BELMAR — The mayor and council approved an ordinance in a 4-1 vote following a public hearing at Tuesday night’s council meeting, permitting Circle of Friends-HYDAS Corporation [COF] to lease out the concession space at Taylor Pavilion for the remainder of the summer season at a nominal rate of $1.
According to the approved ordinance, the space will be leased through Sept. 15.
Circle of Friends is a nonprofit that supports the needs of local special-needs adults that will run the concession area selling food products, beverages and dessert items to raise funds for the group’s charitable activities. The concession does not currently have an opening date scheduled.
The proposed leasing agreement previously had some pushback from residents since it was initially presented to council during its April 25 meeting, when former mayor Matt Doherty, on behalf of the organization, requested that the unoccupied space be awarded to COF since the lease had already gone out for two unsuccessful bids.
The ordinance was introduced at the council meeting on June 13, when many residents voiced concerns that it had not been readily apparent that the space was out for bid, as well as discussion of a second proposal that had been issued after the COF’s presentation.
Mayor Gerald Buccafusco confirmed that this second proposal had been offered by Robin Palendrano in conjunction with her restaurant, Robin’s Nest, and had later been supplemented to include similar charitable causes with another 501[C][3] organization created by her business partner, Antoinette Raucci, who had addressed council at the previous meeting. This second proposal offered a rental bid of $4,000 a month for five months.
These concerns were first addressed at Tuesday night’s council meeting by Councilwoman Caitlin Donovan, who brought up the issue and called it the “elephant in the room” before casting the first affirmative vote.
“That five months is no longer on the table here, we’re really looking at a couple of weeks, so the amount in total is dramatically less,” Councilwoman Donovan said.
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