Sunday, April 13, 2003
IT'S "LIGHTS OUT" ON DISPUTED BONDING ORDINANCE
But "flickers" as council reintroduces after objectors leave
By Chrjs Neidenberg
A controversial $815,000 bond ordinance defeated Nov. 20 and facing major opposition suddenly gained new life - after the Borough Council quickly reintroduced it that night.
And the item drawing the loudest howls was a roughly $300,000 proposal for installing Memorial Park baseball field lights - a matter the council has periodically reviewed for years.
Reintroduction occurred after Republican Mayor Wayne Kuss - seeing that many of the lights' opponents were leaving after the first vote - recessed the meeting as the room cleared out.
Though this scenario sounds somewhat contradictory, the ordinance was actually first adopted via a 3-1 majority. Yet Borough Attorney Andrew Fede ruled that, as a bond ordinance creating debt, two-thirds of a full council (four of six) needed to enact it. Democratic Councilpersons Thomas Richards and Jeanne Matullo - who supported introduction on Oct. 22 - were absent.
So it would not have to wait until the 2003 council convenes (assuming Richards and Matullo keep supporting the measure), the majority followed Fede's advice and reintroduced it shortly after the crowd left.
A new advertised public hearing is sheduled for a special meeting during the Dec. 18 session. The council set the schedule to give it the staturorily-required time to legally re-advertise it. Thus, opponents, who think the matter has been dropped, must quickly mobilize again.
Voting for the ordinance (and reintroduction) were Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace and Republican Councilmen Fred Zigrest and Thomas Gaffney. Opposed was Republican Councilman James Petrie.
At least 50 residents attended the meeting. Some of those speaking against the ordinance, coming from the Memorial Field area, found particular fault with the lights, which supporters want installed to give the Maywood Youth Athletic Association (MYAA) greater flexibility in scheduling league baseball and soccer games. Two MYAA reps pleaded with the council to move forward.
Other opponents contended that the measure was fiscally irresponsible during tough economic times, and that the lights could wait another day (or night).
In reality, most of the funds allocated are targeted for items and vehicles designed to help Maywood's emergency volunteers and public works employees. The proposal calls for authorizing the issuance of bonds and bond anticipation nptes. It would require Maywood to make an aggregate $40,000 downpayment using current funds, while borrowing $775,000 in bonds and notes as the principle - repayable over time under what is determined to be the prevailing rate of interest. The municipality will determine this during a bond sale with interested banks..
Periods of usefulness for these items range from five to 15 years (the latter applies to the lights). Bonds would be floated for: the lights ($279,000), a public works forestry truck and wood chipper ($151,000), an ambulance ($140,000), fire turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus and equipment ($133,000), installation of an early emergency warning system ($39,000), and a fire police four-wheel drive emergency vehicle $31,000).
Via bonding, a council majority has decided to have taxpayers pay even more in the long run so it can buy the items now, without large amounts of upfront cash..
This borrowing comes as the council, in its last budget, approved a $2,315,000 capital improvement program (from 2002-2004) it does not have to enact. But if it does, taxpayers can expect much more bonding in the coming years.
Upon adopting its budget last July, the council raised property taxes with a $10.1 million 2002 budget and an $885,000 anticipated surplus. In opposing the bond proposal, Petrie insisted that his biggest problem was incorporating financing the lights into the initiative. He argued that Maywoodians cannot just keep paying more and more in the coming years.
Yet the lights' council supporters, including Gaffney and Zigrest, told weary residents that they anticipated reimbursing costs for the vast bulk of this proposal through outside grants and/or donations. Yet neither Gaffney nor Zigrest offered any guarantees, in advancing taxpayer financing of this major undertaking.
Resident Virginia Steparra cited erecting the lights as a financial and neighborhood quality-of-life issue.
"We're right on the park. We've lived near the park for 25 years," the senior citizen pointed out. "I know these lights are made to make daylight. That is their job, and you can see them from a couple of blocks away."
Additionally, Steparra said all Maywoodians need a bit of a financial breather now that the council is finishing building the beleaguered and massive "John A. Steuert Municipal Complex."
John Shanahan, a resident who has studied the councl'ls financing of the entire undertaking, has said the final price tag for this big-ticket item could exceed $9 million (including site preparation work), far greater than earlier estimates. The final impact on the taxpayer has yet to be estimated.
"Maywood's spread so thin, we have all these things going on," said Steparra. "Maybe we can talk about (the lights' installation) at another time."
Resident Joe Gianono harped on the ultimate impact the entire bond measure would have on the taxpayer, in light of the fact that school and municipal taxes are constantly going up.
In alluding to the messy borough hall project, the resident expressed concern over continually increasing the municipality's indebtedness .- that ultimately adds to the tax burden.
Gianono suggested that, spending funds on (what he alleged are) non-essential items like the youth league lights, shows the council is catering to special interests at the expense of many more hard-working taxpayers.
"I don't know who you are representing, but I do know that you're not representing the majority of the taxpayers," he charged. "The bottom line is: this town cannot afford any more debt. I don't think so."
Yet Jerry Holmes and Tom Freeman, volunteers with the MYAA, asserted that the lights are vitally important to maintaining a quality program.
Freeman, for instance, said the leagues have to schedule many more night games out of town since many of Maywood's neighbors have lights erected at youth facilities - giving them greater flexibility with scheduling.
"We have over 500 children and we're trying to provide sports for them in this town," said Freeman, claiming that the fall soccer program is most seriously impacted without lights. "With our soccer program, it's very hard to put the contests on once the time changes (from daylight savings back to standard time)."
Petrie, the lone dissenter, sided with those calling for greater frugality.
"We're currently seeing a level of debt not seen before in this community," said the young second-year councilman, insisting that he would have no problem backing the emergency-related items - if there was a better way to finance them.
"We're in dire circumstances in this community," Petrie added. "We are facing circumstances we've not seen before. The way this ordinance was structured does not make sense to me."
Yet Petrie's GOP colleague, Zigrest, disagreed. Making the assumption that Maywood will be reimbursed for about "90 percent" of the lights' costs, he claimed that the borough's portion will reach "about $25,000."
"It's not a lot of money," he told the audience.
For years, securing the lights has been Eustace's major priority. He said the money serves a good purpose, compared to what, he contended was, money wasted on the new municipal complex.
Additionally, he said having local night games will let the children play more games in town, increasing convenience for them and their parents.
"I do have children in the program ... and I see a tremendous amount of benefit from it," said Eustace, an MYAA member.
.
.
. . .
MAYWOOD'S TORTURED BUILDING SAGA NEARING END?
Terhune says "John A. Steuert" site could open in January 2003
By Chris Neidenberg
It has been in the works for well over two years now, and Borough Administrator Jack Terhune said he is hopeful that the municipality can finally transition into the troubled "John A. Steuert Jr. Municipal Complex" by early January.
At the Borough Council's Nov. 20 meeting, Terhune announced that contractor GRE Construction of Parlin is putting the finishing touches on the exterior of the three-story Park Avenue building, and that he (Terhune) is developing a "phased" plan for moving borough offices, the police department and municipal court, now in three separate locations, to the site.
Once GRE finishes the "site work" around the new bullding, he told the council, the municipality can then focus on moving inside during December.
Thus, sometime in January, the municipality hopes to complete a historic and controversial move that will take the council and borough offices out of their current Trinka Hall quarters they have occupied, in the basement of the Maywood Public Library at 459 Maywood Ave., since the mid to late 1960s.
"We currently hope to be in the facility by year's end or next year, phasing it in," explained the administrator.
"We want to first move the police into the new municipal offices, and then the borough offices (at 459 Maywood Ave.) after that," Terhune added.
For about the past two years, police have operated in a temporary modual structure on the parking lot of the former public safety building (the new complex will replace) at 15 Park Ave. For the same period, the court has convened in the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center on Magnolia Lane, while the court administrator's office is being housed in the old council agenda room, in the current Borough Hall basement.
Executing the full plan next year will also end many months of makeshift operations for the Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the Protection Hook and Ladder and Undyne fire companies. All were once stationed with police at 15 Park .The original police building opened im 1915.
The new firehouse is expected to feature a bay big enough to house a large ladder truck bought eight years ago, which could not fit into the old station, and had to park elsewhere,
The new building will feature a bigger and ultra-modern police department containing a sallyport, municipal and court offices, and a new council chambers on the third floor. The upper floors can be acceseed via elevator, making the site handicap-accessible, and the building will have a bigger parking lot
Once the council and municipal offices vacate their existing locations, this space will be turned over to the library (established at the current site in 1965) for a future expansion.
Yet this grand building expansion doesn't come without a hefty price tag for the taxpayers, and a good deal of mysterious political intrigue involving Maywood's Democratic and Republicsn elected officials..
In fact, Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards and Republican Councilman Thomas Gaffney have stated that Maywood must launch a serious investigation into how the whole affair was handled - after all the dust literally settles following next year's expected groundbreaking (for more on this convoluted project's history, please read, "Candidates Urge Probe of Building Mess")..
The project, started by the now-bankrupt Monument Contracting of Newark, has run into lengthy delays. In fact, now-former Borough Administrator John Perkins once said he expected the building would be ready for occupation by early 2001 (that is, before plans radically changed).
John Shanahan, a Jersey Avenue resident who is seriously studying Maywood's handling of this problem-plagued construction effort, has said he believes the entire job (including the cost of tearing down the older buildings) will wind up costing roughly $9.5 million.
Shanahan, in tandem with borough developer George Haag, is examining cost overruns associated with the new site.
At one time. now-former Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy - focusing on a less ambitious plan tailored to just renovating the old fire and ambulance sites - promised taxpayes while in office that the project would not exceed $2.5 million.
Former Borough Attorney William Rupp and a Ft. Lee construction company, the latter hired in 2000 to provide a clerk pf the works now overseeing the project, are investigating and keeping track of the overruns via providing periodic reports to the governing body.
STATE FORCES COUNCIL TO LET PUBLIC SPEAK
Only allows minimum time for work session comments
By Chris Neidenberg
The Borough Council, moving only because the state ordered it to, has amended its by-laws so citizens can address the body during work sessions.
Yet at its September meeting, Republican Mayor Wayne Kuss made clear the effort to bring more "sunshine" to these proceedings - and make them more constituent friendly - was not on the council's initiative.
Additionally, Kuss made clear that any person wishing to address the council those evenings will only receive the minimum time the law requires...
Kuss explained that, under a new state law Gov. James McGreevey signed, New Jersey's 567 municipalities must open the meetings - which differ from regular or special meetings - to public comment.
"There is a change in the (state's) Open Public Meetings Act," the mayor pointed out. "Previously, the meetings of work sessions were allowed to be just that. They (the public) were not alllowed to speak.
"No person will be allowed to speak in excess of five minutes, unless by a majority vote of the mayor and council," Kuss added.
Thus, during the four work meetings held since that time (through Nov. 20), the council has added a "hearing of citizens" section - as is custom at regular meetings.
Doing so returns the governing body to a mode in effect for at least part of the tenure of the late former Mayor John Steuert.
Using discretion, Steuert did open work sessions to public comments at the end of the often lengthy proceedings - drawing occasional criticism from some council members - who complained that he let some residents speak for far too long - adding unnecessary time to those meetings.
Steuert's successor, Mayor Thomas Murphy, discontinued this practice in 1996. Kuss continued Murphy's policy for almost the last three years - until the state forced the reluctant mayor - and mayors in many other municipalities - to relent.
Wotk sessions, also known in some municipalities as "workshops" or "caucuses," differ from regular public meetings in that votes on adopting or introducing ordinances (without prior legal notice) are not supposed to be taken..The council can, on occasion, schedule special meetings during the work sessions to take such votes - provided they are advertised as per law.
Before the new law, governing bodies could - but did not have to - open work sessions to public comments. In Fair Lawn, the council in 2001 (beating the state law by about a year) started opening all scheduled work sessions to residents. They must sign up in advance.
These meetings are usually reserved for setting the agendas of the regular meetings, or discusssing borough policies and procedures in depth. Thus, at least in Maywood, they tend to run much longer than so-called "action" sessions.
At times, these sessions (starting at 7:30 p.m.) run over four hours. They can be lengthened if the council - a common practice in Maywood - opts to hold "closed" legal or personnel sessions in the middle (rather than the end) of such meetings - forcing some residents to wait in the hallway for extended periods.
The forced opening of work meetings comes as Maywood's officials took prior steps to significantly limit public involvement, starting with Murphy,.in 1996.
At that time, in addition to shutting the public out from speaking at work sessions, Murphy swayed council members to lower the number of annual "action" meetings - where citizens have always been allowed to speak. This move effected a radical change in the council's calendar following a longstanding tradition.
Citing the need to cut costs, Murphy got the council to trim yearly regular meetings (excluding reorganizations) from 22 to 12. It approved holding only one monthly meeting (previously done during July and August) all year.
Yet the council did not similarly reduce scheduled work sessions used in setting the regular meeting agendas.
It still holds 22 such forums (not including the 45-minute "mini-work sessions" conducted before each regular meeting) - for 12 regular meetings.
This contrasts to a town like Wood-Ridge, which, while traditionally holding only one regular monthly meeting, needs only one work session for setting the agenda.
In defending the five-minute limit - actually also allotted (though not always enforced) at regular meetings - Kuss said the work sessions are already long enough.
."The reason why we're going to enforce the five-minute rule, as those of you who keep hours know, is that the meetings often go from 12 midnight to one o'clock," he said.
PB OKAY ON EXPANDING FOOD STORE RAISES QUEONS Single alleges board's Maywood Market dealings are suspicio
By Chris Neidenberg
In the wake of the Planning/Zoning Board's approval to replace residential with even more commercial development near the Maywood Market Place site, records and the time line leading to the decision raise questions over why some Maywood officials worked cooperatively for so long with the developer in preparing the plan - before submitting it to the board.
If he proceeds with his plans, a wealthy New York developer will destroy two structurally sound homes on West Passaic Street. Citing the price of progress, he will replace green lawns with more concrete to develop a much bigger parking lot for Maywood Market Place. All this, under terms of a resolution Planning/Zoning Board members earlier approved.
Market owner Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L..I. has been authorized to expand the current lot between Palmer and Bergen avenues by destroying two currently-occupied houses his silent partnership owns at 89 and 95 West Passaic (the latter also houses a second unit in the back at 520 Palmer). If the full plan is implemented, the lot will be increased from about 25 to over 70 spaces.
Katapoudis heads MNK Development Corporation, a partnership which owns the homes, and he also owns Maywood Market Place. The store's building is owned and managed by an entity called Jay Zee Realty. All three entities have been mentioned during the hearings as partners in this enterprise. Yet Secaucus attorney Alan Magrini, who represented two objectors, complained that Katapoudis was quite vague about who comprises the different partnerships, and the roles each group played in their efforts at securing the development.
The store plans on doing much more than just expanding the lot. Under the resolution, which the board unanimously memprialized Sept. 10, the store will add a precedent-setting second story along West Pleasant Avenue, add an entrance on West Pleasant, increase selling floor space, and enlarge a kitchen in helping its catering business.
Memorializing the resolution were Chairman George Brush, Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, and Robert Tarleton, George Georgeou, Frank Lichtenberger, David Pegg and Harry Hillenius.
None of the members supporting this expansion at the time offered any kind of statement on just how the bigger lot and store will improve Maywood's quality of life.
Aside from just addressing a technical point on increasing room for vehicles entering and exiting the lot, these members quietly OK'd the expansion.
Board Member Alfred Ballerini, who did not participate Sept. 10, opposed ratification during an earlier preliminary vote. He said he did not see how enlarging the Market's catering business "expands commerce" throughout Maywood.
In taking a second vote, the board officially ratified a 26-page resolution spelling out the plan Oct. 2.
"The politicians and the Planning Board betrayed the community as ususal," complained Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance tto Protect Maywood, a witness to the proceedings. "As we've seen time and rime again, they cater to the big-money developers at the expense of the people who make their homes here."
She insisted, "The board's decision to add a second story on West Pleasant for warehouse storage sets a very dangerous precedent that opens the street up for other big-money developers, who will demand second stories in any big commercial developments they might try proposing.in the future."
During the hearings, Single showed pictures of Katapoudis' own affluent Manhasset neighborhood, replete with what she termed "million-dollar homes" and near at least one golf course. Comparing this area to the Market's more modest neighborhood, a skeptical Single said she seriously doubted Katapoudis would support the same kind of development right near his home.
The resident, citing correspondence between Market representatives and "the building inspector (Joe Mellone), board attorney (Greg Padavano) board secretary (Mary Carton) and others (certain members of the governing body)," maintained that there were "secretive hand in hand dealings involving the parties for approximately a year" before any public hearings commenced (May 14).
Single said that, while she started receiving correspondence on the case beginning in October of 2001, she was aware of prior communication between the parties well before then - but was only given all new correspondence starting that October. Single also cited an ongoing dialogue between Katapoudis and some Maywood elected officials, regarding his parking lot proposal, well before the hearing.
"When does cooperation between the board and the applicant end, and collusion begin?" Single asked.
Single, while not against letting the Market expand at the ground level on West Pleasant, insisted that the board's agreeing to destroy the two homes for a bigger lot and allowing erection of a second floor is simply bad public policy. She complained that the move continues a significant encroachment upon residential areas with unwise commercial development.
She cited as other examples knocking down homes on Maywood Avenue to allow a Duane Reade drugstore, after critical residents complained it seemed clear the borough let the homes become run down through lax code enforcement, as well as establoshing the Commerce Bank between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic Street. In that case, critics complained, the governing body simply gave away valuable real estate to the bank in granting easements - when placing the property up for public sale could have netted the municipality badly-needed revenue.
In approving the Maywood Market measure, the board backed changing current residential (R-!) zones now featuring the three dwellings into restricted commercial (RC) zones, and a subdivision that combines two separate residential lots at 89 West Passaic and 520 Palmer, into one.
Maywood Market's initial plan encompassed about 37,000 square feet.Yet since the board opted only to approve the first phase of an original two-phase plan, the project's original scope could be impacted. MNK ultimately agreed to withdraw this second phase for possible consideration at a later time.
After much resistance, Brush reluctantly agreed to support reopening the public hearing on Sept. 10 at Magrini's repeated insistence, during which time the parties further discussed ways of trying to make the expansion more tolerable for the surrounding residents.
Hynes and Garrett agreed to work with Magrini on trying to save a tree in the area, that falls within the region of the planned expansion, so the residents will have a better buffer separating them from the enlarged parking lot.
Concerns were also voiced over the impact night lighting could have on the residences. Brush assured Magrini that the board addressed the concerns.in lowering the height of the stantions, originally set at 20 feet.
"The lights will be 16 feet (in height) with no spillage onto the adjacent properties" the chairrman told Magrini.
"We've made a lot of suggestions (for revisions) on it, and I think they're good ones." insisted Brush.
Yet earlier during the proceedings, Brush blasted Katapoudis in alleging that he inserted many changes in the proposal, that were not previously discussed in preliminary discussions between the parties.
Brush backed the plan, even though he earlier raised fears in a memo that expanding the lot could lead to an increase in traffic in the West Passaic/Palmer area, and that destroying the two residential ratables could cause a dip in tax revenues.
No traffic expert ever testified before the board, even though Board Attorney Greg Padavano contended that its members properly examined the issue.
In supporting bigger store, PB chairman admitted Market is "a bad neighbor"
Brush also led the chorus after admitting that the Market has been a terrible neighbor to residents in abutting homes off Bergen and Palmer avenues.
One resident, Victor Papparazzo, provided evidence that the Market violated an existing agreement with the board on store upkeep and maintenance, in seeking earlier approvals to help the business. Even Katapoudis' lawyer, Thomas Hynes of Maywood, did not dispute complaints that the store has left the grounds unkempt - in violation of its prior agreement.
"Could they be a little neater? Probably," the lawyer told the board during a June meeting.
In acknowledging that the store broke prior commitments, Brush simply admonished Maywood Market to be "a better neighbor," but rejected using the business' questionable conduct as a rationale for denying the expansion.
During four months of hearings, Katapoudis' representatives - Hynes and consultant Anthony Garrett of the Bilow group in Ridgefield Park - apparently managed to sway the board that enlarging the store would ultimately benefit the community. They maintained that Maywood will benefit in stimulating greater area economic activity, and in promoting the other businesses (by encouraging Market shoppers to use the other stores), even if the expansion increases traffic congestion.
And while Maywood Market has cited the larger store as a potential anchor which will help increase business in the smaller surrounding shops, Katapoudis has not ruled out in the future evicting some of these smaller West Pleasant merchants adjacent to him - occupying storefronts he owns - to further enlarge his store.
Board wanted the bigger parking lot even more than Maywood Market's owner, who said it was "non-essential" to his store's success
In an ironic twist, those on the board backing almost tripling the parking lot wanted the plan even more than the store's owner.
During the very first meeting on May 14, Katapoudis told the board the bigger lot's only purpose was to make parking more convenient for his own customers. He also stated that his business would in no way suffer without it.
"It's not as though we would be out of business if we didn't have it,(bigger parking lot)," Katapoudis told the board then. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
In giving his stamp of approval, Hillenius said the bigger lot is needed because "Maywood needs more parking," implying that the larger facility could perhaps be used to partially accomodate all shoppers in the business district following negotiations with the governing body. Yet he offered this premise even as the store's attorney insisted that Katapoudis wants to keep any expanded facility all for himself.
The council has designated the West Pleasant region a "Special Improvement District (SID)" This act makes the area eligible for certain state programs promoting business development. The district is managed by a corporation which includes all council members, some of whom earlier met with Katapoudis - before his application even went before the board.
Brush, however, said the business, based on his understanding, wants to keep the lot entirely for itself. Katapoudis told the board during the first night of hearings that he did discuss this issue with some unidentified members of the governing body -- without reaching any agreement.
Conradictions abound as to if Maywood's Borough Council will try forcing taxpayers to help finance the Market's parking expansion costs
Even as Brush and Hynes have stated Maywood Market will not enter into negotiations with the borough on sharing (and helping to pay for) an expanded parking lot, statements from Republican Mayor Wayne Kuss and Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace seem to leave the door open to that possibility.
Kuss stated during a July council meeting that the borough was interested in talking with Katapoudis - even after Hynes promised the board one month earlier that taxpayers will not pay "one penny" for any work done in expanding the facility.
At the same council meeting, Eustace - a booster of sharing costs to help Maywood's parking situation if such plans are workable - would only say negotiations were not ongoing at that time (late July).
Single, a West Passaic resident and member of the SID District Management Corporation's Project Planning Committee, cited comments contained in minutes of the corporation's June meeting. They noted that Chief Financial Officer Charles Cuccia was asked in a letter - from unidentified officials - to explore "the legality" of sharing some of Katapoudis' costs.
Citing discussions among corporation members, Single said those costs could include having borough taxpayers help finance demolishing the two houses, helping write off Katapoudis' losses via buying the two structures from MNK before being destroyed, and paying some costs in establishing and maintaining the bigger parking site.
In return, the borough would get to share use of the bigger parking facility by having part of the site allocated for all shoppers, not just Market customers. Those supporting such negotiations, including Eustace, president of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce, see it as a way to alleviate parking congestion on streets in the region.
Single complained that the board did not properly evaluate the application before supporting it, and further questioned whether the proposal earned the go-ahead from the municipality- months before the board actually approved it.
Questionable behavior by the board, and the applicant, documented:
A. The applicant's failing to notify all property owners within 200 feet of the proposal that the public hearings were to start on Feb. 26, at least 10 days before that evening (Feb. 16), after Zoning Officer Mellone announced setting a start date in correspondence. Single cited N.J.S.A. 40: 5-5-01 requiring this. The hearings did not officially begin for about another three months (May 14).
B. The refusal by Maywood Market's lawyer (Hynes) to disclose the names of the other shareholders in Katapoudis' various partnerships, as well as the applicant's declining to disclose phone numbers or addresses for either MNK Development Corporation or Jay Zee Realty. Board Chairman Brush ruled in Hynes' favor, saying the public had no right to know this information.
C. Single pointed out that, all during the hearings, Brush seemingly afforded the applicant's reps ample time to raise their points, but when she tried to speak, was put on a strict time clock. She asserted that it seemed Brush showed "all the patience in the world" in letting the store's representatives address the board, while trying "to squelch" her efforts at refuting the applicant's points.
But "flickers" as council reintroduces after objectors leave
By Chrjs Neidenberg
A controversial $815,000 bond ordinance defeated Nov. 20 and facing major opposition suddenly gained new life - after the Borough Council quickly reintroduced it that night.
And the item drawing the loudest howls was a roughly $300,000 proposal for installing Memorial Park baseball field lights - a matter the council has periodically reviewed for years.
Reintroduction occurred after Republican Mayor Wayne Kuss - seeing that many of the lights' opponents were leaving after the first vote - recessed the meeting as the room cleared out.
Though this scenario sounds somewhat contradictory, the ordinance was actually first adopted via a 3-1 majority. Yet Borough Attorney Andrew Fede ruled that, as a bond ordinance creating debt, two-thirds of a full council (four of six) needed to enact it. Democratic Councilpersons Thomas Richards and Jeanne Matullo - who supported introduction on Oct. 22 - were absent.
So it would not have to wait until the 2003 council convenes (assuming Richards and Matullo keep supporting the measure), the majority followed Fede's advice and reintroduced it shortly after the crowd left.
A new advertised public hearing is sheduled for a special meeting during the Dec. 18 session. The council set the schedule to give it the staturorily-required time to legally re-advertise it. Thus, opponents, who think the matter has been dropped, must quickly mobilize again.
Voting for the ordinance (and reintroduction) were Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace and Republican Councilmen Fred Zigrest and Thomas Gaffney. Opposed was Republican Councilman James Petrie.
At least 50 residents attended the meeting. Some of those speaking against the ordinance, coming from the Memorial Field area, found particular fault with the lights, which supporters want installed to give the Maywood Youth Athletic Association (MYAA) greater flexibility in scheduling league baseball and soccer games. Two MYAA reps pleaded with the council to move forward.
Other opponents contended that the measure was fiscally irresponsible during tough economic times, and that the lights could wait another day (or night).
In reality, most of the funds allocated are targeted for items and vehicles designed to help Maywood's emergency volunteers and public works employees. The proposal calls for authorizing the issuance of bonds and bond anticipation nptes. It would require Maywood to make an aggregate $40,000 downpayment using current funds, while borrowing $775,000 in bonds and notes as the principle - repayable over time under what is determined to be the prevailing rate of interest. The municipality will determine this during a bond sale with interested banks..
Periods of usefulness for these items range from five to 15 years (the latter applies to the lights). Bonds would be floated for: the lights ($279,000), a public works forestry truck and wood chipper ($151,000), an ambulance ($140,000), fire turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus and equipment ($133,000), installation of an early emergency warning system ($39,000), and a fire police four-wheel drive emergency vehicle $31,000).
Via bonding, a council majority has decided to have taxpayers pay even more in the long run so it can buy the items now, without large amounts of upfront cash..
This borrowing comes as the council, in its last budget, approved a $2,315,000 capital improvement program (from 2002-2004) it does not have to enact. But if it does, taxpayers can expect much more bonding in the coming years.
Upon adopting its budget last July, the council raised property taxes with a $10.1 million 2002 budget and an $885,000 anticipated surplus. In opposing the bond proposal, Petrie insisted that his biggest problem was incorporating financing the lights into the initiative. He argued that Maywoodians cannot just keep paying more and more in the coming years.
Yet the lights' council supporters, including Gaffney and Zigrest, told weary residents that they anticipated reimbursing costs for the vast bulk of this proposal through outside grants and/or donations. Yet neither Gaffney nor Zigrest offered any guarantees, in advancing taxpayer financing of this major undertaking.
Resident Virginia Steparra cited erecting the lights as a financial and neighborhood quality-of-life issue.
"We're right on the park. We've lived near the park for 25 years," the senior citizen pointed out. "I know these lights are made to make daylight. That is their job, and you can see them from a couple of blocks away."
Additionally, Steparra said all Maywoodians need a bit of a financial breather now that the council is finishing building the beleaguered and massive "John A. Steuert Municipal Complex."
John Shanahan, a resident who has studied the councl'ls financing of the entire undertaking, has said the final price tag for this big-ticket item could exceed $9 million (including site preparation work), far greater than earlier estimates. The final impact on the taxpayer has yet to be estimated.
"Maywood's spread so thin, we have all these things going on," said Steparra. "Maybe we can talk about (the lights' installation) at another time."
Resident Joe Gianono harped on the ultimate impact the entire bond measure would have on the taxpayer, in light of the fact that school and municipal taxes are constantly going up.
In alluding to the messy borough hall project, the resident expressed concern over continually increasing the municipality's indebtedness .- that ultimately adds to the tax burden.
Gianono suggested that, spending funds on (what he alleged are) non-essential items like the youth league lights, shows the council is catering to special interests at the expense of many more hard-working taxpayers.
"I don't know who you are representing, but I do know that you're not representing the majority of the taxpayers," he charged. "The bottom line is: this town cannot afford any more debt. I don't think so."
Yet Jerry Holmes and Tom Freeman, volunteers with the MYAA, asserted that the lights are vitally important to maintaining a quality program.
Freeman, for instance, said the leagues have to schedule many more night games out of town since many of Maywood's neighbors have lights erected at youth facilities - giving them greater flexibility with scheduling.
"We have over 500 children and we're trying to provide sports for them in this town," said Freeman, claiming that the fall soccer program is most seriously impacted without lights. "With our soccer program, it's very hard to put the contests on once the time changes (from daylight savings back to standard time)."
Petrie, the lone dissenter, sided with those calling for greater frugality.
"We're currently seeing a level of debt not seen before in this community," said the young second-year councilman, insisting that he would have no problem backing the emergency-related items - if there was a better way to finance them.
"We're in dire circumstances in this community," Petrie added. "We are facing circumstances we've not seen before. The way this ordinance was structured does not make sense to me."
Yet Petrie's GOP colleague, Zigrest, disagreed. Making the assumption that Maywood will be reimbursed for about "90 percent" of the lights' costs, he claimed that the borough's portion will reach "about $25,000."
"It's not a lot of money," he told the audience.
For years, securing the lights has been Eustace's major priority. He said the money serves a good purpose, compared to what, he contended was, money wasted on the new municipal complex.
Additionally, he said having local night games will let the children play more games in town, increasing convenience for them and their parents.
"I do have children in the program ... and I see a tremendous amount of benefit from it," said Eustace, an MYAA member.
.
.
. . .
MAYWOOD'S TORTURED BUILDING SAGA NEARING END?
Terhune says "John A. Steuert" site could open in January 2003
By Chris Neidenberg
It has been in the works for well over two years now, and Borough Administrator Jack Terhune said he is hopeful that the municipality can finally transition into the troubled "John A. Steuert Jr. Municipal Complex" by early January.
At the Borough Council's Nov. 20 meeting, Terhune announced that contractor GRE Construction of Parlin is putting the finishing touches on the exterior of the three-story Park Avenue building, and that he (Terhune) is developing a "phased" plan for moving borough offices, the police department and municipal court, now in three separate locations, to the site.
Once GRE finishes the "site work" around the new bullding, he told the council, the municipality can then focus on moving inside during December.
Thus, sometime in January, the municipality hopes to complete a historic and controversial move that will take the council and borough offices out of their current Trinka Hall quarters they have occupied, in the basement of the Maywood Public Library at 459 Maywood Ave., since the mid to late 1960s.
"We currently hope to be in the facility by year's end or next year, phasing it in," explained the administrator.
"We want to first move the police into the new municipal offices, and then the borough offices (at 459 Maywood Ave.) after that," Terhune added.
For about the past two years, police have operated in a temporary modual structure on the parking lot of the former public safety building (the new complex will replace) at 15 Park Ave. For the same period, the court has convened in the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center on Magnolia Lane, while the court administrator's office is being housed in the old council agenda room, in the current Borough Hall basement.
Executing the full plan next year will also end many months of makeshift operations for the Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the Protection Hook and Ladder and Undyne fire companies. All were once stationed with police at 15 Park .The original police building opened im 1915.
The new firehouse is expected to feature a bay big enough to house a large ladder truck bought eight years ago, which could not fit into the old station, and had to park elsewhere,
The new building will feature a bigger and ultra-modern police department containing a sallyport, municipal and court offices, and a new council chambers on the third floor. The upper floors can be acceseed via elevator, making the site handicap-accessible, and the building will have a bigger parking lot
Once the council and municipal offices vacate their existing locations, this space will be turned over to the library (established at the current site in 1965) for a future expansion.
Yet this grand building expansion doesn't come without a hefty price tag for the taxpayers, and a good deal of mysterious political intrigue involving Maywood's Democratic and Republicsn elected officials..
In fact, Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards and Republican Councilman Thomas Gaffney have stated that Maywood must launch a serious investigation into how the whole affair was handled - after all the dust literally settles following next year's expected groundbreaking (for more on this convoluted project's history, please read, "Candidates Urge Probe of Building Mess")..
The project, started by the now-bankrupt Monument Contracting of Newark, has run into lengthy delays. In fact, now-former Borough Administrator John Perkins once said he expected the building would be ready for occupation by early 2001 (that is, before plans radically changed).
John Shanahan, a Jersey Avenue resident who is seriously studying Maywood's handling of this problem-plagued construction effort, has said he believes the entire job (including the cost of tearing down the older buildings) will wind up costing roughly $9.5 million.
Shanahan, in tandem with borough developer George Haag, is examining cost overruns associated with the new site.
At one time. now-former Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy - focusing on a less ambitious plan tailored to just renovating the old fire and ambulance sites - promised taxpayes while in office that the project would not exceed $2.5 million.
Former Borough Attorney William Rupp and a Ft. Lee construction company, the latter hired in 2000 to provide a clerk pf the works now overseeing the project, are investigating and keeping track of the overruns via providing periodic reports to the governing body.
