Pros and cons vented during rowdy meeting Council president questions timing of lease signing BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer WOODBRIDGE - Residents, some who toted signs that read "Just Say No to OTW in Fords," didn't make it easy for New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority officials at a public hearing in Iselin last week. Dennis Dowd, NJSEA's senior vice president of off-track wagering, had to stop his presentation at one point. "I'm sorry, but it's very hard to make my presentation when the people behind me are yelling in my ear," Dowd said to New Jersey Racing Commission Chairman John J. Tucker. Over a dozen times Tucker warned the crowd of almost 300 people, who filled the ballroom in the Hilton Hotel on Aug. 24 to voice their opinions on the proposed off-track wagering facility. He threatened to go into executive session and end the public comments portion of the hearing. NJSEA officials finished their presentation, after three hours of near-constant boos and cheers from the audience. "By law, we can't make a decision tonight," Tucker said. "We will have within 30 to 60 days to make our final decision and present it to the [state] attorney general." The NJSEA wants to spend $6 million to turn the old A&P store at the intersection of Fords Avenue and Lafayette Road into a state-of-the-art off-track wagering facility. The OTW would benefit Woodbridge by providing a long-term tenant to ensure tax revenues, Dowd said. It would also increase business for other tenants at the center by creating 50-85 full-time and part-time jobs, and 200 construction-related jobs, he added. The council passed a resolution June 20 in support of the OTW facility. State statutes give municipal governing bodies 45 days to reply after receipt of NJSEA's notice of intention. A town may disapprove of a proposed OTW facility by adopting a resolution that shall be binding upon the authority and the commission as soon as the entities receive it. The council received the authority's notice May 12. But council members withdrew their support for the venture at the Aug. 1 council meeting, which came after the 45-day deadline [June 26]. "I take full responsibility that the council passed a resolution in support of the [OTW] on June 20," Township Council President Patricia Osborne said. "Though I'm appreciative of the quick responses by Dowd to my questions, I feel the authority's process is flawed. They exploited and provided misinformation. The lease was signed with the property's owner [Ford Circle Associates] on May 1, which was 12 days before hand-delivering the notification to the mayor. I strongly do not approve this. This, ladies and gentlemen, is unforgivable." Dowd said they followed the law precisely. The council's decision came after the meeting with more than 75 residents on July 20. The meeting was organized by residents Yazmin Chas and Carole Mayti. The council's withdrawal was also as a result of the state Department of Transportation's $51 million project to expand and reconfigure Route 1 to Ford Avenue, which will start in mid-September. Dowd said they had their first meeting in November with Mayor Frank G. Pelzman. Pelzman died suddenly of acute melanoma on June 29. "We presented the concept to the mayor," said Dowd. "He said he wanted more information." NJSEA sent Pelzman a package of information in January. Then Dowd, Peter DeSimone, NJSEA's director of off-track wagering, and Bernard Spigner, NJSEA's director of communications and external affairs, met with Pelzman, and State Sen. and interim Mayor Joseph Vitale in April. "We discussed in more detail about the specifics of the site," DeSimone. On May 12, Dowd, DeSimone and Patrick Aramini, NJSEA's assistant vice president of security, invited Pelzman, Vitale, Police Chief William Trenery and Deputy Chief Philip DiNicola to visit the Northeast Turf Club in Philadelphia. Ward 2 Councilman Richard Dalina and Councilman James Carroll also visited the facility May 24. "We gave the [town officials] a choice of two facilities to visit, but this one [the turf club] showed the reality of a residential setting," said DeSimone. "It was more appropriate to go to the one in Philadelphia." Dowd hand-delivered the letter of notification to the mayor May 12. Vitale made a surprise visit to the turf club besides the announced visit on May 12. NJSEA, as a courtesy to the township, presented its proposal to the Woodbridge Planning Board June 28. The board voted 6-1 in favor of the proposal. "We acknowledged the concerns by the board, which included security, and revised the proposal and made changes," Dowd said. NJSEA provided testimony from Robert Giordano, vice president of the real estate company, The Sitar Co., in Iselin, who helped the NJSEA evaluate sites in Woodbridge. "I was looking for a building that was approximately 22,000 square feet that could fit 250-plus cars," Giordano said. Giordano said the other sites they looked at - the Treasure Island site on Woodbridge Center Drive, the Seaman's site on Route 1 south, the Bally's Fitness Center site on Woodbrige Center Drive, and Studio 9 in Fords - were all too small. NJSEA also provided testimony from architects James Cherry III and Carol Connell. They detailed the facility's layout. Aramini, who also oversees the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and Monmouth Park in Oceanport, and Christopher McErlean, NJSEA's vice president for racing operations, also testified. "I predict that there will be 350 to 400 people coming to the Woodbridge facility during the day," McErlean said. "We have 1500 people that come to the Meadowlands Racetrack and 800 that come to the Monmouth Park in Oceanport." Carol Hila, Woodbridge Chamber of Commerce president, said she supports the facility. "I visited the facility in Philly [Northeast Turf Club], and when I walked in, I didn't hear anything," she said. "Ninety percent of the people there were retired and were whispering. The noise level of a restaurant is louder than the OTW." Hila said she talked to the Vineland Chamber of Commerce, and representatives there said that they had no opposition to the facility, which is the only other off-track wagering facility in place so far in New Jersey. A facility is pending in Toms River. "Vineland's facility is close to an elementary, middle and high school, and no security issues have been addressed," Hila said. "The facility will bring in more jobs and deal with the economic issues." Vitale said he was impressed with what he saw when he visited the Northeast Turf Club in Philadelphia in May, but said the clear issue was the location of the facility. "In the end, what I think of the facility is one thing," Vitale said. "This is their neighborhood - the people certainly have the right to chart their own destiny if they desire." DeSimone said they are looking forward to the approval by the racing commission and then the attorney general.