Edgewater Park Mayor Hall's Sewer Authority Eviction Letter Explanation

I just received an e-mail from someone who was at the Edgewater Park Sewer Authority Meeting last week on 2-13-08. They said that Mayor Hall spoke about the mysterious 1-17-08 Eviction Letter sent to the Authority. The Mayor claimed that the letter was not an eviction notice, but a notice about the need for more space for the Township Staff and Storage.

The Mayor stated that she talked many months ago, with a E.P. Fire Commissioner about moving them to a house on Cooper Street that the Township was negotiating to acquire. The Mayor said that the Township Committee planed to move the EPSA to the same location, if the deal went through.

One Authority Board Member stated that he didn't know what the Mayor's copy of the 1-17-08 said, but that his copy clearly stated the Authority was to be out of the Municipal Building by 8-31-08, and nowhere in his copy, did it mention the Township's idea of relocating the Authority to the "Cooper Street House".

Mayor Hall stated that the Township Committee didn't mean for the letter to be a notice of eviction. Mayor Hall publicly blamed the Business Administrator (is this a new township position ?) and Township Solicitor for the language in the 1-17-08 letter. She stated publicly, "The Township Committee was not aware of the language in the 1-17-08 letter". As you will see by going to the link below, the Mayor and Township Committee were copied on the 1-17-08 letter.

When I heard of the Mayor Hall's public comments made during the Public Portion of the EPSA 2-13-08 meeting, my reaction was, well my picture above says it all.

I find it hard to believe that the Township Administrator and the Township Committee, never reached out to the EPSA, to let them know what Township Committee's plans for the EPSA were.

According to the Mayor's 2-13-08 public statement, the Township Business Administrator (is this a new position?) and the Committee have been working on this for a long time.

Why didn't the Mayor, Township Committee and Administrator include the EPSA in the plan?

Why did the Mayor neglect to mention to the Fire Commissioner that she spoke to, that the Township planned to move the EPSA into the Cooper Street House along with the Fire Commission?

Why did the Mayor misstate the contents of the 1-17-08 letter, in a phone conversation with a resident she spoke to about it?

What is she hiding?

Again inquiring minds want to know.

See the link below for copies of the 1-17-08 letter, $12,000 check copy dated 1-9-08 that the Administrator returned to the EPSA and a copy of the Mayor's 2-5-08 letter to the ESPA.

To link for copies click on http://www.lpcnj.org/OGTF/EPSA.pdf to see the copies.

I received the information listed in this post from EPSA Board Member's statements, e-mail's from residents who were in attendance of the ESPA meeting and from the Host of the link above. I have also received an e-mail to expect copies of all letters of correspondence between the EPSA and the Township of Edgewater Park between January 14, 2008, and February 21, 2008, as a result of an OPRA request. As soon as I receive the copies, I will post them.

Now honestly, the chutzpah of the Mayor Hall, who wants us to believe that the Township Administrator/Clerk, Linda Dougherty, would send a letter of this magnitude and not make the Mayor and Township Committee aware of it, especially since the Administrator sent it in the committee's name.

I don't believe it for one minute, but if it is true, the Township Committee has a big problem with our Administrator/Clerk.

The Township Committee held a public meeting, January 16, the night before the date of the 1-17-08 letter. During that meeting, the Township Committee never spoke publicly about sending any letter to the EPSA. The Township Committee did go into Closed Session that night, and may have discussed writing a letter, but they would be required by law, to come back into open session to take action on it. They did not do this!

So when did the Township Committee publicly take action and request the Township Administrator to send the "relocation letter" as the Mayor called it, or the "eviction letter" as the EPSA member called it? Riddle me that Batman.

More to follow,

The Edgewater Park Reporter