Mayor Jon Hornik Answers Your Questions

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik agreed to sit down with Patch and . So here they are, in no particular order.

Q. Why cant Marlboro support the arts and help us attain a theater for our town? East Brunswick supplied a pre-fab building for their community, Red Bank, Sayreville etc. all have theaters. Is is possible to to work with local organizations to renovate the Rec Center into a usable theater space?

A. Originally, there was an idea under my father's administration to use the space behind the Marlboro Library. I'm not sure what happened to that. I am open to all suggestions on improving our recreation and cultural facilities. While there is no present plan to construct a theater, we would be open to it should the public desire it.

I will tell you that our redevelopment plan on the property included a theater. So we were thinking about it, and perhaps when we get that property, that is something we could put there.

Q. Is it possible to have a ? It would help get people into town and patronizing businesses, help clear clutter and make a little money.

A. I had never heard of a town-wide yard sale, but the answer is we can absolutely take a look at it and if it makes sense we can absolutely do it. I'm all for it, we can take a look at it.

Q. Do you still want to dump all of the units in Morganville?

A. I never wanted to dump affordable housing anywhere in town. We are being forced by the and the state to provide our "fair share of affordable housing." We disagree with the number of our obligation, and we will continue to fight each and every development that is proposed that does not make sense to us and that will negatively impact the quality of life of our residents.

Q. When do you think cleaning up the Marlboro State Hospital property will start? Any other milestones with regards to the property you can share would be appreciated.

A. The original deadline was set for 2014, I will tell you that the Governor's office has gone a little silent on us since making that announcement. We have reached out to them several times, but have not heard back. I am still optimistic we will be able to get a deal structured and done so the residents of Marlboro and Monmouth County can enjoy the open space.

Q. Will the public be able to tour the grounds of the hospital before the buildings are town down?

A. I don't believe that in its present condition, it is safe enought o allow residents to walk freely around the property. 

I did have an idea, that for Halloween we would be able to drive people through and raise money for charity. I see how these haunted hayrides work, and the is that it has some paranormal or ghost activity. I think that would be a unique revenue opportunity for a town or a charity.

Q. At the intersection of Robertsville Road and Wyncrest, there is a stop sign on Robertsville Road, that is a number of feet before the intersection. Since there is a bush at the stop sign, if you stop there and then proceed to the actual corner and go through, you may get a ticket for passing the stop sign.  If there is a police car in a position that cannot see that you actually stopped at the stop sign, he thinks that you did not stop.  Can we move the stop sign up closer to the corner?

A. If there is brush that is overgown and blocking the sight triangle, we will address that immediately, I will send someone out immediately. Unfortunately, the way our government works, is that if you don't tell us something is wrong we don't know about it. We are very good at fixing things once the problem is identified, and this is a very good example of that.

Hornik sent someone to the intersection that day to see if the township needed to pull back brush or move the stop sign to the corner. For an update on the situation, contact the at 732-536-0200 x1200.

Q. Can there be a green arrow, for a left turn, at the intersection of Tennent Road and Route 520 – going east?  Sometimes it is impossible to make a left turn.

A. Route 520 is a county road, and any kind of alterations or additions to traffic lights has to be run through them and the Department of Transportation. These things are monitored, and we are constantly updating our submissions to the DOT to ask for signals as the town has matured in terms of population and traffic. 

Q. Several readers asked about specific road improvements, including Texas and Wooleytown Roads, and Reids Hill Road connecting to Pleasant Valley Road.

A. Every year we put together a program, and we carefully monitor our overall debt before we put that together because we need to keep debt low. We have a very low debt service ratio compared to our peers and compared to what is allowed by state law, which is a good financial place to be. 

On the actual repair side, every year we send out our Public Works Department to score roads. The worst roads get done first. Constantly, as I engage people around town, they say "." Typically, they aren't the worst roads. 

I encourage everybody who has a road problem to call in their specific concerns to our Public Works Department (732 536-0188), and ask to be put on the repairs list and have someone come out and score the road. 

Q. Why do I have 5 different garbage trucks coming into my development as early as 4:30 a.m. to pick up trash in my neighborhood? I spoke to someone in recycling who said they had a right to come. Since when? Aren't normal business hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.?

A. We don't provide public garbage removal, so this is all private engagement. There are noise ordinances in town which would be applicable in these situations. If it is coming in that early, I would need to check and see if the noise of the trucks violates our noise ordinance.

If you have a question or want to report a noise violation, residents can call the Marlboro Zoning Officer at (732) 536-0200 x1809.

Q. Are there any plans for the large parcel of land at the end of Stevenson Drive?

A. There are no present plans, although it has been discussed as making that area the "town center" in the past. We are working with our Green Team to come up with a conventional way to zone the property, to allow for it to be developed as a functional town center concept.

The new zoning method is called "form-based zoning" and gives the developers the freedom of the zoning laws to develop the type of shopping experience that residents want. Given the current economy, it is hard to find a retail partner with the town to have that developed properly.

Q. What is your view of the , which is threatening our complete Eco System?

A. I voted no on the Planning Board. I don't believe in that project, I have never believed in that project. The only reason it is before the Planning Board now is because we are under court order from the former administration, and We will be back in court with them shortly.

Q. Why does Marlboro continue to reject the implementation of a TNR (trap-neuter-return) program to reduce the population of feral/stray cats in town and use this proven method in lieu of trapping these cats (which many residents would like to help) and bringing them to the kill shelters?

A. Stray cats is a huge problem. I would be shocked if that was happening. We use the county holding pen, the county equivalent of the SPCA. There is a feline explosion problem in Monmouth County right now, as there is a deer explosion problem. I do not believe in euthanasia for animals, as my personal belief. I know that it is a health and safety issue to pick up these cats.

Marlboro as a town does not have a facility to house cats, or euthanize cats, so my guess would be that if a county or other level of government is euthanizing cats, it is because somebody, somewhere found this is the most cost effective way to deal with this problem. I don't agree with that, but I don't believe it to be true.