Town ready to buy mystery site for center BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICK TOWNSHIP - Township officials are close to closing on the property for a new recreation center, Council President Stephen C. Acropolis said. "The township is still actively involved in negotiations with a recreation site in town," he said. Acropolis said the name of the site would be released sometime soon, possibly at the end of the week. "It's one of the things the council (Township Council) has really set its sights on," he said. "We want to secure a close facility site and provide the residents from seven to 70 with a recreation center." The goal is to consolidate some township services, including those now located at the Brick Civic Center, and relocate them to one centrally positioned site, Acropolis said. "That makes government run more efficiently," he said. Township officials have been looking at possible sites around town for the recreation center, since they nixed the old Foodtown site on Route 70 last year. Possibilities for the Foodtown site include an extended-stay, hotel-type business or offices. Council members have said they want a proposed bypass road to run behind the abandoned store to an undetermined site on Route 70. Council members liked what they heard during a presentation earlier this year about "green" uses for the Foodtown site that included a hotel, a Whole Foods grocery store, a residential component and walking trails in back of the site so senior citizens could walk from the Housing Authority complex to the store. In a related matter, the new recreation advisory committee will hold its first meeting in June, as soon as the Township Council has adopted the budget, Acropolis said. The committee will include members of various sports organizations. Meetings will be held either monthly or quarterly. Committee members will discuss capital projects, use of fields, bylaws and a number of other sports-related topics, Acropolis said.