The Jersey City Independent"

Photos: Steve Gold

The last City Council meeting of the decade packed a lot of action into just over three hours. There were four first-read ordinances, five second-reads and 39 resolutions, but the stars of Wednesday’s show were those who addressed the council. At-Large councilwoman Willie Flood was not present.

Development Audit Results

In the wake of July’s corruption arrests, Mayor Healy called for an independent audit of the city’s developement practices; the law firm of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter was retained to do the job. After four months and, by the firm’s account, more than 300 hours of work, the firm released their findings this week.

Ronald Riccio, a lawyer at the firm and one of the authors of the report, presented the document’s recommendations to the City Council on Wednesday. Prefacing his remarks by complimenting the city on its “spectacular success” in attracting development over the past 20 years or so, Riccio described the goals of the audit as “promoting integrity, improving efficiency and enhancing transparency in the development process.” He stated that members of his team interviewed 16 development officials, whose names are not listed in the report, and reviewed “countless” documents in the process of preparing the report.

The report includes eight recommendations for improving the development process, among them: disseminating a guide to the process and designating a “single point of entry” for development projects; reducing the occurrence of one-on-one meetings between developers and city officials; ethics training and the appointment of an “ethics/compliance officer;” revising the city’s development Master Plan; the provision of “comprehensive background information” for developers proposing projects; and the opening of the Tax Enhancement Committee, which oversees the granting of abatements, to the public (a step the city has already stated that it intends to take).

Ward E councilman Steven Fulop was critical of the report. While he allowed on Wednesday that some of the recommendations are “benefits … that the city can implement,” earlier in the week he was quoted in the Jersey Journal saying that “any Jersey City resident could have written the same report for free in about 10 minutes with about 20 words.” He also pointed out at the meeting that of the federal complaints filed in July against Jersey City officials, none involved one-on-one meetings.

A Loan Denied

A first-read ordinance that would grant an $8 million loan to a hotel company was withdrawn from the agenda at the request of some council members. The loan would have been made under the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program, which permits municipalities to assume the role of guarantor on loans to private developers. If a Section 108 loan is not repaid, the guaranteeing municipality could lose portions of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

The Tramz Hotel Group, which works to help hotel franchisors obtain financing on projects nationwide, is asking for the loan in order to build a 310-room Hilton on the southern end of Marin Boulevard, for a total cost of $18 million, with a projected completion date of April 2014. But Tarrunumn Murad, Tramz’s CEO, received a cool reception from the council at Monday’s caucus. Although Jersey City Redevelopment Agency director Bob Antonicello endorsed her proposal at the caucus, council members — in particular Fulop and Ward D councilman Bill Gaughan — expressed doubts, peppering Murad herself with questions about the details of the project.

Fulop is doubtful that the project will be able to secure financing for construction costs in a tight credit market; Gaughan does not want to jeopardize CDBG money that could go to other projects. A revised ordinance is expected to include a stipulation that Murad obatin a letter of credit for the project.

Although the proposed ordinance was withdrawn, a resolution was passed later in the meeting authorizing a contract worth up to $15,000 with law firm Gluck Walrath & Lanciano to represent the city and prepare documents in connection with the matter. The costs associated with this contract are to be reimbursed by Tramz.

At the council’s request, deputy mayor Rosemary McFadden provided data at Wednesday’s meeting regarding the city’s hotel occupancy rates. According to her research, rates citywide for the last six months have been ranging from 88 to 98 percent. But Fulop said hoteliers had been telling him that that occupancy rates are down significantly year-over-year, and that hotels are lowering their prices in order to increase demand. After discussion on the loan ended, city clerk Robert Byrne quipped that it had “set the record for the most discussion on an item that has been withdrawn.”

Still Waiting on a Food Truck Fix

Ten months ago, what Gaughan called the “selective enforcement” of the city’s food trucks was put on the City Council’s radar by Gus Papathanasis and his son Billy.

Since then, food truck vendors have come to a number of council meetings, an ordinance to fix the problem was drafted but never introduced, now-retired health department official Joseph Castagna was investigated for potentially issuing more than 100 illegal food vendor permits, and the city’s promises to fix the problem in a timely fashion have been broken.

