New-look motor vehicle office will serve region MVC breaks ground at Okerson Road site in Freehold Township BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer An artist's rendering shows the motor vehicle agency service center that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission is building on Okerson Road, Freehold Township, next to the motor vehicle inspection center. FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - Say goodbye to the New Jersey motor vehicle office in Poets Square and hello to a new full-service operation on Okerson Road. On Nov. 30, officials of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) broke ground for a new facility on state-owned land at the same location that presently houses a motor vehicle inspection station. When the new facility opens, the existing MVC office on Thoreau Drive in the Poets Square shopping center will be closed. The new motor vehicle agency was designed by architect David Miles Ziskind, senior vice president and chief architect of STV Incorporated, New York. The job will be overseen by construction superintendent Anthony Silva of Gingerelli Brothers Construction, Toms River. MVC Chief Administrator Sharon A. Harrington called the new facility "one-stop shopping." She said the MVC is "making an effort to modernize our facilities statewide" to better serve customers. "Building a larger facility in Freehold Township is another step in accomplishing this task," Harrington said. "Through careful planning, the commission has wisely invested in customer service, technology and security for its facilities. This investment allows us to continue down the path of becoming a model of excellence in motor vehicle services." Harrington referenced the "old" model of how people perceive the MVC, which was formerly known as the Department of Motor Vehicles. "We've seen the good, the bad and the ugly," she said. "No longer are we the ugly duckling." The concept of the ugly duckling is, in fact, being used as a new slogan for the agency, which states, "And You Thought We'd Always Be N.J.'s Ugly Duckling." The poster features a humorous photo of a duck, of course, and will be advertising the modern building that will, hopefully, be completed in one year. It's all about serving the customer better, according to Harrington. And the bottom line is that a more efficiently run facility means better service and less waiting time for customers. Building this agency is a key step in achieving those goals, according to the commissioner. Monmouth County Freeholder Barbara McMorrow was in attendance at the ceremony and said she was thrilled and honored as a freeholder and as a Freehold Township resident that the township was chosen as a location for the new model agency. Referring to the new agency, McMorrow said, "It will turn from an ugly duckling into a swan in one year." The new model agency concept was established following a 2004 study which analyzed all aspects of the MVC's facilities, including locations, service times, transit access, population growth trends and transaction volume projections over a fiveyear period. The model agency is what the MVC considers to be a proper agency setup that provides the necessary means to effectively serve customers, including a minimum of 6,000 square feet, with ample counter work stations and improved public areas that allow a customer to be better served without standing in line for extended periods of time. Although other MVC buildings have been redone, according to Michael Horan, director of communications for the agency, the existing agencies have been more or less retrofitted to become model agencies. The structure to be built in Freehold Township will be the first one constructed from the ground up and will provide everything in one place. The new building will offer meeting rooms, training rooms for agency employees, which means they will not have to drive to Trenton for that training, a driver's testing (knowledge and vision) area, additional personnel, larger public rooms, seating for up to 80 people, more floor space and additional personnel to help customers, according to Horan. At present, the MVC office in Freehold Township, for which the agency rents space, handles between 700 and 900 transactions on a weekday and between 350 and 400 transactions on a Saturday. The new facility will be 9,000 square feet and according to Kevin Cranston, press officer for the MVC, the cost savings that will result from the new agency being built on stateowned land is projected to be $122,000 per year. As of the present time, the MVC has 13 facilities that meet model agency standards. The two most recent model agencies to open for business are in Bayonne, Hudson County, and Newton, Sussex County. These were existing agencies that were either moved to another location or retrofitted in the same location to meet model agency standards. But all the attention is now on Freehold Township because this facility will be the first one in the state to have it all in one neat package. In Horan's words, "Freehold is our dream model."