Will the Wheaton Property Ever Be Redeveloped?


The Wheaton property has been in disrepair for years, an eyesore sitting at the entrance to the City. The City owns the property as a result of Team Santiago’s ill advised settlement with GGI. In that settlement, Team Santiago forgave hundred of thousands of dollars of unpaid taxes. For reasons never explained the City looked the other way when taxes were not paid during Parent’s previous stint as Director of Revenue and Finance.

So the obvious questions are: What has Team Santiago done to clean up the property, and what is the “Team’s” plan for the future of this eyesore at Second and G streets? Same answer for both questions: Nothing.

Ms. Udalovas has stated over and over again that all redevelopment must go through the city’s redevelopment attorney. So who is that? None other than Doug Long’s law firm. The firm that has had and presently has ethics charges brought against them. Out of town attorneys and the Cumberland County Improvement Authority along with Don Ayres and Kim Warker Ayres are making the redevelopment decisions for the city. How has that been working out for the last twenty years that the Aryes team has been in charge of redevelopment? The citizens of Millville elected Team Santiago. Team Santiago should be looking into to all redevelopment opportunities and listening. The city needs businesses for jobs and ratables. So far businesses have been turned away (LKQ, Roguvati, Anthony DeSantis).

At the last meeting, Mr. Pepitone stated that Team Santiago is doing a disservice to the citizens of Millville by spending and not finding ways to increase the money coming into the city. He is correct but what is being done to fix that? How long are the citizens expecting to shoulder this tax burden with no new industries in sight and property values going down? The city financially cannot carry on this way. 



Comments

Anonymous said…
This is just so sad to read. This commission has done nothing to improve the city financially or even consider its blight. What surprises me, though, is what Pepitone said. He is part of the spending problem. He is the one that is pushing for 2 North High to become a court house. Is that spending beneficial?
December 16, 2019 at 5:17 PM
Anonymous said…
Tuesday's meeting will see an INCREASE of $90,000 to one single Law Firm. Interesting. I suppose they saved the citizens much more than the increase with their professionalism. Team Santiago will surely give us all the statistics before the vote. What were the other bids for these jobs? Were they bid?

The City is going to give a property to the CCIA (one dollar). The CCIA is going to rehab it and then try to rent it to private parties, directly competing with private people doing the same thing. Great to have the government take our money to use it to compete with us. Lovely concept. Interesting that their building was worth ONE MILLION DOLLARS and Millville's building is only worth one dollar. Wonder what it will be worth when they try to sell it back to the City???

So we save around $50,000 in trash collection contract, spend around ONE MILLION for a bunch of cans and get reduced items and amounts collected from the residents. That should really clean up the city and make the taxpayers happy. But hey the matching cans will look good on the side of the road.

Good thing we have transparency. Good thing we have informed, thoughtful Commissioners. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to make sense of these decisions that have been made for the spending of my money. Maybe I missed something???!
December 17, 2019 at 1:12 PM
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