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Mayor says YMCA will operate planned supportive-housing project; township to contribute $3.7 million, not buy or build the site
Summary
Mayor John McCormick told the council the township is contributing roughly $3.7 million from its affordable-housing trust fund toward a purchase run by the Raritan Bay YMCA and stressed the project is permanent supportive housing with leases rather than a walk-in homeless shelter.
Mayor John McCormick pushed back on public reports that the township was building or buying a homeless shelter, telling the council the Raritan Bay YMCA will purchase and operate the planned facility as permanent supportive housing and the township is only contributing funds from its affordable‑housing trust fund.
The comment came after residents raised concerns during the public-comment period that the project would become a homeless shelter or place victims of domestic violence in unsafe circumstances. McCormick said that characterization is wrong and that the township's role is a funding contribution, not ownership or construction.
"We didn't build it. We didn't buy it," McCormick said. "We're contributing toward the purchase with money from the affordable‑housing trust fund — about $3,700,000 of the $7 or $8,000,000 we have in that fund." He added that the Raritan Bay YMCA will run the facility and provide services, and that residents will have leases and be permanent residents until they move out.
McCormick framed the project as "housing vulnerable families, people with chronic illnesses, emergency displacements" rather than a shelter where people could "just show up and say I need a room." He said the county and the State Department of Community Affairs are contributing funding and that medical staff will be available on site.
Supporters and critics raised safety and use concerns during public comment. One resident who identified themselves as Javadari urged caution about housing people involved in domestic-violence situations, saying the township should avoid creating hazardous conditions. The mayor responded by distinguishing emergency-displacement assistance (for fire or flood victims) from a shelter model, and by urging residents to wait for full details.
The council did not take an immediate vote on any new resolution; McCormick said the township will receive credit from the state for meeting affordable‑housing obligations by having the units locally. The next procedural steps, including any municipal approvals tied to the funding contribution, were not detailed in the meeting record.
The mayor's remarks were the most recent public clarification; the council did not amend or reject the funding contribution during the session.
