91 Hendrickson Avenue, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
Brick Township is soliciting bids from attorneys to serve as the township’s prosecutor for matters of code enforcement, causing one high-profile case to be delayed for two more weeks.
Brick officials hired a prosecutor to handle code enforcement and land use issues in 2016 in order to separate them from traditional traffic and criminal cases in municipal court, so they could be handled by a subject-matter expert. In 2018, the council appointed Michael R. Burns of the firm Grace Marmero and Associates, located in Woodbury, to fill the position. Burns, however, is moving to a new firm that does not handle such types of cases, said Township Attorney Kevin Starkey.
“We went out to re-bid for a code enforcement prosecutor,” said Starkey. “Hopefully we’ll get an appointment in when the bids are due, either the next meeting or the one after that.”
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The change will come as Brick officials pursue complaint against developer David Gluck, the owner of 91 Hendrickson Avenue, who is accused of overcrowding the single-family home and using it as a dormitory. While the home is now empty, neighbors reported as many as 19 men living there last year, and the township issued summonses after conducting an investigation. Fines could add up to thousands of dollars, in theory, but numerous court appearances have been adjourned after either Gluck or the prosecutor were not ready to proceed.
In the latest such hearing, on Feb. 22, the case was adjourned until March 14.
At the Feb. 22 hearing, Burns requested the continuance, telling Municipal Court Judge Joseph Grisanti that he was leaving the position and a new attorney would require time to prepare a case. Burns’ former firm will continue handling cases as a “holdover” appointment until the bidding process is complete.
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