'Divisiveness' Must End, Says Holmdel Committee Race Winner

HOLMDEL, NJ — Holmdel residents overwhelmingly voted for Rocco Impreveduto to fill the seat that will be left open by committeeman Tom Critelli in January.

The Republican candidate won over Rahul Diddi with 62.14 percent of the votes.

As he looks ahead, Impreveduto said he hopes to build bridges within the township committee.

"There's a lot of work we're gonna have to do to frankly build some teamwork within the Township Committee," he told Patch. "It's no secret there's a great deal of division there."

Back in August, the Township Committee came to a standstill over approving a bond ordinance for safety road improvements, with two members demanding funds to be added for a turf field.

They finally passed the ordinance after agreeing that a more specific plan for a possible turf field would need to be drafted before being considered.

"I'd like the divisiveness to end, the vitriol and all those kinds of things that have happened over the past couple of years," Impreveduto also said.

The project for a dementia center in Potters Farm has been another divisive issue. And one Impreveduto was vocal about throughout his campaign — stating that the property was not the "appropriate place" for the development and questioning whether there was any effort from the township committee to purchase the property.

The project is currently being evaluated by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, with the next hearing scheduled for Dec. 1.

It caused some controversy when the Township Committee tried to pass an agreement stating that the developer would pay a financial contribution of $95,000 annually to the township if in the future they received land use approvals from the zoning board.

READ MORE: Plans For Holmdel's Potters Farm Seek To Reinvent Dementia Care

"We have to refocus ourselves on open space," Impreveduto said. "Potter's farm is an example of a really big miss on open space. I believe in finding opportunities to be proactive and to preserve open space whenever possible. And I don't see that behavior here."

In terms of what specific path should be taken in this direction, he said he first needs to get situated and "look under the hood."

"Look at whatever legal actions can be taken, within reason, to find an alternative path," he said. "I know there are paths to explore. I don't know what the township is capable of at this point specifically and so I don't want to get into hypotheticals."

One other major issue of Impreveduto's campaign was easing the tax burden on residents. One way to do that, he proposed, would be to give some of the PILOT revenues back to taxpayers in the form of a check.

He also proposed taking advantage of a recently passed state bill, allowing municipalities to offer residents a reward card that they can use to shop locally and save on their property tax bill.

"I would like to get that program enacted where we get a property tax credit for local purchases. I don't see any reason why we don't do that, " he said.

Impreveduto said it was also crucial to ensure the township is supporting the school district and fully covering the security cost for kids.

"First and foremost I need to look at my partners up there and see what we feel like we can accomplish together. I have to get an understanding on what we agree on and what we don't," he said. " If we can build some cohesion amongst the township committees, that the people of Holmdel know that we're working for them and that we've got their best interest at heart — it's not about politics of personal vendettas — that alone I think would probably be a step forward, in addition to whatever kind of policies we can enact."