Boro extends shared court agreement with Ocean Twp.
West Long Branch has until Jan. 1 to move court
BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer
West Long Branch's shared services agreement for court facilities with Ocean Township has been extended due to a delay on the county level.

The agreement, which will see the borough move its court facilities to Ocean Township, is expected to be implemented at the start of next year.

Although approved by both town councils in 2008, the Borough Council modified the court-sharing agreement during its June 17 meeting in order to extend by one year the date of the borough's projected move, which was originally set for early 2009.

While the amendment to the court-sharing agreement calls for the borough to move into Ocean Township's new facility on Jan. 1, 2010, Ocean Township Business Administrator Andrew Brannen said that waiting until next year was unnecessary.

According to Brannen, the township's courtroom space has been ready for roughly three months.

However, delays in receiving approval from the county have made the extension necessary, West Long Branch Borough Attorney Gregory Baxter explained last week.

"It's physically ready, but we need approval from the [Monmouth County Court]," Baxter explained.

In order to come into compliance with West Long Branch's amendment to the shared services agreement, the Ocean Township Council is expected to pass a similar resolution extending the borough's move-in date to Jan. 1, 2010.

The amendment to the agreement was approved by a 5-1 Borough Council vote.

West Long Branch Councilman John Hegarty cast the lone vote against the extension, saying that Ocean Township failed to live up to its end of the initial agreement.

"I discussed this prior, and I still have a problem with this fundamentally," Hegarty said.

"I don't believe that they've turned over the space as agreed in a timely fashion, and I do believe that we can get out of this agreement if we so choose to," Hegarty added.

Under the initial shared services agreement, Ocean Township was expected to complete construction of a new court facility by early 2009.

Expecting to have additional space, the township offered West Long Branch the opportunity to move its court facilities to Ocean Township.

The agreement will see the two towns share a single courtroom but operate out of different administrative areas.

In exchange for the use of the township's facilities, the borough is expected to pay Ocean Township $900 a month in rent for its administrative offices and $450 for each court session it holds in the township. West Long Branch usually holds two court sessions a month, and will pay an additional $1,800 a month to use the township's court space.

Currently, West Long Branch holds court in the borough's police building located on Poplar Avenue.

West Long Branch officials made the decision to enter into the court-sharing agreement with Ocean Township when during a routine state inspection two years ago, the borough's court was found to be in violation of several state safety mandates.

Borough officials initially thought about adding a new court facility onto the borough's new police headquarters located behind Borough Hall, but found that cost estimates for such a project would have added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost.

At the same time as the borough's court was found to be outdated, Ocean Township was in the process of planning renovations to its municipal complex. Those renovations included a complete conversion of the courtroom and council meeting area, located on the second floor of the two-story building, into a series of administrative offices.

Ocean Township's courtroom was then moved to the first floor of the building, using space formerly occupied by the township library, which had been relocated adjacent to Joe Palaia Park a few years earlier.

While planning and working on the renovation project for the township complex, officials realized they were going to have a significant amount of unused space in the building.

In an effort to fill that space, the township began holding discussions about sharing the new facility with West Long Branch.

According to Hegarty, when the borough moves its court operations to Ocean Township, West Long Branch's current court facilities will be unused.

Leaving the Poplar Avenue facility in such a state is a problem, Hegarty said.

"I don't understand why we are moving our court system to Ocean Township when we have a courtroom here that we've spent I don't know how many dollars bringing it up to compliance," Hegarty said during the June 17 meeting.

"And yet we don't have a plan for the building yet," Hegarty said, adding, "We're abandoning the building.

"I just have a problem with this. I don't think we've really thought this through," he said. Despite Hegarty's protests, Brannen said the township is looking forward to working with West Long Branch and generating money for Ocean Township.

"This day and age, any amount of revenue certainly is going to be useful," Brannen said.

Contact Daniel Howley at dhowley@gmnews.com.