Friday, August 1, 2014

How Did the Town Meeting Go?

"What did I miss?"

I was unable to attend the Town Meeting but will take comments, impressions, reactions, whatever - from anyone who attended and can respond in a civil tone.

--Bernice
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 1, 2014 at 8:45 AM

    It was the greatest meeting ever

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  2. NancyAugust 1, 2014 at 9:13 AM

    Very intetesting meeting. Heard many positives so main stream press will not print any of it. Interesting that Muhlenberg Study is in a draft form. Administration to review it. Then meet with Council individually. Then a public meeting scheduled for Aug. 13. Exactly 6 years to date of closing. Quite ironic or was it planned that way.

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  3. Rebecca WilliamsAugust 1, 2014 at 9:43 AM

    Hi, Bernice,

    The center was packed to capacity--standing room only. Some council members showed up as well. The whole thing was videotaped. I wrote a brief blog post, but here is one pertinent part:

    "I am pleased to note that Mayor Mapp said that the city will be undergoing a forensic audit to ensure that the books are in order and to clear up all the troubling financial issues of the past administration, as well as a way to move forward with accountability to those taxpayers. Voters have requested this for years, and they will get what they asked for. I view this as confirmation of a new era of financial transparency in our municipal government."

    Rebecca

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  4. AnonymousAugust 1, 2014 at 10:39 AM

    Overall I thought the meeting was a success and appeared to accomplish what the administration intended. Judging by the presentations submitted by department heads, the city is moving in a positive direction.

    Violent crime is down, but no mention of crime overall being down. Police department was able to removed 36 guns off the street recently, but didn’t say how this was accomplish.
    One good note, youth based program initiatives by our police department have been very successful thus far. This will go a long way in preventing future criminals. Kudu’s to our new Police Director, he seems to be moving the department in the right direction.

    Recreation department reported all pools was open on time and the water quality of the pools could be compared to any 5 star hotel pool. Crystal clear!. They also hired approximately 152 youths for summer jobs. Sounds like a lot of good stuff coming out of this department. Next year should bring some great programs for our handicap and senior citizens.

    Some really interesting remarks from our finance director – one being, all pilot programs are under review, they are either hiring or in discussion to hire an outside auditor to go over the finances for the last 8 years. There was a lot of laughter to the remark that we only have 149 dogs and cats in Plainfield (according to our license register).

    There was a fair amount of discussion on road repair – nothing surprising here, it will happen when it happens.

    Economic development- apparently we have several projects in the works, mostly being apartments with some having retail space. To me, this is very concerning and should be to all homeowners. Every new project in Plainfield cannot and should not consist of apartments. With all these new apartments we will have more renter than homeowners. This will definitely create a new dynamic in the city. I was told by Mr. Sanchez, that out of all the new apartment projects in the works, only one is being granted a pilot, of course it happens to be the largest apartment rental development. He did say they were trying to bring a large grocery store into the city. Let’s hope it’s truly a mainstream grocery store. Bottom line, we need more jobs and less apartment rentals. Contrary to what the Mayor said about homeownership, people are still buying and I believe if some of this new contraction was for new single family or townhouse (not condos), they would sell and bring a wave of new residents to Plainfield.

    Code enforcement – I think they said they had some key position to be filled, the sooner the better because we have way to many vacate homes with lawns over grown and debris litter front lawns. Someone brought up about being notified when the street sweepers were coming to your neighborhood. honestly, I didn’t realize we still had street sweepers. My neighbor and I usually walk up and down the street with a garbage picking up litter.

    Looking forward to hearing what the study on the Muhlenberg property will reveal.

    The emphasis of the night, was one Plainfield and we all need to work together.

    Robin B

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  5. AnonymousAugust 1, 2014 at 2:13 PM

    Why did they have this meeting at the Senior Center and not at Washington or Emerson school? They spent a lot of money on Robo calls and they were hoping for a large turnout. The only economic development I heard was about bringing more apartments to Plainfield. Is the Mayor only thinking about bringing low income housing and no parking to Plainfield? Is he supporting the developers who want to turn Plainfield into the Rental Property Capitol of Union County? Why would you let anyone take away a hospital/commercial property in a residential neighborhood and put 600 section 8 apartments with 1 parking space and not 2 per unit plus parking for guest? Everyone will be parking on the street and blocking driveways like they do in many other parts of town. Developers make a lot of promises and don't keep most of them, just look at the downtown Teppers, Park Madison, and the Monarch.

