Talk of 49 Acres Sparks Debate

Members of the Madison Recreation Complex Advisory Committee and the Borough Council had discussions, heated at times, over the process going into the development of the 49 acres behind Ridgedale Avenue during the first regular council meeting of 2010 on Monday night.

The conversation started after Mayor Mary-Anna Holden read a prepared statement during her update of the 49 acres.

Much of the friction surrounded T & M Associates, an engineering design firm based in Middletown, which the borough had hired to map out the engineering constraints and possible functions of the property.

Holden's statement said the committee "stymied" T & M from coming up with ideas.

"But no one was to speak to T & M Associates," Holden said while reading her statement.

Tom Haralampoudis, one of the many people at the council meeting representing the committee, said he and other members felt that T & M should have waited to hear their own thoughts before coming up with a map themselves.

"Everybody at the meeting except for you hoped they would have come to the meeting and asked us all, 'what are you expecting out of this place,' but they didn't," Haralampoudis said to Holden. "They didn't bring that at all."

Haralampoudis also said he felt someone must have given the firm information before the visioning process to make its map. Holden said she only gave the firm a topographical map, and that she asked the company to give as many ideas as they could from other sites they've seen.

"It was 'put anything on there that you have seen, throw the kitchen sink so that people could have some ideas to work with,' " Holden said. "If you have ever been part of a visioning process, sometimes you have to have things–pictures, ideas–to get moving."

Councilwoman Astri Baillie spoke up during the discussion between Haralampoudis and Holden. She said that the Mayor had cancelled a committee meeting on Jan. 6 where Baillie said that specific pieces would have been in place to help move along the project.

"My recollection of the facts is this committee worked long and hard, are dedicated volunteers. There was no delay, no hesitation," Baillie said. "We asked for a December meeting and to have the recreation component ready. Mr. (Martin) Horn said, 'I can't get it yet.' We got it, and we were ready Jan. 6."

Other council members gave their own opinions on the matter. All of them, in a different way, said the work needed to begin sooner rather than later, and that shovels needed to be in the ground this year.

However, there were those who felt that the committee's efforts to that end were being demeaned.

"The tone of the Mayor's comments made me feel that the committee that was been working so hard was being thrown under a bus. Whether intentional or not, I don't know," Councilman Robert Conley said.

Holden said the point of her comments was to get the group to expand and to tell the committee that she is not canceling or terminating it, something Councilman Don Links said he recognized.

"I wish to move forward to do what we can do with the volunteers we have in this town," Links said. "And I readily ask for anyone that wants to volunteer to help us move forward to do so. And I think that's what I took out from what the Mayor's short speech was tonight, no more and no more less."

Many other committee members added to Haralampoudis' comments, including Chris Kellog, Dave Carver, and Martin Horn. All expressed their respect for the hard work of the committee.

"We all agree on one thing: we're going to move forward on this project, full steam ahead," Council President Jeannie Tsukamoto said. "I believe, from a policy standpoint, we need to be more transparent and inclusive in manner."