Chiropractor in Holmdel Village, NJ

HOLMDEL - A $12,000-per-month fully enclosed dementia care village right off the Garden State Parkway at exit 114 was approved by the zoning board in a 5-2 vote Wednesday night, marking the end of an application that began more than a year ago and divided neighbors against each other.

The village will be built by the elder care nonprofit United Methodist Communities, not to be confused with the church.

The project was bought by the nonprofit for $5.5 million from a previous developer that dropped plans for a neighborhood with an affordable housing component. The land was known as The William Potter Homestead or Potter’s farm, which closed in 2020, after the Potter’s family, who had owned the land since 1920, moved to Upper Freehold.

According to chair of the zoning board Ralph Blumenthal, William Potter III, who had given statements to the board in favor of developing the farm into a dementia village, died two weeks ago.

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The village, modeled after the urban dementia village in the Netherlands called Hogeweyk, will include 11 one-story residential buildings, a pair of two-story residential buildings, a two-story administrative building and a recreation center. The entire village will be enclosed by a secure perimeter. A grocery store, restaurant and theater are planned to open with the site to mimic normalcy for its residents with dementia. A total of 105 beds could be available, with 10% being reserved for residents on Medicaid, which would help fulfill future affordable housing quotas for Holmdel.

Cindy Jacques, vice president of housing and community initiatives with the United Methodist Communities, said in April that there will be a staffing ratio of about one staff member for every eight residents. She said at night there will be four caregivers and two floaters for the four neighborhoods. A registered nurse and a security person will also be on site.

The original design would have had only one way in and out of the village, but after substantial revisions, the plan would include seven emergency gates in addition to the main entrance. Keys to the gates will be housed with the township’s various emergency response teams.

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Opposition to the plan questioned whether the plan should be built on the land it is located on.

Kevin Asadi, an attorney hired by certain residents in the adjacent County Woods neighborhood, said, “This project belongs in the Route 35 overlay district not in a rural R40-B zone.”

The opposition:Neighbors fear dementia care village could erase history, quiet

The Route 35 overlay district is Holmdel’s commercial district, where a three-story Brightview Senior Living Facility was approved in February. Asadi argued that the R40-B zone is for residential development that mimics the existing neighboring houses and not a dementia village.

Asadi also brought Joelle Winter, an administrator at a Cherry Hill-based dementia facility called Arden Court, in July. Winter said staffing for the 54 beds is difficult. In a three-month period, she said her facility received 234 job applications and interviewed 21 candidates who showed up. Of the 21, she only hired four who were qualified.

“I have staffing challenges,” she said. “That happens a lot since COVID and even before.”

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Other neighbors have spoken in favor of the dementia village’s construction.

Stephen Grywalski, who lives a few houses from the proposed property, said, “There’s no longer an option to save the farm. The Potter family sold the property a couple years ago and I’m concerned that if it’s not approved, the current owner will then be forced to sell and there’s many examples all around of what could happen. … There’s a need for housing and care of these people with dementia throughout the world. We should be honored to call this groundbreaking, state-of-the-art community our neighbor.”

Before a vote, board members gave statements explaining their reasoning.

Board members Valerie Avrin-Marchiano said the application was one of the hardest and, while many neighbors agreed with the application, others did not.

She said there are seven other assisted living facilities in Holmdel and the design of this property looks like army barracks. She ultimately voted against it.

The other board member to vote against the proposal was Irfan Lateef, who said with the cost of living increasing and the economy possibly going into a recession, he was afraid the township would be “saddled with a property that cannot be possibly used in (any) other suitable fashion.”

He said the proposal would change the bucolic atmosphere of that neighborhood. “I don’t think by putting (that) large facility there, we can mitigate this impact. It alters the character of the township.”

Board member Jason Buerkle said he moved to Holmdel because of the rural nature of the township, but said he believes property owners have a right to develop their land.

Board member Francine Campis said she would like to see the farm preserved “but honestly that ship sailed long ago.” She said she feared that if the board denied that application, another owner could propose another project that becomes more controversial.

Blumenthal, the board chair, said Holmdel’s population is aging. He said he was “very intrigued” by the proposal because the facility would feel less like a hospital.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.