STATE FORCES COUNCIL TO LET PUBLIC SPEAK
Only allows minimum time for work session comments
By Chris Neidenberg
The Borough Council, moving only because the state ordered it to, has amended its by-laws so citizens can address the body during work sessions.
Yet at its September meeting, Republican Mayor Wayne Kuss made clear the effort to bring more "sunshine" to these proceedings - and make them more constituent friendly - was not on the council's initiative.
Additionally, Kuss made clear that any person wishing to address the council those evenings will only receive the minimum time the law requires...
Kuss explained that, under a new state law Gov. James McGreevey signed, New Jersey's 567 municipalities must open the meetings - which differ from regular or special meetings - to public comment.
"There is a change in the (state's) Open Public Meetings Act," the mayor pointed out. "Previously, the meetings of work sessions were allowed to be just that. They (the public) were not alllowed to speak.
"No person will be allowed to speak in excess of five minutes, unless by a majority vote of the mayor and council," Kuss added.
Thus, during the four work meetings held since that time (through Nov. 20), the council has added a "hearing of citizens" section - as is custom at regular meetings.
Doing so returns the governing body to a mode in effect for at least part of the tenure of the late former Mayor John Steuert.
Using discretion, Steuert did open work sessions to public comments at the end of the often lengthy proceedings - drawing occasional criticism from some council members - who complained that he let some residents speak for far too long - adding unnecessary time to those meetings.
Steuert's successor, Mayor Thomas Murphy, discontinued this practice in 1996. Kuss continued Murphy's policy for almost the last three years - until the state forced the reluctant mayor - and mayors in many other municipalities - to relent.
Wotk sessions, also known in some municipalities as "workshops" or "caucuses," differ from regular public meetings in that votes on adopting or introducing ordinances (without prior legal notice) are not supposed to be taken..The council can, on occasion, schedule special meetings during the work sessions to take such votes - provided they are advertised as per law.
Before the new law, governing bodies could - but did not have to - open work sessions to public comments. In Fair Lawn, the council in 2001 (beating the state law by about a year) started opening all scheduled work sessions to residents. They must sign up in advance.
These meetings are usually reserved for setting the agendas of the regular meetings, or discusssing borough policies and procedures in depth. Thus, at least in Maywood, they tend to run much longer than so-called "action" sessions.
At times, these sessions (starting at 7:30 p.m.) run over four hours. They can be lengthened if the council - a common practice in Maywood - opts to hold "closed" legal or personnel sessions in the middle (rather than the end) of such meetings - forcing some residents to wait in the hallway for extended periods.
The forced opening of work meetings comes as Maywood's officials took prior steps to significantly limit public involvement, starting with Murphy,.in 1996.
At that time, in addition to shutting the public out from speaking at work sessions, Murphy swayed council members to lower the number of annual "action" meetings - where citizens have always been allowed to speak. This move effected a radical change in the council's calendar following a longstanding tradition.
Citing the need to cut costs, Murphy got the council to trim yearly regular meetings (excluding reorganizations) from 22 to 12. It approved holding only one monthly meeting (previously done during July and August) all year.
Yet the council did not similarly reduce scheduled work sessions used in setting the regular meeting agendas.
It still holds 22 such forums (not including the 45-minute "mini-work sessions" conducted before each regular meeting) - for 12 regular meetings.
This contrasts to a town like Wood-Ridge, which, while traditionally holding only one regular monthly meeting, needs only one work session for setting the agenda.
In defending the five-minute limit - actually also allotted (though not always enforced) at regular meetings - Kuss said the work sessions are already long enough.
."The reason why we're going to enforce the five-minute rule, as those of you who keep hours know, is that the meetings often go from 12 midnight to one o'clock," he said.
PB OKAY ON EXPANDING FOOD STORE RAISES QUEONS Single alleges board's Maywood Market dealings are suspicio
By Chris Neidenberg
In the wake of the Planning/Zoning Board's approval to replace residential with even more commercial development near the Maywood Market Place site, records and the time line leading to the decision raise questions over why some Maywood officials worked cooperatively for so long with the developer in preparing the plan - before submitting it to the board.
If he proceeds with his plans, a wealthy New York developer will destroy two structurally sound homes on West Passaic Street. Citing the price of progress, he will replace green lawns with more concrete to develop a much bigger parking lot for Maywood Market Place. All this, under terms of a resolution Planning/Zoning Board members earlier approved.
Market owner Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L..I. has been authorized to expand the current lot between Palmer and Bergen avenues by destroying two currently-occupied houses his silent partnership owns at 89 and 95 West Passaic (the latter also houses a second unit in the back at 520 Palmer). If the full plan is implemented, the lot will be increased from about 25 to over 70 spaces.
Katapoudis heads MNK Development Corporation, a partnership which owns the homes, and he also owns Maywood Market Place. The store's building is owned and managed by an entity called Jay Zee Realty. All three entities have been mentioned during the hearings as partners in this enterprise. Yet Secaucus attorney Alan Magrini, who represented two objectors, complained that Katapoudis was quite vague about who comprises the different partnerships, and the roles each group played in their efforts at securing the development.
The store plans on doing much more than just expanding the lot. Under the resolution, which the board unanimously memprialized Sept. 10, the store will add a precedent-setting second story along West Pleasant Avenue, add an entrance on West Pleasant, increase selling floor space, and enlarge a kitchen in helping its catering business.
Memorializing the resolution were Chairman George Brush, Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, and Robert Tarleton, George Georgeou, Frank Lichtenberger, David Pegg and Harry Hillenius.
None of the members supporting this expansion at the time offered any kind of statement on just how the bigger lot and store will improve Maywood's quality of life.
Aside from just addressing a technical point on increasing room for vehicles entering and exiting the lot, these members quietly OK'd the expansion.
Board Member Alfred Ballerini, who did not participate Sept. 10, opposed ratification during an earlier preliminary vote. He said he did not see how enlarging the Market's catering business "expands commerce" throughout Maywood.
In taking a second vote, the board officially ratified a 26-page resolution spelling out the plan Oct. 2.
"The politicians and the Planning Board betrayed the community as ususal," complained Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance tto Protect Maywood, a witness to the proceedings. "As we've seen time and rime again, they cater to the big-money developers at the expense of the people who make their homes here."
She insisted, "The board's decision to add a second story on West Pleasant for warehouse storage sets a very dangerous precedent that opens the street up for other big-money developers, who will demand second stories in any big commercial developments they might try proposing.in the future."
During the hearings, Single showed pictures of Katapoudis' own affluent Manhasset neighborhood, replete with what she termed "million-dollar homes" and near at least one golf course. Comparing this area to the Market's more modest neighborhood, a skeptical Single said she seriously doubted Katapoudis would support the same kind of development right near his home.
The resident, citing correspondence between Market representatives and "the building inspector (Joe Mellone), board attorney (Greg Padavano) board secretary (Mary Carton) and others (certain members of the governing body)," maintained that there were "secretive hand in hand dealings involving the parties for approximately a year" before any public hearings commenced (May 14).
Single said that, while she started receiving correspondence on the case beginning in October of 2001, she was aware of prior communication between the parties well before then - but was only given all new correspondence starting that October. Single also cited an ongoing dialogue between Katapoudis and some Maywood elected officials, regarding his parking lot proposal, well before the hearing.
"When does cooperation between the board and the applicant end, and collusion begin?" Single asked.
Single, while not against letting the Market expand at the ground level on West Pleasant, insisted that the board's agreeing to destroy the two homes for a bigger lot and allowing erection of a second floor is simply bad public policy. She complained that the move continues a significant encroachment upon residential areas with unwise commercial development.
She cited as other examples knocking down homes on Maywood Avenue to allow a Duane Reade drugstore, after critical residents complained it seemed clear the borough let the homes become run down through lax code enforcement, as well as establoshing the Commerce Bank between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic Street. In that case, critics complained, the governing body simply gave away valuable real estate to the bank in granting easements - when placing the property up for public sale could have netted the municipality badly-needed revenue.
In approving the Maywood Market measure, the board backed changing current residential (R-!) zones now featuring the three dwellings into restricted commercial (RC) zones, and a subdivision that combines two separate residential lots at 89 West Passaic and 520 Palmer, into one.
Maywood Market's initial plan encompassed about 37,000 square feet.Yet since the board opted only to approve the first phase of an original two-phase plan, the project's original scope could be impacted. MNK ultimately agreed to withdraw this second phase for possible consideration at a later time.
After much resistance, Brush reluctantly agreed to support reopening the public hearing on Sept. 10 at Magrini's repeated insistence, during which time the parties further discussed ways of trying to make the expansion more tolerable for the surrounding residents.
Hynes and Garrett agreed to work with Magrini on trying to save a tree in the area, that falls within the region of the planned expansion, so the residents will have a better buffer separating them from the enlarged parking lot.
Concerns were also voiced over the impact night lighting could have on the residences. Brush assured Magrini that the board addressed the concerns.in lowering the height of the stantions, originally set at 20 feet.
"The lights will be 16 feet (in height) with no spillage onto the adjacent properties" the chairrman told Magrini.
"We've made a lot of suggestions (for revisions) on it, and I think they're good ones." insisted Brush.
Yet earlier during the proceedings, Brush blasted Katapoudis in alleging that he inserted many changes in the proposal, that were not previously discussed in preliminary discussions between the parties.
Brush backed the plan, even though he earlier raised fears in a memo that expanding the lot could lead to an increase in traffic in the West Passaic/Palmer area, and that destroying the two residential ratables could cause a dip in tax revenues.
No traffic expert ever testified before the board, even though Board Attorney Greg Padavano contended that its members properly examined the issue.
In supporting bigger store, PB chairman admitted Market is "a bad neighbor"
Brush also led the chorus after admitting that the Market has been a terrible neighbor to residents in abutting homes off Bergen and Palmer avenues.
One resident, Victor Papparazzo, provided evidence that the Market violated an existing agreement with the board on store upkeep and maintenance, in seeking earlier approvals to help the business. Even Katapoudis' lawyer, Thomas Hynes of Maywood, did not dispute complaints that the store has left the grounds unkempt - in violation of its prior agreement.
"Could they be a little neater? Probably," the lawyer told the board during a June meeting.
In acknowledging that the store broke prior commitments, Brush simply admonished Maywood Market to be "a better neighbor," but rejected using the business' questionable conduct as a rationale for denying the expansion.
During four months of hearings, Katapoudis' representatives - Hynes and consultant Anthony Garrett of the Bilow group in Ridgefield Park - apparently managed to sway the board that enlarging the store would ultimately benefit the community. They maintained that Maywood will benefit in stimulating greater area economic activity, and in promoting the other businesses (by encouraging Market shoppers to use the other stores), even if the expansion increases traffic congestion.
And while Maywood Market has cited the larger store as a potential anchor which will help increase business in the smaller surrounding shops, Katapoudis has not ruled out in the future evicting some of these smaller West Pleasant merchants adjacent to him - occupying storefronts he owns - to further enlarge his store.
Board wanted the bigger parking lot even more than Maywood Market's owner, who said it was "non-essential" to his store's success
In an ironic twist, those on the board backing almost tripling the parking lot wanted the plan even more than the store's owner.
During the very first meeting on May 14, Katapoudis told the board the bigger lot's only purpose was to make parking more convenient for his own customers. He also stated that his business would in no way suffer without it.
"It's not as though we would be out of business if we didn't have it,(bigger parking lot)," Katapoudis told the board then. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
In giving his stamp of approval, Hillenius said the bigger lot is needed because "Maywood needs more parking," implying that the larger facility could perhaps be used to partially accomodate all shoppers in the business district following negotiations with the governing body. Yet he offered this premise even as the store's attorney insisted that Katapoudis wants to keep any expanded facility all for himself.
The council has designated the West Pleasant region a "Special Improvement District (SID)" This act makes the area eligible for certain state programs promoting business development. The district is managed by a corporation which includes all council members, some of whom earlier met with Katapoudis - before his application even went before the board.
Brush, however, said the business, based on his understanding, wants to keep the lot entirely for itself. Katapoudis told the board during the first night of hearings that he did discuss this issue with some unidentified members of the governing body -- without reaching any agreement.
Conradictions abound as to if Maywood's Borough Council will try forcing taxpayers to help finance the Market's parking expansion costs
Even as Brush and Hynes have stated Maywood Market will not enter into negotiations with the borough on sharing (and helping to pay for) an expanded parking lot, statements from Republican Mayor Wayne Kuss and Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace seem to leave the door open to that possibility.
Kuss stated during a July council meeting that the borough was interested in talking with Katapoudis - even after Hynes promised the board one month earlier that taxpayers will not pay "one penny" for any work done in expanding the facility.
At the same council meeting, Eustace - a booster of sharing costs to help Maywood's parking situation if such plans are workable - would only say negotiations were not ongoing at that time (late July).
Single, a West Passaic resident and member of the SID District Management Corporation's Project Planning Committee, cited comments contained in minutes of the corporation's June meeting. They noted that Chief Financial Officer Charles Cuccia was asked in a letter - from unidentified officials - to explore "the legality" of sharing some of Katapoudis' costs.
Citing discussions among corporation members, Single said those costs could include having borough taxpayers help finance demolishing the two houses, helping write off Katapoudis' losses via buying the two structures from MNK before being destroyed, and paying some costs in establishing and maintaining the bigger parking site.
In return, the borough would get to share use of the bigger parking facility by having part of the site allocated for all shoppers, not just Market customers. Those supporting such negotiations, including Eustace, president of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce, see it as a way to alleviate parking congestion on streets in the region.
Single complained that the board did not properly evaluate the application before supporting it, and further questioned whether the proposal earned the go-ahead from the municipality- months before the board actually approved it.
Questionable behavior by the board, and the applicant, documented:
A. The applicant's failing to notify all property owners within 200 feet of the proposal that the public hearings were to start on Feb. 26, at least 10 days before that evening (Feb. 16), after Zoning Officer Mellone announced setting a start date in correspondence. Single cited N.J.S.A. 40: 5-5-01 requiring this. The hearings did not officially begin for about another three months (May 14).
B. The refusal by Maywood Market's lawyer (Hynes) to disclose the names of the other shareholders in Katapoudis' various partnerships, as well as the applicant's declining to disclose phone numbers or addresses for either MNK Development Corporation or Jay Zee Realty. Board Chairman Brush ruled in Hynes' favor, saying the public had no right to know this information.
C. Single pointed out that, all during the hearings, Brush seemingly afforded the applicant's reps ample time to raise their points, but when she tried to speak, was put on a strict time clock. She asserted that it seemed Brush showed "all the patience in the world" in letting the store's representatives address the board, while trying "to squelch" her efforts at refuting the applicant's points.
RICHARDS, GAFFNEY KNEW FEDS HID THORIUM PLAN
Both repeatedly refused to address residents' concerns in area
By Chris Neidenberg
While both now insist that they back "up and out" in solving the borough's over two-decades old thorium dilemma, Borough Council candidates Thomas Richards and Thomas Gaffney were part of a governing body culture which simply refused to respond to residents' repeated concerns over the federal government's eight-year stall in releasing a proposed thorium cleanup plan.
Documents conclusively prove that the federal government - as led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) , Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), simply sat on releasing a cleanup plan affecting roughly 300,000 cubic yards of toxic thorium-tainted soil under borough properties.
This was the case even after a state Department of Health study done for the feds' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, in 1997, concluded that there were increased brain cancer incidences among women living near the site.
Richards and Gaffney - with long tenures in either municipal appointed or elected positions that have examined the issue - were well aware of this.
Richards first joined the council in 1975 and has been on and off it ever since, losing twice in mayoral contests to the late former Republican Mayor John Steuert along the way. Gaffney has served continuously since 1994.
During much of their tenures, the two joined others on the council in supporting permitting federal authorities to use the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) as a base in cleaning up sites in Lodi and Rochelle Park - along with a small smattering of borough residential properties thrown into the mix.
They went along with this program - even as the feds' continued hiding most of Maywood's own cleanup plan.
Richards and Gaffney kept backing this policy after the U.S. government rescinded its promise to release one complete proposed plan addressing the entire site.
The feds themselves once cited the Superfund law as requiring this, but, in a rather curious switch, ultimately decided applying this rule only to the smaller, first phase of the program (primarily residential) - in which Maywood had little stake.
While critics long argued during council meetings that this strategy could ultimately weaken the community's bargaining position in getting a permanent cleanup, Richards and Gaffney - while stating little on this topic publicly - rejected this view.
Both men have cited their benevolence in opening Maywood to taking toxic waste from Lodi residential properties on humanitarian grounds, since Lodi residents were living above contamination. Richards repeated this position during an Oct. 28 candidates forum at Borough Hall.
Yet neither have ever considered - or, at least in public - explained this rationale in light of the fact that the feds also prioritized cleaning up (ahead of many Lodi homes) the Ballod Associates vacant commercially-zoned property in Rochelle Park - a tract once owned by major Bergen County Republican bigwigs J. Fletcher Creamer and former county GOP Chairman John Schepisi, as well as Moses Sternlieb.
Richards, on the council in the 1980s as the early sites were being cleaned up, insisted that tbe borough needed to show concern for residents living in the Lodi homes. Yet about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards in the initial MISS pile came from the Ballod commercial site.. The state described this property in one report as an "abandoned chemical dump."
Schepisi, Sternlieb and Creamer ultimately sold this property to developers who built the Bristol Manor Nursing Home. And it was Richards' biggest ally at the time, then-Congressman Robert Torricelli - who urged the feds to help the three Ballod owners by cleaning up this site before the "next construction season."
These three men retained ownership of another piece of the original Ballod site that the corps.only cleaned up recently.
Gaffney, an unsuccessful 2001 Republican state assembly candidate, in defending his stance on allowing the Lodi cleanup to proceed, has simply stated he was not around when the initial Ballod decision was made.
And in hearing the two veteran councilmen speak during the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan, one might conclude both all along served as ardent champions of a cause supporting the complete cleanup of toxic waste largely generated through the years by Maywood Chemical Works and Stepan Chemical Company.
That is far from the case.
In fact, both lagged far behind The Concerned Citizens of Maywood, which consistently advocated an "up and out" strategy in removing the problem at repeated council meetings - while the two officials either said little or nothing in response.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the past
Perhaps no currrent local elected official has more of a questionable history related to the issue than Richards, The 18-year council veteran also had considerable say in framing the municipality's positions while off the council as chairman of Maywood's mysterious and former Environmental Legislative Action Committee (ELAC).
Richards' fingerprints on this issue date back to the problem's rather curious beginnings in 1983-84, around the time the federal government tried fingering Stepan Chemical Company as the "potentially responsible party (PRP)" for area low-level radioactive waste.
He supported Torricelli's later efforts to switch financial liability for the radiological portion of the problem, from the then-congressman's future Democratic campaign donor, to the taxpayers.
In defending this strategy during the Oct. 28 forum, Richards again asserted that, despite the EPA's 1983 directive citing Stepan and Stepan division Maywood Chemical Works as liable for the thorium cleanup via Superfund, the taxpayers have rightfully shouldered this burden.
He asserted that the federal government caused the problem even though records show Maywood Chemical never produced thorium under a federal government contract. Superfund clearly holds current site operators liable for assuming the financial liabilities and assets of their predecessors. though PRPs can try disputing any government claims in litigation.
Richards further defended the controversial "memorandum of understanding," negotiated in the early 1980s by then Borough Attorney William Rupp. He claimed in 1986 that the deal - which created the DOE-owned MISS - served as "a shield" in preventing the U.S. government from trucking in radioactive waste from other areas of New Jersey.
One thing is clear. Once the EPA put the heat on Stepan to pay up for thorium under Superfund, Torricelli, Rupp and Richards tried shiifting the blame and focus to the federal government.
Ever since, Richards and Maywood Democrats have insisted that the borough's progress in cleaning up radioactive waste must be solely dependent upon federal funds.
In 1983, they succeeded in halting the EPA's enforcement actions via transferring liability for thorium (though not chemical) pollution to the feds by bringing the DOE into the project. Torricelli, who recently ended his 2002 U.S. Senate re-election bid over ethics woes, denied that his actions were linked to company President F. Quinn Stepan's later campaign donations.
Richards has been an ardent defender of Steoan and Torricelli throughout his tenure' Citing principle, he has refused to consider the possibility (raised in a 1997 army corps report) of trying to secure more of Stepan's funds in helping remove thorium from his community.
Thus, if re-elected, Richards will likely keep supporting efforts to sustain the "DOE-Stepan" agreement Torricelli initally negotiated. At the Oct.28 forum, the councilman said he will keep seeking federal monies in cleaning up all the site's radioactive waste.
Richards now says he wants thorium from all borough sites excavated and disposed into a permanent storage facility - without using unproven treatment merhods, He.also supports a mandated "unrestricted use" level of five picocuries per gram (pcI/g). To help achieve this, he has proposed putting a park on the current Sears Distribution Center property when cleaned up.
Yet the councilman sang a much different tune in 1994 as a private citizen,
During a DOE information session at Maywood Avenue School, he maintained that the Sears area merited cleanup - as a commercial property - to a lower standard. He endorsed using the DOE's proposed "soil washing" treatment program in doing it. Even as the DOE's tests could not prove the process could attain an unrestricted use criteria of 5 pcI/g, Richards said he thought the process could "suck up" the added waste and reach the lower level.
In addition, Richards, as either ELAC chairman or councilman:
A. Told the Concerned Citizens group, in 1995, that ELAC did not have to hear residents' comments.
B. Offered no progress reports, as ELAC chairman, on the thorium issue over a roughly three-year period.
C. Participated in a secretive meeting with federal and state elected officials on Oct. 22, 2000 to witness the army corps' pilot soil separation program, which now-former Boroigh Administrator John Perkins assured, would be closed to the press and public.
D. Served as an open advocate for the DOE, as it kept concealing the proposed plan from Maywood residents, in serving on a DOE Remedy Solution committee while ELAC chairman in 1995.
E. Tried passing off ELAC as an official "environmental commission" in obtaining state tree-related funds, when it did not meet a state statute.
F. Knew of the federal cancer incidence study, as ELAC chairman, over two years before the state publicized it and kept the report under seal.
Gaffney, like Richards, has asserted that Maywood is esentially a prisoner to the federal government, under the arrangements Torricelli and Rupp earlier negotiated.
For instance, in 2000, he said there was nothing the borough could do to stop the corps from implementing the pilot soil separation prgram afrer residents demanded that the council act swiftly in stopping the corps.
Yet Gaffney has held a more consistent position than Richards in advocating that the entire town get an unrestricted use cleanup. The councilman has also said he would support any government effort which gets more thorium cleanup funding from Stepan - if it expedites the cleanup.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the present
The candidates, at the Aug, 28 corps hearing and the Oct. 28 forum, insisted that mandating "up and out" is now the only option.
"Now this 15 picocuries (per gram) comes into the picture," Gaffney complained during the corps' hearing. "I don't think you're really listening to us, I really don't.
"I want you to take it up with whoever are the powers that be and emphasize to whoever are the powers that be, this is what we want: 'Up and out," Gaffney told corps Site Manager Allen Roos. "That is what we want. That is what we asked for."
Richards agreed. He demanded, "5 pcI/g, nothing else."
"If you can clean up commercial properties in Lodi to 5 pcI/g, why can't you clean up Maywood's commercial properties to 5 pcI/g?" Richards asked Roos, referring to the unrestricted use criteria.
He added that it seems clear treatment schemes, such as separation, cannot meet the standard.
"Absent 100-percent concrete proof that it works, we will not suppport you," he vowed, demanding that the corps take "a different route."
LAUTENBERG NEVER BACKED FULL THORIUM CLEANUP
Wanted 15 pcI/g for Maywood, was silent on Stepan liability
New Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Framk Lautenberg once hailed a federal government plan to clean vast amounts of thorium-tainted soil to levels that will not permanently clean up Maywood, according to statements he issued when a 1994 draft cleanup plan was unveiled.
In fact, in a 1994 press release titled, "Guidelines to Be Set by EPA, Lautenberg Applauds Action, Says Wayne/Maywood Sites on Road to Cleanup," the candidate praised a U.S. government decision to clean most of Maywood's radioactive waste to levels not exceeding 15 picocuries per gram (pcI/g).
This criteria is now heavily opposed by governing body members, including Lautenberg's fellow Democtrat, Councilman,Thomas Richards, and those residents speaking at an Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan.
Lautenberg praised an original decision to try implementing this unpopular criteria eight years ago, calling it "good news."
Yet the controversial decision, blasted by critics, followed protracted negotations, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried resisting the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) drive to implement the lower cleanup threshold. That is, until a joint EPA-DOE dispute resolution committee settled on it.
But during the dispute, two EPA officials, in pleading Maywood's case, warned using 15 pcI/g could designate the borough as "a permanent storage site."
Those opposed to the final outcome with the Concerned Citizens of Maywood blasted the EPA's acquiesence as " a cave-in." to DOE pressure.
In facr, the 1994 decision Lautenberg wanted was originally opposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. It maintained that the standard was not in accordance with New Jersey regulations.
This opposition triggered a further delay, and no plan was offficially unveiled for another eight years.
"This is finally good news for the residents in Maywood and Wayne," the former senator stated in his 1994 release. "Now we can move forward with the cleanups."
In the release, Lautenberg endorsed a proposal to clean the Phase II (commercial and government-owned sites) in Maywood "to 15 pcI/g above background level, with an 'as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)' goal of 5 pcI/g."
Yet use of ALARA does not guarantee a permanent cleanup.
Under its current proposal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still wants to clean up about 90 percent of the municipality's remaining targeted waste (some 220,000 cubic yards) to this less stringent criteria - even after eight years of delay.
The corps asserts this level is protective under current land use, and complies with existing state law, which would supersede any prior New Jersey regulations.
The corps is now under pressure from officials and residents to ditch ALARA and mandate the much tighter criteria - a permanent cleanup level of 5 pcI/g throughout the entire site.
Lautenbeeg, a former three-term incumbent, replaced Senator Robert Torricelli following Torrricelli's sudden wirhdrawal from the 2002 contest over ethical transgressions.
He is now running campaign attack ads against Republican opponent Douglas Forrester by maintaining he supports making "polluters" pay in cleaning up Superfund sites, while Forrester does not.
During a Sept. 6 site visit, Forrester blasted Torricelli's Maywood dealings, and insisted that he wants all of Maywood's contamination removed from the community.
Torricelli and Lautenberg have remained silent on whether Torricelli's campaign donor - and Maywood's worst polluter - Stepan Chemical Company, should now shoulder liability for paying to clean up thorium and chemical contamination. Much of this waste is mixed.
The corps, however, has not ruled out trying to recover even more monies from Stepan in expediting the thorium part of the cleanup.
If that happens, and the dreaded 15 pcI/g criteria sticks, Stepan would likely save a lot of money - and much of the tainted soil will be left on site.
Additionally, the federal government could remain in Maywood for many more years in monitoring future land use at the affected sites - even after the estimated six -year time frame it says it needs in using the lesser crriteria to clean up.
Maywood's toxic waste was largely generated by either Stepan or the predecessor company it inherited and incorporated as a division of the Northfield, Ill. company, Maywood Chemical Works.
Stepan subsequently profited handsomely in the 1960s by selling much of Maywood Chemical's old polluted plant grounds to other businesses which came into the borough. These sites are now occupied by companies including DeSaussure Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express.
Thus far, Stepan, under an agreement Torricelli helped arrange, will only have to pay for cleaning up chemicals.
Torricelli's "DOE-Stepan agreement" came into play shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond informed Stepan executive John O'Brien that it was designated a "potential responsible party (PRP)" for "radioactive contamination."
Diamond maintained that Stepan was a rightful PRP, since the Superfund law holds current site owners liable for any waste their predecessors generated.
Yet ultimately, Torricelli, Maywood's Ninth District congressman at the time, secured passage of legislation in 1983 making the federal government and its taxpayers financially liable as the PRP - for all radiological contamination.
This overrode Diamond's earlier enforcement action against Stepan on thorium pollution (though not chemicals) ,and remains in effect to this day.
Thorium cleanup liability was then assigned to the DOE and its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Angela Carpenter, the EPA's project manager, stated in 1995 that Torricelli's moves complicated the borough's cleanup picture via adding another layer of bureaucracy (the DOE) into the mix.
She said that, prior to this act, Maywood was "a garden variety Superfund site." Years earlier. Torricelli maintained the move was necessary to avoid litigation, which could delay the program. After shifting liability from Stepan to the government, Torricelli drew criticism for subsequently receiving repeated campaign donations from Stepan's president, F. Quinn Stepan - a prominent Democratic fundraiser.
Thus, had Torricelli never acted, Stepan and its West Humter Avenue plant would be financially liable for cleaning up thorium and chemicals - under one project - throughout the entire site.
The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds in Maywood since Torricell]s agreement..
Yet Lautenberg and Torricelli took a much different stance at another FUSRAP/Superfund site in nearby Wayne.
They aggressively called for the U.S. Department of Justice to recover additional cleanup monies in remediating thorium and chemicals at the smaller WR Grace and Company site in 1999. The corps is cleaning up this site's thorium to a tighter criteria than it wants applied within Maywood.
In fact, Torricelli maintained that the feds were improperly subsidizing Grace's costs, even while he continued backing having the taxpayers subsidize his campaign donor's (Stepan's) own costs - under a deal he helped negotiate,
COUNCIL WON''T PUBLICLY VOTE ON CORPS' THORIUM PLAN
But Kuss, Fede will send agency letters as to borough's position
By Chris Neidenberg
Though it had two chances to publicly do so, the Borough Council declined to vote on any resolution concerning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' massive proposed thorium cleanup plan.
At the council's Oct. 23 meeting, Mayor Wayne Kuss told resident Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, that the governing body's view on this profpund decision will be found in letters the mayor and Borough Attorney Andrew Fede prepared.
The feds recently extended the term of a public comment period on the plan, as requested, from Oct. 12 to Nov. 11
"I'd like to know if the borough has issued any kind of comments on the proposed plan," asked Nolan, who urged the borough to shut down its borders to any additional outside contamination - unless 5 pcI'/g is guaranteed for Maywood in the record of decision.
"We did it (took a stand) collectively,'" the mayor replied. "Andrew (Fede) did it (borough's letter) as a body."
The mayor added that he has sent his own letter.
But in forming any position, the council would likely have had some kind of collective discussion somewhere...
The council also held a regular public meeting Sept. 25 but did not post a resolution on the issue. Thus, it held twlo public meetings since the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing without taking any public vote.
At that hearing, Councilmen Thomas Richards, Thomas Gaffney and James Petrie said they would oppose any corps plan imposing a cleanup criteria of 15 picocuries per gram at any site in the municipality, and will try forcing use of a definitive "unrestricted use" criteria of 5 pcI/g.
Richards and Gaffney raised the possibility of doing this via imposing land use changes, such as zoning a park use near the Sears Distribution Center site.
By not posting a resolution, Councilpersons Dr. Tim Eustace, Fred Zigrest and Jeannie Matullo do not have to take an official stand.
The council's decision to only send a letter means anyone interested in finding out its official position, on how the corps should clean up about 220,000 cubic yards of targeted low-level radioactive waste, will have to request the correspondence from the corps.
Nolan said after his appearance that the council should have posted a public resolution, and given its vote of confidence for taking the waste "up and out."
This is the view that all of the municipality's soil should simply be dug up and carted away, without using any unworkable treatment methods that can't achieve the level.
There is prcedence for a public resolution. In the late 1980s a prior council voted to publicly affirm its support for a state-backed proposal known as "the Utah plan," which called for carting all the soil away to a permanent disposal facility in that state. This plan is similar to what the council and Kuss are expected to request in their letters.
Note: Due to the complexities of the borough's thorium cleanup plan, TRUTH HURTS has decided to present the matter under two separate stories. The first provides an overview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal, as well as historical background on the many events which preceded this significant moment, and have, in fact, impacted it. A second story on the hearing itself, featuring the comments of residents and corps and borough officials, is forthcoming.
CORPS' PROPOSES PARTIAL THORIUM CLEANUP PLAN
Only 12 percent of targeted waste would see final cleanup
By Chris Neidenberg
Residents and municipal officials denounced a U.S. Army Corps of Engiineers plan to only permanently clean up a small fraction of about 220,000 cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste in their community buried under commerical properties. They spoke during a long-awaited public hearing on the proposal, held Aug. 28 in Borough Hall.
The federal government has delayed releasing this plan for at least the last eight years. The process, undertaken by the corps and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has been criticized in correspondence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as needlessly prolonged. Even though the EPA has an oversight role in the process, the agency was apparently powerless to help the community by compelling a shorter time frame.
The corps, which says its proposal is based on an objective review of current land use, and complies with New Jersey law, only subjects 26,380 of a total of 220,379 cubic yards to a permanent cleanup level. Some EPA officials once claimed this level should be applied to the entire site, because it would best protect human health and the environment, in a densely populated community. They were overruled. The corps says a state statute allows it to now clean up less.
Additonally, the plan is really incomplete. It does not address chemical soil, as well as chemical and radiological groundwater contamination. These issues have been deferred to a later date.
A written public comment period on the proposal is set to lapse Oct. 12.
Roughly 30 residents and some municipal officials attended. It was preceded by a less formal information session more typical of corps events held locally, since the agency took control of the cleanup from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1997.
The corps put forth various pieces of literature and poster displays which detailed aspects of its proposal, offered a historical overview and explained some of the requirements it must follow in implementing any plan.
Also prominently featured were displays from the Concerned Citizens of Maywood (CCM), which has harshly criticized the U.S. governrnent's efforts over the past 17 years, and protested the government's conduct at the site.
The incomplete plan pertains only to the future cleanup of buried low-level radioactive soil under buildings and property. A plan for addressing any chemical soil and groundwater contamination - outside of the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) - has been worked on - for at least the last 10 years - by Stepan Chemical Company under direct EPA oversight.
Stepan has yet to unveil it. The EPA first issued a unilareral order against Stepan to start a Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study on chemicals, following about four years of protracted negotiations which failed to produce a mutual agreement, in 1991.
