Jones Lang LaSalle

Legislature Approves Base Redevelopment Agency
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: March 21, 2006 12:27pm

TRENTON-The State Senate voted 39 to 0 yesterday to approve bill S-1472, which would establish a commission to oversee the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth once the base is closed. The bill is identical to one passed earlier by the Assembly, and now goes to Gov. Jon Corzine for his approval, which is expected.

Fort Monmouth is one of the bases slated for closure by BRAC last summer. Most of its mission, which consists of R&D in the fields of communications, surveillance and reconnaissance systems will be shifted to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, a move expected to be completed by 2011.

Under the terms of the legislation, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority would be a 10-member body. The group would include four at-large gubernatorial appointees, along with the head of the state Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission, one member appointed by Monmouth County and a nonvoting member appointed by the federal Department of Defense. The other three would be the mayor of Eatontown, where the main portion of the base lies, along with the mayors of Oceanport and Tinton Falls, where portions of it lie.

“We need a qualified agency steering the ship and leading Fort Monmouth and the surrounding region into safe waters,” said State Sen. Ellen Karcher (D-Monmouth), a co-sponsor of the bill, in a statement. Legislators hope to have the authority up and running by the end of the year, with a first step of creating subcommittees that will do most of the work.

According to Assemblyman Michael Panter (D-Monmouth), a co-sponsor of the Assembly’s version, the federal government will provide $350,000 in seed money to get the authority up and running. Additional funding is expected from the federal Department of Labor related to job retraining programs for civilian employees at the site, according to Panter.