“It was immediately recognizable just by the size of it,” said Dunstan. “I’m used to seeing them around, and while driving up Montgomery [Street] the last few weeks I saw it pretty much every day and I started to film it.”

Now that Friends of the Lifers Youth Corp., the community farm group with an eye towards “youth delinquency prevention,” has obtained a plot of land from the city to house their farming operation after a messy dispute, the group has posted a survey to better assess the importance of locally grown food to you.

Take the survey and help out local farming in the area. Questions include, “How important is it for you to purchase local food?” and “Would you like to see more local food served in restaurants?”

Jersey City Construction Company is Fined $46,000 by OSHA for Alleged Violations: Jersey City company Clara Construction has been fined more than $46,000 by U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for alleged safety violations at its work site on Christopher Columbus Drive.

Liberty Science Center Receives Grant Towards Summer Program for High School Students: Liberty Science Center has been awarded a generous grant from Novo Nordisk Inc., a Denmark-based healthcare company that specializes in diabetes care, for an intensive eight-week summer program.

The Final Farewell of Star Video: The last video store in downtown, which rents DVDs and VHS tapes, is closing and will become a bar, according to the owner.

Crime Blotter: A Jersey City man targeted for a robbery by two young thugs tricked them into waiting outside his door while he called police; A Jersey City man imprisoned after a high speed chase that ended in a crash has escaped from a halfway house in Newark.

Today’s Best Bets:

It’s Open Mic Wednesdays at Boca Grande. Hosted by Nick Ciavatta, performers get the chance to perform 3-4 songs per open mic slot (8:30 pm, free).

In Statewide News:

Port Authority Needs ‘Top-to-Bottom Overhaul,’ According to Interim Audit: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is redeveloping the World Trade Center, needs a “top-to-bottom overhaul” because of poor management and a lack of cost controls, according to an interim audit released by its board.

New Jersey Disqualifies 29 School Board Members: Seventeen school board members in New Jersey will have to step down from their elected posts because they have a criminal conviction on their records. Another 12 school board members in New Jersey must also step down for not submitting their background checks in time.

Assembly Committee Clears Health Insurance Exchange Bill: The first in a long series of steps toward healthcare reform was taken yesterday, when a bill that will introduce sweeping changes to the way insurance is sold in New Jersey was voted out of an Assembly committee.

Now, however, state bidding-wars for large manufacturing warehouses appears to be the norm and the Goya deal looks like a smart decision. In fact, despite a $100 million package offered by Jersey City, New Jersey was unable to lure Fresh Direct, the groceries delivery service, from New York City. Instead, Fresh Direct has opted to move to a 500,000 square foot building in the Bronx, bringing with it the 2,000 employees Fresh Direct employs while reportedly creating 1,000 new jobs.

To help grease those wheels, New York offered a $120 million package — or $20 million more than Jersey City — that includes $18.9 million in Excelsior tax credits, $74 million in sales tax exemptions, $4.9 million in energy benefits, and multiple other multi-million dollar incentives that New Jersey did not match.

“Making sure that companies like Fresh Direct can grown and invest in New York City is a key part of our strategy to rebuild and diversify our economy,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement. “A thousand new jobs at the Harlem River Yards is great news for the Bronx and a welcome boost to our city’s economy.”

Jersey City, meanwhile, though outbid, can look at the Goya deal with different eyes now that the precedent of enticing big businesses is no longer the exception.

At a special meeting on Thursday, the board voted 6-0 with one abstention after a public hearing where most speakers asked that it maintain a traditional spring election. But its action does not end the debate — the city council can still switch the date by the deadline, and a third option gives residents a means of changing the date via petition if elected officials don’t act.

In a related matter, the board — via a show of hands — consented not to fill Sean Connors’ old seat under an April election scenario. However , it also opted to still look for interested candidates if the city council acts under the same law to move the contest. The act would extend Connors’ and two other expiring terms (Patricia Sebron, William DeRosa) by eight months.

In part to help districts save money, Gov. Chris Christie signed a measure into law last month allowing a voluntary switch via any of the three scenarios.

