Ice Palace vote hinges on number of signatures
SOS members say they have more than enough to put purchase on ballot
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
It should take about a week to determine if the 5,300-plus signatures calling for a referendum on the Ocean Ice Palace purchase are valid.

The results will most likely be announced at the June 10 Brick Township Council meeting, said Township Clerk Virginia Lampman.

Stop Overspending (SOS) needs 2,850 valid signatures - 15 percent of Brick's registered voters who went to the polls last November - to put the question on the ballot, Lampman said.

"We'll check the signatures to see if they are registered voters and see if it's a valid signature," Lampman said. "We have an online statewide checking system, used by the Board of Elections and the county clerk. We have to make sure there are no duplicates."

SOS committee member Sal Petoia said he was "very confident" SOS would meet the goal of 2,850 signatures.

"We were very forthright with the people," he said. "We told them this was not a petition against the Ice Palace per se, but a petition for people to decide whether or not it should be purchased."

Petoia denied Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis' claims that SOS members were confronting people to sign petitions.

"Many of the people came to me," he said. "I didn't have to do any sales pitch at all. Acropolis is way, way off base. The idea we were out there almost forcing people to sign is absolutely absurd. He's absolutely wrong."

Acropolis repeated his claim that the SOS group was partisan and had resorted to "questionable tactics" and misled the public by misrepresenting the township's plans.

"The fact of the matter is that even if the Brick Community Center does not earn 1 cent of revenue, the cost to the average home in Brick Township for the full amount of the bond will be $2.50 a month," the mayor said in a statement on Brick's Web site.

Petoia also took issue with the mayor's statement that the referendum would kill the Ice Palace purchase.

"I don't know whether it will kill it or not," he said. "It's up to the people to decide. If they want the purchase to go through, they will vote for it."

SOS has until Tuesday to submit any more signatures, Lampman said.

Petoia said the group would probably continue to gather as many signatures as possible, just in case some could be declared invalid.

"It gives us a better feel for the pulse of the community," he said. "That pulse is certainly in favor of voting on the issue. I can't tell you which way they will vote. All we ask is, would you like to have a say in this?"

He and several other group members went to town hall on May 22 and presented Lampman with 546 pages of signatures. Most of the pages have 10 signatures on each of them, Petoia said.

"And that was it," he said. "I said, 'I'd appreciate it if you would sign the receipt for me.' "

SOS was formed earlier this month, shortly after Township Council members introduced a $9.9 million ordinance to prepare for the purchase of the 45-year-old Ocean Ice Palace and 13.34 acres of property on Chambers Bridge Road.

The ordinance included the original $5.25 million purchase price for the site, which also includes a separate building that was used by visiting hockey teams and a 25-yard outdoor pool.

The remaining $4.7 million in the new bond ordinance includes funds for repairs to the ice rink building and roof, streetscaping and landscaping. The rest would be spent on improvements to the parking lot and a senior center, the mayor said.

Acropolis said recently that the call for a referendum on the Ice Palace property should have come last July. He has called the SOS group a "shill" committee composed of disgruntled Democrats.

Petoia scoffed at that statement.

"The response from the people was awesome," he said. "To even imply this was a Democratic thing, and that we were confronting people … the mayor better get a reality check."

Former Democratic Mayor Daniel J. Kelly and Councilwoman Kathy Russell called for a referendum on the purchase at the Aug. 21 Township Council meeting.

The GOP-dominated council took no action. Township Attorney Jean Cipriani advised against a referendum because she said it could hurt the purchase negotiations.

"As far as I'm concerned, just let it go to November," Petoia said. "Why not? The property has been there for years. And Foodtown has been there for years. If the people want it, I'm sure they will vote for it. And the property will be available, whether it's November or next week."

Acropolis said if the issue did go to the polls, he was confident voters would support it.