New Center Still A Promise
A good time was had by all at the recent senior center dedication, but the ceremony is not the final word on the project. Dornoch Plainfield LLC has until October to complete the project under terms of an agreement between the developer, the city and the Union County Improvement Authority. Several announced dates for completion fell through in past months.
Meanwhile, Dornoch's Rahway projects appear to be stalled or in transition, as reported in a Rahway blog.
Down the shore, another arm of the Fishman development family faces having to pay property owners more than what was initially offered for acquisition. Click here for a May 29 Star-Ledger article on the issue.
Meanwhile, Dornoch's Rahway projects appear to be stalled or in transition, as reported in a Rahway blog.
Down the shore, another arm of the Fishman development family faces having to pay property owners more than what was initially offered for acquisition. Click here for a May 29 Star-Ledger article on the issue.
Here is a link to more information on the Fishman companies.
Seniors as a voting group are cossetted by politicians every year with promises and food and rides to the polls. But most are realists, if not cynics, when it comes to political flattery. They know the real deal will be when they occupy the new center for good.
Over the fall and winter, Dornoch slowed down on "The Monarch," as the condo/senior center project is known, then put on a push for the May dedication. Let's hope the work keeps up at a good pace so seniors can finally have their permanent home this summer.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 12:55 AM
6 Comments:
Actually Bernice I DO NOT believe seniors are realists or cynics when it comes to political flattery. If they were, at least here in Plainfield...NONE of them would so gleefully put on the "SHARON RED" shirts and frolic and rub elbows with the likes of the mayor or her string puller Jerry. They and their cause have been maneuvered tweaked and molded in the "cause du jour " for our cash strapped city by the fumbling mayor and her..dare I say.."MENTOR". Too bad she, the Mayor, is following in his footsteps so perfectly.
Seniors cannot be fooled. They saw through the fake "groundbreaking" put on 4 years ago by the New Dems. It was a sham and everyone knew it then. There was nothing. No contract. No money had even been allocated. Nothing. Then some dirt was brought in, and golden shovels brought in for the politicians to hold and smile with.
It was a low point in Plainfield politics.
Now for four years, every month the Mayor has visited the Seniors and built them a center. All that is needed is for the furniture to move in and to get an occupancy permit from the City.
This is real. Maybe you and Mapp do not see a building. Maybe you and Mpp do not see 60 condos for sale. Maybe you do not see that we got this for $1.
Bet let me tell you this: The seniors do.
John
I have faith in our senior citizens. The seniors are not fooled by political grandstanding. There was great fanfare on May 20th, and now the seniors are back in their center, and not the new center. They are not stupid and can see the transparency of the Mayor. Thank goodness.
To John,
And I hope the seniors will enjoy paying the 13% operating costs every year, forever, that the mayor agreed to, instead of having property that belongs to the city and not paying anything.
Excuse me John K-
Did you say, "All that is needed is for the furniture to move in and to get an occupancy permit from the City"?
If that is ALL to be done then why isn't it done?
And by the way John . . . we all can see a building -not just Bernice and Mapp- and we saw and/or heard of the opening ceremony. But . . . what none of us see is any senior citizens moving in.
But wait . . . The Senior Center ribbon cutting ceremony . . . was that just a photo op for the lovely Sharon's mayoral re-election campaign?
Because -I would've thought a ribbon cutting ceremony meant the building was completed and the senior citizens could move in.
To John K:
"Maybe you do not see that we got this for $1."
Yes, the "groundbreaking" four years ago was political expediency. But it was hardly the low point in Plainfield politics. That honor was reserved for the anti-McWilliams attack campaign mounted by the county's Regular Democrats (and Jerry/Sharon) in the last mayoral election.
But about that dollar. It wasn't that Plainfield paid a mere buck for the new senior center (with condos above), that's all the city RECEIVED from Dornoch for that big chunk of Front Street real estate. For the county's developer pal, that was a sweet deal. In turn, Plainfield was supposed to get the senior center at no additional cost. So what's up with that 13% "senior tax"?
Friends of mine took the open house tour this weekend. They didn't like the location and said the bedrooms were way too small for the purchase price.
Now let's see just how long it will take to sell how many of the next-door-to-the-seedy-liquor-store units at $200K. Any condo sale proceeds will go only to the developer. The city won't even get a finders fee.
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