Visioning the future of Fort Monmouth
FMERPA public meetings to begin June 12
BY LINDA DENICOLA
Staff Writer

All the pieces of the puzzle that make up the planning for the closing of Fort Monmouth in 2011 are being tweaked and analyzed in the hope that they will fit into place before the Dec. 8 deadline set by the federal government's Department of Defense.

On Monday, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority (FMERPA) and EDAW Inc., the planning firm hired to draw up the master plan for the fort's reuse, held a joint press briefing at Gibbs Hall in Eatontown on the methodology for the redevelopment plan and economic revitalization study.

The firm announced that a series of open public meetings will be held to gather input. The first will be held June 12 at 7 p.m. in Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. That meeting will be followed by local meetings in the various towns and one at the county level.

On June 18, a public meeting will be held in the Eatontown Municipal Building; on June 19, one will be held in the Maple Place School in Oceanport; and on June 21, there will be a meeting in the Tinton Falls municipal building.

All of the meetings will start at 6:30 p.m., including one in the county Agriculture Building on Kozloski Road in Freehold Township.

"At each of these meetings, there will be a description of the process and then we will elicit information from the public," said Frank Cosentino, FMERPA director. "If there is a vision that is going to form the plan, the public will be a big part of it."

According to FMERPA, participation by the public is critical to the success of Fort Monmouth's redevelopment while planners formulate a vision for new jobs, new housing, new community facilities and other amenities.

"Thousands of jobs are at stake, as well as the economy of several communities. We need your input," the invitation to the planning meeting states.

Cosentino said, "We are not going to Eatontown to talk about just Eatontown, but we are going to talk about the whole area. We have to take a holistic approach. For instance, it's important for people to be able to get in a east-west direction. Right now, there is no major west-east flow. You have to drive around all different ways. We may be able to create something to ease some of the traffic."

Cosentino said a very specific and well-received visioning process will be used called the Visual Preference Survey (VPS). He said it was created by Professor Anthony Nellessen of Rutgers University, who, according to Cosentino, will be at the meetings.

"He's been working on vision planning and urban design. He will be one of the leaders in getting the public to comment on possible design issues," he said.

Besides Nellessen, the EDAW team will be there, as well as some FMERPA board members.

"People can ask questions about the process but not about the plan," he said. "There is no plan yet."

Also critical to the timely completion of the draft master plan and study is the input from the various committees formed to analyze the myriad components involved in the realignment and closure of the 1,126 acres that encompass three towns, Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport.

The Historical Advisory Committee has scheduled a meeting for Monday, June 11, at 5 p.m. in Oceanport Borough Hall, 222 Monmouth Blvd.

The Infrastructure Advisory Committee held a meeting June 4 in Tinton Falls, the Commercial Industry Advisory Committee had a meeting June 5 in Trenton, and the Emergency Services Advisory Committee had a meeting May 22 at the Eatontown Municipal Building.

Cosentino said last month that he feels confident that the reuse plan can be done in the condensed time frame EDAW has to work within, which is about seven months.

"I understand the complexity of the parameters that they have to assess, but we all understood what the time ranges were. I feel confident that a collaborative effort, which includes the municipalities, is essential to getting it done in time," Cosentino said, adding that the collaboration also includes the public.

"It is a plan that will evolve from the comments coming from the public and municipalities."

He said FMERPA is looking forward to the June 12 meeting of the general public. He explained that the meeting will be the first big planning meeting with the public.

The next FMERPA board meeting is to be held June 20 in the new Tinton Falls Borough Hall.