[ back ]
RINGWOOD - Mayor takes public's side in Skylands Manor dispute
(by Teresa Edmond - Staff Writer - September 10, 2008)
RINGWOOD - In the conflict over access to Skylands Manor pitting area residents and the state against a private caterer, the mayor has said that he and the Borough Council are in the public’s corner.
The council hasn’t voted on a proclamation that Mayor Walter Davison read aloud at the Sept. 4 Borough Council meeting. Instead, the council said it would turn the proclamation into a letter that would get mailed out to state officials the week of Sept. 7, Councilwoman Linda Schaefer said.
The proclamation Mayor Davison read opposes a 10-year extension on the 20-year lease that Mansions Caterer Inc. requested from the state. The public and the Skylands Association fear if the request is granted, the caterer would ban public access to Skylands Manor and would continue to use it for private business purposes.
The Skylands Association is the organization that maintains Ringwood State Park’s New Jersey Botanical Gardens, where Skylands Manor is a historical centerpiece.
“It appears they (Skylands volunteers) are being shortchanged on the access to the facilities up there. That shouldn’t be even though the state is in contract with the caterer,” Davison said before reading the proclamation. “Before we support an extension, I think we should get the state and the caterer to cooperate with the New Jersey Botanical Gardens and the Skylands Association.”
The state held two public hearings on the contract negotiations. The first was held on Aug. 22 at Skylands Manor, and the second on Sept. 8 in Trenton.
At the Aug. 22 public hearing, some people demanded that because Mansions Caterer didn’t uphold some of the lease’s conditions, like opening a public restaurant, the contract should be null and void. Councilman Ted Taukus echoed this outlook at the council meeting.
“As much empathy as I have for the Skylands (Association), I have other problems with the contract itself, with the fact that they (the caterer) haven’t adhered to the terms,” he said.
Kelley Rohde, acting borough manager and borough clerk, said that the proclamation was written in response to a lot of Skylands Association volunteers – who are also borough residents – approaching her and Davison looking for support on this issue. This was especially important to the residents, Rohde said, because none of the council members showed up at the Aug. 22 Skylands Manor public hearing.
[ back ]
