FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I find out about FMERA’s public offerings?
A: As part of its Sales/Leasing Regulations (see below for more information), FMERA advertises a notice of each solicitation for sealed bids on our website, as well as Public/Legal Notices in the Star Ledger and Asbury Park Press. Sign up for FMERA’s public offering email list today to stay informed!

Q: Who do I contact if I am interested in Fort property and would like more information?
A: Please visit our Properties page for more information on available properties and contact information. In addition, FMERA holds monthly Board Meetings open to the public. Please contact FMERA at (732)720-6350 for additional information.

Q: What is FMERA’s procurement process?
A: FMERA adheres to its published rules regarding the sale and lease of personal and real property; these rules comply with the FMERA Act as well as the rules governing New Jersey’s procurement process. All real and personal property sales and leases by FMERA must comply with applicable laws and regulations, in tandem with the Army’s rules concerning “competitive” sales and leases for Army-owned property. This includes:

A public solicitation for sealed bids or offers to purchase is advertised in a manner that ensures potentially interested, qualified firms receive appropriate and timely notice of the solicitation and have a fair and transparent opportunity to submit their offers and qualifications.
Sealed bids and offers are submitted to the Authority in written form (i.e. sealed envelope, container or carton).
Subsequent to the receipt of bids or offers, all responsive bids or offers shall be evaluated according to the criteria identified in the public solicitation.
FMERA may negotiate with one or more of the entities that submitted an advantageous bid or offer to obtain terms that are in the best interests of the Authority and the redevelopment plans for Fort Monmouth.
FMERA staff shall recommend to the Board bids and offers to purchase, which may have been modified through negotiations that will provide purchase agreements which are in the best interests of the Authority and the redevelopment plans for Fort Monmouth, in accordance with the criteria identified in the public solicitation.
As a State entity, all FMERA Board action is subject to a ten day veto period by the Governor.
Bid/offer to purchase response documents may be made available for review by bidders or parties who submitted an offer to the particular solicitation.
Documents submitted shall be considered public information as follows: after FMERA’s issuance of notice of intent to award a purchase agreement for the sealed bid process, and after a purchase agreement has been signed by the Authority and a purchaser for the offer to purchase process.

Q: What is the process for evaluating and selecting winning bids through the Request for Offers to Purchase (RFOTP) process? Are the submitting bidders made public? How are the impacts to local communities evaluated?
A: FMERA adheres to its published rules regarding the sale and lease of personal and real property; these rules comply with the FMERA Act as well as the rules governing New Jersey’s procurement process, in tandem with the Army’s rules concerning sales and leases for Army-owned property. As such, a public solicitation for sealed bids or offers to purchase is advertised in a manner that ensures potentially interested, qualified firms receive appropriate and timely notice of the solicitation and have a fair and transparent opportunity to submit their offers and qualifications. Sealed bids and offers are submitted to the Authority in written form (i.e. sealed envelope, container or carton). On the publicized due date for the bids, the bids are opened in a public process, and the names of responding entities are available to the public; the proposal details and price submittals remain confidential as they are considered contract negotiation materials. These materials are considered public information after FMERA’s issuance of notice of intent to award a purchase agreement for the sealed bid and after a purchase agreement has been signed by the Authority and the purchaser. The bids are evaluated by a team of independent evaluators according to criteria identified in each public solicitation. These criteria are determined by FMERA’s mission to create jobs and encourage investment, and include impact to the host municipality, planned capital investment, and compliance with the Fort Monmouth Redevelopment and Reuse Plan as three of the heavily-weighted criteria. Often, these criteria are characterized by specific preferences of the host municipality.

Q: What are FMERA’s Sales/Lease Regulations?
A: FMERA adheres to adopted and published Sales and Lease Regulations, approved by the FMERA Board, and developed with oversight and approval by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. These regulations: (1) establish strict procedures for the sale of real property within the former Fort Monmouth, and accompanying personal property; and (2) establish strict procedures for the leasing of real property within the former Fort Monmouth, and accompanying personal property.

These regulations require: (1) publicly advertised Requests for Offers to Purchase (RFOTP) or Request for Sealed Bids on any real property within Fort Monmouth before a sale may take place; and (2) publicly advertised RFP on any real property within Fort Monmouth before any lease may take place.

The regulations have been reviewed by the U.S. Army, and have been accepted as satisfying the Army’s requirement for competitive bidding and transparency related to the sale and lease of any Fort Monmouth real property.

The Sale and Lease Regulations can be found in total here and the process by which parcels are offered for sale and lease is described in detail. FMERA may not deviate from these regulations for any sale or lease of former Fort Monmouth real property. FMERA’s adherence to the Sale and Lease Regulations is reviewed by the Attorney General’s office.

Q: What is the Open Public Meetings Act – “The Sunshine Law”?
A: FMERA adheres to New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act, known as “The Sunshine Law,” which is designed to ensure that decision-making government bodies in the state conduct their business in public except in specific circumstances where exclusion of the public is needed to protect the privacy of individuals, the safety of the public or the effectiveness of government in ongoing contract and real estate negotiations.

Every public body may publish its meeting schedule by January 10 or within seven days of its annual organization meeting, which is later.

A 48-hour written notice must be given for any regular, special, adjourned or unscheduled meeting not contained in any annual meeting schedule giving the time, date, location and as complete an agenda as known at time of notice. The notice must be delivered to at least two newspapers. Exceptions include emergency meetings and meetings consisting entirely of a closed or executive session.

Closed or executive sessions may be held provided that the subject matter is covered by one or more of the legal exemptions, including the discussion of an ongoing negotiation of lease or acquisition of property, setting of bank rates, or the investment of public funds if disclosure would harm the public interest.

In the interest of full transparency, FMERA includes two standing agenda items for Public Comment – one allows the public to comment and question the items on the Meeting’s Agenda in advance of the Board’s attention to each item; the second allows the public to comment and question any information provided by the Executive Director and committee reports to the Board, which also occur at each meeting.

FMERA also posts the full agenda, including all Board memos from its public session, to its website following each Board meeting.

Q: What is the Open Public Records Act?
A: FMERA adheres to the rules governing New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) statute, which governs the public’s access to government records in New Jersey. OPRA was enacted to give the public greater access to records maintained by public agencies in New Jersey by balancing the public’s interest in government records, respect for personal privacy, and the efficient process of government. The law is compiled in the statutes as N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. In general, under OPRA, government records must be made public upon request unless as a specific exception applies.

Additionally, a requestor may also request certain government records under the common law. If the information requested is a “public record” under common law and the requestor has a legally recognized interest in the subject matter contained in the material, then the material must be disclosed if the individual’s right of access outweighs the State’s interest in preventing disclosure.