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  6. JeffAugust 4, 2014 at 11:02 AM

    As someone who has worked in the apartment business for years, designing, building and managing thousands on units in NJ, I can tell you that this is how you "bring back" a community / downtown. No one will pay good money to buy a new home in an area that is in transition as much as Plainfield is. The Monarch is a prime example of nice project, HORRIBLE location. Robin, the one thing to keep in mind is that not every landlord is a slumlord looking to build more low income housing. Plainfield already has a large share of it. What it does not have is new or newer quality construction designed to attract younger, higher income singles and families into the community. It also allows those that are here options to stay instead of considering moving to other areas. Landmark is restoring the downtown 1 building at a time, creating new retail spaces with modern apartments above. It brings in new shops and more people in the downtown creating an area that does not empty out at night. People living in a downtown provide the spending capital to support the local business'. The more people in, the more money in, the more business comes in. We just need to make sure that parking is considered with every proposal where possible. The City may have to start repairing the City parking lots to support the additional residents moving in. Make parking areas for shoppers and areas for residents with parking permits. It can be done and done well. It can be a huge benefit to the City and the residents both. To anon at 2:13, broken promises are allowed by Cities that allow them to be broken. Westfield or New Brunswick would not allow that to happen. Plainfield needs to do the same. We need to make sure they do what they are supposed to do.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousAugust 4, 2014 at 3:34 PM

      I never mentioned anything about slumlords or low income housing. I still say apartments alone cannot be the only new development to bring back Plainfield. Even if it did manage to bring in some younger, higher income singles, it’s safe to say, they most likely will go outside of Plainfield to spend their money. I just can’t image enough people passing Westfield and Cranford to rent a luxury apartment in Plainfield; especially if the rents and dwellings are comparable. I am curious to know what retailers have been approached to move into Plainfield that will entice younger, higher income singles and families? Or is the plan to ‘build and they will come’? I also doubt that high income families will be the ideal group to market these apartments to, families are most likely the ones to opt to purchase. If someone has higher income, good credit and enough of a down payment, which may be the same as security and 1st month’s rent on a luxury apartment, why wouldn’t they buy? People buying homes in Plainfield usually come from areas like Newark, Irvington, East Orange and New York. Plainfield was always considered a ‘step up community’ from these areas. Whether it’s luxury apartments or new moderately priced housing, people will come when we have something more to offer. Building new luxury apartments, having a new Mayor and Economic Director does not mean we are where we need to be to entice “younger, higher income singles” to Plainfield. We still have mountains to climb, but I am cheering for a new Plainfield. If Monarch is a horrible location, I thought I heard new luxury apartments along this same corridor? Is this your opening to say the Monarch type of apartments would work somewhere else, maybe the Muhlenberg site? Hmmm!

      They just built some new apartments with ground level retail space in Somerville, the powers that be should take a trip there to see all that they have to offer in their downtown area.

      Robin

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  7. JeffAugust 5, 2014 at 10:43 AM

    Robin, many in Plainfield have the belief that every new apartment built is for Section 8 or HUD housing, and that is not the case. It all comes down to price.

    I'm not sure if you have been to Westfield or Cranford lately, but the new apartments there are renting from $2000 for a 1 bedroom and $3500 for a 2 bedroom. If you can afford that for rent, you can buy yourself a real nice house here in Plainfield. The units here would be far cheaper, even in new buildings, making Plainfield a viable alternative. Once you get the renters in the downtown, the retailers will come. Unfortunately there are many people living in certain sections of Plainfield who wont step foot in the downtown. Starbucks wont open without the people to support it. The problem with the Monarch is that you can walk next door and buy a cold 40 and people loiter outside. Thats what I meant by horrible location. That does not make for an attraction to spend $300K on a condo (back then). I don't think it would work at Muhlenberg site. The buildings would need to be bigger or a more traditional style apt complex.

    Before you toot the horn for Somerville, the units are not renting. They are too expensive. They are also riddled in debt and lawsuits. The buildings are beautiful, don't get me wrong. But there are issues. Other parts of Somerville, Division Street for example, now offers a pedestrian promenade with shops and restaurants. It is doing very well and looks great! That would be an area for the administration to look at.

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