While the board election would remain nominally nonpartisan if switched, it would have to remain in the fall for four years before any effort to change it back. Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop has proposed having the council exercise its independent option of placing the question on a referendum for the November election, which, if approved, would delay any switch for at least a year.

If the board election is somehow still switched this year, it would merge the contest with highly partisan presidential and congressional races. And it would follow two April elections during which the board enjoyed its highest turnouts in history.

Voting against the change were Board President Sterling Waterman, Vice President Carol Lester, Marvin Adames, Carol Harrison-Arnold, Angel Valentin and Suzanne Mack. Sebron abstained, given voting for the switch would extend her term in a year her seat is up for re-election. DeRosa, also up for re-election, was absent.

Residents against the switch said they wanted to keep the board election free from the direct influence of the city’s Democratic and Republican organizations while placing a premium on focusing on local education issues, and a provision preventing residents in November from voting on the school tax levy if an increase falls below the state’s cap limiting any increase to two percent. Any tax levy must still be voted on in a spring election.

“Politics aside, I really believe concerns about the board of education election could be lost in a general election,” Harrison-Arnold said to applause. “We need to have individuals showing up at the polls… voting for the board of education.”

Regarding a board estimate that switching the date could save it about $175,000, district watchdog Riaz Wahid insisted that even so, that would equal a savings of only “1.1 cents per property owner per day” and obscure important issues such as the board’s $268,000 settlement to force last year’s retirement of then-superintendent Charles Epps, as well as the board’s paying at least $1.2 million for current garbage collection to the Jersey City Incinerator Authority (JCIA) for the first time ever — an amount that could increase depending on the outcome of negotiations. Wahid contends the JCIA payment amounts to double-billing, as residents already finance the agency via the city part of its tax bill.

“As for the $175,000, the money will go to somebody else,” Wahid insisted. “Let’s look to other districts to see how they deal with the change and see if it’s successful because once we change it, we can’t change it back until four years from now.”

But resident Gilbert Moore told the board it should not overlook any potential area for savings and accepted the board’s initial estimate. He contended “politics” are at play even in the traditional April contests, claiming a check of state campaign finance reports would reveal candidates who take contributions from politically active individuals also donating to council candidates.

“If it’s going to save our district money to move it to November, let’s save the district money and move it to November,” urged the parent, one of a half-dozen speakers endorsing the change during the two-and-a-half hour meeting.

Parents Akisia Grigsby and Oscar Lakra joined Wahid in asserting any switch will give short shrift to school district issues, rendering the estimated savings meaningless. Lakra insisted the board election must stay focused on “picking our people who are going to be our voices when it comes to education.”

“I sincerely believe that for the kids in Jersey City, we need to take the political system away from the educational system,” said Lakra.

Arnold B. Williams, a city businessman who heads the local group Keep Our Schools Public, opposes any switch and criticized Fulop’s proposal.

“Let Councilman Fulop walk around this city and gather required petitions for a referendum,” he told JCI. “Just like any regular citizen would have to do.”

If the current election date stays in place, it assures the issue of who should become the next superintendent will remain very relevant as the board moves forward with the intent of replacing Epps by July 1.

Mack, while endorsing not changing the date, expressed concerns that potentially having new board members vote on superintendent candidates might compromise the process. She noted that, under the board’s current timetable, applicants could be screened in time for the board’s scheduled April 26 meeting — nine days after the election.

Valentin and Waterman countered the matter would still be an issue if the new state law, allowing the date, change never developed.

“The reality is there is the chance that this will not be the same board that will vote on the superintendent,” Valentin said. “There’s a good chance of that happening.”

In the matter of Connors’ vacancy, the board decided not to fill the seat if the election stays on course for April, though a special committee headed by Mack on the subject will keep its options open in case the date is still pushed back eight months.

Waterman said that the board, which had earlier assumed an April election, felt it was better to focus on other issues than try to replace Connors for the last two months of his term. Yet he advised Mack that the recently enacted law that lets the council switch the date even if the board doesn’t requires the board to reconsider.