Some local Maywood officials, including now-former Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, have said they believe the site's chemical pollution poses a far more serious problem.
As for radioactive contaminants in the groundwater, the corps stated in its own proposed plan that it is studying the issue, and will address the matter in the future.
Sites completed, and sites which still need action
Most of Maywood's plan falls under the second phase of the radiological cleanup that targets almost all the affected commercial properties (except one). Borough sites covered in this phase include the federally-owned Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS), Stepan Chemical Company, DeSausssere Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express. Other smaller sites are also affected.
Cleanup of all the affected residential properties in Lodi, Maywood and Rochelle Park, and the Ballod commercial site in Rochelle Park, (Phase I) has been completed. The corps inherited this phased plan from the DOE.
Suddenly, the feds are worried about "cost-effectiveness"
The corps is asserting that using soil separation to treat vast amounts of contamination in place under the larger commercial properties, combined with more limited excavation at smaller sites, is cheaper ($244 million) than excavating and carting away all the soil by applying the more stringent criteria.throughout the entire site ($254 million). Residents addressing the corps during the Aug. 28 hearing argued that this $10 million differential does not justify the agency's decision not to push for the more comprehensive cleanup.
And the more limited corps plan comes after two federal agencies - the corps and the DOE under EPA oversight - spent untold hundreds of millions of dollars more, studying the various sites and cleaning up the residences and the Ballod property in Rochelle Park by moving the soil through Maywood without any proposed plan, over an almost 20-year period.
Two federal contractors, Bechtel National Inc. (DOE) and Stone and Websrer (corps), have been involved all during this time. By refusing to release a proposed plan earlier covering both phases, as once promised, the federal government never had to discuss the cost-effectiveness issue for both the residential/Ballod commercial (Phase I) and commercial (Phase II) properties at the same time.
It is only expressing this concern in the second phase, which will most profoundly impact upon Maywood.
A protracted struggle, years of delay - and political intrigue
The hearing marked a significant milestone in the controversial history of the site, as the federal government - represented by the DOE, the EPA and the corps - seemingly resisted attempts previously to give Maywoodians any extensive input into the cleanup process.
It comes eight years after the EPA pointed out that the DOE was holding up issuing the same proposed plan.
Yet, all during that time, Maywood residents saw their doors open to taking toxic waste from residences in Lodi and the unremediated portion of the Ballod commercial property - as their elected officials showed little interest in finding out what the U.S. government wanted to do with the vast bulk of their own waste (under active commercial properties).
The EPA stated in a 1994 report that the draft proposed plan was on hold due to "community concerns" over a proposal to implement soil washing, a treatment process that - crtiics charged then - would not have resulted in the best possible cleanup asssuring protectiveness.
The corps is essentially pushing the same radioactive waste cleanup criteria sought by the DOE eight years ago.
Five years after the corps took over the project, it has pushed implementing a somewhat similar methodology known as "soll separation," which remains a possible option in its own proposed plan.
This, despite the fact that Allen Roos, the corps' project manager, conceded on Aug. 28 that - just as the DOE before it - the corps has not been able to prove that the process can attain cleanup levels long desired by the community.
And rather than incorporating the cleanup of the non-Maywood properties with all the borough's under one proposed plan regardless of land use (which the DOE was apparently preparing to release as early as 1993), the EPA and DOE decided to abandon that pledge - even as government documents suggested that the Superfind law required one plan. The corps continued this policy upon taking control.
The DOE and EPA instead changed the rules in the middle of the game by piecemealing the remaining properties into two phases - residential/Ballod commercial (which did not use a proposed plan) and all the remaining commercial (which will).
While the bulk of that contamination sits in Maywood, some smaller commercial sites in Lodi, will be addressed. Both Democrats and Republicans on the Maywood governing body rejected repeated complaints from residents that this policy - prioritizing the Lodi residences and Ballod for cleanup at the MISS while letting the feds keep most of Maywood's own plan under seal - ultimately weakened the borough's voice.
The federal government - seemingly oblivious to the criticisms within Maywood despite ample documentation questioning the legality of its actions - moved forward unperturbed.
Now these same federal agencies are trying to convince Maywoodians that they care about their concerns - in executing the final stages of the cleanup
While Maywood's Democrats (led by Councilman Thomas Richards) always made cleaning up the Lodi residential sites their top priority, even if that meant putting Maywood's long-term interests on hold, borough Republicans (which once fought with the Democrats by placing Maywood's concerns first), ultimately joined with the Democrats in prioritizing cleanup of Lodi residences and the Ballod site at the MISS.
While some current Maywood Republicans, like Councilman Thomas Gaffney, have tried to justify prioritizing the Lodi residences out of their concern for people living in the homes, a check of the entire history of the site shows that addressing residenrial tracts over commercial sites was not always the federal government's top priority.
In the mid 1980s, then Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-9) lobbied the DOE to clean up as one of its earliest properties the first portion of the Ballod site, a commercially-zoned property contaminated with thorium and high levels of chemicals.
The state once described this piece as "an abandoned chemical dump." In fact, this comprIsed about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards stored in the pile at
Both repeatedly refused to address residents' concerns in area
By Chris Neidenberg
While both now insist that they back "up and out" in solving the borough's over two-decades old thorium dilemma, Borough Council candidates Thomas Richards and Thomas Gaffney were part of a governing body culture which simply refused to respond to residents' repeated concerns over the federal government's eight-year stall in releasing a proposed thorium cleanup plan.
Documents conclusively prove that the federal government - as led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) , Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), simply sat on releasing a cleanup plan affecting roughly 300,000 cubic yards of toxic thorium-tainted soil under borough properties.
This was the case even after a state Department of Health study done for the feds' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, in 1997, concluded that there were increased brain cancer incidences among women living near the site.
Richards and Gaffney - with long tenures in either municipal appointed or elected positions that have examined the issue - were well aware of this.
Richards first joined the council in 1975 and has been on and off it ever since, losing twice in mayoral contests to the late former Republican Mayor John Steuert along the way. Gaffney has served continuously since 1994.
During much of their tenures, the two joined others on the council in supporting permitting federal authorities to use the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) as a base in cleaning up sites in Lodi and Rochelle Park - along with a small smattering of borough residential properties thrown into the mix.
They went along with this program - even as the feds' continued hiding most of Maywood's own cleanup plan.
Richards and Gaffney kept backing this policy after the U.S. government rescinded its promise to release one complete proposed plan addressing the entire site.
The feds themselves once cited the Superfund law as requiring this, but, in a rather curious switch, ultimately decided applying this rule only to the smaller, first phase of the program (primarily residential) - in which Maywood had little stake.
While critics long argued during council meetings that this strategy could ultimately weaken the community's bargaining position in getting a permanent cleanup, Richards and Gaffney - while stating little on this topic publicly - rejected this view.
Both men have cited their benevolence in opening Maywood to taking toxic waste from Lodi residential properties on humanitarian grounds, since Lodi residents were living above contamination. Richards repeated this position during an Oct. 28 candidates forum at Borough Hall.
Yet neither have ever considered - or, at least in public - explained this rationale in light of the fact that the feds also prioritized cleaning up (ahead of many Lodi homes) the Ballod Associates vacant commercially-zoned property in Rochelle Park - a tract once owned by major Bergen County Republican bigwigs J. Fletcher Creamer and former county GOP Chairman John Schepisi, as well as Moses Sternlieb.
Richards, on the council in the 1980s as the early sites were being cleaned up, insisted that tbe borough needed to show concern for residents living in the Lodi homes. Yet about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards in the initial MISS pile came from the Ballod commercial site.. The state described this property in one report as an "abandoned chemical dump."
Schepisi, Sternlieb and Creamer ultimately sold this property to developers who built the Bristol Manor Nursing Home. And it was Richards' biggest ally at the time, then-Congressman Robert Torricelli - who urged the feds to help the three Ballod owners by cleaning up this site before the "next construction season."
These three men retained ownership of another piece of the original Ballod site that the corps.only cleaned up recently.
Gaffney, an unsuccessful 2001 Republican state assembly candidate, in defending his stance on allowing the Lodi cleanup to proceed, has simply stated he was not around when the initial Ballod decision was made.
And in hearing the two veteran councilmen speak during the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan, one might conclude both all along served as ardent champions of a cause supporting the complete cleanup of toxic waste largely generated through the years by Maywood Chemical Works and Stepan Chemical Company.
That is far from the case.
In fact, both lagged far behind The Concerned Citizens of Maywood, which consistently advocated an "up and out" strategy in removing the problem at repeated council meetings - while the two officials either said little or nothing in response.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the past
Perhaps no currrent local elected official has more of a questionable history related to the issue than Richards, The 18-year council veteran also had considerable say in framing the municipality's positions while off the council as chairman of Maywood's mysterious and former Environmental Legislative Action Committee (ELAC).
Richards' fingerprints on this issue date back to the problem's rather curious beginnings in 1983-84, around the time the federal government tried fingering Stepan Chemical Company as the "potentially responsible party (PRP)" for area low-level radioactive waste.
He supported Torricelli's later efforts to switch financial liability for the radiological portion of the problem, from the then-congressman's future Democratic campaign donor, to the taxpayers.
In defending this strategy during the Oct. 28 forum, Richards again asserted that, despite the EPA's 1983 directive citing Stepan and Stepan division Maywood Chemical Works as liable for the thorium cleanup via Superfund, the taxpayers have rightfully shouldered this burden.
He asserted that the federal government caused the problem even though records show Maywood Chemical never produced thorium under a federal government contract. Superfund clearly holds current site operators liable for assuming the financial liabilities and assets of their predecessors. though PRPs can try disputing any government claims in litigation.
Richards further defended the controversial "memorandum of understanding," negotiated in the early 1980s by then Borough Attorney William Rupp. He claimed in 1986 that the deal - which created the DOE-owned MISS - served as "a shield" in preventing the U.S. government from trucking in radioactive waste from other areas of New Jersey.
One thing is clear. Once the EPA put the heat on Stepan to pay up for thorium under Superfund, Torricelli, Rupp and Richards tried shiifting the blame and focus to the federal government.
Ever since, Richards and Maywood Democrats have insisted that the borough's progress in cleaning up radioactive waste must be solely dependent upon federal funds.
In 1983, they succeeded in halting the EPA's enforcement actions via transferring liability for thorium (though not chemical) pollution to the feds by bringing the DOE into the project. Torricelli, who recently ended his 2002 U.S. Senate re-election bid over ethics woes, denied that his actions were linked to company President F. Quinn Stepan's later campaign donations.
Richards has been an ardent defender of Steoan and Torricelli throughout his tenure' Citing principle, he has refused to consider the possibility (raised in a 1997 army corps report) of trying to secure more of Stepan's funds in helping remove thorium from his community.
Thus, if re-elected, Richards will likely keep supporting efforts to sustain the "DOE-Stepan" agreement Torricelli initally negotiated. At the Oct.28 forum, the councilman said he will keep seeking federal monies in cleaning up all the site's radioactive waste.
Richards now says he wants thorium from all borough sites excavated and disposed into a permanent storage facility - without using unproven treatment merhods, He.also supports a mandated "unrestricted use" level of five picocuries per gram (pcI/g). To help achieve this, he has proposed putting a park on the current Sears Distribution Center property when cleaned up.
Yet the councilman sang a much different tune in 1994 as a private citizen,
During a DOE information session at Maywood Avenue School, he maintained that the Sears area merited cleanup - as a commercial property - to a lower standard. He endorsed using the DOE's proposed "soil washing" treatment program in doing it. Even as the DOE's tests could not prove the process could attain an unrestricted use criteria of 5 pcI/g, Richards said he thought the process could "suck up" the added waste and reach the lower level.
In addition, Richards, as either ELAC chairman or councilman:
A. Told the Concerned Citizens group, in 1995, that ELAC did not have to hear residents' comments.
B. Offered no progress reports, as ELAC chairman, on the thorium issue over a roughly three-year period.
C. Participated in a secretive meeting with federal and state elected officials on Oct. 22, 2000 to witness the army corps' pilot soil separation program, which now-former Boroigh Administrator John Perkins assured, would be closed to the press and public.
D. Served as an open advocate for the DOE, as it kept concealing the proposed plan from Maywood residents, in serving on a DOE Remedy Solution committee while ELAC chairman in 1995.
E. Tried passing off ELAC as an official "environmental commission" in obtaining state tree-related funds, when it did not meet a state statute.
F. Knew of the federal cancer incidence study, as ELAC chairman, over two years before the state publicized it and kept the report under seal.
Gaffney, like Richards, has asserted that Maywood is esentially a prisoner to the federal government, under the arrangements Torricelli and Rupp earlier negotiated.
For instance, in 2000, he said there was nothing the borough could do to stop the corps from implementing the pilot soil separation prgram afrer residents demanded that the council act swiftly in stopping the corps.
Yet Gaffney has held a more consistent position than Richards in advocating that the entire town get an unrestricted use cleanup. The councilman has also said he would support any government effort which gets more thorium cleanup funding from Stepan - if it expedites the cleanup.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the present
The candidates, at the Aug, 28 corps hearing and the Oct. 28 forum, insisted that mandating "up and out" is now the only option.
"Now this 15 picocuries (per gram) comes into the picture," Gaffney complained during the corps' hearing. "I don't think you're really listening to us, I really don't.
"I want you to take it up with whoever are the powers that be and emphasize to whoever are the powers that be, this is what we want: 'Up and out," Gaffney told corps Site Manager Allen Roos. "That is what we want. That is what we asked for."
Richards agreed. He demanded, "5 pcI/g, nothing else."
"If you can clean up commercial properties in Lodi to 5 pcI/g, why can't you clean up Maywood's commercial properties to 5 pcI/g?" Richards asked Roos, referring to the unrestricted use criteria.
He added that it seems clear treatment schemes, such as separation, cannot meet the standard.
"Absent 100-percent concrete proof that it works, we will not suppport you," he vowed, demanding that the corps take "a different route."
LAUTENBERG NEVER BACKED FULL THORIUM CLEANUP
Wanted 15 pcI/g for Maywood, was silent on Stepan liability
New Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Framk Lautenberg once hailed a federal government plan to clean vast amounts of thorium-tainted soil to levels that will not permanently clean up Maywood, according to statements he issued when a 1994 draft cleanup plan was unveiled.
In fact, in a 1994 press release titled, "Guidelines to Be Set by EPA, Lautenberg Applauds Action, Says Wayne/Maywood Sites on Road to Cleanup," the candidate praised a U.S. government decision to clean most of Maywood's radioactive waste to levels not exceeding 15 picocuries per gram (pcI/g).
This criteria is now heavily opposed by governing body members, including Lautenberg's fellow Democtrat, Councilman,Thomas Richards, and those residents speaking at an Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan.
Lautenberg praised an original decision to try implementing this unpopular criteria eight years ago, calling it "good news."
Yet the controversial decision, blasted by critics, followed protracted negotations, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried resisting the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) drive to implement the lower cleanup threshold. That is, until a joint EPA-DOE dispute resolution committee settled on it.
But during the dispute, two EPA officials, in pleading Maywood's case, warned using 15 pcI/g could designate the borough as "a permanent storage site."
Those opposed to the final outcome with the Concerned Citizens of Maywood blasted the EPA's acquiesence as " a cave-in." to DOE pressure.
In facr, the 1994 decision Lautenberg wanted was originally opposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. It maintained that the standard was not in accordance with New Jersey regulations.
This opposition triggered a further delay, and no plan was offficially unveiled for another eight years.
"This is finally good news for the residents in Maywood and Wayne," the former senator stated in his 1994 release. "Now we can move forward with the cleanups."
In the release, Lautenberg endorsed a proposal to clean the Phase II (commercial and government-owned sites) in Maywood "to 15 pcI/g above background level, with an 'as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)' goal of 5 pcI/g."
Yet use of ALARA does not guarantee a permanent cleanup.
Under its current proposal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still wants to clean up about 90 percent of the municipality's remaining targeted waste (some 220,000 cubic yards) to this less stringent criteria - even after eight years of delay.
The corps asserts this level is protective under current land use, and complies with existing state law, which would supersede any prior New Jersey regulations.
The corps is now under pressure from officials and residents to ditch ALARA and mandate the much tighter criteria - a permanent cleanup level of 5 pcI/g throughout the entire site.
Lautenbeeg, a former three-term incumbent, replaced Senator Robert Torricelli following Torrricelli's sudden wirhdrawal from the 2002 contest over ethical transgressions.
He is now running campaign attack ads against Republican opponent Douglas Forrester by maintaining he supports making "polluters" pay in cleaning up Superfund sites, while Forrester does not.
During a Sept. 6 site visit, Forrester blasted Torricelli's Maywood dealings, and insisted that he wants all of Maywood's contamination removed from the community.
Torricelli and Lautenberg have remained silent on whether Torricelli's campaign donor - and Maywood's worst polluter - Stepan Chemical Company, should now shoulder liability for paying to clean up thorium and chemical contamination. Much of this waste is mixed.
The corps, however, has not ruled out trying to recover even more monies from Stepan in expediting the thorium part of the cleanup.
If that happens, and the dreaded 15 pcI/g criteria sticks, Stepan would likely save a lot of money - and much of the tainted soil will be left on site.
Additionally, the federal government could remain in Maywood for many more years in monitoring future land use at the affected sites - even after the estimated six -year time frame it says it needs in using the lesser crriteria to clean up.
Maywood's toxic waste was largely generated by either Stepan or the predecessor company it inherited and incorporated as a division of the Northfield, Ill. company, Maywood Chemical Works.
Stepan subsequently profited handsomely in the 1960s by selling much of Maywood Chemical's old polluted plant grounds to other businesses which came into the borough. These sites are now occupied by companies including DeSaussure Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express.
Thus far, Stepan, under an agreement Torricelli helped arrange, will only have to pay for cleaning up chemicals.
Torricelli's "DOE-Stepan agreement" came into play shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond informed Stepan executive John O'Brien that it was designated a "potential responsible party (PRP)" for "radioactive contamination."
Diamond maintained that Stepan was a rightful PRP, since the Superfund law holds current site owners liable for any waste their predecessors generated.
Yet ultimately, Torricelli, Maywood's Ninth District congressman at the time, secured passage of legislation in 1983 making the federal government and its taxpayers financially liable as the PRP - for all radiological contamination.
This overrode Diamond's earlier enforcement action against Stepan on thorium pollution (though not chemicals) ,and remains in effect to this day.
Thorium cleanup liability was then assigned to the DOE and its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Angela Carpenter, the EPA's project manager, stated in 1995 that Torricelli's moves complicated the borough's cleanup picture via adding another layer of bureaucracy (the DOE) into the mix.
She said that, prior to this act, Maywood was "a garden variety Superfund site." Years earlier. Torricelli maintained the move was necessary to avoid litigation, which could delay the program. After shifting liability from Stepan to the government, Torricelli drew criticism for subsequently receiving repeated campaign donations from Stepan's president, F. Quinn Stepan - a prominent Democratic fundraiser.
Thus, had Torricelli never acted, Stepan and its West Humter Avenue plant would be financially liable for cleaning up thorium and chemicals - under one project - throughout the entire site.
The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds in Maywood since Torricell]s agreement..
Yet Lautenberg and Torricelli took a much different stance at another FUSRAP/Superfund site in nearby Wayne.
They aggressively called for the U.S. Department of Justice to recover additional cleanup monies in remediating thorium and chemicals at the smaller WR Grace and Company site in 1999. The corps is cleaning up this site's thorium to a tighter criteria than it wants applied within Maywood.
In fact, Torricelli maintained that the feds were improperly subsidizing Grace's costs, even while he continued backing having the taxpayers subsidize his campaign donor's (Stepan's) own costs - under a deal he helped negotiate,
COUNCIL WON''T PUBLICLY VOTE ON CORPS' THORIUM PLAN
But Kuss, Fede will send agency letters as to borough's position
By Chris Neidenberg
Though it had two chances to publicly do so, the Borough Council declined to vote on any resolution concerning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' massive proposed thorium cleanup plan.
At the council's Oct. 23 meeting, Mayor Wayne Kuss told resident Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, that the governing body's view on this profpund decision will be found in letters the mayor and Borough Attorney Andrew Fede prepared.
The feds recently extended the term of a public comment period on the plan, as requested, from Oct. 12 to Nov. 11
"I'd like to know if the borough has issued any kind of comments on the proposed plan," asked Nolan, who urged the borough to shut down its borders to any additional outside contamination - unless 5 pcI'/g is guaranteed for Maywood in the record of decision.
"We did it (took a stand) collectively,'" the mayor replied. "Andrew (Fede) did it (borough's letter) as a body."
The mayor added that he has sent his own letter.
But in forming any position, the council would likely have had some kind of collective discussion somewhere...
The council also held a regular public meeting Sept. 25 but did not post a resolution on the issue. Thus, it held twlo public meetings since the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing without taking any public vote.
At that hearing, Councilmen Thomas Richards, Thomas Gaffney and James Petrie said they would oppose any corps plan imposing a cleanup criteria of 15 picocuries per gram at any site in the municipality, and will try forcing use of a definitive "unrestricted use" criteria of 5 pcI/g.
Richards and Gaffney raised the possibility of doing this via imposing land use changes, such as zoning a park use near the Sears Distribution Center site.
By not posting a resolution, Councilpersons Dr. Tim Eustace, Fred Zigrest and Jeannie Matullo do not have to take an official stand.
The council's decision to only send a letter means anyone interested in finding out its official position, on how the corps should clean up about 220,000 cubic yards of targeted low-level radioactive waste, will have to request the correspondence from the corps.
Nolan said after his appearance that the council should have posted a public resolution, and given its vote of confidence for taking the waste "up and out."
This is the view that all of the municipality's soil should simply be dug up and carted away, without using any unworkable treatment methods that can't achieve the level.
There is prcedence for a public resolution. In the late 1980s a prior council voted to publicly affirm its support for a state-backed proposal known as "the Utah plan," which called for carting all the soil away to a permanent disposal facility in that state. This plan is similar to what the council and Kuss are expected to request in their letters.
Note: Due to the complexities of the borough's thorium cleanup plan, TRUTH HURTS has decided to present the matter under two separate stories. The first provides an overview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal, as well as historical background on the many events which preceded this significant moment, and have, in fact, impacted it. A second story on the hearing itself, featuring the comments of residents and corps and borough officials, is forthcoming.
CORPS' PROPOSES PARTIAL THORIUM CLEANUP PLAN
Only 12 percent of targeted waste would see final cleanup
By Chris Neidenberg
Residents and municipal officials denounced a U.S. Army Corps of Engiineers plan to only permanently clean up a small fraction of about 220,000 cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste in their community buried under commerical properties. They spoke during a long-awaited public hearing on the proposal, held Aug. 28 in Borough Hall.
The federal government has delayed releasing this plan for at least the last eight years. The process, undertaken by the corps and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has been criticized in correspondence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as needlessly prolonged. Even though the EPA has an oversight role in the process, the agency was apparently powerless to help the community by compelling a shorter time frame.
The corps, which says its proposal is based on an objective review of current land use, and complies with New Jersey law, only subjects 26,380 of a total of 220,379 cubic yards to a permanent cleanup level. Some EPA officials once claimed this level should be applied to the entire site, because it would best protect human health and the environment, in a densely populated community. They were overruled. The corps says a state statute allows it to now clean up less.
Additonally, the plan is really incomplete. It does not address chemical soil, as well as chemical and radiological groundwater contamination. These issues have been deferred to a later date.
A written public comment period on the proposal is set to lapse Oct. 12.
Roughly 30 residents and some municipal officials attended. It was preceded by a less formal information session more typical of corps events held locally, since the agency took control of the cleanup from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1997.
The corps put forth various pieces of literature and poster displays which detailed aspects of its proposal, offered a historical overview and explained some of the requirements it must follow in implementing any plan.
Also prominently featured were displays from the Concerned Citizens of Maywood (CCM), which has harshly criticized the U.S. governrnent's efforts over the past 17 years, and protested the government's conduct at the site.
The incomplete plan pertains only to the future cleanup of buried low-level radioactive soil under buildings and property. A plan for addressing any chemical soil and groundwater contamination - outside of the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) - has been worked on - for at least the last 10 years - by Stepan Chemical Company under direct EPA oversight.
Stepan has yet to unveil it. The EPA first issued a unilareral order against Stepan to start a Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study on chemicals, following about four years of protracted negotiations which failed to produce a mutual agreement, in 1991.
Some local Maywood officials, including now-former Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, have said they believe the site's chemical pollution poses a far more serious problem.
As for radioactive contaminants in the groundwater, the corps stated in its own proposed plan that it is studying the issue, and will address the matter in the future.
Sites completed, and sites which still need action
Most of Maywood's plan falls under the second phase of the radiological cleanup that targets almost all the affected commercial properties (except one). Borough sites covered in this phase include the federally-owned Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS), Stepan Chemical Company, DeSausssere Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express. Other smaller sites are also affected.
Cleanup of all the affected residential properties in Lodi, Maywood and Rochelle Park, and the Ballod commercial site in Rochelle Park, (Phase I) has been completed. The corps inherited this phased plan from the DOE.
Suddenly, the feds are worried about "cost-effectiveness"
The corps is asserting that using soil separation to treat vast amounts of contamination in place under the larger commercial properties, combined with more limited excavation at smaller sites, is cheaper ($244 million) than excavating and carting away all the soil by applying the more stringent criteria.throughout the entire site ($254 million). Residents addressing the corps during the Aug. 28 hearing argued that this $10 million differential does not justify the agency's decision not to push for the more comprehensive cleanup.
And the more limited corps plan comes after two federal agencies - the corps and the DOE under EPA oversight - spent untold hundreds of millions of dollars more, studying the various sites and cleaning up the residences and the Ballod property in Rochelle Park by moving the soil through Maywood without any proposed plan, over an almost 20-year period.
Two federal contractors, Bechtel National Inc. (DOE) and Stone and Websrer (corps), have been involved all during this time. By refusing to release a proposed plan earlier covering both phases, as once promised, the federal government never had to discuss the cost-effectiveness issue for both the residential/Ballod commercial (Phase I) and commercial (Phase II) properties at the same time.
It is only expressing this concern in the second phase, which will most profoundly impact upon Maywood.
A protracted struggle, years of delay - and political intrigue
The hearing marked a significant milestone in the controversial history of the site, as the federal government - represented by the DOE, the EPA and the corps - seemingly resisted attempts previously to give Maywoodians any extensive input into the cleanup process.
It comes eight years after the EPA pointed out that the DOE was holding up issuing the same proposed plan.
Yet, all during that time, Maywood residents saw their doors open to taking toxic waste from residences in Lodi and the unremediated portion of the Ballod commercial property - as their elected officials showed little interest in finding out what the U.S. government wanted to do with the vast bulk of their own waste (under active commercial properties).
The EPA stated in a 1994 report that the draft proposed plan was on hold due to "community concerns" over a proposal to implement soil washing, a treatment process that - crtiics charged then - would not have resulted in the best possible cleanup asssuring protectiveness.
The corps is essentially pushing the same radioactive waste cleanup criteria sought by the DOE eight years ago.
Five years after the corps took over the project, it has pushed implementing a somewhat similar methodology known as "soll separation," which remains a possible option in its own proposed plan.
This, despite the fact that Allen Roos, the corps' project manager, conceded on Aug. 28 that - just as the DOE before it - the corps has not been able to prove that the process can attain cleanup levels long desired by the community.
And rather than incorporating the cleanup of the non-Maywood properties with all the borough's under one proposed plan regardless of land use (which the DOE was apparently preparing to release as early as 1993), the EPA and DOE decided to abandon that pledge - even as government documents suggested that the Superfind law required one plan. The corps continued this policy upon taking control.
The DOE and EPA instead changed the rules in the middle of the game by piecemealing the remaining properties into two phases - residential/Ballod commercial (which did not use a proposed plan) and all the remaining commercial (which will).
While the bulk of that contamination sits in Maywood, some smaller commercial sites in Lodi, will be addressed. Both Democrats and Republicans on the Maywood governing body rejected repeated complaints from residents that this policy - prioritizing the Lodi residences and Ballod for cleanup at the MISS while letting the feds keep most of Maywood's own plan under seal - ultimately weakened the borough's voice.
The federal government - seemingly oblivious to the criticisms within Maywood despite ample documentation questioning the legality of its actions - moved forward unperturbed.
Now these same federal agencies are trying to convince Maywoodians that they care about their concerns - in executing the final stages of the cleanup
While Maywood's Democrats (led by Councilman Thomas Richards) always made cleaning up the Lodi residential sites their top priority, even if that meant putting Maywood's long-term interests on hold, borough Republicans (which once fought with the Democrats by placing Maywood's concerns first), ultimately joined with the Democrats in prioritizing cleanup of Lodi residences and the Ballod site at the MISS.
While some current Maywood Republicans, like Councilman Thomas Gaffney, have tried to justify prioritizing the Lodi residences out of their concern for people living in the homes, a check of the entire history of the site shows that addressing residenrial tracts over commercial sites was not always the federal government's top priority.
In the mid 1980s, then Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-9) lobbied the DOE to clean up as one of its earliest properties the first portion of the Ballod site, a commercially-zoned property contaminated with thorium and high levels of chemicals.
The state once described this piece as "an abandoned chemical dump." In fact, this comprIsed about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards stored in the pile at
RICHARDS, GAFFNEY KNEW FEDS HID THORIUM PLAN
Both repeatedly refused to address residents' concerns in area
By Chris Neidenberg
While both now insist that they back "up and out" in solving the borough's over two-decades old thorium dilemma, Borough Council candidates Thomas Richards and Thomas Gaffney were part of a governing body culture which simply refused to respond to residents' repeated concerns over the federal government's eight-year stall in releasing a proposed thorium cleanup plan.
Documents conclusively prove that the federal government - as led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) , Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), simply sat on releasing a cleanup plan affecting roughly 300,000 cubic yards of toxic thorium-tainted soil under borough properties.
This was the case even after a state Department of Health study done for the feds' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, in 1997, concluded that there were increased brain cancer incidences among women living near the site.
Richards and Gaffney - with long tenures in either municipal appointed or elected positions that have examined the issue - were well aware of this.
Richards first joined the council in 1975 and has been on and off it ever since, losing twice in mayoral contests to the late former Republican Mayor John Steuert along the way. Gaffney has served continuously since 1994.
During much of their tenures, the two joined others on the council in supporting permitting federal authorities to use the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) as a base in cleaning up sites in Lodi and Rochelle Park - along with a small smattering of borough residential properties thrown into the mix.
They went along with this program - even as the feds' continued hiding most of Maywood's own cleanup plan.
Richards and Gaffney kept backing this policy after the U.S. government rescinded its promise to release one complete proposed plan addressing the entire site.
The feds themselves once cited the Superfund law as requiring this, but, in a rather curious switch, ultimately decided applying this rule only to the smaller, first phase of the program (primarily residential) - in which Maywood had little stake.
While critics long argued during council meetings that this strategy could ultimately weaken the community's bargaining position in getting a permanent cleanup, Richards and Gaffney - while stating little on this topic publicly - rejected this view.
Both men have cited their benevolence in opening Maywood to taking toxic waste from Lodi residential properties on humanitarian grounds, since Lodi residents were living above contamination. Richards repeated this position during an Oct. 28 candidates forum at Borough Hall.
Yet neither have ever considered - or, at least in public - explained this rationale in light of the fact that the feds also prioritized cleaning up (ahead of many Lodi homes) the Ballod Associates vacant commercially-zoned property in Rochelle Park - a tract once owned by major Bergen County Republican bigwigs J. Fletcher Creamer and former county GOP Chairman John Schepisi, as well as Moses Sternlieb.
Richards, on the council in the 1980s as the early sites were being cleaned up, insisted that tbe borough needed to show concern for residents living in the Lodi homes. Yet about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards in the initial MISS pile came from the Ballod commercial site.. The state described this property in one report as an "abandoned chemical dump."
Schepisi, Sternlieb and Creamer ultimately sold this property to developers who built the Bristol Manor Nursing Home. And it was Richards' biggest ally at the time, then-Congressman Robert Torricelli - who urged the feds to help the three Ballod owners by cleaning up this site before the "next construction season."
These three men retained ownership of another piece of the original Ballod site that the corps.only cleaned up recently.
Gaffney, an unsuccessful 2001 Republican state assembly candidate, in defending his stance on allowing the Lodi cleanup to proceed, has simply stated he was not around when the initial Ballod decision was made.
And in hearing the two veteran councilmen speak during the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan, one might conclude both all along served as ardent champions of a cause supporting the complete cleanup of toxic waste largely generated through the years by Maywood Chemical Works and Stepan Chemical Company.
That is far from the case.
In fact, both lagged far behind The Concerned Citizens of Maywood, which consistently advocated an "up and out" strategy in removing the problem at repeated council meetings - while the two officials either said little or nothing in response.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the past
Perhaps no currrent local elected official has more of a questionable history related to the issue than Richards, The 18-year council veteran also had considerable say in framing the municipality's positions while off the council as chairman of Maywood's mysterious and former Environmental Legislative Action Committee (ELAC).
Richards' fingerprints on this issue date back to the problem's rather curious beginnings in 1983-84, around the time the federal government tried fingering Stepan Chemical Company as the "potentially responsible party (PRP)" for area low-level radioactive waste.
He supported Torricelli's later efforts to switch financial liability for the radiological portion of the problem, from the then-congressman's future Democratic campaign donor, to the taxpayers.
In defending this strategy during the Oct. 28 forum, Richards again asserted that, despite the EPA's 1983 directive citing Stepan and Stepan division Maywood Chemical Works as liable for the thorium cleanup via Superfund, the taxpayers have rightfully shouldered this burden.
He asserted that the federal government caused the problem even though records show Maywood Chemical never produced thorium under a federal government contract. Superfund clearly holds current site operators liable for assuming the financial liabilities and assets of their predecessors. though PRPs can try disputing any government claims in litigation.
