Morristown downtown ‘ripe for transformation,’ despite pandemic, mayor tells council

The pandemic has proved no match for Morristown developers, who broke ground on the massive M Station office redevelopment and pushed other projects forward in 2020.

More — much more– may be coming to the downtown in the New Year.

In his state-of-the-town message, Mayor Tim Dougherty on Tuesday appeared to indicate a thaw in relations with Dave Brown, owner of vacant law offices on Washington Street that the town threatened with condemnation last fall.

Brown also owns a swath of vacant storefronts–including the recently shuttered Century 21 department store–on North Park Place that front the historic Morristown Green.

“In the coming year we … look forward to working with the property owner on the redevelopment of the Schenk Price building at 10 Washington St., along with initiating a process on the developer’s other properties on North Park Place,” Dougherty said during the town council’s virtual reorganization.

“This area, anchored by the now vacant Century 21 building, is ripe for transformation and we want to be prepared to work with the owner to take advantage of the next opportunity,” the mayor said.

Last month the planning board unanimously recommended that the council designate the former law offices at the corner of Washington and Bank streets for redevelopment. Erected in the 19th century, the structures have been vacant for a decade.

Dougherty began his talk with a moment of silence for COVID-19 victims.  He encouraged residents to pre-register for COVID vaccinations.

Buoyed by developer interest and small business openings that he views as signs of Morristown’s continuing desirability, Dougherty expressed optimism for the future. But residents should anticipate “short- term sacrifices for long-term stability.”

“Be prepared that it may come with some tough decisions in the near future,” he cautioned.

Like many businesses grappling with the pandemic, “the town has incurred additional expenses and experienced a significant loss of revenues which has not abated.”

Dougherty said a “healthy surplus” would help maintain critical services and blunt the impact on taxpayers. “Built and saved for a rainy day, (it) prepared us for the torrential downpour we now find ourselves in,” he said.

The mayor chronicled pandemic events that started with cancellation of the St. Patrick’s parade last March. Businesses closed. Restaurants served on sidewalks and streets. The community spearheaded fund- and food drives. Nearly $1 million was raised to help downtown establishments. Town hall distributed 8,000 masks.

“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have,” Dougherty said, quoting reggae icon Bob Marley. “And we proved that we are Morristown Strong.”

He promised some bright spots in coming months.

A park may open on Speedwell Avenue near the Modera apartments in late spring. Improvements to Burnham Park are being planned. After years of false starts, Pioneer Park at Headquarters Plaza is getting a facelift. Next door, a David Burke restaurant and Top Golf suite are coming to the 1776 building.

“Morristown remains a desired destination to live, work, shop and visit. We have a supportive community and a shared goal of vibrant neighborhoods and a successful downtown with much to offer,” Dougherty said.

“We are preparing for whatever challenges may come our way in 2021, but our main plan is to continue to do whatever is necessary to help our businesses and residents achieve success,” he said.

Dougherty has not announced if he will seek a fourth term this year.

IN OTHER BUSINESS…

The council renamed Stefan Armington as its president and Toshiba Foster as vice president on Tuesday.

Council liaison assignments are unchanged: Armington, planning board; Foster, Morristown Parking Authority; Robert Iannaccone, the Morristown Partnership; David Silva, Morristown Housing Authority; Tawanna Cotten, environmental commission; Sandi Mayer, shade tree commission; and Michael Elms, the Morris County Community Development Revenue Sharing (CDRS) Advisory Committee.

This is an election year for Foster, Elms and Silva.

The council reappointed Scott Wild to a four-year term on the zoning board. Alternate member Tom Ferrara was promoted to a full four-year seat.

Anthony Murphy got a two-year appointment as first alternate, and Oliver Starnes was named second alternate, to serve the last year of Ferrara’s alternate term.

Additionally, former zoning board chairman Cary Lloyd was appointed to a five-year term as a commissioner of the Morristown Parking Authority, edging out Anthony Gervasio.

Nohemy Zabala was a unanimous pick for an unexpired four-year term on the Morristown Housing Authority, even though council members last month questioned her eligibility based on her residency in Homeless Solutions housing.

Without discussion, the council also approved hires of consultants and service providers recommended by the mayor’s office.