“I suggest the chair have these names (of possible replacement candidates) in case we find out by Feb. 17 we have to fill the seat,” he urged Mack.

Though the board did not fill the vacancy Peter Donnelly’s resignation created last year, with only two months left, Lester said she could back the move this time with Connors’ seat — even for an April election.

“I would just like us to make a decision right now,” said Lester, fearing the state could impose a choice on a district it still partially controls, though it didn’t do so for Donnelly. “We’re kind of in a climate right now that’s trying to disempower school boards.”

File photo of board members Carol Lester, Carol Harrison-Arnold and Marvin Adames by Steve Gold.

A plan to switch dental care providers that initially angered union representatives will be voted on at the Council meeting on Wednesday, February 8th, after the city and the health provider met with union heads to assure them that the plans are in fact comparable. The move was seen as controversial in large part because Business Administrator Jack Kelly had signed an agreement with Horizon Dental prior to getting the required Council authorization, and because union contracts would be altered and they had been left out of the conversation, a move that Police Officers Benevolent Association President Jerry DeCicco has slammed as the wrong way to conduct business.

“The fundamental problem is the way Jack Kelly conducts business,” said DeCicco. “He operates in the shadows, independently of the mayor or council.”

It was a concern echoed by Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop, who reminded Kelly that “the residents didn’t vote for you, they voted for” the City Council.

Without the forewarning of the move — employees received letters from Horizon notifying them of the switch in providers before the city made an announcement — and without proper documentation comparing the two dental plans, union representatives from both the fire and police departments held a rally at the City Council meeting on January 12th to protest the move and call for Kelly’s dismissal.

At the time, detective Mark Razzoli asked, “Does anyone answer for [Kelly]?” asked Razzoli. “We have to continuously come back here and defend what we negotiated for. Jack Kelly has no respect for anyone. As far as I’m concerned you hired him to be a union buster.”

Eventually Kelly provided documentation showing the plans to be comparable, but DeCicco, who said Horizon has made “strides” towards being sufficiently comparable to Delta’s plan, maintains reservations.

“By no means do we endorse the move,” said DeCicco, who added the savings would be approximately $73,000 a year, “a drop in the bucket of the city’s budget.”

More to the point, he said, “are the unknowns.” He noted that although Horizon increased the number of network providers from 5,000 to 8,500 at the meeting, it was unclear if the move would put some employees outside of the plan which would significantly increase out-of-pocket payments.

Although “POBA is not giving its endorsement,” he went on, “we’re happy with the progress they made.” Still, the union might exercise their right to any “grievances” or to “challenge any issues that may come up.”

“The simplest thing to do is go back to Delta, as we’re not saving tons of money here,” he continued. “If they would have negotiated in timely fashion, my guess is Delta would have matched Horizon.”

Giants Linebacker Chase Blackburn will Visit Jersey City and Speak to Students: Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn will visit Jersey City Wednesday to speak to students about overcoming adversity and triumphing against the odds.

Judge Denies Request to Roll Back Toll Hike Imposed by Port Authority: In a preliminary ruling that left both sides claiming victory, a federal judge denied a request to roll back a toll hike by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while also refusing to dismiss the case.

Jersey City Citizen’s Group Plans to Rally at City Council Meeting Tomorrow over Rise in Crime: A group of Jersey City residents is planning a rally at tomorrow’s City Council meeting to protest what it calls an increase in crime citywide.

Crime Blotter: Caught with 12 pounds of pot, a Jersey City man claimed that $2K found in his car was from a Super Bowl pool.

Today’s Best Bets:

LITM is featuring art opening ‘Afrocentricity,’ an art show by Darin DeField (7 pm, free).

Meanwhile, if you want to see a good stand up comedy show–that’s free–Shut Up and Laugh is back at the Lamp Post (9 pm).

In Statewide News:

Hand-Held Gambling Devices in Casinos: The measure that would let casinos offer hand-held gambling devices to customers on casino property was approved unanimously Monday by the New Jersey Senate’s Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee and now heads to the full New Jersey Senate for review.

