Potential Game Changer in Weapons Station Earle housing battle: Colts Neck to vote tonight on hiring Rudy Giuliani's firm as security consultants

In our regular scan of area township committee meetings, the tentative agenda for tonight's Township Committee meeting in Colts Neck has two resolutions worth following, namely 2009-132 to confirm the appointment of Giuliani Security and Safety, LLC of New York as "Security Consultants". The other, 2009-133 explicitly "supports NOPE." We would encourage NOPE supporters to attend tonight.

(If the above link does not go direct to the agenda, go to "Info & Documents" on the left bar, then "Meeting Minutes Online," "Township Committee Minutes," "2009 Upcoming Agenda" and the October 14, 2009 PDF.)

The hiring of former NYC mayor and U.S. presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani's firm is, in our view, presumably, 1) ammunition in Colts Neck's lawsuit to prevent the Department of Navy plan to let civilians live at Laurelwood military housing units from 2010-2040, but also 2) a potential game-changer from a media publicity perspective.

On the latter (and likely to the Department of Navy's dismay), the hiring is almost certain to broaden media attention (i.e. state and national) to NOPE's case against the Navy's ill-hatched plan to build an unimpeded access route through Earle (a few hundred yards south of the Rt. 34 main gate, which is soon to be rebuilt at a cost of up to $10 million to enhance security and is now out for bids) and let any civilian live within the Earle's fence line - not the smartest move while trying to operating a massive weapons depot amid growing terror threats against U.S. military installations.

Giuliani Security and Safety, according to the company's website, is headed by Pasquale D'Amuro, an internationally recognized expert on counterterrorism and head of the FBI's investigation into the 9/11 attacks. Mr. D'Amura also contributed to or led probes into the 1998 Embassy bombings in East Africa and the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen...obviously high-profile events.

Tomorrow, we will follow up on Wednesday night's meeting - 730pm, Colts Neck Town Hall.