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Belleville Watch

16 hours ago

Belleville Watch
๐๐š๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐’๐š๐ ๐š ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐’๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐Ÿ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐Ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐˜๐ž๐ญIn 2011, after decades of School 1 on Rutgers & Cortlandt streets being left to rot, the Belleville Board of Education sold the School 1 property to the Township for $1. The Township soon after demolished the school building and cleaned the property for roughly $500,000. In 2013, the Township Council voted to sell the property to a developer -- O & R Urban Renewal -- for $1 million. Three of the councilmembers who participated in that vote remain on the council today.People were unhappy with what happened with the School 1 property, and the sale was prominently featured in the 2018 State Auditor's report concerning the school board's actions leading up to the district's $4 million deficit in 2014.Well folks, it looks like we may be seeing this movie once again.It appears that during the sale(s) of the property, its square footage was incorrectly recorded on deed paperwork. As of today, it seems the school board still owns a sliver of the property (illustration below.)Belleville Redevelopment Counsel Dean Donatelli and Township Attorney Steve Martino made a presentation at the November 21st school board meeting about it. (Video link below -- presentation occurs roughly between 56:00 and 1:02:00. Watch and decide for yourself if you detect a "give us a corrected deed, or else" vibe.)Apparently, the whole matter could be resolved by the board voting to gift or sell the rest of the property to the developer.The property itself has had approvals from the Planning Board under the Ray Kimble administration to have Quick-Chek featuring gas pumps at the front of the property (facing Rutgers Street.) Residential units were approved for the rear of the property (facing Academy Street) under the Melham administration.All in all, this episode was an astonishing example of the rampant dysfunction in Belleville, especially when it comes to our school board and township council. We can only hope that if this matter comes down to a school board vote, the board actually insists on something in return from the developer (an in-lieu payment perhaps.)www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwI6WptVBEk ... See MoreSee Less

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Belleville Watch

2 days ago

Belleville Watch
๐“๐ซ๐š๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐€๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐‰๐จ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ง ๐’๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ญSoooooo.....look at what happened over the holiday weekend at the intersection of Joralemon Street and Washington Avenue!I go up Joralemon every weekday on my way to work, and what happened in the first picture doesn't surprise me at all. People speed, make hairpin turns onto Washington, and I've seen my share of close calls between cars and pedestrians up by School 3 at the corner of Joralemon and Union Avenue.Then, just this morning, former BOE candidate Ruben Rodriguez shared this pic with us in front of School 3. Triple parking! (Mr. Rodriguez told me he reached out to the town manager and the police chief. He was told a police car was being sent.) Police can only do so much, though; people behave when there is a patrol car around, but traffic issues during school drop-off/pickup seems to be a wider problem.I'm sure school district administrators -- some of whom have offices in Mayor Melham's building right across the street from School 3 -- are aware of what happens. Perhaps it's time for the school board and the township to collaborate on a plan to address the drop-off/pick-up traffic issue.By the way, It is the most wishful of thinking to believe that more residential development in Belleville ๐ฐ๐จ๐ง'๐ญ lead to more traffic snafus like these. More cars on the road (who among you reading this have travelled the length of Belleville Avenue in town at AM or PM rush hour?) probably more kids in the school, and probably an increased risk of near-misses and bad accidents like the one this past weekend. ... See MoreSee Less

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About The Watch

The Belleville Watch is part of theย Essex Watch Project, an interconnected network of independent public advocacy groups and citizen coalitions sharing resources and common goals.

The Essex Watch is a volunteer watchdog organization and public advocacy platform. It partners with engaged citizens and civic groups in various municipalities, and offers guidance on how to identify, report, and raise awareness of misconduct in local government.

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