Developers’ arrests leave local projects up in the air
Federal indictment is latest blow against corruption in Marlboro
BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

The future of two Marlboro developments and the developers who proposed them are now in the hands of the legal system.

Brothers Steven Meiterman, 44, of Marlboro, and Bernard Meiterman, 42, of Manalapan, and their business partner Edward Kay, 38, of Marlboro, were arrested at their homes on the morning of Dec. 6 by special agents of the FBI.

The two brothers were charged with bribing the executive director of the Western Monmouth Utilities Authority (WMUA) to gain favor in getting sewer service to their projects in Marlboro.

The WMUA provides sewer service to customers in Marlboro and Manalapan and parts of Freehold Township and Englishtown.

The individual mentioned in the Meitermans’ indictment is identified as having served as the WMUA executive director from January 2002 to September 2006. That individual is known to be Frank G. Abate, of Marlboro.

Abate was arrested on Nov. 21 and charged with accepting free or discounted home improvements and services from contractors and developers in exchange for exercising his authority in favor of those individuals as they sought contracts and/or approvals from the WMUA.

The Meitermans were also accused of obstructing the grand jury investigation into their dealings with Abate. According to the indictment, this involved coaching an architect on how to respond to a grand jury inquiry. The architect had drawn up plans for additions to Abate’s home and was paid for that work by the Meitermans.

According to the indictment, in a conversation recorded by federal law enforcement agents on Feb. 17, 2006 at the Meitermans’ Freehold Borough offices, Bernard Meiterman told the architect it was unnecessary to produce the $2,500 invoice to the grand jury.

“This other bill here though ... I don’t know. I think it’s not related to this ... That, I wouldn’t even both bringing that forward,” Bernard Meiterman said in the recorded conversation.

Steven Meiterman, who had in the past expressed concern that his office and telephones might be wire-tapped, walked the architect outside and continued the conversation, according to the indictment.

“For me it was a little bit different than for you. For you, you know in your mind you’re never a target ... There’s nothing they want from you, not even one ... but for me, for me I could be a target,” Steven Meiterman said in the recorded conversation outside his office.

Steven Meiterman was charged separately with bribing a member of the Marlboro Planning Board with $4,000 in cash to fund trips to Disney World.

In 2002, prior to the Planning Board member’s Disney vacation trip to Orlando, Fla., Steven Meiterman gave the board member $2,000 in cash. In 2003, he gave another $2,000 to the unnamed board member, this time the money was given in a covered plastic foam cup prior to the individual’s trip to Disney World, according to the indictment.

Kay, an investor and bookkeeper in some of the Meitermans’ real estate ventures, was charged with the brothers in counts one through eight of the indictment. The counts charge the three men with mail fraud in a scheme to defraud the public of Abate’s honest services.

After hearing of the Meitermans’ arrest, Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg said, “I hope it restores some trust in local government that was lost due to the indiscretions of some of our former elected officials and others who apparently pilfered our residents.”

Kleinberg said he believes the whole foundation of corruption has a large crack going through it now and that the walls of the corrupt empire are going to fall shortly.

“The ongoing investigation into corruption in Marlboro is alive and well,” the mayor added.

The mayor said it is the corrupt acts of those individuals being indicted that has caused high property taxes, congestion of roads and overdevelopment in Marlboro. He said the corruption in Marlboro is deep and pervasive.

The 13-count indictment against the Meitermans alleges that the developers attempted to coax, influence and reward Abate by giving him or arranging for free and discounted improvements to two additions to his home in exchange for WMUA approvals for several of their Marlboro projects.

The commercial and residential projects named in the indictment include Rosemont Estates, a 242-unit age-restricted residential development; Sunny Acres; Triangle Valley development; Southpoint Property Management and Meiterman Commercial Properties, a three-story office building and restaurant; and Marlboro Grande, an apartment complex formerly known as Brownstone Commons.

Two of these Meiterman projects are currently in the hands of state Superior Court judges Alexander D. Lehrer and Lawrence Lawson.

