Winding River Village, Brick, NJ (Photo: Daniel Nee)
Brick Township has taken possession of the what were once private streets in the Winding River Village senior citizen community.
Winding River, built in the mid-to-late 1970s, is located on Winding River Road off Herbertsville Road in the northern portion of the township. Township officials said an agreement to have the township take over the streets was worked out in 2012 between the administration of former mayor Stephen C. Acropolis and the board members of the development’s homeowners association.
Township Administrator Joanne Bergin said having the township take over the roads in the community would not affect the township’s budget at all, and it could help the police department tow vehicles parked illegally if needed.
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Resident Vic Fanelli, at a township council meeting on Tuesday, questioned whether taking over the roads would lead to higher costs for taxpayers.
“We are doing these services already, picking up the garbage and salting their roads,” explained Bergin. “It’s really not changing day to day operations at all.”
Under the agreement ratified by the council, Winding River will still plow its own streets. Kevin Starkey, the township attorney, said condominium associations can choose to have the township plow their streets or can be reimbursed at the township’s labor rate if a private contractor is used. The same used to apply to garbage pickup, but the township now generally utilizes its own Public Works crews for collections in condominium communities.
“It’s really a wash for the township,” Starkey said.
The township will now be responsible for road maintenance in Winding River, Bergin said, however the community was paved in recent years and will not be in need of repaving for many years to come.
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