SUMMARY, OCT 14 GENERAL MEETING
(emailed by Steve Miller at the request of an Oak Hill homeowner who could not make the meeting) Mayor Scharfenberger's follow-up email is appended.

  At Oak Hill's request, Mayor Scharfenberger planned to add two things on the Middletown web site
www.middletownnj.org :
1. background about COAH
2. addresses where we might send letters to best have an impact

During his talk, the Mayor said that Middletown had met with the owners of
the Red Hill Road at GSP (Murray Building and grounds?) the previous week,
but the mayor had not yet heard the results.

  Middletown is one of ~226 NJ towns that sued NJ for a delay in the
12/31/2008 deadline for a plan to meet affordability housing requirements..
If the town doesnt have plans by 12/31/2008, then builders can use a
"builder's remedy".

The mayor calculates 400-500 additional affordable housing units will be
required (after the current-in-progress RCAs and other in-progress housing
is credited).  Each affordable unit will cost Middletown taxpayers $160,000
subsidy per house, for schools and other services.  Middletown is employing
an experienced COAH lawyer.

An affordable unit is required:
1. one COAH affordable unit per 4 market-priced houses
2. one COAH affordable unit per 16 new jobs in Middletown.

NJ appears to consider anything over 4% open space as luxury to be quickly
builtout.  Middletown presently is ~90% built-out.  The mayor is very
concerned that the existing open space will be quickly eaten by the new NJ
COAH requirements.

Another speaker was Middletown historian Randall Gabrielan.  Randall gave a very
entertaining photo-talk about Oak Hill and environs (Oak Hill was REALLY
open in the early photos).  Afterward, Randy sold 12 books.

The 3rd speaker (Neal Coleman) had a last minute conflict, and couldnt
attend to provide us the update about his team's efforts to reduce NJ taxes.

Oak Hill Association elected the following officers for 2009:
Vivian Breen, Pres
Laura Campbell, VP
Jack Nolan, Treasurer
Steve Miller, Secretary

----- Original Message -----
From: Scharfenberger, Gerard
To: donald duthie
Cc: Laura Campbell ; Vivian Breen ; steve Miller
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 8:39 AM
Subject: RE: Presentation Last Tuesday Evening
Thank you for the invitation.  I only wish I had a few hundred OHAs that I
could speak to about this.  Sometimes I feel like the guy in the crow's nest
of the Titanic yelling "iceberg ahead," but I think the more people who are
given the facts about this mandate, the better our chances to avert the
urbanization of our town and others like it.  I am waiting to hear back from
our COAH attorney to see if there is a form letter that I can post on the
website for folks to send to the state reps.  If not, I will put something
together myself, along with an overview of the COAH mandate and who to
contact with our objections.  We have to awaken the sleeping giant while we
still have time.  Citizen apathy is Trenton's best ally in instituting these
policies.  Thanks again,
Gerry

From: donald duthie [mailto:donduthie@verizon.net]
Sent: Thu 10/16/2008 8:25 AM
To: Scharfenberger, Gerard
Cc: Laura Campbell; Vivian Breen; steve Miller
Subject: Presentation Last Tuesday Evening
Dear  Gerry,
We want to thank you for the clear and explanatory presentation you made
before our larger than normal gathering of the Oak Hill
Association people.   You had "standing room" only.  Sorry that time did not
not allow for you to remain for refreshments.   Randy had a line formed for
his book selling.
Don& Helen Duthie