Residents spoke out unanimously against the potential sale of one of the last remaining borough-owned riverfront properties on the east side of Red Bank at the April 14 council meeting.

Residents are urging the borough of Red Bank not to sell this vacant riverfront lot at the end of Maple Avenue. They spoke about the need for access to the river and possibly using the vacant lot, which is situated along the Navesink at the foot of Maple Avenue, as a small boat launch ramp.

"Resources like the waterfront - once it's sold, it's gone. We have to save that for our children," said James Thomas, West Street.

Cindy Burnham, who is a Fair Haven resident and owns property in the borough, had previously urged all Red Bank residents to come out to the council meeting to support keeping the river open to all.

"I would like to see a public access boat area, whether it be a ramp or not, [but] someplace where you could launch a kayak or canoe, a small motor boat," said Burnham previously.

Although the Borough Council approved the hiring of an appraiserMarch 10 to assess the value of the lot, Mayor Pasquale Menna said there has not yet been an appraisal completed and no action is pending.

"What we expressed is one of probably a number of different items on budgetary considerations which frankly have to be brought to the table. Whether we do it or not is a different story," said Menna.

Menna said that previously the sale of the lot could help with tax relief for the 2008-09 proposed budget, which calls for a 7-cent tax increase in the municipal tax rate.

The property is located on block 8, lot 1 and is 57 feet by 192 feet, according to the Red Bank tax assessor. The property is assessed at $960,800 and includes $10,400 improvement on site, which could be a paving improvement, according to the tax assessor.

"It has come to my understanding that when we lost the access behind Riverview Hospital, they made a donation to the town of a certain amount of funds … that was to be utilized to create a direct water access for the townspeople. It seems to me that this property on Maple would be a great place to utilize that and possibly use whatever is left over from that fund that was given to the town from the hospital to initiate work on the Red Bank waterfront plan," said Matthew Downs, Mechanic Street.

Downs also asked council to propose a resolution stating that the Maple Avenue lot would remain a permanent borough public property and not be sold.

"If we're trying to save money, I don't understand why we would pay anybody to go out and appraise this property in this stage of the discussion," said William Meyer, Monmouth Street.

Meyer expressed concerns about the payment not to exceed $3,500 for appraiser Peter Sockler of Sockler Real Estate Services in Ewing.

"There are some issues with regard to some contamination on the site. They were doing some testing there, as a result of the testing we are still waiting on the report from the contractor that did the environmental testing," said Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels of a contractor hired by K. Hovnanian Enterprises to study contamination of the site.

Burnham also suggested cleaning up the small park next to the library, which is located at block 8, lot 4 and assessed at $1,354,200, according to the tax assessor.

The size of that property is 53 feet by 350 feet and includes an $8,300 improvement on the property, according to the tax assessor.

In addition to residents, the Red Bank Environmental Commission (EC) as well as members of the Borough Council are among those opposed to the sale.

"I have grave concerns about utilizing that funding should it be sold to offset property taxes. It is a one-time, non-recurring fund and it would throw us in a great deal of deficit in the following budget [year]," said Councilman John P. Curley at the meeting.

The EC has also passed a resolution opposing the sale of the property.