Richards further defended the controversial "memorandum of understanding," negotiated in the early 1980s by then Borough Attorney William Rupp. He claimed in 1986 that the deal - which created the DOE-owned MISS - served as "a shield" in preventing the U.S. government from trucking in radioactive waste from other areas of New Jersey.
One thing is clear. Once the EPA put the heat on Stepan to pay up for thorium under Superfund, Torricelli, Rupp and Richards tried shiifting the blame and focus to the federal government.
Ever since, Richards and Maywood Democrats have insisted that the borough's progress in cleaning up radioactive waste must be solely dependent upon federal funds.
In 1983, they succeeded in halting the EPA's enforcement actions via transferring liability for thorium (though not chemical) pollution to the feds by bringing the DOE into the project. Torricelli, who recently ended his 2002 U.S. Senate re-election bid over ethics woes, denied that his actions were linked to company President F. Quinn Stepan's later campaign donations.
Richards has been an ardent defender of Steoan and Torricelli throughout his tenure' Citing principle, he has refused to consider the possibility (raised in a 1997 army corps report) of trying to secure more of Stepan's funds in helping remove thorium from his community.
Thus, if re-elected, Richards will likely keep supporting efforts to sustain the "DOE-Stepan" agreement Torricelli initally negotiated. At the Oct.28 forum, the councilman said he will keep seeking federal monies in cleaning up all the site's radioactive waste.
Richards now says he wants thorium from all borough sites excavated and disposed into a permanent storage facility - without using unproven treatment merhods, He.also supports a mandated "unrestricted use" level of five picocuries per gram (pcI/g). To help achieve this, he has proposed putting a park on the current Sears Distribution Center property when cleaned up.
Yet the councilman sang a much different tune in 1994 as a private citizen,
During a DOE information session at Maywood Avenue School, he maintained that the Sears area merited cleanup - as a commercial property - to a lower standard. He endorsed using the DOE's proposed "soil washing" treatment program in doing it. Even as the DOE's tests could not prove the process could attain an unrestricted use criteria of 5 pcI/g, Richards said he thought the process could "suck up" the added waste and reach the lower level.
In addition, Richards, as either ELAC chairman or councilman:
A. Told the Concerned Citizens group, in 1995, that ELAC did not have to hear residents' comments.
B. Offered no progress reports, as ELAC chairman, on the thorium issue over a roughly three-year period.
C. Participated in a secretive meeting with federal and state elected officials on Oct. 22, 2000 to witness the army corps' pilot soil separation program, which now-former Boroigh Administrator John Perkins assured, would be closed to the press and public.
D. Served as an open advocate for the DOE, as it kept concealing the proposed plan from Maywood residents, in serving on a DOE Remedy Solution committee while ELAC chairman in 1995.
E. Tried passing off ELAC as an official "environmental commission" in obtaining state tree-related funds, when it did not meet a state statute.
F. Knew of the federal cancer incidence study, as ELAC chairman, over two years before the state publicized it and kept the report under seal.
Gaffney, like Richards, has asserted that Maywood is esentially a prisoner to the federal government, under the arrangements Torricelli and Rupp earlier negotiated.
For instance, in 2000, he said there was nothing the borough could do to stop the corps from implementing the pilot soil separation prgram afrer residents demanded that the council act swiftly in stopping the corps.
Yet Gaffney has held a more consistent position than Richards in advocating that the entire town get an unrestricted use cleanup. The councilman has also said he would support any government effort which gets more thorium cleanup funding from Stepan - if it expedites the cleanup.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the present
The candidates, at the Aug, 28 corps hearing and the Oct. 28 forum, insisted that mandating "up and out" is now the only option.
"Now this 15 picocuries (per gram) comes into the picture," Gaffney complained during the corps' hearing. "I don't think you're really listening to us, I really don't.
"I want you to take it up with whoever are the powers that be and emphasize to whoever are the powers that be, this is what we want: 'Up and out," Gaffney told corps Site Manager Allen Roos. "That is what we want. That is what we asked for."
Richards agreed. He demanded, "5 pcI/g, nothing else."
"If you can clean up commercial properties in Lodi to 5 pcI/g, why can't you clean up Maywood's commercial properties to 5 pcI/g?" Richards asked Roos, referring to the unrestricted use criteria.
He added that it seems clear treatment schemes, such as separation, cannot meet the standard.
"Absent 100-percent concrete proof that it works, we will not suppport you," he vowed, demanding that the corps take "a different route."
LAUTENBERG NEVER BACKED FULL THORIUM CLEANUP
Wanted 15 pcI/g for Maywood, was silent on Stepan liability
New Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Framk Lautenberg once hailed a federal government plan to clean vast amounts of thorium-tainted soil to levels that will not permanently clean up Maywood, according to statements he issued when a 1994 draft cleanup plan was unveiled.
In fact, in a 1994 press release titled, "Guidelines to Be Set by EPA, Lautenberg Applauds Action, Says Wayne/Maywood Sites on Road to Cleanup," the candidate praised a U.S. government decision to clean most of Maywood's radioactive waste to levels not exceeding 15 picocuries per gram (pcI/g).
This criteria is now heavily opposed by governing body members, including Lautenberg's fellow Democtrat, Councilman,Thomas Richards, and those residents speaking at an Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan.
Lautenberg praised an original decision to try implementing this unpopular criteria eight years ago, calling it "good news."
Yet the controversial decision, blasted by critics, followed protracted negotations, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried resisting the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) drive to implement the lower cleanup threshold. That is, until a joint EPA-DOE dispute resolution committee settled on it.
But during the dispute, two EPA officials, in pleading Maywood's case, warned using 15 pcI/g could designate the borough as "a permanent storage site."
Those opposed to the final outcome with the Concerned Citizens of Maywood blasted the EPA's acquiesence as " a cave-in." to DOE pressure.
In facr, the 1994 decision Lautenberg wanted was originally opposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. It maintained that the standard was not in accordance with New Jersey regulations.
This opposition triggered a further delay, and no plan was offficially unveiled for another eight years.
"This is finally good news for the residents in Maywood and Wayne," the former senator stated in his 1994 release. "Now we can move forward with the cleanups."
In the release, Lautenberg endorsed a proposal to clean the Phase II (commercial and government-owned sites) in Maywood "to 15 pcI/g above background level, with an 'as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)' goal of 5 pcI/g."
Yet use of ALARA does not guarantee a permanent cleanup.
Under its current proposal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still wants to clean up about 90 percent of the municipality's remaining targeted waste (some 220,000 cubic yards) to this less stringent criteria - even after eight years of delay.
The corps asserts this level is protective under current land use, and complies with existing state law, which would supersede any prior New Jersey regulations.
The corps is now under pressure from officials and residents to ditch ALARA and mandate the much tighter criteria - a permanent cleanup level of 5 pcI/g throughout the entire site.
Lautenbeeg, a former three-term incumbent, replaced Senator Robert Torricelli following Torrricelli's sudden wirhdrawal from the 2002 contest over ethical transgressions.
He is now running campaign attack ads against Republican opponent Douglas Forrester by maintaining he supports making "polluters" pay in cleaning up Superfund sites, while Forrester does not.
During a Sept. 6 site visit, Forrester blasted Torricelli's Maywood dealings, and insisted that he wants all of Maywood's contamination removed from the community.
Torricelli and Lautenberg have remained silent on whether Torricelli's campaign donor - and Maywood's worst polluter - Stepan Chemical Company, should now shoulder liability for paying to clean up thorium and chemical contamination. Much of this waste is mixed.
The corps, however, has not ruled out trying to recover even more monies from Stepan in expediting the thorium part of the cleanup.
If that happens, and the dreaded 15 pcI/g criteria sticks, Stepan would likely save a lot of money - and much of the tainted soil will be left on site.
Additionally, the federal government could remain in Maywood for many more years in monitoring future land use at the affected sites - even after the estimated six -year time frame it says it needs in using the lesser crriteria to clean up.
Maywood's toxic waste was largely generated by either Stepan or the predecessor company it inherited and incorporated as a division of the Northfield, Ill. company, Maywood Chemical Works.
Stepan subsequently profited handsomely in the 1960s by selling much of Maywood Chemical's old polluted plant grounds to other businesses which came into the borough. These sites are now occupied by companies including DeSaussure Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express.
Thus far, Stepan, under an agreement Torricelli helped arrange, will only have to pay for cleaning up chemicals.
Torricelli's "DOE-Stepan agreement" came into play shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond informed Stepan executive John O'Brien that it was designated a "potential responsible party (PRP)" for "radioactive contamination."
Diamond maintained that Stepan was a rightful PRP, since the Superfund law holds current site owners liable for any waste their predecessors generated.
Yet ultimately, Torricelli, Maywood's Ninth District congressman at the time, secured passage of legislation in 1983 making the federal government and its taxpayers financially liable as the PRP - for all radiological contamination.
This overrode Diamond's earlier enforcement action against Stepan on thorium pollution (though not chemicals) ,and remains in effect to this day.
Thorium cleanup liability was then assigned to the DOE and its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Angela Carpenter, the EPA's project manager, stated in 1995 that Torricelli's moves complicated the borough's cleanup picture via adding another layer of bureaucracy (the DOE) into the mix.
She said that, prior to this act, Maywood was "a garden variety Superfund site." Years earlier. Torricelli maintained the move was necessary to avoid litigation, which could delay the program. After shifting liability from Stepan to the government, Torricelli drew criticism for subsequently receiving repeated campaign donations from Stepan's president, F. Quinn Stepan - a prominent Democratic fundraiser.
Thus, had Torricelli never acted, Stepan and its West Humter Avenue plant would be financially liable for cleaning up thorium and chemicals - under one project - throughout the entire site.
The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds in Maywood since Torricell]s agreement..
Yet Lautenberg and Torricelli took a much different stance at another FUSRAP/Superfund site in nearby Wayne.
They aggressively called for the U.S. Department of Justice to recover additional cleanup monies in remediating thorium and chemicals at the smaller WR Grace and Company site in 1999. The corps is cleaning up this site's thorium to a tighter criteria than it wants applied within Maywood.
In fact, Torricelli maintained that the feds were improperly subsidizing Grace's costs, even while he continued backing having the taxpayers subsidize his campaign donor's (Stepan's) own costs - under a deal he helped negotiate,
COUNCIL WON''T PUBLICLY VOTE ON CORPS' THORIUM PLAN
But Kuss, Fede will send agency letters as to borough's position
By Chris Neidenberg
Though it had two chances to publicly do so, the Borough Council declined to vote on any resolution concerning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' massive proposed thorium cleanup plan.
At the council's Oct. 23 meeting, Mayor Wayne Kuss told resident Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, that the governing body's view on this profpund decision will be found in letters the mayor and Borough Attorney Andrew Fede prepared.
The feds recently extended the term of a public comment period on the plan, as requested, from Oct. 12 to Nov. 11
"I'd like to know if the borough has issued any kind of comments on the proposed plan," asked Nolan, who urged the borough to shut down its borders to any additional outside contamination - unless 5 pcI'/g is guaranteed for Maywood in the record of decision.
"We did it (took a stand) collectively,'" the mayor replied. "Andrew (Fede) did it (borough's letter) as a body."
The mayor added that he has sent his own letter.
But in forming any position, the council would likely have had some kind of collective discussion somewhere...
The council also held a regular public meeting Sept. 25 but did not post a resolution on the issue. Thus, it held twlo public meetings since the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing without taking any public vote.
At that hearing, Councilmen Thomas Richards, Thomas Gaffney and James Petrie said they would oppose any corps plan imposing a cleanup criteria of 15 picocuries per gram at any site in the municipality, and will try forcing use of a definitive "unrestricted use" criteria of 5 pcI/g.
Richards and Gaffney raised the possibility of doing this via imposing land use changes, such as zoning a park use near the Sears Distribution Center site.
By not posting a resolution, Councilpersons Dr. Tim Eustace, Fred Zigrest and Jeannie Matullo do not have to take an official stand.
The council's decision to only send a letter means anyone interested in finding out its official position, on how the corps should clean up about 220,000 cubic yards of targeted low-level radioactive waste, will have to request the correspondence from the corps.
Nolan said after his appearance that the council should have posted a public resolution, and given its vote of confidence for taking the waste "up and out."
This is the view that all of the municipality's soil should simply be dug up and carted away, without using any unworkable treatment methods that can't achieve the level.
There is prcedence for a public resolution. In the late 1980s a prior council voted to publicly affirm its support for a state-backed proposal known as "the Utah plan," which called for carting all the soil away to a permanent disposal facility in that state. This plan is similar to what the council and Kuss are expected to request in their letters.
Note: Due to the complexities of the borough's thorium cleanup plan, TRUTH HURTS has decided to present the matter under two separate stories. The first provides an overview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal, as well as historical background on the many events which preceded this significant moment, and have, in fact, impacted it. A second story on the hearing itself, featuring the comments of residents and corps and borough officials, is forthcoming.
CORPS' PROPOSES PARTIAL THORIUM CLEANUP PLAN
Only 12 percent of targeted waste would see final cleanup
By Chris Neidenberg
Residents and municipal officials denounced a U.S. Army Corps of Engiineers plan to only permanently clean up a small fraction of about 220,000 cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste in their community buried under commerical properties. They spoke during a long-awaited public hearing on the proposal, held Aug. 28 in Borough Hall.
The federal government has delayed releasing this plan for at least the last eight years. The process, undertaken by the corps and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has been criticized in correspondence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as needlessly prolonged. Even though the EPA has an oversight role in the process, the agency was apparently powerless to help the community by compelling a shorter time frame.
The corps, which says its proposal is based on an objective review of current land use, and complies with New Jersey law, only subjects 26,380 of a total of 220,379 cubic yards to a permanent cleanup level. Some EPA officials once claimed this level should be applied to the entire site, because it would best protect human health and the environment, in a densely populated community. They were overruled. The corps says a state statute allows it to now clean up less.
Additonally, the plan is really incomplete. It does not address chemical soil, as well as chemical and radiological groundwater contamination. These issues have been deferred to a later date.
A written public comment period on the proposal is set to lapse Oct. 12.
Roughly 30 residents and some municipal officials attended. It was preceded by a less formal information session more typical of corps events held locally, since the agency took control of the cleanup from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1997.
The corps put forth various pieces of literature and poster displays which detailed aspects of its proposal, offered a historical overview and explained some of the requirements it must follow in implementing any plan.
Also prominently featured were displays from the Concerned Citizens of Maywood (CCM), which has harshly criticized the U.S. governrnent's efforts over the past 17 years, and protested the government's conduct at the site.
The incomplete plan pertains only to the future cleanup of buried low-level radioactive soil under buildings and property. A plan for addressing any chemical soil and groundwater contamination - outside of the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) - has been worked on - for at least the last 10 years - by Stepan Chemical Company under direct EPA oversight.
Stepan has yet to unveil it. The EPA first issued a unilareral order against Stepan to start a Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study on chemicals, following about four years of protracted negotiations which failed to produce a mutual agreement, in 1991.
Some local Maywood officials, including now-former Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, have said they believe the site's chemical pollution poses a far more serious problem.
As for radioactive contaminants in the groundwater, the corps stated in its own proposed plan that it is studying the issue, and will address the matter in the future.
Sites completed, and sites which still need action
Most of Maywood's plan falls under the second phase of the radiological cleanup that targets almost all the affected commercial properties (except one). Borough sites covered in this phase include the federally-owned Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS), Stepan Chemical Company, DeSausssere Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express. Other smaller sites are also affected.
Cleanup of all the affected residential properties in Lodi, Maywood and Rochelle Park, and the Ballod commercial site in Rochelle Park, (Phase I) has been completed. The corps inherited this phased plan from the DOE.
Suddenly, the feds are worried about "cost-effectiveness"
The corps is asserting that using soil separation to treat vast amounts of contamination in place under the larger commercial properties, combined with more limited excavation at smaller sites, is cheaper ($244 million) than excavating and carting away all the soil by applying the more stringent criteria.throughout the entire site ($254 million). Residents addressing the corps during the Aug. 28 hearing argued that this $10 million differential does not justify the agency's decision not to push for the more comprehensive cleanup.
And the more limited corps plan comes after two federal agencies - the corps and the DOE under EPA oversight - spent untold hundreds of millions of dollars more, studying the various sites and cleaning up the residences and the Ballod property in Rochelle Park by moving the soil through Maywood without any proposed plan, over an almost 20-year period.
Two federal contractors, Bechtel National Inc. (DOE) and Stone and Websrer (corps), have been involved all during this time. By refusing to release a proposed plan earlier covering both phases, as once promised, the federal government never had to discuss the cost-effectiveness issue for both the residential/Ballod commercial (Phase I) and commercial (Phase II) properties at the same time.
It is only expressing this concern in the second phase, which will most profoundly impact upon Maywood.
A protracted struggle, years of delay - and political intrigue
The hearing marked a significant milestone in the controversial history of the site, as the federal government - represented by the DOE, the EPA and the corps - seemingly resisted attempts previously to give Maywoodians any extensive input into the cleanup process.
It comes eight years after the EPA pointed out that the DOE was holding up issuing the same proposed plan.
Yet, all during that time, Maywood residents saw their doors open to taking toxic waste from residences in Lodi and the unremediated portion of the Ballod commercial property - as their elected officials showed little interest in finding out what the U.S. government wanted to do with the vast bulk of their own waste (under active commercial properties).
The EPA stated in a 1994 report that the draft proposed plan was on hold due to "community concerns" over a proposal to implement soil washing, a treatment process that - crtiics charged then - would not have resulted in the best possible cleanup asssuring protectiveness.
The corps is essentially pushing the same radioactive waste cleanup criteria sought by the DOE eight years ago.
Five years after the corps took over the project, it has pushed implementing a somewhat similar methodology known as "soll separation," which remains a possible option in its own proposed plan.
This, despite the fact that Allen Roos, the corps' project manager, conceded on Aug. 28 that - just as the DOE before it - the corps has not been able to prove that the process can attain cleanup levels long desired by the community.
And rather than incorporating the cleanup of the non-Maywood properties with all the borough's under one proposed plan regardless of land use (which the DOE was apparently preparing to release as early as 1993), the EPA and DOE decided to abandon that pledge - even as government documents suggested that the Superfind law required one plan. The corps continued this policy upon taking control.
The DOE and EPA instead changed the rules in the middle of the game by piecemealing the remaining properties into two phases - residential/Ballod commercial (which did not use a proposed plan) and all the remaining commercial (which will).
While the bulk of that contamination sits in Maywood, some smaller commercial sites in Lodi, will be addressed. Both Democrats and Republicans on the Maywood governing body rejected repeated complaints from residents that this policy - prioritizing the Lodi residences and Ballod for cleanup at the MISS while letting the feds keep most of Maywood's own plan under seal - ultimately weakened the borough's voice.
The federal government - seemingly oblivious to the criticisms within Maywood despite ample documentation questioning the legality of its actions - moved forward unperturbed.
Now these same federal agencies are trying to convince Maywoodians that they care about their concerns - in executing the final stages of the cleanup
While Maywood's Democrats (led by Councilman Thomas Richards) always made cleaning up the Lodi residential sites their top priority, even if that meant putting Maywood's long-term interests on hold, borough Republicans (which once fought with the Democrats by placing Maywood's concerns first), ultimately joined with the Democrats in prioritizing cleanup of Lodi residences and the Ballod site at the MISS.
While some current Maywood Republicans, like Councilman Thomas Gaffney, have tried to justify prioritizing the Lodi residences out of their concern for people living in the homes, a check of the entire history of the site shows that addressing residenrial tracts over commercial sites was not always the federal government's top priority.
In the mid 1980s, then Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-9) lobbied the DOE to clean up as one of its earliest properties the first portion of the Ballod site, a commercially-zoned property contaminated with thorium and high levels of chemicals.
The state once described this piece as "an abandoned chemical dump." In fact, this comprIsed about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards stored in the pile at
Both repeatedly refused to address residents' concerns in area
By Chris Neidenberg
While both now insist that they back "up and out" in solving the borough's over two-decades old thorium dilemma, Borough Council candidates Thomas Richards and Thomas Gaffney were part of a governing body culture which simply refused to respond to residents' repeated concerns over the federal government's eight-year stall in releasing a proposed thorium cleanup plan.
Documents conclusively prove that the federal government - as led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) , Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), simply sat on releasing a cleanup plan affecting roughly 300,000 cubic yards of toxic thorium-tainted soil under borough properties.
This was the case even after a state Department of Health study done for the feds' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, in 1997, concluded that there were increased brain cancer incidences among women living near the site.
Richards and Gaffney - with long tenures in either municipal appointed or elected positions that have examined the issue - were well aware of this.
Richards first joined the council in 1975 and has been on and off it ever since, losing twice in mayoral contests to the late former Republican Mayor John Steuert along the way. Gaffney has served continuously since 1994.
During much of their tenures, the two joined others on the council in supporting permitting federal authorities to use the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) as a base in cleaning up sites in Lodi and Rochelle Park - along with a small smattering of borough residential properties thrown into the mix.
They went along with this program - even as the feds' continued hiding most of Maywood's own cleanup plan.
Richards and Gaffney kept backing this policy after the U.S. government rescinded its promise to release one complete proposed plan addressing the entire site.
The feds themselves once cited the Superfund law as requiring this, but, in a rather curious switch, ultimately decided applying this rule only to the smaller, first phase of the program (primarily residential) - in which Maywood had little stake.
While critics long argued during council meetings that this strategy could ultimately weaken the community's bargaining position in getting a permanent cleanup, Richards and Gaffney - while stating little on this topic publicly - rejected this view.
Both men have cited their benevolence in opening Maywood to taking toxic waste from Lodi residential properties on humanitarian grounds, since Lodi residents were living above contamination. Richards repeated this position during an Oct. 28 candidates forum at Borough Hall.
Yet neither have ever considered - or, at least in public - explained this rationale in light of the fact that the feds also prioritized cleaning up (ahead of many Lodi homes) the Ballod Associates vacant commercially-zoned property in Rochelle Park - a tract once owned by major Bergen County Republican bigwigs J. Fletcher Creamer and former county GOP Chairman John Schepisi, as well as Moses Sternlieb.
Richards, on the council in the 1980s as the early sites were being cleaned up, insisted that tbe borough needed to show concern for residents living in the Lodi homes. Yet about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards in the initial MISS pile came from the Ballod commercial site.. The state described this property in one report as an "abandoned chemical dump."
Schepisi, Sternlieb and Creamer ultimately sold this property to developers who built the Bristol Manor Nursing Home. And it was Richards' biggest ally at the time, then-Congressman Robert Torricelli - who urged the feds to help the three Ballod owners by cleaning up this site before the "next construction season."
These three men retained ownership of another piece of the original Ballod site that the corps.only cleaned up recently.
Gaffney, an unsuccessful 2001 Republican state assembly candidate, in defending his stance on allowing the Lodi cleanup to proceed, has simply stated he was not around when the initial Ballod decision was made.
And in hearing the two veteran councilmen speak during the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan, one might conclude both all along served as ardent champions of a cause supporting the complete cleanup of toxic waste largely generated through the years by Maywood Chemical Works and Stepan Chemical Company.
That is far from the case.
In fact, both lagged far behind The Concerned Citizens of Maywood, which consistently advocated an "up and out" strategy in removing the problem at repeated council meetings - while the two officials either said little or nothing in response.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the past
Perhaps no currrent local elected official has more of a questionable history related to the issue than Richards, The 18-year council veteran also had considerable say in framing the municipality's positions while off the council as chairman of Maywood's mysterious and former Environmental Legislative Action Committee (ELAC).
Richards' fingerprints on this issue date back to the problem's rather curious beginnings in 1983-84, around the time the federal government tried fingering Stepan Chemical Company as the "potentially responsible party (PRP)" for area low-level radioactive waste.
He supported Torricelli's later efforts to switch financial liability for the radiological portion of the problem, from the then-congressman's future Democratic campaign donor, to the taxpayers.
In defending this strategy during the Oct. 28 forum, Richards again asserted that, despite the EPA's 1983 directive citing Stepan and Stepan division Maywood Chemical Works as liable for the thorium cleanup via Superfund, the taxpayers have rightfully shouldered this burden.
He asserted that the federal government caused the problem even though records show Maywood Chemical never produced thorium under a federal government contract. Superfund clearly holds current site operators liable for assuming the financial liabilities and assets of their predecessors. though PRPs can try disputing any government claims in litigation.
Richards further defended the controversial "memorandum of understanding," negotiated in the early 1980s by then Borough Attorney William Rupp. He claimed in 1986 that the deal - which created the DOE-owned MISS - served as "a shield" in preventing the U.S. government from trucking in radioactive waste from other areas of New Jersey.
One thing is clear. Once the EPA put the heat on Stepan to pay up for thorium under Superfund, Torricelli, Rupp and Richards tried shiifting the blame and focus to the federal government.
Ever since, Richards and Maywood Democrats have insisted that the borough's progress in cleaning up radioactive waste must be solely dependent upon federal funds.
In 1983, they succeeded in halting the EPA's enforcement actions via transferring liability for thorium (though not chemical) pollution to the feds by bringing the DOE into the project. Torricelli, who recently ended his 2002 U.S. Senate re-election bid over ethics woes, denied that his actions were linked to company President F. Quinn Stepan's later campaign donations.
Richards has been an ardent defender of Steoan and Torricelli throughout his tenure' Citing principle, he has refused to consider the possibility (raised in a 1997 army corps report) of trying to secure more of Stepan's funds in helping remove thorium from his community.
Thus, if re-elected, Richards will likely keep supporting efforts to sustain the "DOE-Stepan" agreement Torricelli initally negotiated. At the Oct.28 forum, the councilman said he will keep seeking federal monies in cleaning up all the site's radioactive waste.
Richards now says he wants thorium from all borough sites excavated and disposed into a permanent storage facility - without using unproven treatment merhods, He.also supports a mandated "unrestricted use" level of five picocuries per gram (pcI/g). To help achieve this, he has proposed putting a park on the current Sears Distribution Center property when cleaned up.
Yet the councilman sang a much different tune in 1994 as a private citizen,
During a DOE information session at Maywood Avenue School, he maintained that the Sears area merited cleanup - as a commercial property - to a lower standard. He endorsed using the DOE's proposed "soil washing" treatment program in doing it. Even as the DOE's tests could not prove the process could attain an unrestricted use criteria of 5 pcI/g, Richards said he thought the process could "suck up" the added waste and reach the lower level.
In addition, Richards, as either ELAC chairman or councilman:
A. Told the Concerned Citizens group, in 1995, that ELAC did not have to hear residents' comments.
B. Offered no progress reports, as ELAC chairman, on the thorium issue over a roughly three-year period.
C. Participated in a secretive meeting with federal and state elected officials on Oct. 22, 2000 to witness the army corps' pilot soil separation program, which now-former Boroigh Administrator John Perkins assured, would be closed to the press and public.
D. Served as an open advocate for the DOE, as it kept concealing the proposed plan from Maywood residents, in serving on a DOE Remedy Solution committee while ELAC chairman in 1995.
E. Tried passing off ELAC as an official "environmental commission" in obtaining state tree-related funds, when it did not meet a state statute.
F. Knew of the federal cancer incidence study, as ELAC chairman, over two years before the state publicized it and kept the report under seal.
Gaffney, like Richards, has asserted that Maywood is esentially a prisoner to the federal government, under the arrangements Torricelli and Rupp earlier negotiated.
For instance, in 2000, he said there was nothing the borough could do to stop the corps from implementing the pilot soil separation prgram afrer residents demanded that the council act swiftly in stopping the corps.
Yet Gaffney has held a more consistent position than Richards in advocating that the entire town get an unrestricted use cleanup. The councilman has also said he would support any government effort which gets more thorium cleanup funding from Stepan - if it expedites the cleanup.
Richards and Gaffney on thorium in the present
The candidates, at the Aug, 28 corps hearing and the Oct. 28 forum, insisted that mandating "up and out" is now the only option.
"Now this 15 picocuries (per gram) comes into the picture," Gaffney complained during the corps' hearing. "I don't think you're really listening to us, I really don't.
"I want you to take it up with whoever are the powers that be and emphasize to whoever are the powers that be, this is what we want: 'Up and out," Gaffney told corps Site Manager Allen Roos. "That is what we want. That is what we asked for."
Richards agreed. He demanded, "5 pcI/g, nothing else."
"If you can clean up commercial properties in Lodi to 5 pcI/g, why can't you clean up Maywood's commercial properties to 5 pcI/g?" Richards asked Roos, referring to the unrestricted use criteria.
He added that it seems clear treatment schemes, such as separation, cannot meet the standard.
"Absent 100-percent concrete proof that it works, we will not suppport you," he vowed, demanding that the corps take "a different route."
LAUTENBERG NEVER BACKED FULL THORIUM CLEANUP
Wanted 15 pcI/g for Maywood, was silent on Stepan liability
New Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Framk Lautenberg once hailed a federal government plan to clean vast amounts of thorium-tainted soil to levels that will not permanently clean up Maywood, according to statements he issued when a 1994 draft cleanup plan was unveiled.
In fact, in a 1994 press release titled, "Guidelines to Be Set by EPA, Lautenberg Applauds Action, Says Wayne/Maywood Sites on Road to Cleanup," the candidate praised a U.S. government decision to clean most of Maywood's radioactive waste to levels not exceeding 15 picocuries per gram (pcI/g).
This criteria is now heavily opposed by governing body members, including Lautenberg's fellow Democtrat, Councilman,Thomas Richards, and those residents speaking at an Aug. 28 public hearing on the proposed plan.
Lautenberg praised an original decision to try implementing this unpopular criteria eight years ago, calling it "good news."
Yet the controversial decision, blasted by critics, followed protracted negotations, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried resisting the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) drive to implement the lower cleanup threshold. That is, until a joint EPA-DOE dispute resolution committee settled on it.
But during the dispute, two EPA officials, in pleading Maywood's case, warned using 15 pcI/g could designate the borough as "a permanent storage site."
Those opposed to the final outcome with the Concerned Citizens of Maywood blasted the EPA's acquiesence as " a cave-in." to DOE pressure.
In facr, the 1994 decision Lautenberg wanted was originally opposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. It maintained that the standard was not in accordance with New Jersey regulations.
This opposition triggered a further delay, and no plan was offficially unveiled for another eight years.
"This is finally good news for the residents in Maywood and Wayne," the former senator stated in his 1994 release. "Now we can move forward with the cleanups."
In the release, Lautenberg endorsed a proposal to clean the Phase II (commercial and government-owned sites) in Maywood "to 15 pcI/g above background level, with an 'as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)' goal of 5 pcI/g."
Yet use of ALARA does not guarantee a permanent cleanup.
Under its current proposal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still wants to clean up about 90 percent of the municipality's remaining targeted waste (some 220,000 cubic yards) to this less stringent criteria - even after eight years of delay.
The corps asserts this level is protective under current land use, and complies with existing state law, which would supersede any prior New Jersey regulations.
The corps is now under pressure from officials and residents to ditch ALARA and mandate the much tighter criteria - a permanent cleanup level of 5 pcI/g throughout the entire site.
Lautenbeeg, a former three-term incumbent, replaced Senator Robert Torricelli following Torrricelli's sudden wirhdrawal from the 2002 contest over ethical transgressions.
He is now running campaign attack ads against Republican opponent Douglas Forrester by maintaining he supports making "polluters" pay in cleaning up Superfund sites, while Forrester does not.
During a Sept. 6 site visit, Forrester blasted Torricelli's Maywood dealings, and insisted that he wants all of Maywood's contamination removed from the community.
Torricelli and Lautenberg have remained silent on whether Torricelli's campaign donor - and Maywood's worst polluter - Stepan Chemical Company, should now shoulder liability for paying to clean up thorium and chemical contamination. Much of this waste is mixed.
The corps, however, has not ruled out trying to recover even more monies from Stepan in expediting the thorium part of the cleanup.
If that happens, and the dreaded 15 pcI/g criteria sticks, Stepan would likely save a lot of money - and much of the tainted soil will be left on site.
Additionally, the federal government could remain in Maywood for many more years in monitoring future land use at the affected sites - even after the estimated six -year time frame it says it needs in using the lesser crriteria to clean up.
Maywood's toxic waste was largely generated by either Stepan or the predecessor company it inherited and incorporated as a division of the Northfield, Ill. company, Maywood Chemical Works.
Stepan subsequently profited handsomely in the 1960s by selling much of Maywood Chemical's old polluted plant grounds to other businesses which came into the borough. These sites are now occupied by companies including DeSaussure Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express.
Thus far, Stepan, under an agreement Torricelli helped arrange, will only have to pay for cleaning up chemicals.
Torricelli's "DOE-Stepan agreement" came into play shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond informed Stepan executive John O'Brien that it was designated a "potential responsible party (PRP)" for "radioactive contamination."
Diamond maintained that Stepan was a rightful PRP, since the Superfund law holds current site owners liable for any waste their predecessors generated.
Yet ultimately, Torricelli, Maywood's Ninth District congressman at the time, secured passage of legislation in 1983 making the federal government and its taxpayers financially liable as the PRP - for all radiological contamination.
This overrode Diamond's earlier enforcement action against Stepan on thorium pollution (though not chemicals) ,and remains in effect to this day.
Thorium cleanup liability was then assigned to the DOE and its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Angela Carpenter, the EPA's project manager, stated in 1995 that Torricelli's moves complicated the borough's cleanup picture via adding another layer of bureaucracy (the DOE) into the mix.
She said that, prior to this act, Maywood was "a garden variety Superfund site." Years earlier. Torricelli maintained the move was necessary to avoid litigation, which could delay the program. After shifting liability from Stepan to the government, Torricelli drew criticism for subsequently receiving repeated campaign donations from Stepan's president, F. Quinn Stepan - a prominent Democratic fundraiser.
Thus, had Torricelli never acted, Stepan and its West Humter Avenue plant would be financially liable for cleaning up thorium and chemicals - under one project - throughout the entire site.
The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds in Maywood since Torricell]s agreement..
