Holmdel must plan for future of Lucent property
Guest Column
DR. RALPH BLUMENTHAL
(Open letter to Holmdel mayor and Township Committee) A year ago you asked 11 Holmdel residents to volunteer their time to serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Lucent Property. The Lucent/Bell Laboratories property with its Aero Saarinen-designed building and water tower has been a shining star of Holmdel for almost 50 years. The potential development/redevelopment of this property will affect Holmdel for decades to come.

At the July 24 Township Committee meeting, you refused to allow the committee to present its report. Instead, the number one item on the agenda was a discussion of a pedestrian road crossing of Roberts Road. Where are your priorities?

You have had a draft of the report for months and have responded with no (none/zero) comments or questions. A month ago, the township administrator scheduled the presentation for the July 24 meeting. The agenda report for Item No. 5 on July 24 that was approved by the administrator said that the co-chairs would present the report. On Monday, July 21, the administrator told me that the presentation could be after the adoption of the consent agenda. The co-chairs and other members of the committee came to the meeting prepared to present and discuss the report. Five minutes before the meeting we were told that there was no time for a presentation and that it would be scheduled for September!

Your support of the committee has been minimal. When the committee asked for each member to receive a copy of Preferred Real Estate's proposal you refused. Instead three copies of the document were provided.

A committee member arranged to have additional copies made.

You have been aware for months that the committee is recommending that the township undertake a professional planning project to consider the best options for the future of the township and its residents. Holmdel should take responsibility for its own destiny and should not simply wait for whatever some developer seeks to impose on the township. You have refused to provide any funding. You even refused to allow the committee to apply for an ANJEC grant because it would require matching funds. It was suggested to you that a small portion of the funds received from the PNC Arts Center could be used to start a project. You did not respond to the suggestion.

Yes, these are difficult economic times. However, by being proactive Holmdel can take steps to facilitate an earlier and better development of the Lucent property. This would repay the township many times over. Now that the committee's final report has been "accepted," and the work of the committee is completed you have not even shown the courtesy to thank the members for their efforts on behalf of the township. How ungracious and disrespectful can you be?

Please note that I am writing this letter on my own, it has not been shared with any other member of the committee, and it represents only my personal thoughts.

I will close with a quote that has been attributed to a planning professor from Rutgers: "Failing to plan is planning to fail." Holmdel deserves much better.

Dr. Ralph Blumenthal is the former co-chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Lucent Property, Holmdel