New Jersey Fracking Opponents Take Second Shot at Ban Christie Vetoed: While New Jersey produces no natural gas, the Utica Shale formation, a largely unexplored deposit running from Ontario to Tennessee runs through it–New Jersey Democrats are hoping that a ban would head off future fracking in the area it runs through in Northwest New Jersey, which provides almost half of New Jersey with drinking water, said Senator Robert Gordon.

The city has once again re-introduced a measure to eliminate the city’s tow pound service after twice pulling a similar effort due to problems with the law’s construction. The move is expected to save the Jersey City Incinerator Authority $700,000, although Business Administrator Jack Kelly could not answer At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson’s concern over the number of jobs that might be eliminated by the move. The effort is seen as increasingly necessary with consideration to JCIA’s bloated request for a budget this year that exceeded the city’s 5% increase in appropriation for the agency.

The ordinance was pulled the first time it was introduced after the tow pounds the city had approached complained about prohibitive requirements in the law. The second time the ordinance was pulled in order to limit the number of tow pounds the city licenses with and to require the pound be located within Jersey City’s borders.

The city had initially expected to use two tow pounds, with GXR Auto, located on 10 East Linden Avenue, being one of the likely candidates. The city was still looking into other possible pounds at the time, including tow pounds outside of the city limits. However, some council members were unhappy about that, and during the first reading of the pulled ordinance Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop had requested language allowing the tow pound to be located outside of city limits be removed, thereby eliminating that option.

Photo of current tow pound entrance via Google Maps

Five days after Christ Hospital’s Board of Trustees voted to authorize the nonprofit health facility to file for Chapter 11 “if necessary,” the hospital has in fact needed to go that route. The move comes after Prime Healthcare Services, the for-profit, California-based hospital chain withdrew their bid following an outcry from Hudson County residents and politicians concerned that the loss of a nonprofit health center would be problematic for the area.

The move to reorganize is seen as unnecessary to that other bidder for the financially struggling non-profit hospital, a group pairing Jersey City Medical Center with Community Healthcare Associates and that put a $104 million bid on the table.

But Geoff Curtiss, the chairman of the board for Christ Hospital, suggested the bid was insincere and that “it’s unclear the money is actually there.” He added that he “doesn’t know” why CHA would make a bid without having the money prepared, but that “people say things.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, CHA’s managing partner, William Colgan, was “shocked” and “offended” by Curtiss’s assessment.

Colgan calls Curtiss’s claim “the furthest thing from the truth” and the group will continue their efforts to purchase the hospital now that it is in bankruptcy court.

“They’ve put the stake in the ground that that’s the path they chose,” he said of the decision. “A tremendous amount of value is pulled out of an institution when they file for bankruptcy. Historically I don’t think you’ll see less than $6 million in lost in the last four to five bankruptcies. The decision was criminal.”

“They absolute do not need to go through bankruptcy proceeding, they had financial needs and we told them we were prepared to meet their financial needs,” he said of a conversation that took place “on two days notice.”

Blackburn, who will be joined by Mayor Jerramiah Healy and Trinity Choice Communities developer Gary Flocco, will be honored for his efforts on Wednesday, February 8th at 10am at McGinley Square Plaza (the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Montgomery Street). The ceremony will kick-off a long awaited redevelopment plan for the area that will create all-income housing, parks, retail shops, and a better public services and a safer neighborhood.

“I have really been inspired by Chase’s perseverance this year,” said Flocco in a statement, “and I knew he could bring a great message of hope to these kids as we look forward to improving this neighborhood to give residents here new opportunities.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Blackburn to our community to share his story with our youth and to mark the kick-off of the revitalization of McGinley Square,” said Mayor Healy. “Chase Blackburn turned the game around for the Giants during the Super Bowl and we in Jersey City are working to do just the same – bring positive change and success for all of residents in all of our communities.”

“I love being a teacher in my time off the field – but I hope to keep that career on ice for awhile,” added Blackburn, who will visit with neighborhood kids after the ceremony, in the statement.