Yet Lautenberg and Torricelli took a much different stance at another FUSRAP/Superfund site in nearby Wayne.
They aggressively called for the U.S. Department of Justice to recover additional cleanup monies in remediating thorium and chemicals at the smaller WR Grace and Company site in 1999. The corps is cleaning up this site's thorium to a tighter criteria than it wants applied within Maywood.
In fact, Torricelli maintained that the feds were improperly subsidizing Grace's costs, even while he continued backing having the taxpayers subsidize his campaign donor's (Stepan's) own costs - under a deal he helped negotiate,
COUNCIL WON''T PUBLICLY VOTE ON CORPS' THORIUM PLAN
But Kuss, Fede will send agency letters as to borough's position
By Chris Neidenberg
Though it had two chances to publicly do so, the Borough Council declined to vote on any resolution concerning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' massive proposed thorium cleanup plan.
At the council's Oct. 23 meeting, Mayor Wayne Kuss told resident Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, that the governing body's view on this profpund decision will be found in letters the mayor and Borough Attorney Andrew Fede prepared.
The feds recently extended the term of a public comment period on the plan, as requested, from Oct. 12 to Nov. 11
"I'd like to know if the borough has issued any kind of comments on the proposed plan," asked Nolan, who urged the borough to shut down its borders to any additional outside contamination - unless 5 pcI'/g is guaranteed for Maywood in the record of decision.
"We did it (took a stand) collectively,'" the mayor replied. "Andrew (Fede) did it (borough's letter) as a body."
The mayor added that he has sent his own letter.
But in forming any position, the council would likely have had some kind of collective discussion somewhere...
The council also held a regular public meeting Sept. 25 but did not post a resolution on the issue. Thus, it held twlo public meetings since the corps' Aug. 28 public hearing without taking any public vote.
At that hearing, Councilmen Thomas Richards, Thomas Gaffney and James Petrie said they would oppose any corps plan imposing a cleanup criteria of 15 picocuries per gram at any site in the municipality, and will try forcing use of a definitive "unrestricted use" criteria of 5 pcI/g.
Richards and Gaffney raised the possibility of doing this via imposing land use changes, such as zoning a park use near the Sears Distribution Center site.
By not posting a resolution, Councilpersons Dr. Tim Eustace, Fred Zigrest and Jeannie Matullo do not have to take an official stand.
The council's decision to only send a letter means anyone interested in finding out its official position, on how the corps should clean up about 220,000 cubic yards of targeted low-level radioactive waste, will have to request the correspondence from the corps.
Nolan said after his appearance that the council should have posted a public resolution, and given its vote of confidence for taking the waste "up and out."
This is the view that all of the municipality's soil should simply be dug up and carted away, without using any unworkable treatment methods that can't achieve the level.
There is prcedence for a public resolution. In the late 1980s a prior council voted to publicly affirm its support for a state-backed proposal known as "the Utah plan," which called for carting all the soil away to a permanent disposal facility in that state. This plan is similar to what the council and Kuss are expected to request in their letters.
Note: Due to the complexities of the borough's thorium cleanup plan, TRUTH HURTS has decided to present the matter under two separate stories. The first provides an overview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal, as well as historical background on the many events which preceded this significant moment, and have, in fact, impacted it. A second story on the hearing itself, featuring the comments of residents and corps and borough officials, is forthcoming.
CORPS' PROPOSES PARTIAL THORIUM CLEANUP PLAN
Only 12 percent of targeted waste would see final cleanup
By Chris Neidenberg
Residents and municipal officials denounced a U.S. Army Corps of Engiineers plan to only permanently clean up a small fraction of about 220,000 cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste in their community buried under commerical properties. They spoke during a long-awaited public hearing on the proposal, held Aug. 28 in Borough Hall.
The federal government has delayed releasing this plan for at least the last eight years. The process, undertaken by the corps and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has been criticized in correspondence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as needlessly prolonged. Even though the EPA has an oversight role in the process, the agency was apparently powerless to help the community by compelling a shorter time frame.
The corps, which says its proposal is based on an objective review of current land use, and complies with New Jersey law, only subjects 26,380 of a total of 220,379 cubic yards to a permanent cleanup level. Some EPA officials once claimed this level should be applied to the entire site, because it would best protect human health and the environment, in a densely populated community. They were overruled. The corps says a state statute allows it to now clean up less.
Additonally, the plan is really incomplete. It does not address chemical soil, as well as chemical and radiological groundwater contamination. These issues have been deferred to a later date.
A written public comment period on the proposal is set to lapse Oct. 12.
Roughly 30 residents and some municipal officials attended. It was preceded by a less formal information session more typical of corps events held locally, since the agency took control of the cleanup from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1997.
The corps put forth various pieces of literature and poster displays which detailed aspects of its proposal, offered a historical overview and explained some of the requirements it must follow in implementing any plan.
Also prominently featured were displays from the Concerned Citizens of Maywood (CCM), which has harshly criticized the U.S. governrnent's efforts over the past 17 years, and protested the government's conduct at the site.
The incomplete plan pertains only to the future cleanup of buried low-level radioactive soil under buildings and property. A plan for addressing any chemical soil and groundwater contamination - outside of the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) - has been worked on - for at least the last 10 years - by Stepan Chemical Company under direct EPA oversight.
Stepan has yet to unveil it. The EPA first issued a unilareral order against Stepan to start a Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study on chemicals, following about four years of protracted negotiations which failed to produce a mutual agreement, in 1991.
Some local Maywood officials, including now-former Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, have said they believe the site's chemical pollution poses a far more serious problem.
As for radioactive contaminants in the groundwater, the corps stated in its own proposed plan that it is studying the issue, and will address the matter in the future.
Sites completed, and sites which still need action
Most of Maywood's plan falls under the second phase of the radiological cleanup that targets almost all the affected commercial properties (except one). Borough sites covered in this phase include the federally-owned Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS), Stepan Chemical Company, DeSausssere Engineering, the Sears Distribution Center and Federal Express. Other smaller sites are also affected.
Cleanup of all the affected residential properties in Lodi, Maywood and Rochelle Park, and the Ballod commercial site in Rochelle Park, (Phase I) has been completed. The corps inherited this phased plan from the DOE.
Suddenly, the feds are worried about "cost-effectiveness"
The corps is asserting that using soil separation to treat vast amounts of contamination in place under the larger commercial properties, combined with more limited excavation at smaller sites, is cheaper ($244 million) than excavating and carting away all the soil by applying the more stringent criteria.throughout the entire site ($254 million). Residents addressing the corps during the Aug. 28 hearing argued that this $10 million differential does not justify the agency's decision not to push for the more comprehensive cleanup.
And the more limited corps plan comes after two federal agencies - the corps and the DOE under EPA oversight - spent untold hundreds of millions of dollars more, studying the various sites and cleaning up the residences and the Ballod property in Rochelle Park by moving the soil through Maywood without any proposed plan, over an almost 20-year period.
Two federal contractors, Bechtel National Inc. (DOE) and Stone and Websrer (corps), have been involved all during this time. By refusing to release a proposed plan earlier covering both phases, as once promised, the federal government never had to discuss the cost-effectiveness issue for both the residential/Ballod commercial (Phase I) and commercial (Phase II) properties at the same time.
It is only expressing this concern in the second phase, which will most profoundly impact upon Maywood.
A protracted struggle, years of delay - and political intrigue
The hearing marked a significant milestone in the controversial history of the site, as the federal government - represented by the DOE, the EPA and the corps - seemingly resisted attempts previously to give Maywoodians any extensive input into the cleanup process.
It comes eight years after the EPA pointed out that the DOE was holding up issuing the same proposed plan.
Yet, all during that time, Maywood residents saw their doors open to taking toxic waste from residences in Lodi and the unremediated portion of the Ballod commercial property - as their elected officials showed little interest in finding out what the U.S. government wanted to do with the vast bulk of their own waste (under active commercial properties).
The EPA stated in a 1994 report that the draft proposed plan was on hold due to "community concerns" over a proposal to implement soil washing, a treatment process that - crtiics charged then - would not have resulted in the best possible cleanup asssuring protectiveness.
The corps is essentially pushing the same radioactive waste cleanup criteria sought by the DOE eight years ago.
Five years after the corps took over the project, it has pushed implementing a somewhat similar methodology known as "soll separation," which remains a possible option in its own proposed plan.
This, despite the fact that Allen Roos, the corps' project manager, conceded on Aug. 28 that - just as the DOE before it - the corps has not been able to prove that the process can attain cleanup levels long desired by the community.
And rather than incorporating the cleanup of the non-Maywood properties with all the borough's under one proposed plan regardless of land use (which the DOE was apparently preparing to release as early as 1993), the EPA and DOE decided to abandon that pledge - even as government documents suggested that the Superfind law required one plan. The corps continued this policy upon taking control.
The DOE and EPA instead changed the rules in the middle of the game by piecemealing the remaining properties into two phases - residential/Ballod commercial (which did not use a proposed plan) and all the remaining commercial (which will).
While the bulk of that contamination sits in Maywood, some smaller commercial sites in Lodi, will be addressed. Both Democrats and Republicans on the Maywood governing body rejected repeated complaints from residents that this policy - prioritizing the Lodi residences and Ballod for cleanup at the MISS while letting the feds keep most of Maywood's own plan under seal - ultimately weakened the borough's voice.
The federal government - seemingly oblivious to the criticisms within Maywood despite ample documentation questioning the legality of its actions - moved forward unperturbed.
Now these same federal agencies are trying to convince Maywoodians that they care about their concerns - in executing the final stages of the cleanup
While Maywood's Democrats (led by Councilman Thomas Richards) always made cleaning up the Lodi residential sites their top priority, even if that meant putting Maywood's long-term interests on hold, borough Republicans (which once fought with the Democrats by placing Maywood's concerns first), ultimately joined with the Democrats in prioritizing cleanup of Lodi residences and the Ballod site at the MISS.
While some current Maywood Republicans, like Councilman Thomas Gaffney, have tried to justify prioritizing the Lodi residences out of their concern for people living in the homes, a check of the entire history of the site shows that addressing residenrial tracts over commercial sites was not always the federal government's top priority.
In the mid 1980s, then Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-9) lobbied the DOE to clean up as one of its earliest properties the first portion of the Ballod site, a commercially-zoned property contaminated with thorium and high levels of chemicals.
The state once described this piece as "an abandoned chemical dump." In fact, this comprIsed about 32,000 of the 35,000 cubic yards stored in the pile at
'COMPLICATIONS' STALL FINAL MAYWOOD MARKET VOTE
PB prepares resolution, but delays closing case until Sept. 10
By Chris Neidenberg
Plans - by the Planning/Zoning Board - to adopt a resolution Aug. 27 backing a massive expansion of Maywood Market Place went awry, as Chairman George Brush conceded all affected parties needed more time to digest the final draft before any memorialization vote.
During the board's meeting that night, Brush announced a postponement of the final vote - until Sept. 10.
The date will mark almost four months since Market lawyer Thomas Hynes' opening presentation on behalf of Manhasset, L.I. developer Nickolas Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate but related entities: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty.
On Aug. 13, Board Attorney Greg Padavano was authorized to draft a final resolution supporting some kind of expansion, as outlined in Phase I of the proposal. The board scheduled taking a final vote during the upcoming Aug. 27 meeting, after rejecting any consideration of Phase II.
Yet on Aug. 27, Brush said copies of the draft would first be made available to Hynes and Alan Magrini, before any final vote. The latter is counsel to objectors Victor and Nancy Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue. Both lawyers attended that evening.
The chairman also noted that a copy of the proposed resolution would be filed - for public review - with the borough clerk's office.
What Katapoudis gets, assuming board approval, will not be known until a final vote. Among the things he wants are: expanding the rear parking lot from about 25 to 71 spaces via demolishing three dwellings in two homes (at 89 West Passaic Street and 95 West Passaic/520 Palmer Ave.); expanding the first floor off 79 West Pleasant for more selling space and to enlarge a kitchen (used in catering); building a precedent-setting second floor along West Pleasant for storage; and adding a second entrance on West Pleasant. The lone entrance is at the corner of West Pleasant and Palmer.
The full plan encompasses about 37,000 square feet, and has come under harsh criticism from the Paparazzos and Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood.
Yet Katapoudis' official legal notice to affected property owners makes no reference to the developer's requests to add a second floor on West Pleasant and another entrance. The notice only details the variance and subdivision permits he is seeking for the bigger parking lot.
To enact the project, board members must grant variances changing the residential zones to restricted commercial, and OK a minor subdvision merging parcels at 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer into one lot.
"We hoped to finish this tonight but there's too many complications and questions that need to be resolved," Brush told the audience Aug. 27, without going into details. "And in all due respect, it's quite a complicated application."
The chairman added that he and his colleagues will use the extra time to thoroughly review the matter.
"We want to give the board a chance to study this, and look at it further, until the next meeting," he said.
Questions also still linger over whether the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation (which includes all Borough Council members) will try resuming negotiations with Katapoudis over possibly sharing any expanded parking site for town-wide use, assuming the application is approved.
This approach could require taxpayers to subsidize at least some of Katapoudis' expansion costs, and is opposed by Single, a member of the SID board's project plannning committee.
Mayor Wayne Kuss has asserted that such talks are "not a dead issue," after Hynes already promised the board taxpayers will not pay "one red cent" for his client's undertaking.
Additonally, Brush has stated that it sounds as though Katapoudis wants to retain the bigger lot only for his shoppers - after negotiations with the borough broke off.
Ironically, at least one board member seems to want the bigger parking site even more than Katapoudis. The developer has already gone on record as stating that a larger lot, while increasing customer convenience, is not key to Maywood Market's continued success.
On Aug. 13, Board Member Harry Hillenius echoed the line, publicly offered by at least some borough elected officials, that an enlarged parking site could be an asset which the municipality could tap into.
"Maywood needs more parking," Hillenius said then, in endorsing continued discussions between the borough and Katapoudis.
Yet Katapoudis, addressing the board three months earlier, maintained that his business would do just fine without the bigger parking lot.
"It's not as though we would be put out of business without it," the owner said on May 14. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
PB prepares resolution, but delays closing case until Sept. 10
By Chris Neidenberg
Plans - by the Planning/Zoning Board - to adopt a resolution Aug. 27 backing a massive expansion of Maywood Market Place went awry, as Chairman George Brush conceded all affected parties needed more time to digest the final draft before any memorialization vote.
During the board's meeting that night, Brush announced a postponement of the final vote - until Sept. 10.
The date will mark almost four months since Market lawyer Thomas Hynes' opening presentation on behalf of Manhasset, L.I. developer Nickolas Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate but related entities: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty.
On Aug. 13, Board Attorney Greg Padavano was authorized to draft a final resolution supporting some kind of expansion, as outlined in Phase I of the proposal. The board scheduled taking a final vote during the upcoming Aug. 27 meeting, after rejecting any consideration of Phase II.
Yet on Aug. 27, Brush said copies of the draft would first be made available to Hynes and Alan Magrini, before any final vote. The latter is counsel to objectors Victor and Nancy Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue. Both lawyers attended that evening.
The chairman also noted that a copy of the proposed resolution would be filed - for public review - with the borough clerk's office.
What Katapoudis gets, assuming board approval, will not be known until a final vote. Among the things he wants are: expanding the rear parking lot from about 25 to 71 spaces via demolishing three dwellings in two homes (at 89 West Passaic Street and 95 West Passaic/520 Palmer Ave.); expanding the first floor off 79 West Pleasant for more selling space and to enlarge a kitchen (used in catering); building a precedent-setting second floor along West Pleasant for storage; and adding a second entrance on West Pleasant. The lone entrance is at the corner of West Pleasant and Palmer.
The full plan encompasses about 37,000 square feet, and has come under harsh criticism from the Paparazzos and Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood.
Yet Katapoudis' official legal notice to affected property owners makes no reference to the developer's requests to add a second floor on West Pleasant and another entrance. The notice only details the variance and subdivision permits he is seeking for the bigger parking lot.
To enact the project, board members must grant variances changing the residential zones to restricted commercial, and OK a minor subdvision merging parcels at 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer into one lot.
"We hoped to finish this tonight but there's too many complications and questions that need to be resolved," Brush told the audience Aug. 27, without going into details. "And in all due respect, it's quite a complicated application."
The chairman added that he and his colleagues will use the extra time to thoroughly review the matter.
"We want to give the board a chance to study this, and look at it further, until the next meeting," he said.
Questions also still linger over whether the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation (which includes all Borough Council members) will try resuming negotiations with Katapoudis over possibly sharing any expanded parking site for town-wide use, assuming the application is approved.
This approach could require taxpayers to subsidize at least some of Katapoudis' expansion costs, and is opposed by Single, a member of the SID board's project plannning committee.
Mayor Wayne Kuss has asserted that such talks are "not a dead issue," after Hynes already promised the board taxpayers will not pay "one red cent" for his client's undertaking.
Additonally, Brush has stated that it sounds as though Katapoudis wants to retain the bigger lot only for his shoppers - after negotiations with the borough broke off.
Ironically, at least one board member seems to want the bigger parking site even more than Katapoudis. The developer has already gone on record as stating that a larger lot, while increasing customer convenience, is not key to Maywood Market's continued success.
On Aug. 13, Board Member Harry Hillenius echoed the line, publicly offered by at least some borough elected officials, that an enlarged parking site could be an asset which the municipality could tap into.
"Maywood needs more parking," Hillenius said then, in endorsing continued discussions between the borough and Katapoudis.
Yet Katapoudis, addressing the board three months earlier, maintained that his business would do just fine without the bigger parking lot.
"It's not as though we would be put out of business without it," the owner said on May 14. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
'COMPLICATIONS' STALL FINAL MAYWOOD MARKET VOTE
PB prepares resolution, but delays closing case until Sept. 10
By Chris Neidenberg
Plans - by the Planning/Zoning Board - to adopt a resolution Aug. 27 backing a massive expansion of Maywood Market Place went awry, as Chairman George Brush conceded all affected parties needed more time to digest the final draft before any memorialization vote.
During the board's meeting that night, Brush announced a postponement of the final vote - until Sept. 10.
The date will mark almost four months since Market lawyer Thomas Hynes' opening presentation on behalf of Manhasset, L.I. developer Nickolas Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate but related entities: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty.
On Aug. 13, Board Attorney Greg Padavano was authorized to draft a final resolution supporting some kind of expansion, as outlined in Phase I of the proposal. The board scheduled taking a final vote during the upcoming Aug. 27 meeting, after rejecting any consideration of Phase II.
Yet on Aug. 27, Brush said copies of the draft would first be made available to Hynes and Alan Magrini, before any final vote. The latter is counsel to objectors Victor and Nancy Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue. Both lawyers attended that evening.
The chairman also noted that a copy of the proposed resolution would be filed - for public review - with the borough clerk's office.
What Katapoudis gets, assuming board approval, will not be known until a final vote. Among the things he wants are: expanding the rear parking lot from about 25 to 71 spaces via demolishing three dwellings in two homes (at 89 West Passaic Street and 95 West Passaic/520 Palmer Ave.); expanding the first floor off 79 West Pleasant for more selling space and to enlarge a kitchen (used in catering); building a precedent-setting second floor along West Pleasant for storage; and adding a second entrance on West Pleasant. The lone entrance is at the corner of West Pleasant and Palmer.
The full plan encompasses about 37,000 square feet, and has come under harsh criticism from the Paparazzos and Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood.
Yet Katapoudis' official legal notice to affected property owners makes no reference to the developer's requests to add a second floor on West Pleasant and another entrance. The notice only details the variance and subdivision permits he is seeking for the bigger parking lot.
To enact the project, board members must grant variances changing the residential zones to restricted commercial, and OK a minor subdvision merging parcels at 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer into one lot.
"We hoped to finish this tonight but there's too many complications and questions that need to be resolved," Brush told the audience Aug. 27, without going into details. "And in all due respect, it's quite a complicated application."
The chairman added that he and his colleagues will use the extra time to thoroughly review the matter.
"We want to give the board a chance to study this, and look at it further, until the next meeting," he said.
Questions also still linger over whether the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation (which includes all Borough Council members) will try resuming negotiations with Katapoudis over possibly sharing any expanded parking site for town-wide use, assuming the application is approved.
This approach could require taxpayers to subsidize at least some of Katapoudis' expansion costs, and is opposed by Single, a member of the SID board's project plannning committee.
Mayor Wayne Kuss has asserted that such talks are "not a dead issue," after Hynes already promised the board taxpayers will not pay "one red cent" for his client's undertaking.
Additonally, Brush has stated that it sounds as though Katapoudis wants to retain the bigger lot only for his shoppers - after negotiations with the borough broke off.
Ironically, at least one board member seems to want the bigger parking site even more than Katapoudis. The developer has already gone on record as stating that a larger lot, while increasing customer convenience, is not key to Maywood Market's continued success.
On Aug. 13, Board Member Harry Hillenius echoed the line, publicly offered by at least some borough elected officials, that an enlarged parking site could be an asset which the municipality could tap into.
"Maywood needs more parking," Hillenius said then, in endorsing continued discussions between the borough and Katapoudis.
Yet Katapoudis, addressing the board three months earlier, maintained that his business would do just fine without the bigger parking lot.
"It's not as though we would be put out of business without it," the owner said on May 14. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
PB prepares resolution, but delays closing case until Sept. 10
By Chris Neidenberg
Plans - by the Planning/Zoning Board - to adopt a resolution Aug. 27 backing a massive expansion of Maywood Market Place went awry, as Chairman George Brush conceded all affected parties needed more time to digest the final draft before any memorialization vote.
During the board's meeting that night, Brush announced a postponement of the final vote - until Sept. 10.
The date will mark almost four months since Market lawyer Thomas Hynes' opening presentation on behalf of Manhasset, L.I. developer Nickolas Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate but related entities: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty.
On Aug. 13, Board Attorney Greg Padavano was authorized to draft a final resolution supporting some kind of expansion, as outlined in Phase I of the proposal. The board scheduled taking a final vote during the upcoming Aug. 27 meeting, after rejecting any consideration of Phase II.
Yet on Aug. 27, Brush said copies of the draft would first be made available to Hynes and Alan Magrini, before any final vote. The latter is counsel to objectors Victor and Nancy Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue. Both lawyers attended that evening.
The chairman also noted that a copy of the proposed resolution would be filed - for public review - with the borough clerk's office.
What Katapoudis gets, assuming board approval, will not be known until a final vote. Among the things he wants are: expanding the rear parking lot from about 25 to 71 spaces via demolishing three dwellings in two homes (at 89 West Passaic Street and 95 West Passaic/520 Palmer Ave.); expanding the first floor off 79 West Pleasant for more selling space and to enlarge a kitchen (used in catering); building a precedent-setting second floor along West Pleasant for storage; and adding a second entrance on West Pleasant. The lone entrance is at the corner of West Pleasant and Palmer.
The full plan encompasses about 37,000 square feet, and has come under harsh criticism from the Paparazzos and Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood.
Yet Katapoudis' official legal notice to affected property owners makes no reference to the developer's requests to add a second floor on West Pleasant and another entrance. The notice only details the variance and subdivision permits he is seeking for the bigger parking lot.
To enact the project, board members must grant variances changing the residential zones to restricted commercial, and OK a minor subdvision merging parcels at 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer into one lot.
"We hoped to finish this tonight but there's too many complications and questions that need to be resolved," Brush told the audience Aug. 27, without going into details. "And in all due respect, it's quite a complicated application."
The chairman added that he and his colleagues will use the extra time to thoroughly review the matter.
"We want to give the board a chance to study this, and look at it further, until the next meeting," he said.
Questions also still linger over whether the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation (which includes all Borough Council members) will try resuming negotiations with Katapoudis over possibly sharing any expanded parking site for town-wide use, assuming the application is approved.
This approach could require taxpayers to subsidize at least some of Katapoudis' expansion costs, and is opposed by Single, a member of the SID board's project plannning committee.
Mayor Wayne Kuss has asserted that such talks are "not a dead issue," after Hynes already promised the board taxpayers will not pay "one red cent" for his client's undertaking.
Additonally, Brush has stated that it sounds as though Katapoudis wants to retain the bigger lot only for his shoppers - after negotiations with the borough broke off.
Ironically, at least one board member seems to want the bigger parking site even more than Katapoudis. The developer has already gone on record as stating that a larger lot, while increasing customer convenience, is not key to Maywood Market's continued success.
On Aug. 13, Board Member Harry Hillenius echoed the line, publicly offered by at least some borough elected officials, that an enlarged parking site could be an asset which the municipality could tap into.
"Maywood needs more parking," Hillenius said then, in endorsing continued discussions between the borough and Katapoudis.
Yet Katapoudis, addressing the board three months earlier, maintained that his business would do just fine without the bigger parking lot.
"It's not as though we would be put out of business without it," the owner said on May 14. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
BIG MAYWOOD MARKET LOT COULD BE APPROVED AUG. 13
M Market plan would destroy three homes for more cars
By Chris Neidenberg
Testimony ended July 23 on Maywood Market Place's application to create a huge parking lot enroaching upon Bergen and Palmer avenues and West Passaic Street, with a resident begging that the Planning/Zoning Board reject the proposal and not sell out the small community.
Yet the attorney and architect representing New York state developer Nickolas Katapoudis, despite the criticisms, concluded their three-month case by arguing the plan is a sign of progress for the municipality that will help the entire central business district on West Pleasant Avenue.
The plan also entails a major expansion of the store, including adding a second-floor warehouse.
Architect Anthony Garrett and borough lawyer Thomas Hynes have not denied that there could be an increase in traffic burdening nearby residential streets. Yet they have suggested that imposing more traffic on the town is a legitimate trade-off for improving the business climate.
They have stated that the expanded store and bigger lot (increasing the store's parking capacity by roughly 45 spaces - to 71) could lure more outsiders who will shop in other smaller stores.
While the board could have debated and voted on the proposal late that night, Chairman George Brush said its magnitude required careful consideration and study. Brush also said he wanted the vacationing Katapoudis to attend.
The case will resume on Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Trinka Hall at 459 Maywood Ave. At that time, barring any new developments, the nine-member body could take a final vote to either accept or reject the two-phase plan enompassing about 37,000 square feet.
Over at least the last two weeks, board members have presumably been evaluating the transcripts in studying the matter before having a final public discussion. Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate - but somewhat related entities (the store, real estate agent Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation) - want the board to grant three variances converting A-1 residential lots at 89 and 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer (now with houses they are leasing but want to demolish) into restricted commercial (RC) zones.
As for the West Pleasant building, in addition to the new second floor, the partnership wants to add more selling space on the first, and a new entrance on West Pleasant. Katapoudis, a resident of affluent Manhasset, L.I., has said the second floor will be used for the storage of dry goods. The store also wants to expand its kitchen in enlarging its catering business.
Katapoudis has left the door open to an even grander expansion plan in the future, requiring him to swallow up adjacent, smaller businesses (on property he now owns).
Hynes has refused to identify Katapoudis' partners. He also refuses to disclose the addresses of MNK and Jay Zee.
"I believe the applicant has met his obligations and has met his burden," the lawyer said in brief concluding remarks. "And I believe approval of these use variances won't be a detriment to the community."
He added, "I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens. Could they be a little neater? Probably. But I believe they have been good neighbors."
While Katapoudis has cited the parking lot as a major centerpiece of his plan, he has also conceded that rejecting the facility will not kill his business, since it only would increase customer convenience.
Yet Mayor Wayne Kuss has stated that the council would consider forcing taxpayers to help subsidize Katapoudis' undertaking - as part of a deal where the borough would reserve public spaces in his lot - because Maywood has a need for more shoppers' parking. Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, promises to fight any such plan.
Single cited a litany of reasons for canning the proposal while the board sat in silence. Single maintained that the Market's store expansion plans are a prelude to a bigger agenda that will forever alter the character of West Pleasant - for the worse. She warned rhat approving the application will send the message, "Maywood is for sale."
Single called for the Market to keep any possible expansion plans modest and at the ground level along West Pleasant - toward Angelo's Pizzeria.
"This application, these variances and this radical expansion are not necessary," insisted Single, who questioned whether the plan is not already a done deal based on the board's conduct. "If it (business district) is thriving, we don't need to take radical steps, thank you. Just keep the streets clean and have the merchants take action to keep their properties reasonable and acceptable-looking."
When Brush tried to halt her presentation, which ultimately lasted about 15 minutes, Single pointed out that the board seemingly bent over backwards in giving Katapoudis' team hours and hours of time.
She argued that much of the discussion seemed to dwell on what she termed as "trivial" matters such as the height of trees. The resident further maintained that the lengthy hearings skirted over significant, quality-of-life issues. In fact, the initial discussions date back to at least a year.
"Your discussions, all the (meeting) dates, make it look as though it's going to be approved," said Single. "Where is their traffic study? Where is the borough's traffic study?"
The resident argued that approval will mark a continuation of what she characterized as the board's unwise policy of favoring unreasonable commercial development - to the detriment of residents.
"I'm opposed to desecrating the community, " she told the board, "And it does happen - one block at a time."
Single showed photos she obtained of the absent Katapoudis' wealthy neighborhood in Manhasset, featuring million-dollar homes. She compared it to the more modest community where he is seeking to expand his store.
"Mr. Katapoudis doesn't live in a neighborhood like this, and he wouldn't bring that type of desecration to his neighborhood," she said.
During a lengthy close, attorney Alan Magrini of Secaucus, representing objectors Nancy and Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue, asserted that the project has many flaws and should be rejected.
His complaints centered around what he repeatedly characterized as the cramped nature of the proposal. Magrini also complained that the major proposal came with no professional traffic study and no direct testimony from an engineer for the developers.
Additonally, Magrini, referring to testimony from Victor Paparazzo,, alleged that the market has consistently been a poor neighbor which has not adequately maintained its property or addressed complaints.
The lawyer objected to, among other things, plans to remove two maple trees, drive-through aisles that would be 10-foot wide, rather than (what he maintained is) the standard 12 feet, no area to collect carts and "overlandscaping." He also carped about the developer.s proposal to place oil spillers on municipal property - rather than confining them to the parking lot - and proposed "parking that overlaps onto public property." Garrett said the spiller plans could be redesigned.
"I think when you see all these things together, you'll see what's going to be done," he said. "You're cramming a lot of stuff in a small area, all to the detriment of the surrounding property owners.".:
MAYWOOD MARKET LAWYER WON'T DENY SITE IS MESSY
"Could they be a little neater? Probably," Hynes tells boro PB
By Chris Neidenberg
As the Planning/Zoning Board prepares to possibly OK a major Maywood Market Place expansion plan this Aug. 13, the lawyer seeking approval would not deny that his clients have not satisfactorily maintained the current grounds.
Thomas Hynes, a resident and local lawyer on Palmer Avenue representing New York-based interests who have conceded the large development could bring more traffic and congestion into the small community, stood largely silent as resident Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue cited numerous complaints while questioned by his attorney, Alan Magrini of Secaucus.
Paparazzo spoke as both sides wrapped up testimony July 23.
"In general, do you think Maywood Market's properties, as they are currently maintained, are consistent with a residential neighborhood?" Magrini asked Paparazzo.
"No," replied the 28-year resident, who pointed out that he raised his family in the area long before Maywood Market (which replaced the IGA) ever set foot on the site.
A grown daughter now lives with her own family in the same neighborhood,
Paparazzo focused on allegations that included inadequate upkeep of greenery in the current yard/parking lot, and letting trash stay strewn all over the grounds for extended periods, enticing vermin such as rats to hang in the lot near his home and between Bergen and Palmer avenues.
Paparazzo, who with his wife, Nancy, are fighting the application that could lead to profound changes in their neighborhood, confirmed seeing rats outside the grocery/food establishment. Owner Nickolas Katapoudis wants to add even more selling space (and volume) to his business, under the proposal.
"The property is not landscaped," Paparazzo alleged to Magrini. "It's overgrown with weeds and debris."
He further complained that the store's lax maintenance extends beyond the parking lot property.
"I know the house behind me (on 520 Palmer), they (Katapoudis and his partners) have not maintained at all," the resident alleged.
Asked by Magrini if he would describe the house as "run down," Paparazzo replied, "Yes."
The resident further complained of "constantly" seeing store-generated garbage strewn in the lot and near or on the street, delivery trucks which run their engines for unacceptably long periods (resulting in unhealthy emissions) and being awakened by trucks making deliveries as early as 3:30 a.m. - in violation of borough codes - which stay for up to 45 minutes. He alleged that such activities are ongoing "seven days a week."
In responding to another question from Magrini, Paparazzo complained that any expansion will bring him even "closer" to the market and result in "more activities and more deliveries that will have a negative impact."
Katapoudis was on vacation, and thus, did not attend.
He told the board on June 25 that he would not be present July 23. Resident Lillian Single objected to his absence in addressing the board on July 23. She demanded that it take no final action until he shows up. Later, the board decided that Katapoudis must attend before a final vote is taken.
Hynes offered no direct rebuttal during Paparazzo's testimony, asking only if the resident observed any skunks or racoons on the site, in addition to rats. The grandfather replied he did not, but noted that he did alert the Board of Health about the rat sightings.
Hynes did briefly discuss the property upkeep issue in addressing the board.
"I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens," he said in concluding remarks. "Could they be a little neater? Probably. But they have been good neighbors."
Board Chairman George Brush suggested that the store alone should not be blamed, despite the Paparazzos' complaints - and occasional calls to the police. He intimated that the municipality bears some responsibility for the conditions.
"Part of the problem is a lack of comunication, and results, between the town fathers and yourself," he told the couple.
KUSS: TAXPAYERS COULD HELP FOOT MARKET'S COSTS
Mayor: Site could aid parking; Single pans "sweetheart deal"
By Chris Neidenberg
Just a month after the lawyer pushing Maywood Market Place's plans for a new and bigger parking lot vowed that taxpayers won't "pay one red cent" for his client's proposal in sharing the site, Mayor Wayne Kuss confirmed July 24 that the municipality will leave the door open to arranging such a deal - because Maywood needs more parking.
