Riverview Medical Center. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
The Red Bank Borough Council Thursday approved a $1.2 million settlement between the borough and Riverview Medical Center to end years of litigation over how much the ever-expanding hospital pays in property taxes.
The settlement topped a busy agenda that also saw an update on a remake of Marine Park and contracts awarded for new Monmouth Street sidewalks and the rebuilding of the town’s decrepit public works facility.
A surveyor for the borough’s engineering firm CME Associates, conducts site work for the remake of Marine Park last month. Borough Manager Jim Gant gave an update on the project Thursday. (photo by Brian Donohue)
The hospital settlement ends years of back and forth litigation that began in 2016 over a number of hospital owned properties.In addition to the one time settlement payment, the hospital will also make annual payments of $230,000 the document reads.
“We were pretty happy with it,” Mayor Billy Portman said of the settlement. “Happy to put that to bed and happy to have a little money in our coffers.” The resolution approving the settlement was approved by the Borough Council by a unanimous vote.
Those annual “Community Service Contribution” payments must be used by Red Bank for “the advancement of public health and/or public safety or welfare” within the borough, according to the settlement.
The various tax disputes date back to 2016 when the borough argued that a number of hospital-owned properties were not covered under the property tax exemptions granted by the hospital’s status as a non-profit institution.
In addition to the one time and annual payments, a pair of properties whose tax-exempt status has been in dispute – an office building at 33 East Front Street and a planned parking lot at 103 East Front Street– will now become taxable starting in 2024, according to the resolution.
In other matters, Thursday the council:
- Hired two firms to begin the long-planned process of rebuilding the Department of Public Utilities headquarters on Chestnut Street. The council approved a $29,900 contract with Collier Engineering and Design to do topographic and site evaluation work and a $30,000 contract with Netta Architects to begin developing plans for the expansion/reconstruction. The DPU facility upgrades have been on the top of the borough’s to-do list for years, with workers there working in temporary trailers long past their expiration date.
- Awarded a $1.1 million contract to S. Batata Construction Inc. of Parlin for the construction of new sidewalks and other improvements along Monmouth Street near the train station. In January, the council approved the borrowing of $250,000 to augment a $675,000 state Department of Transportation grant for the so called “Pedestrian Station Improvement” project.
- Received an update from Borough Manager Jim Gant on the remake of Marine Park. The park is being reconfigured in two stages: first, the creation of a new parking lot in the southwest corner of the park (pictured below) where the clay tennis courts long sat. The second phase calls for the removal of the old parking lot near the Navesink River and the conversion of that area into a grassy lawn. While the first phase is essentially completed, delays in obtaining materials to finish the new parking lot have delayed somewhat the start of phase two.
Gant said engineers have determined it is better to wait until spring to start phase two rather than have the area dug up over the winter when pouring concrete and laying topsoil and sod are ill advised. “Although you could trudge forward it’s just not smart to do right now because of the change in weather,” Gant said. Gant added more details of how that area will be redesigned should be forthcoming soon. “There’s going to be more to come as far as presenting that to the rest of the community,” Gant said.
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