TEXT OF MAYOR TIM DOUGHERTY’S 2021 REORGANIZATION SPEECH

Good evening.

Before I begin recapping the year and looking into this new one, I’d like to take a moment of silence to acknowledge the lives that have been lost to COVID-19.

Thank you.

The year 2020 began in earnest and looked like another prosperous year for Morristown. As we rang in the new year watching fireworks at First Night Morris and enjoyed meals at our restaurants and performances at MPAC, we expected the new year to be exciting and eventful. And, 2020 proved to be a year like no other. No one could have predicted the year of change that awaited us. It became a year of new challenges that brought unanticipated change, mental, physical and emotional challenges and, for many, financial strain, and immense loss.

As the seriousness of the situation became clear for us in March of last year, our Administration led the county and state in taking difficult but necessary steps to curb the initial spread of this deadly disease. One of the most painful initial decisions was the cancellation of the beloved St Patricks’ Day parade, a major event in the hearts of many Morristownians like myself who look forward to sharing in the pride of this Irish tradition that also brings economic benefit to our many downtown businesses. Nonetheless, that decision proved to be the right one, as were the many tough decisions that quickly followed. The temporary shutdown of our local spaces helped to curb transmission in our community. And I want to thank our residents for their support and cooperation during those challenging times. Without your compliance, the spread of this disease could have been much worse.

Bob Marley said, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” And we proved that we are Morristown Strong.

In the midst of one of the most trying periods in our lifetimes, Morristown as a community came together to support one another. We saw droves of volunteers donate gift cards to the Serve It Forward program this past spring that supplied over $170,000 in nourishment to our frontline workers at Morristown Medical Center while providing much needed early financial support to our local businesses. As the pandemic continued to unfold in April, our Administration delivered over 8,000 masks to residents throughout our community, at the same time that many community volunteers worked to donate fabric and sew reusable masks for their neighbors. Multiple food drives were hosted at Town Hall and other locations, while food distributions to our hardest hit residents began and continue today. Our police and fire personnel showed our community cares about Morristown Medical Center workers with regular caravans of support. And we brought joy to our children with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus visiting neighborhoods with the Morristown Fire Bureau. Our Recreation division partnered with the Morristown Partnership to host a downtown scavenger hunt for Halloween. And our seniors enjoyed their holiday meals delivered in lieu of our annual community celebration. We’ve been able to adapt in different ways that honor social distancing but continue to bring services and support to all segments of our population.

And our community continues to support one another. Our sense of community and mutual support is what makes being a Morristownian so heartwarming. That support continues with Adopt-A-Business, a program launched in November to help businesses through the winter months that recently surpassed $100,000 of funds collected. Together with the Morristown Partnership’s rental assistance program, our community came together to provide almost a million dollars of support to our local businesses to help them endure the financial challenges of these difficult times. I’m sure our many small business owners feel the love from our residents and know that we care and want to see them survive.

As spring moved into summer, the Town worked with our downtown businesses to expand outdoor dining and waived fees to allow our restaurants to maximize their limited footprints and continue to serve patrons safely. We worked with NJDOT to allow for on-street expanded dining which proved to be a lifeline for many businesses throughout our downtown. We worked with the Parking Authority to allow restaurants and fitness businesses to utilize their facilities for outdoor services. We hosted informational webinars for small business owners to learn about the PPP loan and other programs offered to provide financial support in the midst of the pandemic. We even loaned our limited number of barriers, at no cost, to businesses to support their efforts. Our Administration has done as much as we can to support our small businesses throughout this difficult period and will continue to work with them to ensure they have every opportunity to endure and thrive. And while a few of our most struggling businesses were not able to survive, other businesses, like Clean Juice and Lokl Café on South Street, Zero to 180 on Dehart, and the recently relocated and expanded Guerrieros on South Street, have continued to open and thrive indicating that Morristown is still a desirable destination. Other small businesses are expected to open in the near future including Hummus Republic and Elysium Spa on South Street and the new locations for Midtown Wine Merchants and Macho Nacho on Speedwell Avenue. We are excited for them in the new year.