HOLMDEL, NJ: At a recent public Holmdel Board of Education Meeting, Village Elementary School Principal Art Howard was officially promoted to the role of Assistant Superintendent, of the Holmdel School District. He will begin his new role at the end of September 2022, when the new principal transitions. Mr. Howard has been working for the Holmdel School District for the past 17 years, and this will be his 28th year working in education. Last school year, Howard was appointed as the interim superintendent during a transition phase. TAPinto published a feature article about Mr. Howard in February 2022, where readers were able to learn more about his interesting professional and personal life: Holmdel Interim Superintendent Art Howard: Paying it Forward, Living Happiest Chapter Thus Far

TAPinto briefly interviewed Mr. Howard regarding his new transition from Principal of Village Elementary School to Assistant Superintendent of the entire school district:

TAPinto: Congratulations Mr. Howard on your promotion to Assistant Superintendent. It is said that the only constant in life is change. Looking back on recent years would you have expected such interesting turns and new opportunities on you career path?

Mr. Howard: If you had asked me 17 years ago (when I started at the middle school) if I could see myself serving in Holmdel as the Interim Superintendent or being appointed to the position of Assistant Superintendent, I would have shook my head and chuckled at the prospect. But as we all know, life is a funny thing - and when you are lucky enough to be presented with great opportunities like I have been, you can't let them pass you by or take them for granted. In my professional career, I have been very fortunate in being surrounded by such great people - talented teachers, dedicated administrators and community members, that have all played a part in shaping me into the educator I am today. So although I would have never guessed life's twists and turns would have brought me here - I am grateful and thankful I have arrived.

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TAPinto: Would you share your perspective on the future of K-12 education? What's the next big thing in education?

I once read somewhere that a lesson could always be learned from misfortune. I believe the tragic misfortune of the pandemic taught the field of education many hard lessons, including where its future should be directed. From my perspective, the pandemic showed us that human connections and interactions are at the heart of education. For as wonderful as the digital learning platforms and technological advancement that occurred during the pandemic were, the understanding of the importance of authentic connections between students and teachers trumped it all. To me that's where the future of education lies, a greater emphasis on mental health issues and addressing the needs of the whole child. Helping students develop interpersonal and social-emotional skills, such as emotional intelligence, empathy, cooperation, anger management, distress tolerance, and decreasing anxiety.

TAPinto: And of course - How’s the summer for you and your family? Any insight or tips on what you strive for in a work and life balance that may help others navigate busy lives?

Although this summer has been a busy one, I can still honestly say that it still has been good. We enrolled our daughter into day camp, so she's been active all summer, experiencing a variety of different things like museums, amusement parks, and zoos. My wife, like me, works all year round - but we still have managed to take breaks to spend time with friends and family.

Even though trying to balance work and personal life can be challenging, it is essential not only for our emotional and mental well-being, but also for our physical health too. This is especially true if you have a demanding profession, where the desire to succeed pushes you to set aside your own well-being. I am sure at one point or another, we have all fallen victim to this very thing. But what I've come to realize is that prioritizing your health first and foremost will make you not only a better employee, but also a better person. Here are three simple tips that I have come to rely on and have often shared with my friends and family. The first one, I already mentioned. It is always important to prioritize your health first and foremost. Prioritizing your health doesn’t have to consist of extravagant or extreme activities, you can do something simple like exercise or meditate. Secondly, don't be afraid to unplug, turn off the phone, shut down answering emails - read a book or watch a funny movie. Disconnecting briefly from the outside world helps us to recover from stress and allows us to recharge. Finally, while work is important, it is essential to always make time for your family and loved ones. No matter how hectic your work schedule or responsibilities might be, you are the one who ultimately has control of how you spend your time and your life. The time we have on this globe is finite, and the one thing that we can't get back once missed is time.

TAPinto: Thank you Mr. Howard. Congratulations again and for any reader who has not seen the previous article about Mr. Howard, you will love this: Holmdel Interim Superintendent Art Howard: Paying it Forward, Living Happiest Chapter Thus Far

HOLMDEL - The Enclave, a proposed dementia village by the health care nonprofit United Methodist Communities, returned to the zoning board Wednesday night with changes to its proposed development on Potter’s Farm off exit 114 on the Garden State Parkway.

The proposed development kicked up resistance from Middletown and certain residents in the Country Woods neighborhood located behind Potter’s Farm. Middletown hired Brian R. Clancy to oppose the development. And the residents in Country Woods formed their own nonprofit called the Preservation of Potter’s Farm and hired lawyer Kevin Asadi to oppose the development as well.

