'You Have Been Duped,' Mayor Tells Supporters of Property Purchase for Fields

Following nearly 90 minutes of comments in favor of the resolution calling for the township council request a selling price for the former Scientific Glass property, the council members passed the resolution.

Parents of youth soccer team players and other residents had packed the meeting to support buying the property to turn it into soccer fields. They testified that Bloomfield needed a new soccer field, saying most of the township’s fields are in disrepair and ruined by goose droppings.

Mayor Raymond McCarthy wasn’t convinced there was a point to the action or impressed by the comments. 

“You have been duped,” McCarthy said before the council vote. “You want to talk about goose poop? You’ve been given a load of goose poop.”

McCarthy argued that asking the current property owners for a selling price was pointless. The mayor, a professional real estate appraiser, said the owners could ask for a price as high as $15 million for the property and that he wasn’t willing to ask taxpayers to pay that bill. He also said council members had previous voted against the interest of the property owners. He accused Councilman Nicholas Joanow of grandstanding for his efforts in promoting the resolution.

“You don’t even know if the developer is willing to talk to us,” McCarthy said. “This is pie in the sky. It has nothing to do with reality.”

In a tense exchange, Joanow bristled at the mayor’s characterization of the resolution.

“The process has to start somewhere,” Joanow countered. He said that the property had been sold without the knowledge of the council and said the government missed an opportunity to buy it at that time.

The owners of the scientific glass property, located off Broad Street opposite Glen Ridge Parkway, reportedly plan to build 104 townhouses on the lot. Environmental advocates at the meeting said the property is on a flood plain and would cause run-off flooding from the nearby Third River.

Other residents worried that the development would increase congestion for nearby roads, particularly Broad Street. In addition, several commenters worried that the apartments would attract families and further crowd district schools.

Officials did not address the specifics of the plans for the townhouses during the meeting.