Assuming the Planning/Zoning Board approves the application on Aug. 13 and the borough can find funds in its budget, Kuss told an inquiring resident, the governing body will consider dealing with the store. Borough officials have maintained that improving customer parking is key to enhnacing the municipality's business climate
Yet resident Lillian Single said taxpayers should be very concerned about the ramifications of any deal.
She warned that the taxpayers will have to underwrite what - she predicted - will be a substantial portion of the market's expenses without receiving anything meaningful in return except worsening the municipality's quality of life, while helping maximize the store's profits in the process.
Single charged the Borough Council's claims of a parking shortage are really a cover to lure even bigger and more intense monied business interests into the region (under the guise of "improving" the West Pleasant area), that could make traffic and congestion problems far worse.
She further claimed that only modest improvements - such as better property upkeep and litter control by the current merchants - are needed.
Kuss, speaking at the council's July 24 meeting, publicly confirmed that the municipality was open to restarting talks with store owner Nickolas Katapoudis if the lot is approved. Katapoudis heads the partnership MNK Devvelopment Corporation.
"It's not a dead issue," the mayor said during the hearing of citizens, adding, "The sticking point is finances."
The Republican mayor's thoughts were also supported by Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace, president of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce and vice chairman of the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation.
Eustace also sees creating new parking facilities in the West Pleasant Avenue area.as a means of keeping shoppers in town - even if homes near the district must fall by the wayside.
Yet Eustace reported on July 24 that no definite decisions had been made, regarding the market.
"There's no (ongoing) negotations," he told the resident. "To the extent that I can answer for the SID (group) as to if there are negotiations going on, the answer is no."
He did, however, point out that the SID corporation previously broached Katapoudis' group about "whether it (SID corporation) can take over the maintenance of the (approved and expanded) parking lot."
Eustace added that the SID board also addressed whether it "could develop ... the (new) parking site."
Yet attorney Thomas Hynes of Palmer Avenue gave his "not one red cent" assurance during the Planning/Zoning Board's June 25 meeting.
He reacted when Single, of West Passaic Street, offered a preponderance of evidence showing that certain elected officials already held continuing disussions on the possibility (and with representatives of MNK).
Single, who serves on the SID group's project planning committee. recalled that such talks started from around late 2001 and continued, at least through mid-June of this year.
In her current position, and before as a private resident. she has witnessed the group's meetings and reviewed its minutes. The SID corporation - which includes all members of the governing bocy - meets publicly every two months.
Thus, the discussions commenced well before the market submitted formal plans to the board last Februarry, prompting Single to become suspicious.
Single complained that the SID corporation's dealings have been "secretive and surreptitious."
"If they (board) rezone (the area needed to expand the lot) from residential to commercial, it will be the trigger that ties in with the borough politicians' plans to buy the houses owned by MNK Development Corporation using taxpayer dollars," she warned, citing the past discussions. "They will also pay to demolish the homes with taxpayer dollars, and pay for building and maintaining the parking lot with taxpayer dollars.
"The taxpayers will also pay MNK's liability insurance, and for a yearly lease for partial use of the lot," she further predicted. "We taxpayers will keep paying and paying and paying, and wind up owing the developer money. In reality, this is nothing but a sweetheart deal for a rich developer."
She questioned why borough elected officials would even hold such discussions before any board vote on approving the market's application on expanding the site - between Palmer and Bergen avenues - from roughly 25 to 71 spaces. MNK wants to destroy three homes in the process
Single, also coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, has voiced concern that the major application could be rubber-stamped, based on the board's conduct.
She fears it will do so, even though the market has not provided (what she considers) vitally important data - such as a professional traffic study
Katapoudis told the board May 14 that he and his partners were earlier approached by some unidentified members of the governing body about possibly entering into a deal, requiring taxpayers to subsidize some of MNK's costs, in creating a bigger lot.
He explained that, in return, MNK would have helped contribute to addressing Maywood's parking needs (such as via allocating a certain portion of town-wide spaces in any expanded lot).
But the wealthy Long Island businessman stressed that he did not initiate those talks, and that no such deal was arranged
Over a month after his comments, however, Single offered the board minutes of a June SID group meeting showing that Chief Financial Officer Charles Cuccia was asked questions in a letter - by unidentified borough officials - on the legality of the municipality's helping subsidize Katapoudis' costs
Additionally, those minutes quoted Eustace as citing certain public costs for such an undertaking. As she pursued her investigation further, Board Chairman George Brush angrily cut Single off. He ruled her concerns were not relevant to the issues before the board.
PB COULD START HEARING NURSING HOME PLAN AUG 13
Maywood Healthcare LLC wants new building to reach 55 feet
By Chris Neidenberg
Backers of a plan to build a major 55-foot high nursing home site, on vacant land near Eccleston Place and West Magnolia Avenue, are due to appear iinitially before the Planning/Zoning Board Aug. 13.
Saddle Brook-based Maywood Healthare LLC, headed by Marvin Ostreicher, has mailed property owners living within 200-feet of the proposed site notices announcing its planned appearance. Barring any complicating developments - including time constraints caused by the board's hearing other matters, such as Maywood Market, the developer can start the process.
Ostreicher will seek a board waiver to build his facility in a limited light industrial zone. An affirmative decision will lead to the building of a distinctively tall structure near residential areas, smack in the middle of Maywood.
During the council's July 24 work session, Borough Attorney Andrew Fede announced that Mayor Wayne Kuss needed to sign documents authorizing the developer to proceed, given the municipality's ownership of part of the land.
The municipality has an understanding that the developer will try building a senior facility on its part of the tract. which also encompasses the former Zechmeister Brothers Nursery site.
"We have been told Maywood Healthcare is ready to file an application with the Planning (and Zoning) Board," Fede rold officials.
The attorney cautioned, "This (mayor's signing) is not to be construed in any way as interfering with the board's jurisdiction. As property owner, the borough has given them authorization to move ahead, but only as property owner."
The company has spent many months surveying the area, spanning the former nursery and a vacant borough Department of Works dumping ground, in analyzing environmental conditions and delineating wetlands.
Part of the property - the old Zechmeister piece - has been listed on the state's Known Contaminated Sites List and the company needs final clearance for building from the state Department of Environmental Protection - which must issue a "negative declaration" clearing the land for development.
The former Zechmeister site had underground storage tanks removed and was burdened with groundwater contamination. In securing the former floral nursery portion of the site, Maywood Healthcare negotiated with the person who bought it from Zechmeister - Frank Weidner of Saddle River, with Seasons Realty LLC.
In March, the governing body adopted an ordinance requiring that Ostriecher's application limit the height of the actual physical building to 42 feet with a 13-foot high decorative calupo, and requested that the company put in a pitched roof. An engineer at the time said that would be difficult due to the height limitation. Fede ruled he borough had the right to impose such demands as a condition for letting Maywood Healthcare use its portion of the total property, near Westerly Brook.
Yet Councilman Thomas Richards opposed the council majority's March decision. He expressed concerns that it was altering the terms of the original bid specifications (allowing any facility's physical building to reach 55 feet), without giving other interested parties a chance to re-bid
Originally in the late 1990s, then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy cited the building of a "senior-assisted living" site in that area as a priority that would offer Maywood a good ratable. He said it could help a number of borough families with elderly parents seeking a chance to maintain some form of independent living.
A senior-assisted site differs from a standard nursing home, in that the former caters to elderly persons still capable of living in a situation not requiring heavy supervision from caregivers. Maywood Healthcare decided not to pursue the senior-assisted living concept, as Murphy once envisioned, and will try building a more traditional nursing home.
The project could stir some area opposition. The overwhelming number of residents, speaking before the council adopted the ordinance March 27, objected in claiming any approved facility will seriously disrupt their quality of life.
Richards, who while opposing the ordinance, favors establishing a senior home in the area, told those residents he did his own informal door-to-door canvassing and found many homeowners receptive to the idea.
PB TO STUDY DEVELOPING TOXIC SEARS TRACT
Yet EPA will have final say over future of polluted site
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body has given the Planning/Zoning Board the green light to evaluate how the current Sears Distribution Center tract should be developed in the future. Any final plan is pending a resolution of issues relevant to the presence of thorium and chemical contamination on the property.
Members moved unanimously July 24 to call upon the board to engage the services of a professional planner to evaluate the area, situated in a limited light industrial zone, between Route 17 North and Maywood Avenue.
The council's decision comes long after the municipality held private discussions with real estate interests which proposed plans to develop the site, through the office of tben-Borough Administrator John Perkins.
Perkins envisioned building three 10-story office buildings along a proposed light rail system being reviewed by a regional transportation planning authority. The system, if built, would connect Paterson with the Hudson River shoreline to give some commuters more direct access into New York City. Any decision on possibly including a stop in Maywood - near the Rochelle Park border - could still be years away. Perkins left Maywood in February, 2001, when he took a similar position in Tenafly.
The matter has been officially submitted to the board, headed by Chairman George Brush. Sears eventually plans to shut down the facility, which handles merchandise that is trucked to different retail stores.
Yet the site is saddled with major environmental problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has acknowledged in reports that drums of toxic waste are burried under the facility, one of the various larger properties located in the Superfund site being studied by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This waste was believed to have been generated by Maywood Chemical Works, the predecessor to Stepan Chemical Company. The latter has been identified as a responsible party for chemical pollutants and was once similarly cited for .leaving thorium on the various properties. That was before then-Rep. Robert Torricelli (now a senator) helped pass legislation and negotiate an agreement transferring financial laibility for handling the thorium aspect of the overall problem from Stepan to the taxpayers.
The senator acted in 1983, shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond notified Stepan's legal counsel, the law firm Mayer, Brown and Platt of Chicago, that it was identified as a "potentially responsible party" for "radioactive contamination" under terms of the Superfund law. Ever since that time, Torricelli has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign cash from company Presidemt F. Quinn Stepan, a Democratic donor.
Stepan had already agreed to finance a study evaluating the extent of the contamination before Torricelli acted in transferring liability. His actions led to placing the site within the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Under Superfund, companies which inherit the operations of - or move onto sites once occupied by - prior polluters, can be held financially liable for the ultimate cleanup. Stepan inherited Maywood Chemical via a 1960 stock transaction and incorporated it as the "Maywood Chemical Division of Stepan" in the early 1960s.
Maywoood Chemical once operated on the site before Stepan sold the land to another party which eventually leased the site to Sears. It is now owned by Kin Properties, of upstate New York.
Thus, Stepan could have a major impact on whether Maywood develops any meaningful future ratables on sites such as Sears - depending upon how aggressively the EPA moves in ordering Torricelli's campaign donor to clean up chemicals - and whether the corps tries pressuring Stepan into paying even more to help clean up radiological contamination.
The plant is required to prepare a remedial investigation feasibility study to evaluate the presence of chemical pollution in the area, as a responsible party for chemicals (an issue which arose some time after the EPA's original enforcement action regarding thorium).
The corps is considering a plan to excavate and dispose massive amounts of thorium-tainted soil into a permanent disposal site in Canon City, Colo. (a plan that has run into major opposition there). The corps has not ruled out trying to recover additional monies to clean up thorium-tainted soil from Stepan.
Yet Torricelli and other Stepan supporters, including Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards and Rep. Steven Rothman (D-9), have opposed suggestions to require that the borough's major polluter commit more funding toward the final thorium cleanup in helping Maywood. They do not want to go beyond the original agreement Torricelli helped negotiate with his campaign donor almost 20 years ago.
But critics of the plant have derided Torrricell's 1983 "DOE/Stepan" agreement as improperly relieving Stepan of its rightful responsibility to also address paying its fair share in cleaning up thorium - as the EPA intended.
Stepan's supporters assert that the plant is not historically liable for also cleaning up the thorium. This, even though the EPA ruled - before Torricelli's 1983 intervention - that the West Hunter Avenue plant properly met the criteria as a site owner/operator and successor to Maywood Chemical.
In helping to arrange the original agreement, the senator asserted that making the government responsible could quicken the pace of the project by avoiding litigation. Yet 19 years after that argument, the federal government still has not come up with the results of its studies or a final cleanup plan, despite spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. It has, in fact, delayed releasing any final plan for at least eight years.
The decision to study future development on Sears essentially puts the cart before the horse because neither the corps, nor the EPA, have released these proposed plans In fact, the two agencies have not even offiicially confirmed the nature and extent of contamination in the area (indeed, a good deal of the waste is "mixed," with chemicals and thorium).
The Superfund law calls for releasing a feasibility study in evaluating cleanup alternatives before any final proposed plan is issued (leading to a record of decision). The federal government abandoned an earlier commitment to follow this process for residential properties and simply unilaterally moved this contamination into Maywood.
The council has already entered into a deal with the Bergen Department of Planning and Economic Development to initiate a "brownfields" study of the Sears site and other tracts falling under Phase II.
This has caused some Maywood residents, pushing for a permanent cleanup of all borough sites (as over 90 perent of voters supported in a 1991 non-binding referendum), to fear their mayor and council could settle for something less. These are the same officials who have let federal authorities use Maywood to permanently clean up residential areas in Lodi, along with a vacant commercially-zoned piece in Rochelle Park, known as the Ballod property.
The term "brownfields" refers to a federal designation used for old and/or vacant industrial sites which can be cleaned to less stringent standards as a means of promoting economic development. Yet in discussions with the DOE's Environmental Management Advisory Board in 1995, EPA representatives said the Maywood site does not meet the criteria allowing for brownfields development.
Whatever members of the Planning/Zoning Board might decide for Sears, the borough's hands could be tied by whatever cleanup plan the feds ultimately implement.
Conceivably, the EPA could place severe land use restrictions on the tract and adjacent Maywood properties if, for instance, it lets the corps implement a thorium cleanup plan using a criteria establishing Maywood as a permanent storage site.
Such questions will be thrashed out while the proposed plan is discussed. Yet the corps has consistently balked at giving Maywoodians the plan, without any opposition from the mayor and council.
In a recent flier given to residents, members of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood demanded that federal authorities hold cited responsible parties such as Stepan accountable for a full cleanup of the Sears site.
"Have you been told how many hundreds of drums are under the Sears property?" their flier asks. "What's in them? Who put them there? Are they going to have to pay for their removal and disposal?"
The board must settle upon a professional planner to examine the Sears question. In discussing the matter June 26, Borough Administrator Jack Terhune told the council it appeared as though the board had sufficient funds already set aside for the task, remaining from the time Planner Malcom Kasler performed a re-evaluation of the municipality's master plan - a document which drew some criticicism among board members at the time.
Councilman Tom Gaffney, a board member, seemed doubtful that Kasler would be asked back.
"I don't think there are too many people on the board who are happy with Kasler," said Gaffney. The planner heads the Hackensack company, Kasler Associates.
M Market plan would destroy three homes for more cars
By Chris Neidenberg
Testimony ended July 23 on Maywood Market Place's application to create a huge parking lot enroaching upon Bergen and Palmer avenues and West Passaic Street, with a resident begging that the Planning/Zoning Board reject the proposal and not sell out the small community.
Yet the attorney and architect representing New York state developer Nickolas Katapoudis, despite the criticisms, concluded their three-month case by arguing the plan is a sign of progress for the municipality that will help the entire central business district on West Pleasant Avenue.
The plan also entails a major expansion of the store, including adding a second-floor warehouse.
Architect Anthony Garrett and borough lawyer Thomas Hynes have not denied that there could be an increase in traffic burdening nearby residential streets. Yet they have suggested that imposing more traffic on the town is a legitimate trade-off for improving the business climate.
They have stated that the expanded store and bigger lot (increasing the store's parking capacity by roughly 45 spaces - to 71) could lure more outsiders who will shop in other smaller stores.
While the board could have debated and voted on the proposal late that night, Chairman George Brush said its magnitude required careful consideration and study. Brush also said he wanted the vacationing Katapoudis to attend.
The case will resume on Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Trinka Hall at 459 Maywood Ave. At that time, barring any new developments, the nine-member body could take a final vote to either accept or reject the two-phase plan enompassing about 37,000 square feet.
Over at least the last two weeks, board members have presumably been evaluating the transcripts in studying the matter before having a final public discussion. Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate - but somewhat related entities (the store, real estate agent Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation) - want the board to grant three variances converting A-1 residential lots at 89 and 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer (now with houses they are leasing but want to demolish) into restricted commercial (RC) zones.
As for the West Pleasant building, in addition to the new second floor, the partnership wants to add more selling space on the first, and a new entrance on West Pleasant. Katapoudis, a resident of affluent Manhasset, L.I., has said the second floor will be used for the storage of dry goods. The store also wants to expand its kitchen in enlarging its catering business.
Katapoudis has left the door open to an even grander expansion plan in the future, requiring him to swallow up adjacent, smaller businesses (on property he now owns).
Hynes has refused to identify Katapoudis' partners. He also refuses to disclose the addresses of MNK and Jay Zee.
"I believe the applicant has met his obligations and has met his burden," the lawyer said in brief concluding remarks. "And I believe approval of these use variances won't be a detriment to the community."
He added, "I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens. Could they be a little neater? Probably. But I believe they have been good neighbors."
While Katapoudis has cited the parking lot as a major centerpiece of his plan, he has also conceded that rejecting the facility will not kill his business, since it only would increase customer convenience.
Yet Mayor Wayne Kuss has stated that the council would consider forcing taxpayers to help subsidize Katapoudis' undertaking - as part of a deal where the borough would reserve public spaces in his lot - because Maywood has a need for more shoppers' parking. Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, promises to fight any such plan.
Single cited a litany of reasons for canning the proposal while the board sat in silence. Single maintained that the Market's store expansion plans are a prelude to a bigger agenda that will forever alter the character of West Pleasant - for the worse. She warned rhat approving the application will send the message, "Maywood is for sale."
Single called for the Market to keep any possible expansion plans modest and at the ground level along West Pleasant - toward Angelo's Pizzeria.
"This application, these variances and this radical expansion are not necessary," insisted Single, who questioned whether the plan is not already a done deal based on the board's conduct. "If it (business district) is thriving, we don't need to take radical steps, thank you. Just keep the streets clean and have the merchants take action to keep their properties reasonable and acceptable-looking."
When Brush tried to halt her presentation, which ultimately lasted about 15 minutes, Single pointed out that the board seemingly bent over backwards in giving Katapoudis' team hours and hours of time.
She argued that much of the discussion seemed to dwell on what she termed as "trivial" matters such as the height of trees. The resident further maintained that the lengthy hearings skirted over significant, quality-of-life issues. In fact, the initial discussions date back to at least a year.
"Your discussions, all the (meeting) dates, make it look as though it's going to be approved," said Single. "Where is their traffic study? Where is the borough's traffic study?"
The resident argued that approval will mark a continuation of what she characterized as the board's unwise policy of favoring unreasonable commercial development - to the detriment of residents.
"I'm opposed to desecrating the community, " she told the board, "And it does happen - one block at a time."
Single showed photos she obtained of the absent Katapoudis' wealthy neighborhood in Manhasset, featuring million-dollar homes. She compared it to the more modest community where he is seeking to expand his store.
"Mr. Katapoudis doesn't live in a neighborhood like this, and he wouldn't bring that type of desecration to his neighborhood," she said.
During a lengthy close, attorney Alan Magrini of Secaucus, representing objectors Nancy and Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue, asserted that the project has many flaws and should be rejected.
His complaints centered around what he repeatedly characterized as the cramped nature of the proposal. Magrini also complained that the major proposal came with no professional traffic study and no direct testimony from an engineer for the developers.
Additonally, Magrini, referring to testimony from Victor Paparazzo,, alleged that the market has consistently been a poor neighbor which has not adequately maintained its property or addressed complaints.
The lawyer objected to, among other things, plans to remove two maple trees, drive-through aisles that would be 10-foot wide, rather than (what he maintained is) the standard 12 feet, no area to collect carts and "overlandscaping." He also carped about the developer.s proposal to place oil spillers on municipal property - rather than confining them to the parking lot - and proposed "parking that overlaps onto public property." Garrett said the spiller plans could be redesigned.
"I think when you see all these things together, you'll see what's going to be done," he said. "You're cramming a lot of stuff in a small area, all to the detriment of the surrounding property owners.".:
MAYWOOD MARKET LAWYER WON'T DENY SITE IS MESSY
"Could they be a little neater? Probably," Hynes tells boro PB
By Chris Neidenberg
As the Planning/Zoning Board prepares to possibly OK a major Maywood Market Place expansion plan this Aug. 13, the lawyer seeking approval would not deny that his clients have not satisfactorily maintained the current grounds.
Thomas Hynes, a resident and local lawyer on Palmer Avenue representing New York-based interests who have conceded the large development could bring more traffic and congestion into the small community, stood largely silent as resident Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue cited numerous complaints while questioned by his attorney, Alan Magrini of Secaucus.
Paparazzo spoke as both sides wrapped up testimony July 23.
"In general, do you think Maywood Market's properties, as they are currently maintained, are consistent with a residential neighborhood?" Magrini asked Paparazzo.
"No," replied the 28-year resident, who pointed out that he raised his family in the area long before Maywood Market (which replaced the IGA) ever set foot on the site.
A grown daughter now lives with her own family in the same neighborhood,
Paparazzo focused on allegations that included inadequate upkeep of greenery in the current yard/parking lot, and letting trash stay strewn all over the grounds for extended periods, enticing vermin such as rats to hang in the lot near his home and between Bergen and Palmer avenues.
Paparazzo, who with his wife, Nancy, are fighting the application that could lead to profound changes in their neighborhood, confirmed seeing rats outside the grocery/food establishment. Owner Nickolas Katapoudis wants to add even more selling space (and volume) to his business, under the proposal.
"The property is not landscaped," Paparazzo alleged to Magrini. "It's overgrown with weeds and debris."
He further complained that the store's lax maintenance extends beyond the parking lot property.
"I know the house behind me (on 520 Palmer), they (Katapoudis and his partners) have not maintained at all," the resident alleged.
Asked by Magrini if he would describe the house as "run down," Paparazzo replied, "Yes."
The resident further complained of "constantly" seeing store-generated garbage strewn in the lot and near or on the street, delivery trucks which run their engines for unacceptably long periods (resulting in unhealthy emissions) and being awakened by trucks making deliveries as early as 3:30 a.m. - in violation of borough codes - which stay for up to 45 minutes. He alleged that such activities are ongoing "seven days a week."
In responding to another question from Magrini, Paparazzo complained that any expansion will bring him even "closer" to the market and result in "more activities and more deliveries that will have a negative impact."
Katapoudis was on vacation, and thus, did not attend.
He told the board on June 25 that he would not be present July 23. Resident Lillian Single objected to his absence in addressing the board on July 23. She demanded that it take no final action until he shows up. Later, the board decided that Katapoudis must attend before a final vote is taken.
Hynes offered no direct rebuttal during Paparazzo's testimony, asking only if the resident observed any skunks or racoons on the site, in addition to rats. The grandfather replied he did not, but noted that he did alert the Board of Health about the rat sightings.
Hynes did briefly discuss the property upkeep issue in addressing the board.
"I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens," he said in concluding remarks. "Could they be a little neater? Probably. But they have been good neighbors."
Board Chairman George Brush suggested that the store alone should not be blamed, despite the Paparazzos' complaints - and occasional calls to the police. He intimated that the municipality bears some responsibility for the conditions.
"Part of the problem is a lack of comunication, and results, between the town fathers and yourself," he told the couple.
KUSS: TAXPAYERS COULD HELP FOOT MARKET'S COSTS
Mayor: Site could aid parking; Single pans "sweetheart deal"
By Chris Neidenberg
Just a month after the lawyer pushing Maywood Market Place's plans for a new and bigger parking lot vowed that taxpayers won't "pay one red cent" for his client's proposal in sharing the site, Mayor Wayne Kuss confirmed July 24 that the municipality will leave the door open to arranging such a deal - because Maywood needs more parking.
Assuming the Planning/Zoning Board approves the application on Aug. 13 and the borough can find funds in its budget, Kuss told an inquiring resident, the governing body will consider dealing with the store. Borough officials have maintained that improving customer parking is key to enhnacing the municipality's business climate
Yet resident Lillian Single said taxpayers should be very concerned about the ramifications of any deal.
She warned that the taxpayers will have to underwrite what - she predicted - will be a substantial portion of the market's expenses without receiving anything meaningful in return except worsening the municipality's quality of life, while helping maximize the store's profits in the process.
Single charged the Borough Council's claims of a parking shortage are really a cover to lure even bigger and more intense monied business interests into the region (under the guise of "improving" the West Pleasant area), that could make traffic and congestion problems far worse.
She further claimed that only modest improvements - such as better property upkeep and litter control by the current merchants - are needed.
Kuss, speaking at the council's July 24 meeting, publicly confirmed that the municipality was open to restarting talks with store owner Nickolas Katapoudis if the lot is approved. Katapoudis heads the partnership MNK Devvelopment Corporation.
"It's not a dead issue," the mayor said during the hearing of citizens, adding, "The sticking point is finances."
The Republican mayor's thoughts were also supported by Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace, president of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce and vice chairman of the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation.
Eustace also sees creating new parking facilities in the West Pleasant Avenue area.as a means of keeping shoppers in town - even if homes near the district must fall by the wayside.
Yet Eustace reported on July 24 that no definite decisions had been made, regarding the market.
"There's no (ongoing) negotations," he told the resident. "To the extent that I can answer for the SID (group) as to if there are negotiations going on, the answer is no."
He did, however, point out that the SID corporation previously broached Katapoudis' group about "whether it (SID corporation) can take over the maintenance of the (approved and expanded) parking lot."
Eustace added that the SID board also addressed whether it "could develop ... the (new) parking site."
Yet attorney Thomas Hynes of Palmer Avenue gave his "not one red cent" assurance during the Planning/Zoning Board's June 25 meeting.
He reacted when Single, of West Passaic Street, offered a preponderance of evidence showing that certain elected officials already held continuing disussions on the possibility (and with representatives of MNK).
Single, who serves on the SID group's project planning committee. recalled that such talks started from around late 2001 and continued, at least through mid-June of this year.
In her current position, and before as a private resident. she has witnessed the group's meetings and reviewed its minutes. The SID corporation - which includes all members of the governing bocy - meets publicly every two months.
Thus, the discussions commenced well before the market submitted formal plans to the board last Februarry, prompting Single to become suspicious.
Single complained that the SID corporation's dealings have been "secretive and surreptitious."
"If they (board) rezone (the area needed to expand the lot) from residential to commercial, it will be the trigger that ties in with the borough politicians' plans to buy the houses owned by MNK Development Corporation using taxpayer dollars," she warned, citing the past discussions. "They will also pay to demolish the homes with taxpayer dollars, and pay for building and maintaining the parking lot with taxpayer dollars.
"The taxpayers will also pay MNK's liability insurance, and for a yearly lease for partial use of the lot," she further predicted. "We taxpayers will keep paying and paying and paying, and wind up owing the developer money. In reality, this is nothing but a sweetheart deal for a rich developer."
She questioned why borough elected officials would even hold such discussions before any board vote on approving the market's application on expanding the site - between Palmer and Bergen avenues - from roughly 25 to 71 spaces. MNK wants to destroy three homes in the process
Single, also coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, has voiced concern that the major application could be rubber-stamped, based on the board's conduct.
She fears it will do so, even though the market has not provided (what she considers) vitally important data - such as a professional traffic study
Katapoudis told the board May 14 that he and his partners were earlier approached by some unidentified members of the governing body about possibly entering into a deal, requiring taxpayers to subsidize some of MNK's costs, in creating a bigger lot.
He explained that, in return, MNK would have helped contribute to addressing Maywood's parking needs (such as via allocating a certain portion of town-wide spaces in any expanded lot).
But the wealthy Long Island businessman stressed that he did not initiate those talks, and that no such deal was arranged
Over a month after his comments, however, Single offered the board minutes of a June SID group meeting showing that Chief Financial Officer Charles Cuccia was asked questions in a letter - by unidentified borough officials - on the legality of the municipality's helping subsidize Katapoudis' costs
Additionally, those minutes quoted Eustace as citing certain public costs for such an undertaking. As she pursued her investigation further, Board Chairman George Brush angrily cut Single off. He ruled her concerns were not relevant to the issues before the board.
PB COULD START HEARING NURSING HOME PLAN AUG 13
Maywood Healthcare LLC wants new building to reach 55 feet
By Chris Neidenberg
Backers of a plan to build a major 55-foot high nursing home site, on vacant land near Eccleston Place and West Magnolia Avenue, are due to appear iinitially before the Planning/Zoning Board Aug. 13.
Saddle Brook-based Maywood Healthare LLC, headed by Marvin Ostreicher, has mailed property owners living within 200-feet of the proposed site notices announcing its planned appearance. Barring any complicating developments - including time constraints caused by the board's hearing other matters, such as Maywood Market, the developer can start the process.
Ostreicher will seek a board waiver to build his facility in a limited light industrial zone. An affirmative decision will lead to the building of a distinctively tall structure near residential areas, smack in the middle of Maywood.
During the council's July 24 work session, Borough Attorney Andrew Fede announced that Mayor Wayne Kuss needed to sign documents authorizing the developer to proceed, given the municipality's ownership of part of the land.
The municipality has an understanding that the developer will try building a senior facility on its part of the tract. which also encompasses the former Zechmeister Brothers Nursery site.
"We have been told Maywood Healthcare is ready to file an application with the Planning (and Zoning) Board," Fede rold officials.
The attorney cautioned, "This (mayor's signing) is not to be construed in any way as interfering with the board's jurisdiction. As property owner, the borough has given them authorization to move ahead, but only as property owner."
The company has spent many months surveying the area, spanning the former nursery and a vacant borough Department of Works dumping ground, in analyzing environmental conditions and delineating wetlands.
Part of the property - the old Zechmeister piece - has been listed on the state's Known Contaminated Sites List and the company needs final clearance for building from the state Department of Environmental Protection - which must issue a "negative declaration" clearing the land for development.
The former Zechmeister site had underground storage tanks removed and was burdened with groundwater contamination. In securing the former floral nursery portion of the site, Maywood Healthcare negotiated with the person who bought it from Zechmeister - Frank Weidner of Saddle River, with Seasons Realty LLC.
In March, the governing body adopted an ordinance requiring that Ostriecher's application limit the height of the actual physical building to 42 feet with a 13-foot high decorative calupo, and requested that the company put in a pitched roof. An engineer at the time said that would be difficult due to the height limitation. Fede ruled he borough had the right to impose such demands as a condition for letting Maywood Healthcare use its portion of the total property, near Westerly Brook.
Yet Councilman Thomas Richards opposed the council majority's March decision. He expressed concerns that it was altering the terms of the original bid specifications (allowing any facility's physical building to reach 55 feet), without giving other interested parties a chance to re-bid
Originally in the late 1990s, then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy cited the building of a "senior-assisted living" site in that area as a priority that would offer Maywood a good ratable. He said it could help a number of borough families with elderly parents seeking a chance to maintain some form of independent living.
A senior-assisted site differs from a standard nursing home, in that the former caters to elderly persons still capable of living in a situation not requiring heavy supervision from caregivers. Maywood Healthcare decided not to pursue the senior-assisted living concept, as Murphy once envisioned, and will try building a more traditional nursing home.
The project could stir some area opposition. The overwhelming number of residents, speaking before the council adopted the ordinance March 27, objected in claiming any approved facility will seriously disrupt their quality of life.
Richards, who while opposing the ordinance, favors establishing a senior home in the area, told those residents he did his own informal door-to-door canvassing and found many homeowners receptive to the idea.
PB TO STUDY DEVELOPING TOXIC SEARS TRACT
Yet EPA will have final say over future of polluted site
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body has given the Planning/Zoning Board the green light to evaluate how the current Sears Distribution Center tract should be developed in the future. Any final plan is pending a resolution of issues relevant to the presence of thorium and chemical contamination on the property.
Members moved unanimously July 24 to call upon the board to engage the services of a professional planner to evaluate the area, situated in a limited light industrial zone, between Route 17 North and Maywood Avenue.
The council's decision comes long after the municipality held private discussions with real estate interests which proposed plans to develop the site, through the office of tben-Borough Administrator John Perkins.
Perkins envisioned building three 10-story office buildings along a proposed light rail system being reviewed by a regional transportation planning authority. The system, if built, would connect Paterson with the Hudson River shoreline to give some commuters more direct access into New York City. Any decision on possibly including a stop in Maywood - near the Rochelle Park border - could still be years away. Perkins left Maywood in February, 2001, when he took a similar position in Tenafly.
The matter has been officially submitted to the board, headed by Chairman George Brush. Sears eventually plans to shut down the facility, which handles merchandise that is trucked to different retail stores.
Yet the site is saddled with major environmental problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has acknowledged in reports that drums of toxic waste are burried under the facility, one of the various larger properties located in the Superfund site being studied by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This waste was believed to have been generated by Maywood Chemical Works, the predecessor to Stepan Chemical Company. The latter has been identified as a responsible party for chemical pollutants and was once similarly cited for .leaving thorium on the various properties. That was before then-Rep. Robert Torricelli (now a senator) helped pass legislation and negotiate an agreement transferring financial laibility for handling the thorium aspect of the overall problem from Stepan to the taxpayers.
The senator acted in 1983, shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond notified Stepan's legal counsel, the law firm Mayer, Brown and Platt of Chicago, that it was identified as a "potentially responsible party" for "radioactive contamination" under terms of the Superfund law. Ever since that time, Torricelli has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign cash from company Presidemt F. Quinn Stepan, a Democratic donor.
Stepan had already agreed to finance a study evaluating the extent of the contamination before Torricelli acted in transferring liability. His actions led to placing the site within the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Under Superfund, companies which inherit the operations of - or move onto sites once occupied by - prior polluters, can be held financially liable for the ultimate cleanup. Stepan inherited Maywood Chemical via a 1960 stock transaction and incorporated it as the "Maywood Chemical Division of Stepan" in the early 1960s.