Wednesday night’s hearing served partly to address previous concerns brought by the board and residents and partly to summarize previous hearings for the new board members who had been appointed to the zoning board in January.

The development could house up to 105 dementia patients, with 11 one-story buildings divided into three neighborhoods and a pair of two-story buildings. On site is a grocery store, a restaurant and a theater. According to Larry Carlson, president of United Methodist Communities, the goal is to create a safe enclosure that mirrors normal life.

Potter's farm in Holmdel:Neighbors fear dementia care village could erase history, quiet

The main changes include reducing the administrative building from two stories to one story, relocating the pair of two-story buildings next to each other, adding a ring road and a designated parking space for paramedics and planting more trees on all sides of the proposed development to shield it from the County Woods neighborhood and the streets.

Board member Demetri Orfanitopoulos, who is also a member of Holmdel’s first aid squad, has been pushing for the easier access for emergency workers. The ring road around the perimeter of the enclosure would be paved with a grass driveway.

“It’s been widened to 20 feet,” said Hal Simoff, the engineer for the developer. “To allow for the fire truck to put down the outrigging equipment.”

The new plans show three ambulance gates and three fire department gates that connect with the emergency vehicle ring road.

Orfanitopoulos also asked for space for an ambulance in the parking lot.

“I regularly see the lots full,” Orfanitopoulos said referring to nursing homes the first aid squad has visited. “And it’s during weekdays.”

The developer agreed to add a grass driveway area for the ambulance in case the parking lot is full.

Clancy, the lawyer for neighboring Middletown, said his town was concerned about the impact that traffic would have on its shared emergency services and traffic since the proposed development is directly across from Middletown.

Simoff said the traffic studies predict a maximum of 68 people will be driving in or out of the parking lot, which has 80 spaces, during peak hours. He said during the overnight shift, as few as 20 employees could be using the parking lot.

“You have almost 3,000 cars passing this site in one hour,” Simoff said. “A 105-bed assisted living is going to have virtually no impact.”

Resident Peter Chollick, who lives along Van Schoick Road, asked if the sanitary sewer line that the proposed development will connect to will have pumps along the road.

Brown said the only pumping station will be on the proposed development’s site and it will be underground.

Because the site’s plan has been changed, Sanford Brown, attorney for the developer, said United Methodist Communities plans on resubmitting some of its engineering studies by the next meeting to reflect the new changes.

Chairman Ralph Blumenthal predicts there will be two more meetings to discuss the final details of the site plan.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 2 at 7 p.m. on Zoom.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.

HOLMDEL - A shake-up involving principals at three of the district’s four schools, including Holmdel High School, is being planned for the fall in part to respond to so-called “lost learning” from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interim Superintendent Leroy Seitz announced Tuesday that Brian Schillaci, who has served as Holmdel High School principal since 2018, will be reassigned to Indian Hill School, which serves students in grades 4 to 6. The move is effective July 1.

Indian Hill Principal Lisa Vitale will then be reassigned to Village Elementary School, which serves students from pre-school through third grade, Seitz said. She will become a co-principal with current Village School Principal Art Howard.

Earlier:Holmdel high school back to all-virtual classes after off-campus events, bout of 'impatience'

Additionally, Seitz said, Village will implement a new reading program to boost reading levels, which dropped during the pandemic.

“We thought to bring two principals to Village would be a strong way to serve students at Village, to help us implement a new reading program,” Seitz said. “We feel our reading scores need to be higher. We adopted a program and (are) providing extensive training for teachers.”

The moves, Seitz said, are to address what educators widely predicted would be lost learning due to the pandemic, which relegated students to virtual learning, in front of computer screens, for much of 2020 and continuing through much of 2021.

“There is no question that some students have experienced varying degrees of learning loss over the last year due to pandemic-related school interruptions,” Seitz said of the 3,000-student district. “The District is committed to ensuring that any student who fell behind over the last year will get the specialized attention they need in order to catch up.”

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The changes are drawing concern from teachers, according to Denise King, president of the Holmdel Township Education Association. She said the disruption hurts morale.

“My members are not happy, they keep moving people,” King said. “There is a lot of movement going on and it is not good. We like the principals, we work well with the principals and they are really good. But it is not fair to them, either. You like your principal and who is at your school.”

Under the co-principal approach, Vitale will be responsible for pre-school through 1st grade and Howard will oversee students in grades 2 and 3.

