Planning Board nixes Foodtown boat storage Acropolis says politics involved in decision BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer The Brick Planning Board members have nixed a proposal to use the old Foodtown site for boat storage over the winter. The board was set to vote on a resolution of denial at the Sept. 26 meeting, board Attorney Charles P. Tivenan said earlier this week. Board members had a number of concerns about the proposal, including liability, security, lighting and environmental issues, Tivenan said. The board's decision doesn't sit well with council President Stephen C. Acropolis. "Am I going to say someone is playing politics with this?" Acropolis said. "This is just really unfortunate. It shouldn't have happened." Acropolis accused Mayor Daniel J. Kelly of influencing "his people" on the board to make a political decision that will ultimately deprive the township of much-needed revenue. "These are people appointed by Dan Kelly," Acropolis said. "They are all his people. They have to start thinking outside of the box." Kelly, who served as Planning Board chairman until he was appointed mayor by the primarily GOP Council on Jan. 4, said he had absolutely nothing to do with the board's decision about the boat storage proposal. "I would not ask Fred Underwood or his substitute Kevin Aiello to do anything," he said. "If someone wants to do it, fine. I'm just wondering if Steve would store his boat there." There is no security, proper lighting or fire hydrants on the site, he said. "It bothers me when government competes with private industry in the boat storage business," the mayor said. "I wonder who is a Republican and who is a Democrat." Acropolis, a Republican, and Kelly, a Democrat, are locked in a bitter race for the two-year unexpired term of former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli, who resigned last Dec. 6. One month later, Scarpelli pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer. Township Attorney Jean Cipriani has said there would be no liability issues if the boats were stored at the Route 70 site, according to Acropolis. "We've already addressed that issue," he said. "She doesn't feel it would be a liability." The township could take in as much as $150,000 a year in revenue from the storage fees, he said. Boats that were previously stored over the winter at the township-owned Traders' Cove site off Mantoloking Road can't be stored there this winter because of a dredging project, Acropolis said. The board was told that a "potential vendor" would have some type of liability insurance on the site, Tivenan said. But in the end, it would be the township's responsibility if anything happened, he said. "If somebody slips and falls out there, who do you think would have the ultimate responsibility?" he said. "Of course it's the township." Tivenan also questioned the timing of the proposal. "It's late in the year to be doing this," he said. "A lot of people have already made arrangements to store their boats." Board members recommended that the project be thoroughly reworked and resubmitted for review, or abandoned, he said. "Had there been additional time and input, it might have been something the board was inclined to look at," Tivenan said. "Irrespective of who proposed it, the Planning Board felt that it was not a good plan. It seems like an accident waiting to happen or a solution in search of a problem."