It was only two weeks ago that Kleinberg was ordered by Lawson to sign a builder’s agreement which would allow construction to begin on Marlboro Grande. The development will be an age-restricted rental complex of 26 one-bedroom units and 64 two-bedroom units.

Steven Meiterman is the purchaser of the 7.5-acre parcel on Route 9. Bernard Meiterman was the attorney who represented the applicant before the zoning board. The zoning board approved a use variance which permitted a residential use on commercial property.

For more than a year, Kleinberg and the Township Council have been fighting the zoning board’s approval of the project, claiming that the board usurped the council’s exclusive power to zone and rezone properties in Marlboro by approving a residential development on a commercial property.

A raid of the Meitermans’ Freehold Borough offices by agents of the FBI and IRS on March 16 added fuel to the mayor’s fire regarding the project and the developers. Kleinberg’s claim that the Meitermans might be involved in the FBI’s ongoing corruption investigation in Marlboro brought the two parties before a judge several times in the last year.

One of the parties’ most recent appearances in court came after the Meitermans sued the mayor because Kleinberg would not execute a developer’s agreement for Marlboro Grande.

It was reported that in court on Nov. 30, Kleinberg stated that his reasons for not signing the document included that he believed the investigation into the Meitermans was going to come to a conclusion soon.

Despite the mayor’s contention, Lawson ordered Kleinberg to sign the paperwork. The judge stated that if the Meitermans were indicted for actions in connection with the project the court would halt the work.

Shortly thereafter the Meitermans were indicted and Marlboro representatives went back before the judge.

On Dec. 8 Lawson issued a temporary restraining order staying the development of the project, according to Township Attorney Andrew Bayer.

The court required the applicant’s attorneys to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not by issued staying the development until the criminal matters of the applicants are resolved, Bayer added. Another hearing is scheduled for Jan. 12 to allow the applicant’s attorney to submit briefs on that issue.

“I am elated that at least for now the Meitermans have been halted. It’s yet to be seen how this judge is going to rule in January,” Kleinberg said. “We’ve accomplished the first hurdle. My ultimate goal is to have the (Marlboro Grande) property go back to a commercial ratable.”

Township officials are not certain if the Sunny Acres project named in the Meiterman-Kay indictment referred to the same development as the Sunny Acres application that was scheduled to be heard by the Planning Board on Dec. 6.

However, due to the history of the application and the news of the Meitermans’ arrest that morning, the board meeting was canceled.

“We believe the reasoning behind the canceling of the (Dec. 6) meeting was sound and appropriate and we are comfortable that the judge will absolutely agree with us,” Planning Board Attorney Dennis Collins said on Dec. 7.

Representatives of Sunny Acres are seeking preliminary major subdivision approval to build 19 homes on a 50-acre tract on Buckley Road.

An issue arose with the project in February when the applicants claimed they had received preliminary approval for their site plan by default because the Planning Board failed to take action on the application within the required 120 days of the date when the application was deemed to be complete.

In October the two parties appeared in court to argue the matter. Lehrer remanded the project back to the Planning Board in order for the board to begin hearing testimony on the application.

Lehrer retained jurisdiction over the application and will be supervising the case when it eventually comes before the board.

Steven Meiterman, Bernard Meiterman’s wife, Gloria, Kay, Terry Sherman and Anthony Spalliero were the original principals of the Holmdel-based company called Sunny Acres.

The forms were revised in January 2006 to replace Spalliero’s name with the name of Domenica Russo, who is known to be Spalliero’s ex-wife. The same Holmdel address was listed on the forms for Russo and Spalliero.

On Dec. 7, Collins said a tentative meeting with Lehrer had been previously scheduled for Dec. 12 to discuss the outcome of the Sunny Acres application in the event that the board had made a decision by that time.

Collins said there are a myriad of issues that have come up as a result of the Meitermans’ and Kay’s arrests, which he said would be discussed with the court before they become public. The attorney noted that an appearance with the judge is expected at some point in the near future to discuss these issues.