On Wednesday, Natalia Caicedo of Lucinda Burritos + Tacos was on hand to tell the council about a “raid” that hit her truck and others in the Exchange Place area on Friday, Dec. 11. Fulop told her the action was brought on by complaints from the local Subway and Cosi franchises.

Fulop also noted that the council was working on it, having formed a subcommittee to look at revising the ordinance. But the subcommittee, which was tasked in late October to come up with a solution within 60 days, has yet to meet. The subcommittee consists of Fulop, Gaughan and council president Peter Brennan, and there has apparently been some confusion as to who of the three should be coordinating their efforts.

Budget Watch

Another month of council business has now passed, marking the halfway point in our fiscal year. But the city still hasn’t put together a budget for the fiscal year, which began on July 1. So the grand City Council tradition of passing a resolution approving “emergency temporary appropriations” to keep the city running continued on Wednesday, with Fulop voting against the measure for the second meeting in a row. Departing city business administrator Brian O’Reilly had previously told the council that he would submit a draft budget to the council by the end of November, but he has yet to do so. These latest emergency appropriations bring the fiscal year total to over $321 million. Last year’s budget came in at $474 million.

First Reads

Besides the hotel loan ordinance mentioned above, the other three first reads passed unanimously without comment. The first authorizes the conveyance of the city-owned property at 90 Virginia Avenue to the Jersey City Community Housing Corporation (JCCHC), which intends to build low- and moderate-income housing at the site. The second and third amend two 2004 ordinances — which also conveyed city-owned properties to JCCHC — to allow a late start on construction at 108 Storms Avenue and 299-301 Bergen Avenue. You can read them in their full-text glory here.

Second Reads

The five second reads passed unanimously with little comment. Telissa Dowling addressed the council during the public hearing on the third, asking why the affordability restrictions were being removed. Clerk Byrne informed her that Fairmount Housing Corporation has not made good on its commitment to build affordable housing there; after more than 20 years of waiting, the city has decided to grant the project to another developer, but it will not be for affordable housing. You can read more about all of the second reads here.

Odds & Ends

* Eileen Markenstein, president of the board of trustees of the Jersey City Harsimus Cemetery on Newark Avenue, approached the council during the public hearing portion of the meeting. Calling the cemetery a ”national treasure,” she informed the council about the cemetery’s difficulty in meeting its funding goals, and asked the city to consider contributing ten percent of the cemetery’s projected operating cost for next year, or $30,000. Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez told Markenstein that she “will be a partner with [her] in fundraising.”

* Pine Street residents Lycel Villanueva and Miles Poindexter updated the council on their fight to get Jerry Walker to move his proposed community center off their block. Villanueva stated that the issue will be on the January 5th Planning Board agenda. Poindexter explained that he had found two other potential locations for the community center, both on Communipaw Avenue, but Walker indicated that he was not interested in other locations; Ward F councilwoman Viola Richardson stated that Walker had told her the same.

* “I am mourning the loss of a building,” local photographer and songwriter Hugh Hales-Tooke sang as he regaled the council with a song he wrote about the demolition of an art-deco landmark at 1 Jersey Ave. Check out our video to hear the full song.

* The council authorized a contract worth nearly $130,000 to J. Fletcher Creamer and Son to relocate 27 wayfinding signs that were installed in odd and, in some cases, unsafe locations. The signs were installed as part of a grant from the state Department of Transportation, but the city is responsible for their upkeep. During the public hearing portion of the council meeting, resident Catherine Grimm asked the council why safety “wasn’t taken into account when the signs were first placed,” but she did not get an answer.

* In what appeared to be an organized effort, a number of residents addressed the council to congratulate Councilwoman Lopez on her recent court victory.

* Rodney Hadley, who has been serving as the director of the Division of Parks and Forestry, was promoted to Director of the Department of Public Works. He will replace John Yurchak, who was not reappointed to his position in September and has been serving in an “acting” capacity since then.

