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RINGWOOD - Public access to Skylands Manor may be in danger
RINGWOOD - The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is being asked to consider whether to grant an extended 30-year lease to caterers operating out of Skylands Manor amidst concerns the public is losing access to the historic site.
The caterers and DEP are expected to have a face off this Friday over extending the Skylands Manor lease from 20 years. The public and organizations fear that if the Montclair-based Mansion Caterers Inc. gets its way, that would green light the business to restrict the public’s access to Skylands Manor.
"We want to see guaranteed access to the manor house for the public good," said Tom Grissom, president of the Skylands Association.
Robert Frungillo, president of Mansion Caterers, could not be reached for comment as of press time.
The public meeting will be held 3 p.m. this Friday, Aug. 22 at Skylands Manor, located in the New Jersey Botanical Gardens on Sloatsburg Road.
This public hearing will be first of two on renegotiations for the lease between Mansion Caterers and the DEP. The second will take place on Sept. 8 in Trenton.
When the DEP and Mansion Caterers signed the original lease in 2004, Mansion Caterers was expected to do more than run a catering facility at Skylands Manor. According to the DEP-issued public hearing notice, the lease also said that the business was to revamp and operate Skylands Manor as a bed and breakfast and conference center and operate the on-site chapel for ceremonies.
In exchange for the lease, the state gets $100,000 per year plus a percentage of total earnings from Skylands Manor’s usage. The state also gets the benefit of in-kind services that the caterers would provide, like extensive renovations, improvements and maintenance, according to the public hearing notice.
According to the notice, Mansion Caterers requested that since it “has invested approximately $2 million in renovations to the catering facility and the bed and breakfast/conference center … in Skylands Manor, Mansion Caterers has requested a longer term lease.”
Grissom said that Mansion Caterers has not fulfilled its end of the lease, especially when it comes to the requirement that it establish an on-site public restaurant.
He fears that the lease may lead to prohibiting members of the public from Skylands Manor unless they are clients of the caterer.
But the public may not be the only one that could lose out if the caterers have their way. According to Ringwood Garden Club member Marilyn Gardullo, organizations like hers, which look to the Skylands Manor as a venue for events, could lose out too. She said that Mansion Caterers has already reduced the public’s access to the manor, going from every Sunday to one Sunday per month.
"Ringwood Garden Club members donate thousands of hours of volunteer time working at Holiday Open House, in the greenhouses, in the office and library, and in the gardens," she said. "(We) have great concern regarding the future rights of public access to the historical building."
The DEP’s Division of Parks and Forestry had a public bid for catering businesses for Skylands Manor. Mansion Caterers was the only bidder that responded. Grissom said that hiring the business, though it was the only bidder, was a bad idea on the DEP’s part.
“Any public bid could be neighed and rebid,” he said.
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