Lot on Cooks Lane in Point Beach Sells for About 10% of Assessed Value

A Point Beach resident bought a lot on Cooks Lane for about 10 percent of its assessed value and about 12 percent of its appraised value in a municipal land auction conducted at Borough Hall on Thursday.

Glen Paesano, who lives on Parkway, bought the property at the auction for $31,000, which was $1,000 more than the only other bid.

However, the purchase of the property, across the street from the New Jersey Transit train station, is subject to approval by the mayor and council.

The 50 x 140 foot property is appraised at $250,000, assessed at $309,800 in a 2007 revaluation and zoned single-family residential.

Paesano said afterwards that he intends to knock down a small building on that lot, strip and pave it, plant grass on part of it, build a storage shed and use part of it as a parking space for one of his family's three vehicles.

"I can fit three cars in my driveway," he said, "but if we have company, there's nowhere to park. I would definitely be cleaning up that lot and making it presentable."

Just after the brief sale ended, Paesano found out from Borough Administrator Chris Riehl and borough Attorney William Hiering, who conducted the sale in the second floor council meeting room, that the sale is subject to approval by the mayor and council. Mayor Vincent Barrella only votes when there is a tie.

The municipal officials explained to Paesano that if the governing body believes his bid was too low, they can reject it through a majority vote.

"It's a little frustrating," Paesano told them, noting there was no minimum bid.

Bruce Fioretti, a Realtor and New Jersey Avenue resident in Point Beach and the only other bidder, bid $30,000 at the brief auction held on the second floor of the municipal building at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The sale still needs to be approved by a majority of the local governing body, which meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The mayor and council can accept or reject the bid and can also ask for the sale to be held again.

The land sale was advertised in two local newspapers and notices were faxed to all local realtors, Riehl said. The sale was also publicized in advance in

Riehl said in an email on Thursday afternoon, in response to questions, that this is the borough's second attempt at selling the lot which may have an environmental issue.

"We advertised and had a sale in June, I believe, and did not get any participants," Riehl wrote. "The property across the street has environmental issues, and the Borough determined that the contamination in the groundwater migrated from the site, and is continuing to investigate until the extent of the contamination is determined.

"We had a reval in 2007, and the property was valued at $309,800, but appraised lower. Not sure why," Riehl wrote, in response to a question about why the appraised value is lower than the assessed value.

Paesano said he does not think it likely that the town will receive higher bids since the lot is across from the public works property, which had been an oil company site and likely the source of the contamination.

The lot is also across from the New Jersey Transit train station, behind Jaeger Lumber, near a fire hydrant and it has large, underground pipes because it had been the site of the town's pumping station, he noted.

The notice to bidders stated: "There will be no minimum bid, but the borough reserves the right to reject any and all bids."

"A real estate broker or authorized representative providing a successful purchaser shall be paid a 4 percent commission upon closing of title as long as they are not the purchaser of the property subject to the provisions of NJSA 40A:12-13.1."

There is a water-pumping building on that lot, listed as block 106, lot 7.01.

To remove the building and equipment, a buyer would need a demolition permit, Riehl said, adding there is also a utility pole with power that would need to come down.