Maywoood Chemical once operated on the site before Stepan sold the land to another party which eventually leased the site to Sears. It is now owned by Kin Properties, of upstate New York.
Thus, Stepan could have a major impact on whether Maywood develops any meaningful future ratables on sites such as Sears - depending upon how aggressively the EPA moves in ordering Torricelli's campaign donor to clean up chemicals - and whether the corps tries pressuring Stepan into paying even more to help clean up radiological contamination.
The plant is required to prepare a remedial investigation feasibility study to evaluate the presence of chemical pollution in the area, as a responsible party for chemicals (an issue which arose some time after the EPA's original enforcement action regarding thorium).
The corps is considering a plan to excavate and dispose massive amounts of thorium-tainted soil into a permanent disposal site in Canon City, Colo. (a plan that has run into major opposition there). The corps has not ruled out trying to recover additional monies to clean up thorium-tainted soil from Stepan.
Yet Torricelli and other Stepan supporters, including Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards and Rep. Steven Rothman (D-9), have opposed suggestions to require that the borough's major polluter commit more funding toward the final thorium cleanup in helping Maywood. They do not want to go beyond the original agreement Torricelli helped negotiate with his campaign donor almost 20 years ago.
But critics of the plant have derided Torrricell's 1983 "DOE/Stepan" agreement as improperly relieving Stepan of its rightful responsibility to also address paying its fair share in cleaning up thorium - as the EPA intended.
Stepan's supporters assert that the plant is not historically liable for also cleaning up the thorium. This, even though the EPA ruled - before Torricelli's 1983 intervention - that the West Hunter Avenue plant properly met the criteria as a site owner/operator and successor to Maywood Chemical.
In helping to arrange the original agreement, the senator asserted that making the government responsible could quicken the pace of the project by avoiding litigation. Yet 19 years after that argument, the federal government still has not come up with the results of its studies or a final cleanup plan, despite spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. It has, in fact, delayed releasing any final plan for at least eight years.
The decision to study future development on Sears essentially puts the cart before the horse because neither the corps, nor the EPA, have released these proposed plans In fact, the two agencies have not even offiicially confirmed the nature and extent of contamination in the area (indeed, a good deal of the waste is "mixed," with chemicals and thorium).
The Superfund law calls for releasing a feasibility study in evaluating cleanup alternatives before any final proposed plan is issued (leading to a record of decision). The federal government abandoned an earlier commitment to follow this process for residential properties and simply unilaterally moved this contamination into Maywood.
The council has already entered into a deal with the Bergen Department of Planning and Economic Development to initiate a "brownfields" study of the Sears site and other tracts falling under Phase II.
This has caused some Maywood residents, pushing for a permanent cleanup of all borough sites (as over 90 perent of voters supported in a 1991 non-binding referendum), to fear their mayor and council could settle for something less. These are the same officials who have let federal authorities use Maywood to permanently clean up residential areas in Lodi, along with a vacant commercially-zoned piece in Rochelle Park, known as the Ballod property.
The term "brownfields" refers to a federal designation used for old and/or vacant industrial sites which can be cleaned to less stringent standards as a means of promoting economic development. Yet in discussions with the DOE's Environmental Management Advisory Board in 1995, EPA representatives said the Maywood site does not meet the criteria allowing for brownfields development.
Whatever members of the Planning/Zoning Board might decide for Sears, the borough's hands could be tied by whatever cleanup plan the feds ultimately implement.
Conceivably, the EPA could place severe land use restrictions on the tract and adjacent Maywood properties if, for instance, it lets the corps implement a thorium cleanup plan using a criteria establishing Maywood as a permanent storage site.
Such questions will be thrashed out while the proposed plan is discussed. Yet the corps has consistently balked at giving Maywoodians the plan, without any opposition from the mayor and council.
In a recent flier given to residents, members of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood demanded that federal authorities hold cited responsible parties such as Stepan accountable for a full cleanup of the Sears site.
"Have you been told how many hundreds of drums are under the Sears property?" their flier asks. "What's in them? Who put them there? Are they going to have to pay for their removal and disposal?"
The board must settle upon a professional planner to examine the Sears question. In discussing the matter June 26, Borough Administrator Jack Terhune told the council it appeared as though the board had sufficient funds already set aside for the task, remaining from the time Planner Malcom Kasler performed a re-evaluation of the municipality's master plan - a document which drew some criticicism among board members at the time.
Councilman Tom Gaffney, a board member, seemed doubtful that Kasler would be asked back.
"I don't think there are too many people on the board who are happy with Kasler," said Gaffney. The planner heads the Hackensack company, Kasler Associates.
BIG MAYWOOD MARKET LOT COULD BE APPROVED AUG. 13
M Market plan would destroy three homes for more cars
By Chris Neidenberg
Testimony ended July 23 on Maywood Market Place's application to create a huge parking lot enroaching upon Bergen and Palmer avenues and West Passaic Street, with a resident begging that the Planning/Zoning Board reject the proposal and not sell out the small community.
Yet the attorney and architect representing New York state developer Nickolas Katapoudis, despite the criticisms, concluded their three-month case by arguing the plan is a sign of progress for the municipality that will help the entire central business district on West Pleasant Avenue.
The plan also entails a major expansion of the store, including adding a second-floor warehouse.
Architect Anthony Garrett and borough lawyer Thomas Hynes have not denied that there could be an increase in traffic burdening nearby residential streets. Yet they have suggested that imposing more traffic on the town is a legitimate trade-off for improving the business climate.
They have stated that the expanded store and bigger lot (increasing the store's parking capacity by roughly 45 spaces - to 71) could lure more outsiders who will shop in other smaller stores.
While the board could have debated and voted on the proposal late that night, Chairman George Brush said its magnitude required careful consideration and study. Brush also said he wanted the vacationing Katapoudis to attend.
The case will resume on Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Trinka Hall at 459 Maywood Ave. At that time, barring any new developments, the nine-member body could take a final vote to either accept or reject the two-phase plan enompassing about 37,000 square feet.
Over at least the last two weeks, board members have presumably been evaluating the transcripts in studying the matter before having a final public discussion. Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate - but somewhat related entities (the store, real estate agent Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation) - want the board to grant three variances converting A-1 residential lots at 89 and 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer (now with houses they are leasing but want to demolish) into restricted commercial (RC) zones.
As for the West Pleasant building, in addition to the new second floor, the partnership wants to add more selling space on the first, and a new entrance on West Pleasant. Katapoudis, a resident of affluent Manhasset, L.I., has said the second floor will be used for the storage of dry goods. The store also wants to expand its kitchen in enlarging its catering business.
Katapoudis has left the door open to an even grander expansion plan in the future, requiring him to swallow up adjacent, smaller businesses (on property he now owns).
Hynes has refused to identify Katapoudis' partners. He also refuses to disclose the addresses of MNK and Jay Zee.
"I believe the applicant has met his obligations and has met his burden," the lawyer said in brief concluding remarks. "And I believe approval of these use variances won't be a detriment to the community."
He added, "I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens. Could they be a little neater? Probably. But I believe they have been good neighbors."
While Katapoudis has cited the parking lot as a major centerpiece of his plan, he has also conceded that rejecting the facility will not kill his business, since it only would increase customer convenience.
Yet Mayor Wayne Kuss has stated that the council would consider forcing taxpayers to help subsidize Katapoudis' undertaking - as part of a deal where the borough would reserve public spaces in his lot - because Maywood has a need for more shoppers' parking. Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, promises to fight any such plan.
Single cited a litany of reasons for canning the proposal while the board sat in silence. Single maintained that the Market's store expansion plans are a prelude to a bigger agenda that will forever alter the character of West Pleasant - for the worse. She warned rhat approving the application will send the message, "Maywood is for sale."
Single called for the Market to keep any possible expansion plans modest and at the ground level along West Pleasant - toward Angelo's Pizzeria.
"This application, these variances and this radical expansion are not necessary," insisted Single, who questioned whether the plan is not already a done deal based on the board's conduct. "If it (business district) is thriving, we don't need to take radical steps, thank you. Just keep the streets clean and have the merchants take action to keep their properties reasonable and acceptable-looking."
When Brush tried to halt her presentation, which ultimately lasted about 15 minutes, Single pointed out that the board seemingly bent over backwards in giving Katapoudis' team hours and hours of time.
She argued that much of the discussion seemed to dwell on what she termed as "trivial" matters such as the height of trees. The resident further maintained that the lengthy hearings skirted over significant, quality-of-life issues. In fact, the initial discussions date back to at least a year.
"Your discussions, all the (meeting) dates, make it look as though it's going to be approved," said Single. "Where is their traffic study? Where is the borough's traffic study?"
The resident argued that approval will mark a continuation of what she characterized as the board's unwise policy of favoring unreasonable commercial development - to the detriment of residents.
"I'm opposed to desecrating the community, " she told the board, "And it does happen - one block at a time."
Single showed photos she obtained of the absent Katapoudis' wealthy neighborhood in Manhasset, featuring million-dollar homes. She compared it to the more modest community where he is seeking to expand his store.
"Mr. Katapoudis doesn't live in a neighborhood like this, and he wouldn't bring that type of desecration to his neighborhood," she said.
During a lengthy close, attorney Alan Magrini of Secaucus, representing objectors Nancy and Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue, asserted that the project has many flaws and should be rejected.
His complaints centered around what he repeatedly characterized as the cramped nature of the proposal. Magrini also complained that the major proposal came with no professional traffic study and no direct testimony from an engineer for the developers.
Additonally, Magrini, referring to testimony from Victor Paparazzo,, alleged that the market has consistently been a poor neighbor which has not adequately maintained its property or addressed complaints.
The lawyer objected to, among other things, plans to remove two maple trees, drive-through aisles that would be 10-foot wide, rather than (what he maintained is) the standard 12 feet, no area to collect carts and "overlandscaping." He also carped about the developer.s proposal to place oil spillers on municipal property - rather than confining them to the parking lot - and proposed "parking that overlaps onto public property." Garrett said the spiller plans could be redesigned.
"I think when you see all these things together, you'll see what's going to be done," he said. "You're cramming a lot of stuff in a small area, all to the detriment of the surrounding property owners.".:
MAYWOOD MARKET LAWYER WON'T DENY SITE IS MESSY
"Could they be a little neater? Probably," Hynes tells boro PB
By Chris Neidenberg
As the Planning/Zoning Board prepares to possibly OK a major Maywood Market Place expansion plan this Aug. 13, the lawyer seeking approval would not deny that his clients have not satisfactorily maintained the current grounds.
Thomas Hynes, a resident and local lawyer on Palmer Avenue representing New York-based interests who have conceded the large development could bring more traffic and congestion into the small community, stood largely silent as resident Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue cited numerous complaints while questioned by his attorney, Alan Magrini of Secaucus.
Paparazzo spoke as both sides wrapped up testimony July 23.
"In general, do you think Maywood Market's properties, as they are currently maintained, are consistent with a residential neighborhood?" Magrini asked Paparazzo.
"No," replied the 28-year resident, who pointed out that he raised his family in the area long before Maywood Market (which replaced the IGA) ever set foot on the site.
A grown daughter now lives with her own family in the same neighborhood,
Paparazzo focused on allegations that included inadequate upkeep of greenery in the current yard/parking lot, and letting trash stay strewn all over the grounds for extended periods, enticing vermin such as rats to hang in the lot near his home and between Bergen and Palmer avenues.
Paparazzo, who with his wife, Nancy, are fighting the application that could lead to profound changes in their neighborhood, confirmed seeing rats outside the grocery/food establishment. Owner Nickolas Katapoudis wants to add even more selling space (and volume) to his business, under the proposal.
"The property is not landscaped," Paparazzo alleged to Magrini. "It's overgrown with weeds and debris."
He further complained that the store's lax maintenance extends beyond the parking lot property.
"I know the house behind me (on 520 Palmer), they (Katapoudis and his partners) have not maintained at all," the resident alleged.
Asked by Magrini if he would describe the house as "run down," Paparazzo replied, "Yes."
The resident further complained of "constantly" seeing store-generated garbage strewn in the lot and near or on the street, delivery trucks which run their engines for unacceptably long periods (resulting in unhealthy emissions) and being awakened by trucks making deliveries as early as 3:30 a.m. - in violation of borough codes - which stay for up to 45 minutes. He alleged that such activities are ongoing "seven days a week."
In responding to another question from Magrini, Paparazzo complained that any expansion will bring him even "closer" to the market and result in "more activities and more deliveries that will have a negative impact."
Katapoudis was on vacation, and thus, did not attend.
He told the board on June 25 that he would not be present July 23. Resident Lillian Single objected to his absence in addressing the board on July 23. She demanded that it take no final action until he shows up. Later, the board decided that Katapoudis must attend before a final vote is taken.
Hynes offered no direct rebuttal during Paparazzo's testimony, asking only if the resident observed any skunks or racoons on the site, in addition to rats. The grandfather replied he did not, but noted that he did alert the Board of Health about the rat sightings.
Hynes did briefly discuss the property upkeep issue in addressing the board.
"I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens," he said in concluding remarks. "Could they be a little neater? Probably. But they have been good neighbors."
Board Chairman George Brush suggested that the store alone should not be blamed, despite the Paparazzos' complaints - and occasional calls to the police. He intimated that the municipality bears some responsibility for the conditions.
"Part of the problem is a lack of comunication, and results, between the town fathers and yourself," he told the couple.
KUSS: TAXPAYERS COULD HELP FOOT MARKET'S COSTS
Mayor: Site could aid parking; Single pans "sweetheart deal"
By Chris Neidenberg
Just a month after the lawyer pushing Maywood Market Place's plans for a new and bigger parking lot vowed that taxpayers won't "pay one red cent" for his client's proposal in sharing the site, Mayor Wayne Kuss confirmed July 24 that the municipality will leave the door open to arranging such a deal - because Maywood needs more parking.
Assuming the Planning/Zoning Board approves the application on Aug. 13 and the borough can find funds in its budget, Kuss told an inquiring resident, the governing body will consider dealing with the store. Borough officials have maintained that improving customer parking is key to enhnacing the municipality's business climate
Yet resident Lillian Single said taxpayers should be very concerned about the ramifications of any deal.
She warned that the taxpayers will have to underwrite what - she predicted - will be a substantial portion of the market's expenses without receiving anything meaningful in return except worsening the municipality's quality of life, while helping maximize the store's profits in the process.
Single charged the Borough Council's claims of a parking shortage are really a cover to lure even bigger and more intense monied business interests into the region (under the guise of "improving" the West Pleasant area), that could make traffic and congestion problems far worse.
She further claimed that only modest improvements - such as better property upkeep and litter control by the current merchants - are needed.
Kuss, speaking at the council's July 24 meeting, publicly confirmed that the municipality was open to restarting talks with store owner Nickolas Katapoudis if the lot is approved. Katapoudis heads the partnership MNK Devvelopment Corporation.
"It's not a dead issue," the mayor said during the hearing of citizens, adding, "The sticking point is finances."
The Republican mayor's thoughts were also supported by Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace, president of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce and vice chairman of the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation.
Eustace also sees creating new parking facilities in the West Pleasant Avenue area.as a means of keeping shoppers in town - even if homes near the district must fall by the wayside.
Yet Eustace reported on July 24 that no definite decisions had been made, regarding the market.
"There's no (ongoing) negotations," he told the resident. "To the extent that I can answer for the SID (group) as to if there are negotiations going on, the answer is no."
He did, however, point out that the SID corporation previously broached Katapoudis' group about "whether it (SID corporation) can take over the maintenance of the (approved and expanded) parking lot."
Eustace added that the SID board also addressed whether it "could develop ... the (new) parking site."
Yet attorney Thomas Hynes of Palmer Avenue gave his "not one red cent" assurance during the Planning/Zoning Board's June 25 meeting.
He reacted when Single, of West Passaic Street, offered a preponderance of evidence showing that certain elected officials already held continuing disussions on the possibility (and with representatives of MNK).
Single, who serves on the SID group's project planning committee. recalled that such talks started from around late 2001 and continued, at least through mid-June of this year.
In her current position, and before as a private resident. she has witnessed the group's meetings and reviewed its minutes. The SID corporation - which includes all members of the governing bocy - meets publicly every two months.
Thus, the discussions commenced well before the market submitted formal plans to the board last Februarry, prompting Single to become suspicious.
Single complained that the SID corporation's dealings have been "secretive and surreptitious."
"If they (board) rezone (the area needed to expand the lot) from residential to commercial, it will be the trigger that ties in with the borough politicians' plans to buy the houses owned by MNK Development Corporation using taxpayer dollars," she warned, citing the past discussions. "They will also pay to demolish the homes with taxpayer dollars, and pay for building and maintaining the parking lot with taxpayer dollars.
"The taxpayers will also pay MNK's liability insurance, and for a yearly lease for partial use of the lot," she further predicted. "We taxpayers will keep paying and paying and paying, and wind up owing the developer money. In reality, this is nothing but a sweetheart deal for a rich developer."
She questioned why borough elected officials would even hold such discussions before any board vote on approving the market's application on expanding the site - between Palmer and Bergen avenues - from roughly 25 to 71 spaces. MNK wants to destroy three homes in the process
Single, also coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, has voiced concern that the major application could be rubber-stamped, based on the board's conduct.
She fears it will do so, even though the market has not provided (what she considers) vitally important data - such as a professional traffic study
Katapoudis told the board May 14 that he and his partners were earlier approached by some unidentified members of the governing body about possibly entering into a deal, requiring taxpayers to subsidize some of MNK's costs, in creating a bigger lot.
He explained that, in return, MNK would have helped contribute to addressing Maywood's parking needs (such as via allocating a certain portion of town-wide spaces in any expanded lot).
But the wealthy Long Island businessman stressed that he did not initiate those talks, and that no such deal was arranged
Over a month after his comments, however, Single offered the board minutes of a June SID group meeting showing that Chief Financial Officer Charles Cuccia was asked questions in a letter - by unidentified borough officials - on the legality of the municipality's helping subsidize Katapoudis' costs
Additionally, those minutes quoted Eustace as citing certain public costs for such an undertaking. As she pursued her investigation further, Board Chairman George Brush angrily cut Single off. He ruled her concerns were not relevant to the issues before the board.
PB COULD START HEARING NURSING HOME PLAN AUG 13
Maywood Healthcare LLC wants new building to reach 55 feet
By Chris Neidenberg
Backers of a plan to build a major 55-foot high nursing home site, on vacant land near Eccleston Place and West Magnolia Avenue, are due to appear iinitially before the Planning/Zoning Board Aug. 13.
Saddle Brook-based Maywood Healthare LLC, headed by Marvin Ostreicher, has mailed property owners living within 200-feet of the proposed site notices announcing its planned appearance. Barring any complicating developments - including time constraints caused by the board's hearing other matters, such as Maywood Market, the developer can start the process.
Ostreicher will seek a board waiver to build his facility in a limited light industrial zone. An affirmative decision will lead to the building of a distinctively tall structure near residential areas, smack in the middle of Maywood.
During the council's July 24 work session, Borough Attorney Andrew Fede announced that Mayor Wayne Kuss needed to sign documents authorizing the developer to proceed, given the municipality's ownership of part of the land.
The municipality has an understanding that the developer will try building a senior facility on its part of the tract. which also encompasses the former Zechmeister Brothers Nursery site.
"We have been told Maywood Healthcare is ready to file an application with the Planning (and Zoning) Board," Fede rold officials.
The attorney cautioned, "This (mayor's signing) is not to be construed in any way as interfering with the board's jurisdiction. As property owner, the borough has given them authorization to move ahead, but only as property owner."
The company has spent many months surveying the area, spanning the former nursery and a vacant borough Department of Works dumping ground, in analyzing environmental conditions and delineating wetlands.
Part of the property - the old Zechmeister piece - has been listed on the state's Known Contaminated Sites List and the company needs final clearance for building from the state Department of Environmental Protection - which must issue a "negative declaration" clearing the land for development.
The former Zechmeister site had underground storage tanks removed and was burdened with groundwater contamination. In securing the former floral nursery portion of the site, Maywood Healthcare negotiated with the person who bought it from Zechmeister - Frank Weidner of Saddle River, with Seasons Realty LLC.
In March, the governing body adopted an ordinance requiring that Ostriecher's application limit the height of the actual physical building to 42 feet with a 13-foot high decorative calupo, and requested that the company put in a pitched roof. An engineer at the time said that would be difficult due to the height limitation. Fede ruled he borough had the right to impose such demands as a condition for letting Maywood Healthcare use its portion of the total property, near Westerly Brook.
Yet Councilman Thomas Richards opposed the council majority's March decision. He expressed concerns that it was altering the terms of the original bid specifications (allowing any facility's physical building to reach 55 feet), without giving other interested parties a chance to re-bid
Originally in the late 1990s, then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy cited the building of a "senior-assisted living" site in that area as a priority that would offer Maywood a good ratable. He said it could help a number of borough families with elderly parents seeking a chance to maintain some form of independent living.
A senior-assisted site differs from a standard nursing home, in that the former caters to elderly persons still capable of living in a situation not requiring heavy supervision from caregivers. Maywood Healthcare decided not to pursue the senior-assisted living concept, as Murphy once envisioned, and will try building a more traditional nursing home.
The project could stir some area opposition. The overwhelming number of residents, speaking before the council adopted the ordinance March 27, objected in claiming any approved facility will seriously disrupt their quality of life.
Richards, who while opposing the ordinance, favors establishing a senior home in the area, told those residents he did his own informal door-to-door canvassing and found many homeowners receptive to the idea.
PB TO STUDY DEVELOPING TOXIC SEARS TRACT
Yet EPA will have final say over future of polluted site
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body has given the Planning/Zoning Board the green light to evaluate how the current Sears Distribution Center tract should be developed in the future. Any final plan is pending a resolution of issues relevant to the presence of thorium and chemical contamination on the property.
Members moved unanimously July 24 to call upon the board to engage the services of a professional planner to evaluate the area, situated in a limited light industrial zone, between Route 17 North and Maywood Avenue.
The council's decision comes long after the municipality held private discussions with real estate interests which proposed plans to develop the site, through the office of tben-Borough Administrator John Perkins.
Perkins envisioned building three 10-story office buildings along a proposed light rail system being reviewed by a regional transportation planning authority. The system, if built, would connect Paterson with the Hudson River shoreline to give some commuters more direct access into New York City. Any decision on possibly including a stop in Maywood - near the Rochelle Park border - could still be years away. Perkins left Maywood in February, 2001, when he took a similar position in Tenafly.
The matter has been officially submitted to the board, headed by Chairman George Brush. Sears eventually plans to shut down the facility, which handles merchandise that is trucked to different retail stores.
Yet the site is saddled with major environmental problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has acknowledged in reports that drums of toxic waste are burried under the facility, one of the various larger properties located in the Superfund site being studied by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This waste was believed to have been generated by Maywood Chemical Works, the predecessor to Stepan Chemical Company. The latter has been identified as a responsible party for chemical pollutants and was once similarly cited for .leaving thorium on the various properties. That was before then-Rep. Robert Torricelli (now a senator) helped pass legislation and negotiate an agreement transferring financial laibility for handling the thorium aspect of the overall problem from Stepan to the taxpayers.
The senator acted in 1983, shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond notified Stepan's legal counsel, the law firm Mayer, Brown and Platt of Chicago, that it was identified as a "potentially responsible party" for "radioactive contamination" under terms of the Superfund law. Ever since that time, Torricelli has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign cash from company Presidemt F. Quinn Stepan, a Democratic donor.
Stepan had already agreed to finance a study evaluating the extent of the contamination before Torricelli acted in transferring liability. His actions led to placing the site within the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Under Superfund, companies which inherit the operations of - or move onto sites once occupied by - prior polluters, can be held financially liable for the ultimate cleanup. Stepan inherited Maywood Chemical via a 1960 stock transaction and incorporated it as the "Maywood Chemical Division of Stepan" in the early 1960s.
Maywoood Chemical once operated on the site before Stepan sold the land to another party which eventually leased the site to Sears. It is now owned by Kin Properties, of upstate New York.
Thus, Stepan could have a major impact on whether Maywood develops any meaningful future ratables on sites such as Sears - depending upon how aggressively the EPA moves in ordering Torricelli's campaign donor to clean up chemicals - and whether the corps tries pressuring Stepan into paying even more to help clean up radiological contamination.
The plant is required to prepare a remedial investigation feasibility study to evaluate the presence of chemical pollution in the area, as a responsible party for chemicals (an issue which arose some time after the EPA's original enforcement action regarding thorium).
The corps is considering a plan to excavate and dispose massive amounts of thorium-tainted soil into a permanent disposal site in Canon City, Colo. (a plan that has run into major opposition there). The corps has not ruled out trying to recover additional monies to clean up thorium-tainted soil from Stepan.
Yet Torricelli and other Stepan supporters, including Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards and Rep. Steven Rothman (D-9), have opposed suggestions to require that the borough's major polluter commit more funding toward the final thorium cleanup in helping Maywood. They do not want to go beyond the original agreement Torricelli helped negotiate with his campaign donor almost 20 years ago.
But critics of the plant have derided Torrricell's 1983 "DOE/Stepan" agreement as improperly relieving Stepan of its rightful responsibility to also address paying its fair share in cleaning up thorium - as the EPA intended.
Stepan's supporters assert that the plant is not historically liable for also cleaning up the thorium. This, even though the EPA ruled - before Torricelli's 1983 intervention - that the West Hunter Avenue plant properly met the criteria as a site owner/operator and successor to Maywood Chemical.
In helping to arrange the original agreement, the senator asserted that making the government responsible could quicken the pace of the project by avoiding litigation. Yet 19 years after that argument, the federal government still has not come up with the results of its studies or a final cleanup plan, despite spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. It has, in fact, delayed releasing any final plan for at least eight years.
The decision to study future development on Sears essentially puts the cart before the horse because neither the corps, nor the EPA, have released these proposed plans In fact, the two agencies have not even offiicially confirmed the nature and extent of contamination in the area (indeed, a good deal of the waste is "mixed," with chemicals and thorium).
The Superfund law calls for releasing a feasibility study in evaluating cleanup alternatives before any final proposed plan is issued (leading to a record of decision). The federal government abandoned an earlier commitment to follow this process for residential properties and simply unilaterally moved this contamination into Maywood.
The council has already entered into a deal with the Bergen Department of Planning and Economic Development to initiate a "brownfields" study of the Sears site and other tracts falling under Phase II.
This has caused some Maywood residents, pushing for a permanent cleanup of all borough sites (as over 90 perent of voters supported in a 1991 non-binding referendum), to fear their mayor and council could settle for something less. These are the same officials who have let federal authorities use Maywood to permanently clean up residential areas in Lodi, along with a vacant commercially-zoned piece in Rochelle Park, known as the Ballod property.
The term "brownfields" refers to a federal designation used for old and/or vacant industrial sites which can be cleaned to less stringent standards as a means of promoting economic development. Yet in discussions with the DOE's Environmental Management Advisory Board in 1995, EPA representatives said the Maywood site does not meet the criteria allowing for brownfields development.
Whatever members of the Planning/Zoning Board might decide for Sears, the borough's hands could be tied by whatever cleanup plan the feds ultimately implement.
Conceivably, the EPA could place severe land use restrictions on the tract and adjacent Maywood properties if, for instance, it lets the corps implement a thorium cleanup plan using a criteria establishing Maywood as a permanent storage site.
Such questions will be thrashed out while the proposed plan is discussed. Yet the corps has consistently balked at giving Maywoodians the plan, without any opposition from the mayor and council.
In a recent flier given to residents, members of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood demanded that federal authorities hold cited responsible parties such as Stepan accountable for a full cleanup of the Sears site.
"Have you been told how many hundreds of drums are under the Sears property?" their flier asks. "What's in them? Who put them there? Are they going to have to pay for their removal and disposal?"
The board must settle upon a professional planner to examine the Sears question. In discussing the matter June 26, Borough Administrator Jack Terhune told the council it appeared as though the board had sufficient funds already set aside for the task, remaining from the time Planner Malcom Kasler performed a re-evaluation of the municipality's master plan - a document which drew some criticicism among board members at the time.
Councilman Tom Gaffney, a board member, seemed doubtful that Kasler would be asked back.
"I don't think there are too many people on the board who are happy with Kasler," said Gaffney. The planner heads the Hackensack company, Kasler Associates.
M Market plan would destroy three homes for more cars
By Chris Neidenberg
Testimony ended July 23 on Maywood Market Place's application to create a huge parking lot enroaching upon Bergen and Palmer avenues and West Passaic Street, with a resident begging that the Planning/Zoning Board reject the proposal and not sell out the small community.
Yet the attorney and architect representing New York state developer Nickolas Katapoudis, despite the criticisms, concluded their three-month case by arguing the plan is a sign of progress for the municipality that will help the entire central business district on West Pleasant Avenue.
The plan also entails a major expansion of the store, including adding a second-floor warehouse.
Architect Anthony Garrett and borough lawyer Thomas Hynes have not denied that there could be an increase in traffic burdening nearby residential streets. Yet they have suggested that imposing more traffic on the town is a legitimate trade-off for improving the business climate.
They have stated that the expanded store and bigger lot (increasing the store's parking capacity by roughly 45 spaces - to 71) could lure more outsiders who will shop in other smaller stores.
While the board could have debated and voted on the proposal late that night, Chairman George Brush said its magnitude required careful consideration and study. Brush also said he wanted the vacationing Katapoudis to attend.
The case will resume on Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Trinka Hall at 459 Maywood Ave. At that time, barring any new developments, the nine-member body could take a final vote to either accept or reject the two-phase plan enompassing about 37,000 square feet.
Over at least the last two weeks, board members have presumably been evaluating the transcripts in studying the matter before having a final public discussion. Katapoudis and silent partners in three separate - but somewhat related entities (the store, real estate agent Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation) - want the board to grant three variances converting A-1 residential lots at 89 and 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer (now with houses they are leasing but want to demolish) into restricted commercial (RC) zones.
As for the West Pleasant building, in addition to the new second floor, the partnership wants to add more selling space on the first, and a new entrance on West Pleasant. Katapoudis, a resident of affluent Manhasset, L.I., has said the second floor will be used for the storage of dry goods. The store also wants to expand its kitchen in enlarging its catering business.
Katapoudis has left the door open to an even grander expansion plan in the future, requiring him to swallow up adjacent, smaller businesses (on property he now owns).
Hynes has refused to identify Katapoudis' partners. He also refuses to disclose the addresses of MNK and Jay Zee.
"I believe the applicant has met his obligations and has met his burden," the lawyer said in brief concluding remarks. "And I believe approval of these use variances won't be a detriment to the community."
He added, "I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens. Could they be a little neater? Probably. But I believe they have been good neighbors."
While Katapoudis has cited the parking lot as a major centerpiece of his plan, he has also conceded that rejecting the facility will not kill his business, since it only would increase customer convenience.
Yet Mayor Wayne Kuss has stated that the council would consider forcing taxpayers to help subsidize Katapoudis' undertaking - as part of a deal where the borough would reserve public spaces in his lot - because Maywood has a need for more shoppers' parking. Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, promises to fight any such plan.
Single cited a litany of reasons for canning the proposal while the board sat in silence. Single maintained that the Market's store expansion plans are a prelude to a bigger agenda that will forever alter the character of West Pleasant - for the worse. She warned rhat approving the application will send the message, "Maywood is for sale."
Single called for the Market to keep any possible expansion plans modest and at the ground level along West Pleasant - toward Angelo's Pizzeria.
"This application, these variances and this radical expansion are not necessary," insisted Single, who questioned whether the plan is not already a done deal based on the board's conduct. "If it (business district) is thriving, we don't need to take radical steps, thank you. Just keep the streets clean and have the merchants take action to keep their properties reasonable and acceptable-looking."
When Brush tried to halt her presentation, which ultimately lasted about 15 minutes, Single pointed out that the board seemingly bent over backwards in giving Katapoudis' team hours and hours of time.
She argued that much of the discussion seemed to dwell on what she termed as "trivial" matters such as the height of trees. The resident further maintained that the lengthy hearings skirted over significant, quality-of-life issues. In fact, the initial discussions date back to at least a year.
"Your discussions, all the (meeting) dates, make it look as though it's going to be approved," said Single. "Where is their traffic study? Where is the borough's traffic study?"
The resident argued that approval will mark a continuation of what she characterized as the board's unwise policy of favoring unreasonable commercial development - to the detriment of residents.
"I'm opposed to desecrating the community, " she told the board, "And it does happen - one block at a time."
Single showed photos she obtained of the absent Katapoudis' wealthy neighborhood in Manhasset, featuring million-dollar homes. She compared it to the more modest community where he is seeking to expand his store.
"Mr. Katapoudis doesn't live in a neighborhood like this, and he wouldn't bring that type of desecration to his neighborhood," she said.
During a lengthy close, attorney Alan Magrini of Secaucus, representing objectors Nancy and Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue, asserted that the project has many flaws and should be rejected.
His complaints centered around what he repeatedly characterized as the cramped nature of the proposal. Magrini also complained that the major proposal came with no professional traffic study and no direct testimony from an engineer for the developers.
Additonally, Magrini, referring to testimony from Victor Paparazzo,, alleged that the market has consistently been a poor neighbor which has not adequately maintained its property or addressed complaints.
The lawyer objected to, among other things, plans to remove two maple trees, drive-through aisles that would be 10-foot wide, rather than (what he maintained is) the standard 12 feet, no area to collect carts and "overlandscaping." He also carped about the developer.s proposal to place oil spillers on municipal property - rather than confining them to the parking lot - and proposed "parking that overlaps onto public property." Garrett said the spiller plans could be redesigned.
