Remember how the five council members vote today: When you vote in May

The Edison development is a wonderful thing for West Orange. Unfortunately we have complainers in this town who show up at school board meetings, town counsel meetings and anywhere else where they can speak negatively on various issues. They never offer positive solutions. I am so sick and tired of listening to these people mock and ridicule the town that I love. People need to stand up against their negativity. It does nothing to benefit our wonderful community. If you love West Orange, I urge you to support the Edison development and to stand up to these habitual complainers.

What we are sick and tired of is more taxes year after year! Maybe if our municipal taxes and school taxes werent go up this year, many of us would be more inclined to support these efforts. Our school tax levy is going up 4% this year! Theres a pattern here of tax and spend and we need to make a stand on something. This is a lightning rod for taxpayer sentiment. I think thats what your missing. Enough is enough!

If approved, it will become a white elelphant. There is no market fro additional housing in West Orange. Just look around town, there are at least 300 homes for sale & very few are being sold now..
John Misorek.

Yes, that is why the project calls for rental units. People are already calling the developer to find out about them.

So what happens if Susie Mac is wrong about the affordable units. She is under the impression the COAH is no longer relevant. and so it's ok to set aside less units. But she's wrong, as usual, and i the COAH sues West Orange, say hello to even higher taxes to pay for the lawsuit.

Prism's projections are based on a 950K annual PILOT to the town. The PILOT is tied to revenue. If Prism gets less revenue, the town gets less money. Here are some projected rents:

1. 613-square-foot studio (31 units): $1,761
2. 822-square-foot 1BR/1BA (122 units): $2,000
3. 1,252-square-foot 2BR/2BA (92 units): $2,499

Parking adds over $100/month.

If they can't get these rents, or if they can't fill 95% of the units, the PILOT will decrease proportionally until it hits the agreed-upon minimum, $650K.

Let's analyze the numbers based on the minimum PILOT:

$650K-$150K property tax credit = $500K.

$500K-$200K bond service = $300K.

Now consider the number of children coming into the school. The council is talking about giving the BOE $10K per child. The developer's demographer estimates that 17 children will live in the development. The BOE's demographer says over 40. At lower rents, it's possible that the number of families with children will be higher.

If we assume 40 children, that implies a payment of 40 * $10K = $400K going from the PILOT to the BOE.

$300K-$400K = negative $100K.

That's before accounting for additional police, garbage, sewage, or other services.

There are other things to consider that I'm not even putting out here. The bottom line is, I'm not against redevelopment per se, but I believe that this financial arrangement is too risky for us.

Full disclosure: I'm running for Town Council.

If, If, If. And who's Susie Mac?

Spot on jake. You and joe k will get my vote! Let common sense prevail!

Welcome to the Edison Projects Show...And now your host Gary Englert...Gary you are not a Town resident now a city employee...but you have defended and fight this project more then the Prism people have done till Today...why so much interest on your behalf this project gets approved ?...

@ john316:

Questioning anyone's credentials while hiding behind a screen name and revealing nothing of yourself is the height of laughable hypocrisy.

I have nothing personal to gain from this matter but, have followed the redevelopment process for years and, as a result of knowing that history, can express an intelligent opinion...as is my right.

Wasn't the assessment of risk involved done individually in collaboration with the legal firm of McManimon and Scotland as well as the financial firm NW financial? I believe it included a rental market analysis, a traffic study (which may need to be updated depending of the planning board's ruling), and the school impact study performed by NW financial and the planning department.

The original financial proposal was negotiated by the administration in collaboration with the professionals listed and the sub-committee of Councilman Karkoviak and Anderton as the Council representatives. Once put together, isn't it correct that the rest of the Council members were provided with the documentation and individually briefed on the proposal several times by the professionals? At that time, the rest of the town council (sans, apparently, Mr. Krakoviak), provided input proposed changes, at quite an investment of time and effort. So, Mr. Krakoviak has all the documents already; and Team Krakoviak would certainly have access to them.

Additionally, the town approved special assessments bond issuances for Llewellyn Park, Ridge Road, and Eagle Ridge, so a project of benefit to the whole community, not just limited roads, is not an unreasonable consideration, especially since it will ultimately benefit the entire township.

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