Brick Mayor Addresses Foodtown, Pathmark Questions On Facebook Live

BRICK, NJ — For 30 minutes Tuesday, Brick Township Mayor John Ducey answered residents' questions about a variety of topics and gave a glimpse of some things coming in the days ahead.

The Facebook Live broadcast, where he answered questions posted directly in the comments, had nearly 2,400 views as of Wednesday afternoon. Some questions were posed multiple times, as viewers joined the broadcast partway through.

Among the topics Ducey addressed:

1. What's happening with the Pathmark site?

Ducey said he has been told by the Maryland company that owns the property that it plans to keep the store as a grocery store. The company is in negotiations with two food chains but Ducey said the property owners did not reveal which ones. "The town is not involved in the negotiations, because the town does not own the properties," he told the viewers.

2. What's happening with the Foodtown site?

Ducey said the site remains mired in legal wrangling with M&M Properties at Route 70, which had been the redeveloper until the township ousted them in October 2014. At the Township Council meeting Tuesday night, Township Attorney Kevin Starkey said the lawsuit filed in December 2014 by M&M Properties contesting the termination of the redevelopment contract is expected to be heard in Superior Court in Ocean County in the next few weeks. Starkey did not have an exact date for the hearing. Brick issued a notice of default in September 2014, citing the company’s failure to make any progress at the site, and failure to pay a deposit it was to have made when the agreement was signed in 2009. M&M was chosen as redeveloper for the site in 2009 after submitting a proposal that included a 120-room hotel, retail space, a grocery store and two restaurant pads. But after being selected and signing an agreement with the township, Ducey said, M&M attempted to amend its original agreement to eliminate the hotel and construct a 192-unit condominium complex, citing research, they claimed, that the market would not support a hotel.

3. Will Ocean County address the flooding issues at Burrsville Road and Jack Martin Boulevard?

Ducey said he plans to raise the issue with the Ocean County engineer again this year, but he said the county's response in the past has been that they are waiting to see the triangle of property bounded by Burrsville, Jack Martin and Route 88 developed, so the work can be done as part of the development project.

In addressing the question, Ducey said a 2015 proposal to build a hotel and retail complex on the site "had fallen through." That proposal, by Kamson Corporation, had been before the Planning Board and was hotly opposed by area residents. One of those opposing the project filed a lawsuit saying the project belonged before the Board of Adjustment instead of the Planning Board. Ducey said Wednesday afternoon that a judge later ruled the project belonged before the zoning board because the site was zoned hospital support with a mixed use overlay and imposed certain requirements. Ducey said after the judge's ruling, the project was never refiled.

Ducey has scheduled another Facebook Live event for Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 2:30 p.m.

Watch Tuesday's entire Facebook Live event here:

Photo via Township of Brick Municipal Government Facebook page