? Look at Hamilton,” said Gambatese, likening the process to one which is widely believed to have failed.
Gambatese said later: “The planning board is going to oversee the redevelopment zone. Almost every town in New Jersey does it. It’s recommended by the state. Any elected official in their right mind wouldn’t want to oversee a redevelopment project.”
“There is a diversity of expertise on this planning board in areas such as finance, engineering, environmental sustainability, cultural affairs, water resources, legal, and architecture, including a licensed professional planner,” said planning board chair Marvin Gardner.
Gardner continued: “The council is welcome to modify any aspect of the plan that we recommend to them. This isn’t about trying to control the process, we’re looking to get into the nitty-gritty. It’s my desire that all elements of the community and all institutions be heavily involved in the decision-making process so that ultimately there is a strong consensus with respect to the redevelopment plan.”
Council agreed to defer a vote until its next meeting, scheduled for Monday, October 23.
