ASSEMBLY PASSES BILL TO REQUIRE AN INDEPENDENT STUDY OF PRIVATE HOUSING ON EARLE

12th District Assembly members Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande are pleased to announce the passage by the General Assembly of A- 4159, a bill that requires the State to perform an independent study on the effects of privatizing 300 housing units located on Naval Weapons Station Earle.

“This bill is so important to the safety and well-being of the people of Monmouth County,” said Casagrande. “It will give us the financial and security related answers that we didn’t get from the Navy’s Environmental Impact Study. We cannot assume that moving 300 new families, with a likely total of 1,000 new citizens, into our area will not have an impact. We also cannot assume that there are no security risks with allowing civilians unfettered access to the heart of an ammunitions depot. With all of the risks involved with such a project, it is not safe to assume anything. We need the facts, and with this bill, we will get them.”

“This has been a long time coming,” said O’Scanlon, “and I am happy to see support from the entire Assembly on this issue. In times of true fiscal jeopardy, operating with all the facts becomes even more vital. This legislation will help provide us with the answers that I believe will only confirm what myself and my colleagues already know, which is that bringing 300 new families to the area will pose a real financial difficulty for any towns asked to bear that burden. No town should be asked to take on such load without all of the facts in order.”

The bill requires the analysis to contain the following information:

*An economic impact statement including a cost benefit analysis of the increased housing units and their impact on educational costs and local services costs that may be borne by local taxpayers;

*A security analysis addressing any security issues on surrounding municipalities which will be prepared by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, in consultation with the New Jersey State Police and the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs;

*An impact statement on the adequacy of present school and municipal infrastructure to handle the increased demands resulting from the conversion to civilian housing; and an estimate regarding the increased school district and municipal costs that will be required to adequately address the anticipated increased infrastructure requirements which will be prepared by the Center for Government Services at Rutgers.

The Senate version of the bill, S-3017, sponsored by state Senator Jennifer Beck, also District 12, awaits action in the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee.

“I am hopeful that the Senate will move this bill along in the same manner the Assembly has,” said Beck. “It’s important to recognize the potential security risks that come hand in hand with permitting hundreds of unvetted civilians access to the largest ammunitions depot on the east coast. There are always consequences and this legislation will empower us to see what the consequences of this action is likely to be.”