"Township to stay the course with Daibes" - News Record headline 10/14

brightontom said:

Police station - new site over budget, old site under sold
Dehart park - sod field fiasco
Springfield Ave improvements - Avenue still looks like sh*t
Diabes- are u kidding me.
New Apts on Dunellen - cheap construction by Pennsy non union scab labor
Post Office - can't wait

What friggin planet are u people on??????

Talking to the TC is akin to talking to the sphinx
Mittermaier is too long on the job, no?

davidfrazer said:

I would give the Springfield Ave improvements a B+. The improvements done by the township have spruced up the avenue. The issue with SA, however, is not the sidewalks or street lights or other public amenities. The problem with SA is a lot of empty, transient and/or low-end storefronts located in drab under-maintained buildings. None of that is the TC's fault.

Time to cut our losses.

http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/years-delays-maplewood-consider-ending-deal-daibes/

brightontom said:
Police station - new site over budget, old site under sold
Dehart park - sod field fiasco
Springfield Ave improvements - Avenue still looks like sh*t
Diabes- are u kidding me.
New Apts on Dunellen - cheap construction by Pennsy non union scab labor
Post Office - can't wait

What friggin planet are u people on??????

Talking to the TC is akin to talking to the sphinx

(let's add...buying the Woman's Club. What will happen when the roof starts leaking, etc)

Red_Barchetta said:
Time to cut our losses.


http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/years-delays-maplewood-consider-ending-deal-daibes/

Doesn't bode well for the PO.

TC folly/management

It should be noted that the township has a special committee setup for the Post Office project. Below is my summary from speaking with one of the people on the committee about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

The Construction Mitigation Committee (CMC) consists of the Township Engineer, DPW, Police, Fire, a TC member, MVA manager, Director of Community Development, and a few merchants from the MVA. They first met when L+M was the designated developer and regrouped a few months ago when it appeared the new JMF plan might be nearing conclusion.

JMF is required to provide the CMC a detailed construction plan for every aspect of action and movement related to the project. One of the CMC's goals is to minimize disruption to the village (and the surrounding areas) through every phase of the project.

That list of projects is a mishmash of stuff that we can all criticize in hindsight, but not all of it is the responsibility of the current TC. The construction of the PD and it's associated costs overruns are the responsibility of the TC that preceded the current one. The DeHart fiasco was not the fault of the TC. It was defeated by a relatively small number of gadflies who spread misinformation about the funding, and used unsubstantiated scare tactics about the composition of artificial turf (do those tactics sound familiar to anyone?). Sprinfield Ave has been a challenge for the 20 years I've lived in Maplewood, and IMHO it looks better than it did then, even if there have been a few difficulties along the way.

The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however.

fwiw, I for one am glad that the township bought the Women's Club and it hasn't been turned into an office building or parking deck.

And with regard to the Post House, the solution there is for citizens to stay on top of what's going on, and as ArchBroad has indicated, there's a process in place to do so.

What is missing from this list is an expert in commercial real estate development. I've never understood why we allow the TC and town government to manage important real estate transactions and capital projects without a real estate/development project expert on the payroll.

ArchBroad said:
It should be noted that the township has a special committee setup for the Post Office project. Below is my summary from speaking with one of the people on the committee about 6 or 7 weeks ago.
The Construction Mitigation Committee (CMC) consists of the Township Engineer, DPW, Police, Fire, a TC member, MVA manager, Director of Community Development, and a few merchants from the MVA. They first met when L+M was the designated developer and regrouped a few months ago when it appeared the new JMF plan might be nearing conclusion.

JMF is required to provide the CMC a detailed construction plan for every aspect of action and movement related to the project. One of the CMC's goals is to minimize disruption to the village (and the surrounding areas) through every phase of the project.

That's a valid concern yahoo, and I think it is being addressed.

I do not know who all the specific individuals from the MVA are who are on the CMC, nor do I know the individual CV's of everyone who is involved. But I do know that one of the people I spoke with suggested that the CMC encourage someone with the knowledge and background you speak of be on the committee.

yahooyahoo said:
What is missing from this list is an expert in commercial real estate development. I've never understood why we allow the TC and town government to manage important real estate transactions and capital projects without a real estate/development project expert on the payroll.

ArchBroad said:
It should be noted that the township has a special committee setup for the Post Office project. Below is my summary from speaking with one of the people on the committee about 6 or 7 weeks ago.
The Construction Mitigation Committee (CMC) consists of the Township Engineer, DPW, Police, Fire, a TC member, MVA manager, Director of Community Development, and a few merchants from the MVA. They first met when L+M was the designated developer and regrouped a few months ago when it appeared the new JMF plan might be nearing conclusion.

JMF is required to provide the CMC a detailed construction plan for every aspect of action and movement related to the project. One of the CMC's goals is to minimize disruption to the village (and the surrounding areas) through every phase of the project.

"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."

yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

OliveBee said:
"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."
yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

OliveBee said:
"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."
yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

please. just stop. You know as well as anyone that the design doesn't look like the Station House, and there are very specific regulations in place to prevent the use of the same materials in the Post House.

and the developers are completely different as well.

ETA: And the architect has close to Zero (though probably not actually Zero if the cause of the delay has something to do with the quality of their contract documents) responsibility for the construction timeline, which appears to be one of the issues with Daibes.

ml1 said:

OliveBee said:
"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."
yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

please. just stop. You know as well as anyone that the design doesn't look like the Station House, and there are very specific regulations in place to prevent the use of the same materials in the Post House.

They're both buildings, though. So there's that.

OliveBee said:
"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."
yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

Rewind, then push "play".

The design for Station House didn't look liek Station House either.

ml1 said:

OliveBee said:
"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."
yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

please. just stop. You know as well as anyone that the design doesn't look like the Station House, and there are very specific regulations in place to prevent the use of the same materials in the Post House.

And they both use "House" in their branding...

ctrzaska said:
They're both buildings, though. So there's that.

OliveBee said:
The design for Station House didn't look liek Station House either.

ml1 said:

OliveBee said:
"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."
yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

please. just stop. You know as well as anyone that the design doesn't look like the Station House, and there are very specific regulations in place to prevent the use of the same materials in the Post House.

I am getting the sense that you are hoping the Post House doesn't turn out well so you can say "I told you so."

I hope I'm wrong. I would prefer to think you're rooting for the building to turn out well and be an improvement to the village.

I thought Daibes was the project on SA. Why are we talking about Post House and Station House ... again??

Yes ... PLEASE STOP

Obsessive-compulsive thread disorder I assume.

ml1 said:

OliveBee said:
The design for Station House didn't look liek Station House either.

ml1 said:

OliveBee said:
"The Station House and Daibes project are indeed issues that the current TC needs to own up to however."
yes indeed...and btw Station House was done by the same architect as Post House.

please. just stop. You know as well as anyone that the design doesn't look like the Station House, and there are very specific regulations in place to prevent the use of the same materials in the Post House.

I am getting the sense that you are hoping the Post House doesn't turn out well so you can say "I told you so."
I hope I'm wrong. I would prefer to think you're rooting for the building to turn out well and be an improvement to the village.

We already know it won't turn out well. the building is to large for the site and for the Village. the finances are out of whack. the process was manipulated.

So you expect me to jump up and down with joy now that the approval was railroaded thru in 20 min decision over a new plan? Too many improprieties for my taste.