Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/4/07 BY NANCY SHIELDS COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
ASBURY PARK Werner Baumgartner, an Asbury Park historian, is serving a 45-day sentence in the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township after Municipal Judge Mark T. Apostolou held Baumgartner in contempt of court on an earlier order to remedy code violations at his home. Baumgartner,49, had told the judge at previous court appearances that he would take action and make repairs to correct violations, but had not. On Friday, the judge held a review and compliance hearing to see if terms of previous orders consented to by Baumgartner had been complied with, Pasquale Menna, Asbury Park's municipal code prosecutor, said today. "There were three prior orders entered...(which) specified that within a certain period of time, the property owner was to remedy some of the code violations that affect the structure,'' said Menna. "There were extensions on occasions,'' Menna said. "Ultimately, the judge held the hearing last Friday on why the repairs were not affectuated,'' Menna said. Menna said the original order specified that unless the repairs were done, the possiblity of incarceration existed. "The judge did not impose incarceration in the past, but this time, he determined that he (Baumgartner) was in contempt of the judge's order,'' Menna said. Menna said that normally there is no bail in contempt cases, but rather that Baumgartner could file an appeal of his 45-day jail sentence and ask that his sentence be stayed. Baumgartner was represented by attorney Paul Fernicola, but Fernicola requested that he be taken off the case last Friday. William Gray, the city's director of code enforcement, said today that there had been a longstanding problem with open violations at Baumgartner's 402 Fifth Ave. home, and that in his previous appearance in court, Baurmgartner had made a deal with the judge to get the repairs made. Gray said the problems were numerous including no railings on the porch and ceilings falling apart. "This has been a longstanding problem with him,'' Gray said. Baumgartner gained respect in the city for his knowledge of Asbury Park's history, and for a brief time in the late 1990s held the non-paid position of "city historian'' under former Mayor Kenneth Saunders and the late City Manager Wilbert Russell. That title ended after a new council took office in 2001 and Baumgartner complained about losing the designation. For many years, he has spoken during the public portion of City Council meetings questioning actions he believed would not preserve the city's historic nature or architecture. Late last November, police went to Baumgartner's home after getting a call that there was a body in the basement. Baumgartner said afterward that he did not want to allow police in, and when they called him on his phone, he told them he was not at home but in the hospital. "I lied initially, and told them I was at the hospital," he said. "I apologized for that. I was pretty drugged out with Percoset." When police did get inside the home, they saw code enforcement issues that were forwarded to Gray's department. Baumgartner said at that time he had been at odds with the city for years over the exterior condition of his property and had denied code enforcement officials entry to his property for several years. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/