* Municipal Judge Irwin Rosen, who was removed from the bench under a cloud in 2007, was reappointed to the municipal court. Rosen had been charged with fixing a ticket for himself — one he had received for parking in an area where a no-parking rule had been suspended for the day — but the charges were dismissed in September.

* A grant in the amount of $1.125 million was accepted from the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund to acquire about 28 acres of land between Broadway and Sip Avenue for the Hackensack River Waterfront Park. Another $140,000 was accepted for the Boyd McGuinness Park Renovation, and $25,000 for the City Hall Historic Preservation Study.

* The city Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) will accept a $237,500 grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for construction and modifications of the MUA’s 18th Street Regulator.

* The council authorized a ten-year lease with Getty Petroleum Marketing for a total of almost $60,000; the lease will cover the use of a strip of city-owned land adjacent to the Lukoil gas station at the corner Kennedy Boulevard and the upper level of Route 139 (Underwood Place).

* A cost reimbursement agreement with the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) was authorized; the city will receive over $45,500 from NJTPA for expenditures associated with projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the federal stimulus program.

* The Jersey City Police Academy was authorized to receive just over $8,200 from the state Department of Law and Public Safety for training new police officers.

* The city will lease its Mass Care Vehicle ambulance to the Jersey City Medical Center at a price of one dollar per year.

* The city will apply for a grant from the state Department of Transportation to fund restoration of the Franklin Street Steps, also known as the 100 Steps.

* Andrew Abrams was retroactively appointed as the city’s chief municipal public defender for a one-year term beginning July 1 of this year; he will be paid a total of $7,000 for his service, in addition to the usual public defender fees. Eighteen others were also appointed as public defenders for the same term at a total anticipated cost of approximately $300,000; $67,000 of that sum will come from the 2010 temporary budget, with the remainder to be paid when the budget for the current fiscal year is finally approved.

* A trip-and-fall suit brought against the city by Glenn Murray was settled in the amount of $22,500.

* All bids were rejected for a project to provide fall tree planting citywide, due to budgetary constraints.

* Rachael Riccio was appointed as the new custodian of the City Council office’s petty cash fund, replacing Rozani Pelc-Penteado.

* The city entered into a joint statement of intent with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the state Department of Environmental Protection and several other area agencies with an interest in the Port of New York and New Jersey that declares a “shared intention … to work collaboratively to reduce emissions associated with maritime operations” at the port. The statement specifically supports the Port Authority’s Clean Air Strategy.

* Jersey City funeral director and former city councilman Cornelius Parker, Jr. was honored by the council “for his many years of distinguished professional and public service.”

* Patrick McCarthy, a Jersey City custodian and Vice Chairman of the city Democratic Committee, was honored on the occasion of his naming as the Hibernian of the Year 2010 for the local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America. Jersey City resident Patricia Nierstedt, who is a nurse, was also honored upon receiving the Order’s Humanitarian of the Year award.

* The council adopted a resolution eulogizing City Hall custodian Ernest Sims, who died December 5, and another for Jersey City nurse’s aide Dorothy Badger, who died December 7.

What Are We buying?

The council approved the following purchases on Wednesday:

• Over $943,000 to renew a one-year contract with Jen Electric for the repair and maintenance of traffic signals. $250,000 of this sum will come from a capital account, an additional $50,000 will come from the 2010 temporary budget, and the balance will be paid upon approval of a final city budget for the current fiscal year.
• Over $470,000 to Orchard Holding for an improvement project at the intersection of Greene Street, Washington Boulevard and Second Street.
• A total of just over $146,000 to ELRAC and Car Rentals for used cars for the Police Department’s confidential investigations.
• $75,000 to law firm Berman, Sauter, Record & Jardim to amend an existing contract — doubling the initial agreed amount — for representation in Mathias Bolton’s suit against seven city police officers.
• Close to $60,000 to Meridian Medical Technologies for 1500 chemical nerve agent antidote autoinjectors.
• $28,750 to Bobcat of North Jersey for two new Bobcat utility vehicles for the Office of Emergency Management.
• Nearly $24,000 to New Jersey Business Systems for wireless network equipment and installation services at the Pershing Field Pool and Rink.

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