Franklin Lakes September 11, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Special needs housing developer selected by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Borough Council has chosen a developer to build, maintain, and manage a special needs affordable housing project on the vacant borough-owned property at the corner of Colonial and McCoy roads. The council voted 3-1 at a recent special/work session to choose The Alpert Group, LLC and the Housing Development Corporation of Bergen County for the project rather than the BCUW/Madeline Partnership, comprised of The Mad- eline Corporation and the Bergen County United Way, sub- ject to the completion of an appropriate contract. Councilman Frank Pedone was not present at the meet- ing and Councilwoman Nathalie Lota recused herself from the discussion and vote because of a potential conflict of interest. Councilman Joseph Kelly voted with the majority. Councilwoman Paulette Ramsey voted against awarding the project to The Alpert Group. Ramsey explained that her vote was her personal opinion of what is best for Franklin Lakes. She said she realizes it is always good to have the council united and to have the total council behind a proj- ect, but she preferred the United Way project and that is why she voted “no.” Mayor Frank Bivona and all the members of the council emphasized that it was very difficult to choose between the two organizations that submitted bids on the project. “They are two very qualified candidates,” Bivona said. He pointed out that even the borough’s professional plan- ner advised the council that it had no bad choices in this matter. Councilman Thomas Lambrix agreed, saying, “Fortu- nately, we had two attractive proposals and that made the decision difficult. But, at the end of the day, this one gives me a level of comfort and that’s why I support it.” Councilman Charles Kahwaty also pointed out that there was no significant difference in the quality of the projects done by these two organizations in the past. He added, “It was a very close call.” “I want to thank the council for the tremendous amount of work you have done and the number of site visits you made,” Bivona said, referring to the visits the council made to the other projects that have been built by the two devel- opers. “This decision is based on a wealth of knowledge and (continued on page 22)