By: Joseph L. Kuchie
SOUTH AMBOY – Mickey Gross and Christine Noble were unanimously re-named South Amboy’s Council President and Vice President at last Wednesday’s reorganization meeting.
Gross, Noble, and Mayor Fred Henry were also sworn in after their November re-election. Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly and South Amboy native Craig Coughlin was on hand to swear Mayor Henry in and spoke highly of Henry’s work in South Amboy.
“The fun part about swearing in ceremonies is they are a look into the future, it’s a time of hope and optimism of looking forward and to all of the good things that are possible,” Coughlin said. “You [Mayor Henry] have been on council since I left back in 1992 and you have served admirably, and you have made such a difference in the community. Your two terms as Mayor have been just terrific for this city.”
Mayor Henry thanked Coughlin for taking time out of his schedule to take part in his swearing in ceremony and recognized the strong relationship he has with the city’s council.
“We’ve got people that work together, we don’t always agree on everything which is fine, and it works out better that you don’t always agree because other ideas come out that way,” Mayor Henry said. “I want to thank the council for all the support they have given over the years and look forward to working with them again. We all work together, we argue like any family will, but we get things done, and there are a lot of good things happening in South Amboy and will continue to happen.”
SOUTH AMBOY – Mayor Fred Henry is sworn in by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin. Henry’s Wife, Linda holds the bible.
Middlesex County Freeholder Deputy Director Charles Tomaro was also on hand to help swear in Mickey Gross. Tomaro spoke about his personal relationship with Gross that goes back over 20 years.
“I’ve happened to know Mickey since 1996 when I first got elected to the Edison council and I happen to work with him on a lot of his projects,” Tomaro said. “He convinced my wife to go back to school to become a health inspector and now she’s the health inspector in Edison and she absolutely loves it.”
SOUTH AMBOY – Councilman Mickey Gross is sworn in by Middlesex County Freeholder Deputy Director Charles Tomaro
The city also introduced new Law Director Francis Womack, who will be replacing John Lanza in 2019. Womack, a practicing attorney, was a member on the North Brunswick Council from 2000 – 2004 and served as North Brunswick’s mayor from 2004 – 2019.
“I lived in North Brunswick for many years until I moved to South Amboy in 2002,” Dato said. “I know him to be an experienced attorney, a wonderful Mayor and just a great man. Welcome aboard and we know you’re going to serve us well.”
Councilman Tom Reilly thanked Lanza for his work in South Amboy that lasted over 30 years.
“I want to extend thank you to John Lanza, our former Law Director,” Reilly said. “John was with the city 32 years and did a terrific job and I want to extend my thanks. He had actually served as Law Director when my mother was sitting on the council, so it’s been a while.”
SOUTH AMBOY – Councilwoman Christine Noble is sworn in by Mayor Fred Henry as family members look on.
Residents were once again on hand to speak about the Manhattan Beach Project, the redevelopment which was approved by the council in December despite significant push back from city residents. Brandon Russell, who ran against Mayor Henry in November’s election, believed that the decision to move forward with Manhattan Beach project was rushed and that the tax break the property owners received was “reckless”.
“When we’re talking about millions of dollars. I would say at least 10 years is enough time to sit on a property like this or at least see what negotiations are going to lead to,” Russell said. “I think bringing more people to South Amboy is eventually what we’re going to need, but I think we need to do it under the right circumstances, and given the tax breakout the way we did it was just very reckless and wasn’t necessary in my opinion and I stand by it, and I think a lot of people in this town do agree with it.”
Mayor Henry thanked Brandon for following the project and asking questions and believed that the success of the project will change Brandon’s opinion on Manhattan Beach down the road.
“I really do hope that you continue to follow this because as you follow this, you’re going to realize that this wasn’t reckless on our part in getting this done,” Mayor Henry said. “I hope that somewhere along the line we will change your mind on that because this will benefit the city of South Amboy to no end.”
Many residents were disappointed that the city approved Manhattan Beach despite rumors that Offshore Wind facilities were interested in building in South Amboy. Business Administrator Glenn Skarzynski explained that the city has met with those companies and have a third meeting setup for next week.
“Yesterday NJ.com listed three wind international entities that applied for leases for the wind energy program in New Jersey,” Skarzynski said. “We’ve already met with two of them, the third of them is coming in on Wednesday. We are aggressively pursuing the wind project, it’s just a matter of who is going to come to the table and want to put their site here.”
All council members were in attendance for the reorganization meeting, with Councilwoman Zusette Dato joining in by conference call. The next city council meeting will be held on January 30th at 7:00 p.m.
