New Committee Begins Discussion About Attracting Businesses

Three weeks after to discuss attracting commercial ratables to , Mayor Don Purdy received his first update from that group at the council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

“We want to set up a town hall meeting with developers,” said Councilman Brian Tyrrell, a member of the committee along with Deputy Mayor Tony Coppola and Councilman Jim Gorman. 

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, Tyrrell elaborated.

“We want to invite developers in for a short presentation, followed by a Q&A,” Tyrrell said, adding that it would be open to the public. “ … We don’t want to exclude the residents. We have a quality of life in Galloway, and we want to make sure we bring in businesses and maintain that quality of life.”

Tyrrell said the committee must meet a few more times before setting up a town hall, but he hopes it can be held in January.

“I’m happy to hear the committee’s energized and you’ve hit the ground running,” Purdy said.  “ … It’s great to have bodies that want to move. Councilman Tyrrell’s been a great asset since he’s come on.”

Tyrrell was elected in the municipal elections on Nov. 8, and was sworn in as a temporary councilman the following evening. On Nov. 22, he was appointed to the committee to bring in ratables and the committee to secure grants, with Gorman and Councilwoman Whitney Ullman.  That committee meets for the first time tonight.

“I see the two committees as overlapping.” Gorman said, indicating grants can be used to help attract ratables.

Throughout this year’s election, Gorman spoke about the need to bring commercial ratables, stating Galloway was one of the first municipalities to find itself in a financial quagmire, but due to some “tough decisions” made by council and “sacrifice” made by employees, it was one of the first to come out of it.

“We did a lot of belt tightening,” Gorman said. “But now we can stand out there and say ‘We’re ready.’”

“There are signs of the economy improving, and we want to be prepared,” Tyrrell said. “One opportunity could be the difference.”

Gorman added no formal plan was in place yet, and during Tuesday’s meeting, Coppola noted the economic environment that still exists.

“We’re not delusional about the economy, but we’re poised for growth,” Coppola said.

Still in the planning stages, there is no plan in place. Coppola said. The committee had to find the right businesses that would add the right things to the township.

During the public portion comment of Tuesday night’s meeting, Galloway Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman suggested the possibility of bringing in a Barnes and Noble, possibly via the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

“Galloway’s undergoing a big population growth,” Suleiman said. “More and more kids are coming from New York and Washington. It used to be just local kids. But if we have more people coming from further places, that might be a way to induce businesses to come here.”

Anna Jezycki suggested bringing in a woman’s store such as Serenity Boutique, which recently moved to Absecon after spending a few years in

Purdy indicated a need to look at incentives to bring businesses into the township.

It was only a start, but at least one resident was happy that the conversation was taking place.

“This is one of the first meetings I’ve been to where it looks positive, it looks like things might get done,” resident Richard Price said. “Things were talked about. I’m used to coming here and there would be nothing. I think we all gained a lot (from this meeting).”

“We can’t just come to two meetings a month and that’s it,” Purdy said. “We need to be visionaries and work together to make the community grow.”