NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

County Extends Loan Payments Deadline
New Stipulations Further Protect County Investment in National Lead Project

July 30, 2007 -- Middlesex County, at the request of the Sayreville Economic and Redevelopment Authority (SERA), has agreed to extend by four months the repayment deadline for the $37 million SERA borrowed from the County to redevelop the 400-acre National Lead site. The payment will now be due Dec. 1, 2007.

SERA said the extension was necessary because it expects to receive responses on Aug. 6 from four of the 12 developers who responded to SERA's Request for Qualifications. A SERA subcommittee ranked these four companies as the top contenders to redevelop and rejuvenate the former industrial property.

SERA must review and hold public hearings on the proposals. The Authority expects the process to continue through September. After that, the Authority plans to designate a redeveloper.

Under the new agreement, the County now has the right to approve the selected developer and the terms and conditions of any redevelopment agreement.

Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel said the new agreement states that SERA will assign to the County $5 million from the sale of another property it owns. The property is currently under contract. That payment will be credited against SERA's obligations to the County.

Also, the County will enforce a provision of the original July 2004 agreement by requiring SERA to immediately execute a Deed in lieu of foreclosure to be held in escrow by the County Counsel.

Crabiel said that "all the conditions previously imposed by the County and previously agreed to by SERA regarding the existing Loan Payment Agreement with that agency remain in full force and effect."

"We are taking steps to protect the County's financial interest and to move this redevelopment project forward," he said. "With these additional conditions the County has further secured the repayment obligation of SERA."

The Freeholders, SERA, the Borough of Sayreville and the Middlesex County Improvement Authority (MCIA), have been working for several years to reclaim the National Lead site for beneficial public use.

The work has included County loans to SERA totaling more than $37 million, of which $33.5 million is now held in escrow by the courts as the value of the land remains in question.

SERA had designated a Conditional Redeveloper in 2006, but that entity, LNR Northeastern Investments, Inc., failed to negotiate a settlement with NL Industries, and failed to make promised administrative fee payments. SERA had to cease its relationship with LNR and start the process anew.

The County has extended the repayment deadline three times, with the intent a redeveloper would be named and would be responsible for the loan repayments. Each time, the Freeholders placed conditions on the extension to safeguard the County's investment.

"All the essential entities, the County, SERA, National Lead and the MCIA, are actively involved in continuing discussions with a view toward settlement on value and remediation," Crabiel said. "In the end, with this new agreement in place and facilitating these talks, we expect a major commercial, recreational, aesthetic and financial boon to the Borough of Sayreville and all with an equal benefit for the County at large."

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