Judge blocks public referendum on Camp Sussex purchase

Vernon — A judge has invalidated an ordinance which would have gone before Vernon voters this November on the purchase of the former Camp Sussex property.

In a decision filed on Monday, Superior Court Judge Thomas Weisenbeck declared the proposed ordinance was too restrictive on future township councils by requiring all acquisitions using open space and preservation funds in Vernon to be decided by a public vote.

Former Mayor Sally Rinker and fellow town residents Richard Gerry, Michael Rubin, Mary Ellen Vichiconti and John Alan Zurewich had formed a committee of petitioners to get the proposal to purchase Camp Sussex on the ballot this November. The committee picked up the required amount of signatures and the petition was certified.

The Vernon Township Council voted to challenge the ordinance in court. Township attorney Kevin Kelly filed the complaint and order to show cause on behalf of the town.

In addition to blocking the use of Vernon open space funds for the purchase of camp Sussex (known as section 1), the ordinance would have required a public vote on all future use of open space funds for property acquisitions (section 2).

In his ruling, Weisenbeck wrote that the ordinance "is an impermissible restraint on legislative powers." While Weisenbeck stated in his ruling that he "initially viewed" the state statute on restraining future councils only in relation to the part of the ordinance which requires a public vote on all future purchases, he wrote "upon further reflections it finds no basis to differentiate between sections 1 and 2."

Weisenbeck found that the ordinance "would be a restraint on the future exercise of power, because the township would be perpetually unable either to use the fund or purchase Camp Sussex."

Weisenbeck had rejected all of Kelly's other arguments against the legality of the ordinance.

The purchase of the former 88-acre Camp Sussex property on Glenwood Road would be funded through the town's Open Space, Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Fund. According to court documents, there was $893,007 left in the fund as of Oct. 31, 2009. The town had collected $1.29 million which was used to purchase 131 acres of open space and 787 acres of farmland preservation.

Those properties did not include Camp Sussex, which Rinker has said could cause the open space fund to be wiped out. Rinker said the rehabilitation costs plus the purchase price could cost more than the amount in the fund.

Rinker, who defended the ordinance in court on behalf of the petitioners, could not be reached for comment for this article.

The town has stopped collecting money for the fund since 2011, when the new Township Council in the new form of government voted to delete the 2000 ordinance which established the funding for the fund and authorized the establishment of a Farmland and Open Space Preservation Advisory Committee to identify properties for inclusion into the open space purchasing fund.

Instead, the council directed that no open space committee would be established. The Township Council put itself in charge of handling all open space transactions, according to court documents.

In June of this year, the Township Council voted to authorize Vernon Township Mayor Victor Marotta to negotiate with the owners of Camp Sussex on a purchase price. The property is owned by Empire TFI Jersey Holdings, a subsidiary of Empire Tax Fund.

After a fire broke out on the camp's property on Sept. 7, which police labeled suspicious, Empire Tax Fund manager Lowen Hankin declined to discuss details about the company's business arrangment or payment of taxes on the property.

According to county records, Empire Tax Fund purchased the tax certificates on the Camp Sussex property for unpaid municipal liens in 2009 for $102,890.06. Marotta said the company has purchased the tax certificates for the property every year since until it ultimated foreclosed on the property this year.

Multiple Open Public Records Act requests to Vernon Township for records of the taxes paid on the Camp Sussex property that have been sent by the Advertiser-News to town clerk Lauren Kirkman, have so far been rejected by Kirkman and town attorney Kevin Kelly.

Messages left with tax collector Antoinette Izzo for the tax records have either not been returned or been forwarded to Marotta. Marotta said that Empire Tax Fund has not paid the town any taxes directly but has purchased the tax certificates which reimburse the town for taxes owed. Marotta said the company currently owes taxes for one quarter this year. As of Wednesday, the amount of taxes paid on the property since 2009 had not yet been disclosed.

Marotta responded to the court decision on Tuesday by saying "I want to paraphrase a comment made by Judge Weisenbeck at the hearing this past Friday in Morristown. The judge suggested to the defendants when you've come to court and you get what you've come for, it's best to be quiet."

Marotta said he will discuss with the council on how to proceed further with negotiations for the Camp Sussex property. He told the property's owners that he was suspending negotiations until the outcome of the court case.

"We will make them public," he said.

The Township Council next meets on Thursday, Oct. 16. The council will not meet the usual second Monday of October in observance of Columbus Day.