On the Monday, September 28th council meeting a bond ordinance was presented for first read and introduction regarding the Rustic Mall.

Ordinance 2026-1349 - Authorizes $1,025,000 in bonding to acquire real property for municipal purposes, either by purchase or eminent domain.

When the ordinance was put to a vote by council, it did not pass first read and introduction. Councilman Basista, Councilwoman Sanchez, and Councilwoman Zamorski all voted no, citing concerns. As Councilwoman Puia was absent, it was a 3-2 vote and the introduction did not pass.

Mayor Richard Onderko was not pleased with the no votes and stated that not being able to move forward with the acquisition of the property, that we have identified through the Resilient Communities Program grant, we're going to lose a 5 million dollar grant.

The mayor asked if anyone would reconsider. None of the council members changed their vote.

At this point, the mayor and Councilman Basista began a conversation that sounded as if it should have happened prior to this ordinance being presented. The conversation was very respectful and those in the room got some insight into how the possible condemnation of the Rustic Mall property is very concerning to all parties.

The mayor asked if Councilman Basista wanted to give up the $5 million grant. Councilman Basista responded by referring to a NJDEP document he found via Google that we would have to bond for "several million dollars to accomplish this project," and that he did not know "how the taxpayers could afford it".

Councilman Basista added that, based on the mayor's comments at the previous meeting about "500 to 700 homes" potentially being eligible for Blue Acres, he traced that figure back to its source and found it referred to all homes located within the 500-year floodplain.

He was very concerned for the Borough should this ever happen and he stated that the Rustic Mall is the last available area where we can build homes on and obtain tax revenue. He thinks that other land should be considered relocating services, such as near Firehouse #2 on 13th Avenue, or near the Manville Library.

The mayor then asked if he was also "concerned over the $10 million dollar grant to bring affordable housing to the other part of the property". Councilman Basista stated "not necessarily" as that is a developer-led program that applications are due on November 11th.

He did reiterate how depressing it is to look at Google Street View and to see over time how many homes Manville has already lost.

"That's the nature of where we live today," stated Mayor Onderko, his voice almost cracking. "There is nothing ah, nothing that really can be done from a mitigation standpoint. We've been down that road with the Army Corps of Engineers. The water is only gonna go higher and the NJDEP Blue Acres their office of Climate Resiliency are hellbent on just knocking everything down," "They don't want to fund the elevations."

Councilman Basista said he understood and that we should be having discussions with our counterparts in areas where it makes sense that they should not knock down the homes. He came back to the 500 to 700 homes number stating he could not even "comprehend" what that looks like.

The mayor was not sure that switching locations for this grant was even possible at this time. "So you know the grant is in jeopardy," to which Councilman Basista responded, "Right, I understand". The mayor then mentioned that out of all the Ida aid, we received zero dollars.

Councilman Basista replied that "even though it's $5 million, that doesn't take into account, umm the DEP documents cited the total costs I believe at $9.2 million dollars,"

He then went on to cite the Emergency Building on Gaston Avenue in Somerville that went over budget by $10 million dollars. He continued to refer to other costs and impacts to the taxpayers which concerned him as "we don't know what is going to happen next year" related to tax bills and to cost of health insurance, and other increasing costs outside of Mayor & Council control.

The mayor asked Councilman Basista if he was aware of a second round of RCP grant funding up to $2.5 million dollars that "we should have went after and I don't know why we haven't gone after. That's a question for our Finance Chair later on," Councilman Basista responded that the grant is due on September 30th.

Mayor Onderko then agreed that the $5 million dollar grant is not enough money to complete this project and asked out loud why "they won't they give us the money". "If no developer steps forward for the developer led program, the DCA should give us the $10 million dollars. That's what I told them. I said Manville deserves more money to become more storm resilient. Where's the money going to come from?" stated the mayor.

"Unfortunately, it's, you have the grant option, like with all the other grants that we're discussing tonight, like some drainage improvements and stuff, the grants don't cover the full costs, so that's another issue as well," stated Councilman Basista.

With that the mayor moved on to the rest of the Council agenda.

As the meeting concluded, it remained unclear how the Borough will proceed with the stalled ordinance. Whether it returns for consideration at a special meeting, or is taken up again in October, further action will be needed before any decisions are made on the grant and the associated property acquisition.