Traders Cove funding could come full circle Brick may end up running marina after all, mayor says BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICK TOWNSHIP- Brick could end up being the redeveloper of Traders Cove, if the state comes through with close to $6 million in Green Acres grants and loans, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said. Township officials went to Trenton recently to talk to state Department of Environmental Protection representatives about the funding. If the township did receive Green Acres money, 75 percent would be in grants; the other 25 percent would be a low-interest loan, he said. "It may be less cost for us to run it," said Acropolis, who predicted a first-year net revenue of $60,000 from the marina. Brick originally planned to renovate the site with a combination of funding from Green Acres, Ocean County, the environmental group Save Barnegat Bay and a private donor when the township acquired the site after a protracted court fight in 2005. The township and Save Barnegat Bay were partners in the 2005 court battle against a developer who wanted to build condominiums on the site. Save Barnegat Bay signed over its rights to the property when the township closed on it in December 2005, with the understanding that the township would design and develop a public marina and park. The township is now taking a twopronged approach to the redevelopment of the site off Mantoloking Road, the mayor said.Aprivate redeveloper was interested in building and operating a marina on the site but is now having second thoughts because of a lawsuit filed by Save Barnegat Bay earlier this year, Acropolis said. "Every time a lawsuit is introduced, they [developers] are uncomfortable," the mayor said. Acropolis said in January that he expected the township will soon sign a $4 million agreement with a redeveloper, who would rebuild the aging marina and rent boat slips, providing he received 180 boat slips. The redeveloper had also agreed to put in a park, the mayor said. "We feel we that we can get more money from Green Acres," Acropolis said. The latest Green Acres funding was contingent on getting new appraisals on the site. The commercial real estate market has not been as affected by the economic downturn as the residential market, the mayor said. The new appraisal showed that the value of the property has not dropped since the last appraisal, Acropolis said. The number of boat slips will be 180, the maximum allowed by the state Coastal Areas Facilities Review Act. The site would also have a public boat ramp, Acropolis said. "More people from Brick can keep their boats there," he said. "We're absolutely thrilled with it." Save Barnegat Bay objected to the Traders Cove redevelopment ordinance at the Nov. 27 Township Council meeting. Michele Donato, the group's lawyer, asked council members not to adopt the redevelopment plan that evening. But council members voted 6-0 in favor of the plan. The environmental group objected to having a private redeveloper do the project and favored keeping the existing 139 boat slips. Save Barnegat Bay President William deCamp contended that the township had reneged on paying its share of the initial project by considering a private redeveloper for the site. Save Barnegat Bay filed suit against the Township Council on Jan. 11. The suit asked that the redevelopment plan be invalidated. Ocean County paid $1.5 million last year for a 5.8-acre chunk of the Traders Cove property near the Mantoloking Bridge to build a small public fishing and crabbing area. The New Jersey Museum of Boating is planning to move from its current space at Johnson Boat Works to Traders Cove. Plans call for two buildings, both exterior replicas of U.S. Lifesaving Stations, museum Executive Director Robert O'Brien has said. One station would be a model of Life Saving Station No. 10, a Victorian-type station that was built in Bay Head in 1884. It will serve as an educational pavilion, with a boat-building classroom, exhibits, museum offices and restrooms. The second building will be a replica of the 1876 Centennial Life Saving Station. The building will feature a ground-floor base with a lobby, a 120-seat auditorium, a boat-building classroom, snack bar and public restrooms. The second story will be 16 feet above sea level to provide scenic views of Barnegat Bay, he said. O'Brien said earlier this year the museum's plans would not be affected by the Save Barnegat Bay lawsuit.