The most significant project to gain approval in 2020 was the M Station project on Morris Street. This project is the culmination of 2 years of work from our planning
and redevelopment team. Once complete, M Station is anticipated to bring approximately 1,400 new jobs and $83 million in economic activity into our Town, in addition to much needed revenue to directly support municipal operations. Furthermore, the development includes several public improvements that will benefit our community and region. We are excited to welcome future tenant Deloitte to the Morristown business community. The first phase of this project is already under construction and is expected to be completed in 2022.

In the coming year we also look forward to working with the property owner on the redevelopment of the Schenk Price building at 10 Washington Street, along with initiating a process on the developer’s other properties on North Park Place. This area, anchored by the now vacant Century 21 building, is ripe for transformation and we want to be prepared to work with the owner to take advantage of the next opportunity.

Nearby, I am happy to share that the Pioneer’s Plaza facelift is close to completion and will feature all new hard and softscape areas to be enjoyed by the public. This project will serve to provide a modern connection between Headquarters Plaza, the Green and the adjacent retail corridor on Speedwell Avenue. It is a welcomed improvement that I expect will be enjoyed by many in the near future. Adjacent to this space is the future 1776 by David Burke, the newest restaurant from the famed chef that will feature the Top Golf Swing Suite. This venue, expected to open later this year, is another exciting addition to our downtown restaurant and entertainment district.

Another open space project that will be underway shortly is the construction of the open space at Speedwell Redevelopment area. This compact park, adjacent to Modera 44 and 55 just off of Speedwell Avenue and funded jointly by the Town and developer, is a well-designed open space with a variety of passive and active amenities that will be adored by neighbors near and far. We look forward to a ribbon cutting in the late spring.

We also kicked off the Burnham Park Master Planning process this past fall with a series of public input meetings at the park. We are excited to complete this process in the coming months that will provide the blueprint for new improvement to this rare gem of our community.

Lastly, one of the most talked about neighborhood projects last year was the hydro- raking at Foote’s Pond. This project, completed in the fall, restores the water depth allowing for additional wildlife habitat and improved views of the natural landscape. This beautiful pond improvement adds to the trail improvements from 2019 and the additional open space acquired by the Town from the Loyola retreat property. We’re as excited about the results as the many residents who enjoy this park every day. And a special thank you to the Friends of Foote’s Pond Wood for their continued advocacy and work to improve this community asset.

Unfortunately, though we are all excited for the continued distribution of the vaccine, the public health emergency continues to impede everyone’s ability to return to normal for now. And the Town’s finances continue to be impacted as well. While the federal government supplied some forms of financial assistance to local businesses and organizations who have lost revenue due to the impact of COVID, local governments received limited financial support from CARES Act funding that reimbursed the Town for only a portion of our direct expenses related to protecting the public and our employees from the virus.

Unfortunately, like many small businesses, the Town has incurred additional expenses and experienced a significant loss of revenues which has not abated. However, my Administration believes it is important to minimize any additional burden on our taxpayers during an already trying time, which is achievable only because of multiple years of sound fiscal management. The stability of our finances is a testament to the leadership of our Administration and their tireless efforts to keep our finances in good order. And our healthy surplus, that has been built and saved for a rainy day, prepared us for the torrential downpour we now find ourselves in. As we continue to weather this storm and look towards more sunny days in the future, that continuity will be important to protect the residents and businesses in our Town.

We remain committed to doing everything in our power to support our residents and businesses as we transition through what I hope are the final stages of this pandemic. We want to make sure that we can continue to provide critical services to our residents and make improvements to our infrastructure that will encourage continued investment in our community so that we share in continued prosperity into the future. But we must keep in mind that our long-term financial health will come with balanced decision making and mitigative measures that will trade short- term sacrifices for long-term stability. Be prepared that it may come with some tough decisions in the near future. But rest assured that every policy decision will be with the betterment and long-term benefit of our residents in mind.

I am optimistic for our future. Morristown remains a desired destination to live, work, shop and visit. We have a supportive community and a shared goal of vibrant neighborhoods and a successful downtown with much to offer. We are preparing for whatever challenges may come our way in 2021 but our main plan is to continue to do whatever is necessary to help our businesses and residents achieve success. As President John F. Kennedy once said, “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”

Thank you and have a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year!

And remember to Be Safe and Wear a Mask.