Public should have final say on ice rink purchase Mayor says group calling for referendum a 'shill committee' BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer A group claiming to be nonpartisan is circulating petitions around Brick calling for a referendum on the Ocean Ice Palace purchase. The SOS (Stop Over Spending) campaign says voters should have a say in whether the township buys the landmark on Chambers Bridge Road. Group members will be hitting the streets and shopping centers over the next two weeks to try to get enough signatures to put the question on the ballot, said Sal Petoia, one of the SOS petitioners. "We are not opposed to the purchase per se, but we just think the people should have a say in it," Petoia said. The group was formed over the past week, after Township Council members introduced a $9.9 million ordinance to prepare for the purchase of the 45-yearold ice rink and 13.34 acres of property. The ordinance was slated for a second reading at the May 6 council caucus meeting, after the Bulletin went to press. The SOS committee members include Petoia, former Township Clerk and former Democratic Municipal Chairman George Cevasco, Joseph Lamb, Michael Mastroserio and Jeanine Schwartz. "I hate to think people would presume this is a partisan issue," Petoia said. "I'm still an independent. Ifmost of the people are Democrats, so be it. The people have a right to decide this, whether they want the town encumbered with the dollars they are talking about." Republican Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis scoffed at the statement that the group is nonpartisan. "It's nothing more than a shill committee of people who are disgruntled Democrats who are trying to rebuild their party by taking an issue that could be an asset that we could all work on," Acropolis said. Cevasco is a former Democratic municipal chairman and was appointed to serve as township clerk without any experience during the years Democrat Joseph C. Scarpelli was mayor, Acropolis said. The 2007mayoral election was not a referendum on the Ocean Ice Palace purchase, Petoia said. "Quite frankly, I don't think that's the case at all," Petoia said. "They voted for him[Acropolis] as mayor, but that doesn't mean the people approved of the Ice Palace." "There was a referendum in this last election," Acropolis said. "The referendumwas we have got to look for other ways to fund projects other than on the backs of the taxpayers. The only people who are against this are people who don't want to find other revenue sources." Petoia said one of the concept plans he'd heard about for the Ice Palace property calls for the construction of a new civic center, field house, swimming pool, a second ice rink and a four-story parking garage. "It's going to cost the taxpayers pretty big bucks, unless Acropolis is going to pay for it out of his own pocket," Petoia said. But township officials have listened to a number of conceptual plans for the property, including one from a firm that wants to build new facilities on the site and pay the township an operating fee, Acropolis said. "We haven't decided on anything and we are not going to decide on anything without public input," Acropolis said. "The only thing we are doing is buying the facility. End of story, end of quote, end of article. We are not doing anything else yet. You have to have conceptual plans." The township has purchased pieces of property in the past, like Windward Beach and Ocean Beach 1, 2 and 3, without a referendum, the mayor said. "We are purchasing a piece of property from a private owner," he said. "The township has done this a number of times in the past. We have never gone to a referendum to buy open space." Petoia also said he'd heard the final price tag for a community center on the Ocean Ice Palace property could run as high as $25 million, a number Acropolis angrily denied. "I cannot defend and I'm not going to defend something that is not true," the mayor said. "You can't dispute a negative. They are putting politics ahead of their town. And shame on them for doing that." The township needs sustainable revenue and shared services to relieve the tax burden on residents, Acropolis said. "I welcome any and all questions on the community center," themayor said. "Any ideas on how we can get this done in a cost-efficient manner. I would be more than happy to hear any input they have, as long as it is not based on politics." Petoia said the Ice Palace purchase should go through, as long as residents approve. "That way, everybody knows what they are getting into up front," he said. If the group does gather enough signatures, it would be the first time a referendum question would be attempted to block an ordinance, Petoia said. "It's never been done," he said. "Hopefully, we'll get enough people out to get the referendum on the ballot."