Schillaci will implement a math improvement program at Indian Hill as part of his new assignment to counter falling math levels, Seitz said. .

“Brian has been a principal at both elementary schools — we are anticipating some loss of learning, and we are implementing a new pilot math program at Indian Hill,” Seitz said of the 15-year district veteran. “In anticipation of this learning loss we are not letting the pandemic get in the way of progress. We feel we need some leadership added at those two schools.”

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The changes potentially leave Holmdel High School without a principal after July 1. Seitz said he believes a replacement will be found by then. The job has been posted and the district will look for candidates both in and out of Holmdel.

“We are going to go through it as thoroughly and quickly as we can,” Seitz said. “I hope to have someone in by July 1, which will be very tight, but at least by the opening of school. Anyone can apply and I am sure we will have people from inside apply. The high school in terms of programming and staffing is very stable.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and Monmouth County for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of two books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

HOLMDEL - The Planning Board unanimously approved a three-story senior living facility for the vacant lot behind the flower shop Peck Farms along Route 35 near Union Avenue.

Board members and residents expressed concerns Tuesday about the noise from a backup generator, the placement of a power transformer and appropriate traffic calming measures to get to the facility.

Brightview Senior Living, a for-profit chain that operates 45 facilities from Virginia to Massachusetts, will own the facility, which will offer assisted living and congregate care, which means limited or no assistance is needed by the residents.

There are currently eight Brightview facilities running in New Jersey, with a facility in Eatontown under construction, according to David Holland, the vice president of development for The Shelter Group, Brightview’s parent company.

Holland said half of the 179 apartments in the proposed Holmdel facility will be for congregate care while half will be for assisted living residents, including those with dementia.

Residents will pay a monthly service fee that will cover rent, meals, housekeeping, transportation and other activities. Holland said those who require assisted living also will receive personal care, such as bathing and medication management.

“We’re typically serving people in their 80s and 90s,” he said. “We may have some people younger, we may have some people older, but, generally in their 80s and 90s.”

He said most of the company’s residents and their adult children live within five miles of its locations.

Holland estimates that about 120 to 130 full- and part-time workers will be employed at the facility, with a maximum of 45 on staff at any given time.

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He said the facility will have 142 parking spaces, some of which will be for residents who can still drive. In addition to living quarters, there will be an office for a medical director and space for physical and occupational therapy. The facility will have a private ambulance service, but expects about seven 911 calls a month.

There will also be a walking trail, an indoor pool and a bocce ball court, according to Dan King, Brightview’s architect with Meyer Design Inc.

King also said the company hopes the facility will reach net zero emissions, referencing proposed solar panels on a canopy covering parts of a parking lot.

“While there are other assisted living facilities in Holmdel, we acknowledge that, there are none that offer this continuum of care, a congregate setting into an assisted living and dementia care on a rental basis,” Holland said.

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Ten percent of their residents will be Medicaid recipients, which will count toward Holmdel’s affordable housing obligations, according to Planning Board Chairwoman Serena DiMaso.

Questions were raised by residents about noise from the backup generator, which the Brightview’s engineer Jacquelyn Giordano with Dynamic Engineering Consultants said will be tested once a month.

Brightview’s lawyer Jennifer Krimko said the company was willing to add additional landscaping and fencing to keep the noise at a minimum.

Planning Board engineer Robert Mullin asked if the company could relocate the power transformer to avoid an accident with a tractor-trailer when it arrives to bring supplies.

Giordano said the company was willing to do that.

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Mullin also asked if having only eight ADA accessible parking spaces was acceptable for a company with residents who drive.

“Based off (Brightview’s) experiences this is the appropriate number, and we’re obviously conforming with the ADA rule,” Giordano said.

Board member William Kastning asked why there weren’t acceleration or deceleration lanes connecting Route 35 with the proposed facility.

Justin Taylor, traffic engineer for Brightview with Dynamic Traffic, said shifts for employees will end on off-peak hours.

“The access to and from the site really doesn’t require an acceleration or deceleration in this condition,” Taylor said. He added that there are shoulders on Route 35 that would allow for acceleration and deceleration.

Krimko said the area was not a high-rise apartment or a busy commercial area. “We’re not pushing any envelopes. And because we’re not pushing any envelops. Economically, it would be infeasible to try and impose that on a developer that’s really developing in accordance with the ordinance.”

The proposal was approved 7-0.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.