"I think when you see all these things together, you'll see what's going to be done," he said. "You're cramming a lot of stuff in a small area, all to the detriment of the surrounding property owners.".:
MAYWOOD MARKET LAWYER WON'T DENY SITE IS MESSY
"Could they be a little neater? Probably," Hynes tells boro PB
By Chris Neidenberg
As the Planning/Zoning Board prepares to possibly OK a major Maywood Market Place expansion plan this Aug. 13, the lawyer seeking approval would not deny that his clients have not satisfactorily maintained the current grounds.
Thomas Hynes, a resident and local lawyer on Palmer Avenue representing New York-based interests who have conceded the large development could bring more traffic and congestion into the small community, stood largely silent as resident Victor Paparazzo of Bergen Avenue cited numerous complaints while questioned by his attorney, Alan Magrini of Secaucus.
Paparazzo spoke as both sides wrapped up testimony July 23.
"In general, do you think Maywood Market's properties, as they are currently maintained, are consistent with a residential neighborhood?" Magrini asked Paparazzo.
"No," replied the 28-year resident, who pointed out that he raised his family in the area long before Maywood Market (which replaced the IGA) ever set foot on the site.
A grown daughter now lives with her own family in the same neighborhood,
Paparazzo focused on allegations that included inadequate upkeep of greenery in the current yard/parking lot, and letting trash stay strewn all over the grounds for extended periods, enticing vermin such as rats to hang in the lot near his home and between Bergen and Palmer avenues.
Paparazzo, who with his wife, Nancy, are fighting the application that could lead to profound changes in their neighborhood, confirmed seeing rats outside the grocery/food establishment. Owner Nickolas Katapoudis wants to add even more selling space (and volume) to his business, under the proposal.
"The property is not landscaped," Paparazzo alleged to Magrini. "It's overgrown with weeds and debris."
He further complained that the store's lax maintenance extends beyond the parking lot property.
"I know the house behind me (on 520 Palmer), they (Katapoudis and his partners) have not maintained at all," the resident alleged.
Asked by Magrini if he would describe the house as "run down," Paparazzo replied, "Yes."
The resident further complained of "constantly" seeing store-generated garbage strewn in the lot and near or on the street, delivery trucks which run their engines for unacceptably long periods (resulting in unhealthy emissions) and being awakened by trucks making deliveries as early as 3:30 a.m. - in violation of borough codes - which stay for up to 45 minutes. He alleged that such activities are ongoing "seven days a week."
In responding to another question from Magrini, Paparazzo complained that any expansion will bring him even "closer" to the market and result in "more activities and more deliveries that will have a negative impact."
Katapoudis was on vacation, and thus, did not attend.
He told the board on June 25 that he would not be present July 23. Resident Lillian Single objected to his absence in addressing the board on July 23. She demanded that it take no final action until he shows up. Later, the board decided that Katapoudis must attend before a final vote is taken.
Hynes offered no direct rebuttal during Paparazzo's testimony, asking only if the resident observed any skunks or racoons on the site, in addition to rats. The grandfather replied he did not, but noted that he did alert the Board of Health about the rat sightings.
Hynes did briefly discuss the property upkeep issue in addressing the board.
"I think the owners of Maywood Market, Jay Zee Realty, have been good citizens," he said in concluding remarks. "Could they be a little neater? Probably. But they have been good neighbors."
Board Chairman George Brush suggested that the store alone should not be blamed, despite the Paparazzos' complaints - and occasional calls to the police. He intimated that the municipality bears some responsibility for the conditions.
"Part of the problem is a lack of comunication, and results, between the town fathers and yourself," he told the couple.
KUSS: TAXPAYERS COULD HELP FOOT MARKET'S COSTS
Mayor: Site could aid parking; Single pans "sweetheart deal"
By Chris Neidenberg
Just a month after the lawyer pushing Maywood Market Place's plans for a new and bigger parking lot vowed that taxpayers won't "pay one red cent" for his client's proposal in sharing the site, Mayor Wayne Kuss confirmed July 24 that the municipality will leave the door open to arranging such a deal - because Maywood needs more parking.
Assuming the Planning/Zoning Board approves the application on Aug. 13 and the borough can find funds in its budget, Kuss told an inquiring resident, the governing body will consider dealing with the store. Borough officials have maintained that improving customer parking is key to enhnacing the municipality's business climate
Yet resident Lillian Single said taxpayers should be very concerned about the ramifications of any deal.
She warned that the taxpayers will have to underwrite what - she predicted - will be a substantial portion of the market's expenses without receiving anything meaningful in return except worsening the municipality's quality of life, while helping maximize the store's profits in the process.
Single charged the Borough Council's claims of a parking shortage are really a cover to lure even bigger and more intense monied business interests into the region (under the guise of "improving" the West Pleasant area), that could make traffic and congestion problems far worse.
She further claimed that only modest improvements - such as better property upkeep and litter control by the current merchants - are needed.
Kuss, speaking at the council's July 24 meeting, publicly confirmed that the municipality was open to restarting talks with store owner Nickolas Katapoudis if the lot is approved. Katapoudis heads the partnership MNK Devvelopment Corporation.
"It's not a dead issue," the mayor said during the hearing of citizens, adding, "The sticking point is finances."
The Republican mayor's thoughts were also supported by Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace, president of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce and vice chairman of the borough's Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation.
Eustace also sees creating new parking facilities in the West Pleasant Avenue area.as a means of keeping shoppers in town - even if homes near the district must fall by the wayside.
Yet Eustace reported on July 24 that no definite decisions had been made, regarding the market.
"There's no (ongoing) negotations," he told the resident. "To the extent that I can answer for the SID (group) as to if there are negotiations going on, the answer is no."
He did, however, point out that the SID corporation previously broached Katapoudis' group about "whether it (SID corporation) can take over the maintenance of the (approved and expanded) parking lot."
Eustace added that the SID board also addressed whether it "could develop ... the (new) parking site."
Yet attorney Thomas Hynes of Palmer Avenue gave his "not one red cent" assurance during the Planning/Zoning Board's June 25 meeting.
He reacted when Single, of West Passaic Street, offered a preponderance of evidence showing that certain elected officials already held continuing disussions on the possibility (and with representatives of MNK).
Single, who serves on the SID group's project planning committee. recalled that such talks started from around late 2001 and continued, at least through mid-June of this year.
In her current position, and before as a private resident. she has witnessed the group's meetings and reviewed its minutes. The SID corporation - which includes all members of the governing bocy - meets publicly every two months.
Thus, the discussions commenced well before the market submitted formal plans to the board last Februarry, prompting Single to become suspicious.
Single complained that the SID corporation's dealings have been "secretive and surreptitious."
"If they (board) rezone (the area needed to expand the lot) from residential to commercial, it will be the trigger that ties in with the borough politicians' plans to buy the houses owned by MNK Development Corporation using taxpayer dollars," she warned, citing the past discussions. "They will also pay to demolish the homes with taxpayer dollars, and pay for building and maintaining the parking lot with taxpayer dollars.
"The taxpayers will also pay MNK's liability insurance, and for a yearly lease for partial use of the lot," she further predicted. "We taxpayers will keep paying and paying and paying, and wind up owing the developer money. In reality, this is nothing but a sweetheart deal for a rich developer."
She questioned why borough elected officials would even hold such discussions before any board vote on approving the market's application on expanding the site - between Palmer and Bergen avenues - from roughly 25 to 71 spaces. MNK wants to destroy three homes in the process
Single, also coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood, has voiced concern that the major application could be rubber-stamped, based on the board's conduct.
She fears it will do so, even though the market has not provided (what she considers) vitally important data - such as a professional traffic study
Katapoudis told the board May 14 that he and his partners were earlier approached by some unidentified members of the governing body about possibly entering into a deal, requiring taxpayers to subsidize some of MNK's costs, in creating a bigger lot.
He explained that, in return, MNK would have helped contribute to addressing Maywood's parking needs (such as via allocating a certain portion of town-wide spaces in any expanded lot).
But the wealthy Long Island businessman stressed that he did not initiate those talks, and that no such deal was arranged
Over a month after his comments, however, Single offered the board minutes of a June SID group meeting showing that Chief Financial Officer Charles Cuccia was asked questions in a letter - by unidentified borough officials - on the legality of the municipality's helping subsidize Katapoudis' costs
Additionally, those minutes quoted Eustace as citing certain public costs for such an undertaking. As she pursued her investigation further, Board Chairman George Brush angrily cut Single off. He ruled her concerns were not relevant to the issues before the board.
PB COULD START HEARING NURSING HOME PLAN AUG 13
Maywood Healthcare LLC wants new building to reach 55 feet
By Chris Neidenberg
Backers of a plan to build a major 55-foot high nursing home site, on vacant land near Eccleston Place and West Magnolia Avenue, are due to appear iinitially before the Planning/Zoning Board Aug. 13.
Saddle Brook-based Maywood Healthare LLC, headed by Marvin Ostreicher, has mailed property owners living within 200-feet of the proposed site notices announcing its planned appearance. Barring any complicating developments - including time constraints caused by the board's hearing other matters, such as Maywood Market, the developer can start the process.
Ostreicher will seek a board waiver to build his facility in a limited light industrial zone. An affirmative decision will lead to the building of a distinctively tall structure near residential areas, smack in the middle of Maywood.
During the council's July 24 work session, Borough Attorney Andrew Fede announced that Mayor Wayne Kuss needed to sign documents authorizing the developer to proceed, given the municipality's ownership of part of the land.
The municipality has an understanding that the developer will try building a senior facility on its part of the tract. which also encompasses the former Zechmeister Brothers Nursery site.
"We have been told Maywood Healthcare is ready to file an application with the Planning (and Zoning) Board," Fede rold officials.
The attorney cautioned, "This (mayor's signing) is not to be construed in any way as interfering with the board's jurisdiction. As property owner, the borough has given them authorization to move ahead, but only as property owner."
The company has spent many months surveying the area, spanning the former nursery and a vacant borough Department of Works dumping ground, in analyzing environmental conditions and delineating wetlands.
Part of the property - the old Zechmeister piece - has been listed on the state's Known Contaminated Sites List and the company needs final clearance for building from the state Department of Environmental Protection - which must issue a "negative declaration" clearing the land for development.
The former Zechmeister site had underground storage tanks removed and was burdened with groundwater contamination. In securing the former floral nursery portion of the site, Maywood Healthcare negotiated with the person who bought it from Zechmeister - Frank Weidner of Saddle River, with Seasons Realty LLC.
In March, the governing body adopted an ordinance requiring that Ostriecher's application limit the height of the actual physical building to 42 feet with a 13-foot high decorative calupo, and requested that the company put in a pitched roof. An engineer at the time said that would be difficult due to the height limitation. Fede ruled he borough had the right to impose such demands as a condition for letting Maywood Healthcare use its portion of the total property, near Westerly Brook.
Yet Councilman Thomas Richards opposed the council majority's March decision. He expressed concerns that it was altering the terms of the original bid specifications (allowing any facility's physical building to reach 55 feet), without giving other interested parties a chance to re-bid
Originally in the late 1990s, then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy cited the building of a "senior-assisted living" site in that area as a priority that would offer Maywood a good ratable. He said it could help a number of borough families with elderly parents seeking a chance to maintain some form of independent living.
A senior-assisted site differs from a standard nursing home, in that the former caters to elderly persons still capable of living in a situation not requiring heavy supervision from caregivers. Maywood Healthcare decided not to pursue the senior-assisted living concept, as Murphy once envisioned, and will try building a more traditional nursing home.
The project could stir some area opposition. The overwhelming number of residents, speaking before the council adopted the ordinance March 27, objected in claiming any approved facility will seriously disrupt their quality of life.
Richards, who while opposing the ordinance, favors establishing a senior home in the area, told those residents he did his own informal door-to-door canvassing and found many homeowners receptive to the idea.
PB TO STUDY DEVELOPING TOXIC SEARS TRACT
Yet EPA will have final say over future of polluted site
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body has given the Planning/Zoning Board the green light to evaluate how the current Sears Distribution Center tract should be developed in the future. Any final plan is pending a resolution of issues relevant to the presence of thorium and chemical contamination on the property.
Members moved unanimously July 24 to call upon the board to engage the services of a professional planner to evaluate the area, situated in a limited light industrial zone, between Route 17 North and Maywood Avenue.
The council's decision comes long after the municipality held private discussions with real estate interests which proposed plans to develop the site, through the office of tben-Borough Administrator John Perkins.
Perkins envisioned building three 10-story office buildings along a proposed light rail system being reviewed by a regional transportation planning authority. The system, if built, would connect Paterson with the Hudson River shoreline to give some commuters more direct access into New York City. Any decision on possibly including a stop in Maywood - near the Rochelle Park border - could still be years away. Perkins left Maywood in February, 2001, when he took a similar position in Tenafly.
The matter has been officially submitted to the board, headed by Chairman George Brush. Sears eventually plans to shut down the facility, which handles merchandise that is trucked to different retail stores.
Yet the site is saddled with major environmental problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has acknowledged in reports that drums of toxic waste are burried under the facility, one of the various larger properties located in the Superfund site being studied by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This waste was believed to have been generated by Maywood Chemical Works, the predecessor to Stepan Chemical Company. The latter has been identified as a responsible party for chemical pollutants and was once similarly cited for .leaving thorium on the various properties. That was before then-Rep. Robert Torricelli (now a senator) helped pass legislation and negotiate an agreement transferring financial laibility for handling the thorium aspect of the overall problem from Stepan to the taxpayers.
The senator acted in 1983, shortly after the EPA's Lawrence Diamond notified Stepan's legal counsel, the law firm Mayer, Brown and Platt of Chicago, that it was identified as a "potentially responsible party" for "radioactive contamination" under terms of the Superfund law. Ever since that time, Torricelli has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign cash from company Presidemt F. Quinn Stepan, a Democratic donor.
Stepan had already agreed to finance a study evaluating the extent of the contamination before Torricelli acted in transferring liability. His actions led to placing the site within the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The corps replaced the DOE as the lead agency in 1997.
Under Superfund, companies which inherit the operations of - or move onto sites once occupied by - prior polluters, can be held financially liable for the ultimate cleanup. Stepan inherited Maywood Chemical via a 1960 stock transaction and incorporated it as the "Maywood Chemical Division of Stepan" in the early 1960s.
Maywoood Chemical once operated on the site before Stepan sold the land to another party which eventually leased the site to Sears. It is now owned by Kin Properties, of upstate New York.
Thus, Stepan could have a major impact on whether Maywood develops any meaningful future ratables on sites such as Sears - depending upon how aggressively the EPA moves in ordering Torricelli's campaign donor to clean up chemicals - and whether the corps tries pressuring Stepan into paying even more to help clean up radiological contamination.
The plant is required to prepare a remedial investigation feasibility study to evaluate the presence of chemical pollution in the area, as a responsible party for chemicals (an issue which arose some time after the EPA's original enforcement action regarding thorium).
The corps is considering a plan to excavate and dispose massive amounts of thorium-tainted soil into a permanent disposal site in Canon City, Colo. (a plan that has run into major opposition there). The corps has not ruled out trying to recover additional monies to clean up thorium-tainted soil from Stepan.
Yet Torricelli and other Stepan supporters, including Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards and Rep. Steven Rothman (D-9), have opposed suggestions to require that the borough's major polluter commit more funding toward the final thorium cleanup in helping Maywood. They do not want to go beyond the original agreement Torricelli helped negotiate with his campaign donor almost 20 years ago.
But critics of the plant have derided Torrricell's 1983 "DOE/Stepan" agreement as improperly relieving Stepan of its rightful responsibility to also address paying its fair share in cleaning up thorium - as the EPA intended.
Stepan's supporters assert that the plant is not historically liable for also cleaning up the thorium. This, even though the EPA ruled - before Torricelli's 1983 intervention - that the West Hunter Avenue plant properly met the criteria as a site owner/operator and successor to Maywood Chemical.
In helping to arrange the original agreement, the senator asserted that making the government responsible could quicken the pace of the project by avoiding litigation. Yet 19 years after that argument, the federal government still has not come up with the results of its studies or a final cleanup plan, despite spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. It has, in fact, delayed releasing any final plan for at least eight years.
The decision to study future development on Sears essentially puts the cart before the horse because neither the corps, nor the EPA, have released these proposed plans In fact, the two agencies have not even offiicially confirmed the nature and extent of contamination in the area (indeed, a good deal of the waste is "mixed," with chemicals and thorium).
The Superfund law calls for releasing a feasibility study in evaluating cleanup alternatives before any final proposed plan is issued (leading to a record of decision). The federal government abandoned an earlier commitment to follow this process for residential properties and simply unilaterally moved this contamination into Maywood.
The council has already entered into a deal with the Bergen Department of Planning and Economic Development to initiate a "brownfields" study of the Sears site and other tracts falling under Phase II.
This has caused some Maywood residents, pushing for a permanent cleanup of all borough sites (as over 90 perent of voters supported in a 1991 non-binding referendum), to fear their mayor and council could settle for something less. These are the same officials who have let federal authorities use Maywood to permanently clean up residential areas in Lodi, along with a vacant commercially-zoned piece in Rochelle Park, known as the Ballod property.
The term "brownfields" refers to a federal designation used for old and/or vacant industrial sites which can be cleaned to less stringent standards as a means of promoting economic development. Yet in discussions with the DOE's Environmental Management Advisory Board in 1995, EPA representatives said the Maywood site does not meet the criteria allowing for brownfields development.
Whatever members of the Planning/Zoning Board might decide for Sears, the borough's hands could be tied by whatever cleanup plan the feds ultimately implement.
Conceivably, the EPA could place severe land use restrictions on the tract and adjacent Maywood properties if, for instance, it lets the corps implement a thorium cleanup plan using a criteria establishing Maywood as a permanent storage site.
Such questions will be thrashed out while the proposed plan is discussed. Yet the corps has consistently balked at giving Maywoodians the plan, without any opposition from the mayor and council.
In a recent flier given to residents, members of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood demanded that federal authorities hold cited responsible parties such as Stepan accountable for a full cleanup of the Sears site.
"Have you been told how many hundreds of drums are under the Sears property?" their flier asks. "What's in them? Who put them there? Are they going to have to pay for their removal and disposal?"
The board must settle upon a professional planner to examine the Sears question. In discussing the matter June 26, Borough Administrator Jack Terhune told the council it appeared as though the board had sufficient funds already set aside for the task, remaining from the time Planner Malcom Kasler performed a re-evaluation of the municipality's master plan - a document which drew some criticicism among board members at the time.
Councilman Tom Gaffney, a board member, seemed doubtful that Kasler would be asked back.
"I don't think there are too many people on the board who are happy with Kasler," said Gaffney. The planner heads the Hackensack company, Kasler Associates.
NURSING HOME PROPOSAL SPURS TRAFFIC FEARS
Maywood Healthcare LLC reps asked to scuttle entrance
By Chris Neidenberg
During the opening round of Maywood Health Care LLC's proposal to build a 120-unit nursing home off West Magnolia Avenue, area residents cited serious concerns over the impact of traffic the site could generate, leading to demands that the applicant remove one proposed entrance.
Additionally, an Eccleston Place resident living near the site offered the board a letter, personally signed by Gov. James McGreevey, responding to her concerns that the site could improperly encroach upon a wide area of wetlands if built to current scale. The site would be next to Westerly Brook.
McGreevey promised to turn the matter over to state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley Campbell for a further review. Board Attorney Greg Padavano had the letter marked as evidence for use during the hearings.
The applicant earlier received a letter of interpretation from the department after performing a survey delineating wetlands. McGreevey sent his letter to resident Heather Broad after she received, what she considered to be, unsatisfactory answers from officials within the DEP and Region II of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The developer will need a DEP stream encroachment permit - if the plan is locally approved.
The developer 's proposal, the Maywood Center for Health and Rehabilitation, would be built in a limited light industrial zone spanning over 69,000 square feet under a variance at the west end of West Magmolia and Eccelston. The plan calls for housing administrative offices and a kitchen on the first floor, and residential living space on the second and third.
About 10 residents, from an area encompasing streets including Brook, Hergesell and West Magnolia avenues, Eccleston, West Central Avenue and Magnolia Lane, attended in airing various concerns.
They included fears over potential flooding caused by drainage problems, traffic and the possible hazards any traffic coming into the site could pose to small children - including some developmentally-disabled children - playing in the area.
Additionally, the board requested that Ostreicher provide it with more information addressing the possible workload the site could impose upon the Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad in responding to patient emergencies.
The hearing is set to resume Aug. 27, in Borough Hall, 459 Maywood Ave., at 7:30 p.m.
The municipality has desired to build a senior facility in the area going back to the administration of Mayor Thomas Murphy. He called for creating a "senior assisted" living site in an area encompassing a former Department of Public Works (DPW) dumping ground.
Murphy cited a need for a site serving area seniors wishing to move into a care facility offering them some degree of independence, and the benefits of a new ratable. The borough has a direct interest in the matter since it auctioned the old DPW site off to Maywood Healthcare President Marvin Ostreicher. of Lynbrook, L.I., with the stipulation that he build a senior care site.
Ostreicher has rejected using the location for senior-assisted living, as Murphy desired, and instead wants to build a more traditional, heavily-supervised nursing home. He describes his proposal as a "full-service skilled nursing facility."
Ostreicher subsequently acquired an adjacent, privately-owned site further north, from Frank Weidner of Seasons Realty LLC in Saddle River, to extend his planned facility. Weidner bought that piece from the former operators of the Zechmeister Brothers (floral ) Nursery. The latter site has been placed on the state's Known Contaminated Sites list.
The former Zechmeister owners had to dig up massive amounts of soil, remove at least one underground fuel storage tank and analyze groundwater pollutants, all under DEP supervision, before selling the land.
To clear the former nursery are, the state must issue a "negative declaration." This certifies it has been cleaned up and is safe for residential use.
Actually, Ostreicher's proposal would, if approved, relocate senior care operations now in two buildings in Saddle Brook. The plan calls for a three-story design, with the physical building climbing to 42 feet, and an ornamental "Colonial-era design" spire rising an extra 13 feet.
To allay any possible concerns over a towering structure, the council in March amended prior specifications to keep the physical building from reaching the maximum 55-foot height.
Other features include:
A. Providing access from proposed driveways at Eccleston (front) and Hergesell (rear for deliveries), as well as offering 64 parking spaces, well below the borough's requirement of 233 (one space per 300 square feet). A bridge must be built over Westerly Brook for the Hergesell entrance.
B. Construction of a detention basin to accomodate an expected significant increase in stormwater runoff. The developer anticipates the great majority of rumoff will run into the basin, while other stormwater will be directed into the brook, as well as the drainage system in Magnolia Lane.
C. Landscaping - in the form of rows of trees and bushes - surrounding the proposed site.
"It's planned care," Ostreicher told the board. "It's a residence for basically frail and elderly individuals. We do rehabilitation as well."
The owner/developer explained that a resident's length of stay can vary from short to very long periods (many years), depending on factors such as state of health and family circumstances.
"It's really an extremely quiet type of facility," said the New York state developer, adding that personnel will man the facility during three eight-hour shifts.
During the roughly two-hour hearing, Ostreicher's various engineers and consultants provided information outlining their plan in areas including drainage, parking, landscaping and expected traffic.
Jay Trautman, a traffic consultant based in Manasquan, offered counts of the number of non-office care and maintenance staff members who will be present during three shifts: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3 to 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Ostreicher said that an administrative staff of from 12 to 15 people will man offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
At "the height of the day," the developer/owner explained, there will be 33 non-clerical nursing home staffers (from the day shift ending at 3 p.m.), along with the added 9 to 5 administrative office team. Using his math, this means there would be a maximum of 45 to 48 employees on site, from 9 to 3 p.m.
Trautman said the number of nursing care and maintenance personnel diminishes over the three shifts, from a high of 33 during the day, to a low of six people overnight.
As the 3 p.m. non-office shift comes in to work (and the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.shift leaves), the consultant estimated, the number of non-office nursing home staff (which excludes the 12 to 15 clerical workers) will temporarily exceed 33 for about an hour - from 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.
But Trautman said the maximum number should approximate 47. Of course, this number is not fixed, since members of the non-office nursing staff ending their day shifts leave throughout the hour.
Visitors must be factored into the total equation. Using a complex formula, Trautman estimated the site will attract on average 35 visitors a day - during the "peak hours" of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. - on weekdays, and approximately 45 visitors per day on Saturday and Sunday. Visiting hours end at 8:30 p.m.
"The plan provides more than a sufficient amount of parking for any peak situation that may occur," Trautman told the board.
Still, some residents were not convinced by the presentation. They and Councilman Thomas Gaffney cited a number of reasons why there should not be a front driveway off Eccleston. Gaffney demanded that all traffic (not just deliveries) be routed through Hergesell.
Resident Anne Quigg was not impressed with Trautman's work.
"I request that you (board) ask for realistic statistics, not just a survey," said Quigg, parent of at least one child who plays in the area.
Quigg maintained that a careful study of traffic conditions at Eccleston and West Magnolia will already show trucks doing business in the area use the route as "a shortcut to avoid the traffic light at West Central Avenue (causing them to travel down West Magnolia)."
She predicted that traffic will be exacerbated if the proposed facility has an Eccleston entrance.
Elizabeth Baird, of Eccleston, concurred.
"We can't have that (Eccleston driveway) open," said Baird. "They (moving vehicles) are going to go through that like Route 17. I wish they would do something to (have all traffic) go into and come out of Hergesell."
Gaffney drew applause when he echoed the residents' sentiments.
"I'd really like the board and the engineer to see if they can do something with this traffic," urged thee councilman, running for re-election. "I'd like you to examine if they can (have all traffic) come through Hergesell, and come back (through Hergesell) to get to West Central Avenue and Route 17."
At the very least, the site will generate large numbers of people during the day to an area that has been relatively quiet, since the Zechmeister nursery site (a far less intensive commercial use) shut down.
"That corner (Eccleston-West Magnolia) was always perceived as a quiet residential area," a man living in the neighborhood told officials. "I think the board will see that construction of this facility will definitely change the character of that corner forever."
Board Chairman George Brush, while praising the concept behind Ostreicher's proposal, seemed sympathetic to the residents' concerns. Brush said the initial plan needed to be overhauled.
"From the borough's point of view, it leaves a lot to be desired," he told the applicant. "I think it's incumbent upon you and the engineers to go back to the drawing board and provide us a new plan for (traffic) circulation, ingress, egress and so forth."
"We (board) think this is an asset to the borough," Brush continued. "We want this to be an asset to all members of our borough, and not just a few."
To get a handle on how the site might affect emergency services, Brush directed Ostreicher to provide the board statistics from Saddle Brook detailing all emergency responses to the existing senior facility oer the last two years.
PB TENTATIVELY OKS MAYWOOD MARKET EXPANSION
Could give NY developer parking area he says isn't essential
By Chris Neidenberg
A Planning/Zoning Board majority seemed poised to give backers of the Maywood Market Place at least some of what they want in terms of expanding the store and enlarging the adjacent parking lot.
The board initially moved Aug. 13 to approve the proposal, in priinciple. Just how much owner Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners get depends on the final resolution, if it is memorialized Aug. 27. The meeting is set to resume at 7:30 p.m. in Borough Hall, 459 Maywood Ave.
The initial plan called for enlarging the parking lot to almost three times its current size (from roughly 25 to 71 spaces), which the owner earlier told members, he could live without.
"It's not that we would be put out of business if we don't have it (bigger parking lot)," Katapoudis told the board, during the first night of the hearings last May. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
To do this, the owner would have to demolish two homes containing three residences (89 West Passaic Street, and a two-family house at 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer Ave.). The board approved use variances changing zoning from A-1 residential to restricted commervial (RC) to allow at least some of the changes.
Additionally, Katapoudis and his partners want to add a second floor atop the West Pleasant Avenue site, and a second entrance on West Pleasant. The full plan encompasses about 37,000 square feet.
Members voted 5-1 in directing Board Attorney Greg Padavano to draft a resolution endorsing MNK Development Corporation's concepts .The final resolution, if approved, will likely not cover the entire area. Katapoudis originally pushed a two-phase plan for the site. The board, however, opted to pass on considering Phase II. It only approved Phase I variances, and a minor subdivision.
MNK would develop the site, but there are two other players in the mix: Jay-Zee Realty, which owns the store, and the store itself. Katapoudis, of Manhasset, L.I., is a partner in all three. But Market lawyer Thomas Hynes refused to reveal the addresses of MNK and Jay-Zee during the hearings. Board Chairman George Brush upheld Hynes' right to conceal such information.
Backing the plan were Brush, Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny,and Board Members Geroge Georgeou, David Pegg and former Councilman Harry Hillenius. Al Ballerini was the lone dissenter.
"It's only an authorization to draw up a resolution," Padavano explained. "If it (board) chooses to vote for the resolution at the next meeting, it's done."
Brush said on July 23 that Katapoudis, absent that night, would need to attend when the authorization vote was taken. Yet he was again absent.
Those who supported the proposal really never revealed why they believe it will benefit Maywood, and offered no rationale to support it, during three months of hearings.
Hynes and the Market's architect, Anthony Garrett, conceded the expansion could add traffic and congestion to the area. Yet they said it would be worth the price of progress by bringing new customers into the business district, who might shop in other businesses. At the same time, Katapoudis has not ruled out further expanding his store in the future, by evicting other businesses on properties he owns along the avenue.
Critics opposing the plan questioned why neither the board, nor the applicant, offered a professioal traffic study focusing on the impacts of a larger parking site. In a Feb. 21 memo to fellow board members, Brush warned, "Since this project is certainly designed to bring in more business, traffic will increase."
He called for the board to obtain an opinion from the police department, which was never publicly discussed during three months of hearings.
Hlillenius did say he hoped Katapoudis would negotiate with the borough to share use of the parking lot.
"Maywood needs parking," he claimed..
This point bothers Lillian Single, a resident who would live directly across the street from the lot Single pointed out throughout the hearings that Katapoudis and his partners carried on discussions with some members of the Borough Council over possibly having taxpayers share paying some of the lot's expansion costs, in return for sharing the facility. At lea st some council members believe the area would be aided via having more parking spaces.
Yet she questioned whether holding such discussions, before the board even listened to the merits of the application, assured that it was a "done deal." from the start.
Further adding to this intrigue are contradictory statements from Mayor Wayne Kuss, and those offered by Hynes and Brush.
Kuss said during a July 24 council meeting that having taxpayers finance some of the lot's costs was "not a dead issue." Yet Hynes promised at the board's June 25 meeting that taxpayers would not pay "one red cent" for the expansion under any deal to share parking.
Brush seemed to reaffirm Hynes' position, further contradicting Kuss, on Aug. 13.
"It was certainly clear to me they don't want anyone but their own customers parking there," the chairman said.
After the meeting, Single promised to continue monitoring the situation.
"I am opposed to the scope of this project," said the resident, who wants the Market to confine any expansion to the ground level on West Pleasant. "I don't want the second floor, and I am opposed to removing the two houses."
Exactly what Katapoudis stands to get under Phase I seems somewhat vague, based on the developer's proposals as outlined in the official notice served those living within 200 feet of the site.
For instance, the notice makes no reference to the fact that the market wants to add a second floor along West Pleasant, and a second store entrance on the street. It only discusses the proposed use variances and subdivision permits. Additionally, the notice indicates that both phases need a use variance in the one house spanning two addresses (95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer).
The minor subdivision granted merges two lots at 89 and 95 West Passaic into one.
Before voting "yes" Georgeou said the board should attatch as a condition eliminating one parking stall to widen a "turnaround area" in the lot, for moving vehicles, from 10 to 12 feet.
He essentially concurred with Alan Magrini, lawyer for objectors Victor and Nancy Paparazzo.
"I think 10 feet is too narrow," said Georgeou.
In rejecting the plan, Ballerini said he had plenty to find fault with. He argued that sacrificing the two houses for a bigger blacktopped parking lot, to bring in more cars, was a tradeoff that would seriously disrupt the quality of life.
Ballerini also saw no public benefit to approving a plan helping Katapoudis expand his catering business.
"By expanding a kitchen, which is basically a catering business, I don't see how that expands commerce (within Maywood)," he said.
During the hearing, objector Victor Paparazzo maintained that the market broke prior commitments made in originally establishing the business to replace the IGA. He contended that the store often violated ordinances related to deliveries and trash removal.
The board refused to deny the new application on those grounds. But Hillenius asserted that the store needed to be monitored in those areas, as well as for keeping its landscaping attractive.
"I think we have to admonish the owner very strongly that he has not been a very good neighbor," said Brush, before voting to conditionally approve the expansion.
FINAL DECISION ON THORIUM FUTURE NEARING?
TOWN COUNCIL WON''T COMMIT TO "UP AND OUT"
Pols spent years cleaning other towns, backed Stepan
By Chris Neidenberg
Despite being pressed during the last two regular meetings in June and July, Borough Council members from both parties have refused to say publicly where they stand over how extensively massive amounts of buried thorium-tainted soil, lying beneath their community, should be cleaned up.
A council commitment is being requested, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a proposed plan and launched a public comment period seeking input over how it should implement the cleanup's second phase.
..
The public comment period kicked off Aug. 14 and runs through Sept. 12. As part of that process, the corps will conduct a three-hour hearing on the proposed plan, from 6 to 9 p.m., at Borough Hall on Aug. 28.
This proposal primarily impacts large and active commercial properties in Maywood (where most of the roughly 350,000 cubic yards of mixed toxic chemical and radiological waste is buried underground on large contaminated sites adjacent to residential areas). Yet the phase also includes contamination at other sites in neighboring Lodi.
This plan had been hidden from the community with the knowledge of three federal agencies - and Maywood's own elected officials - for at least the last eight years.
The corps replaced the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as the lead agency for handling thorium in 1997. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has some oversight in the matter.
Following the comment period, the final selected remedy will be incorporated into a record of decision (ROD). Though much of the waste is mixed with chemicals and thorium, the corps' plan is separate from any plan which addresses chemical contamination, based on the outcome of a remedial investigation feasibility study (RIFS) performed by the borough's major polluter, Stepan Chemical Company.
In what could be described as a strange coincidence, the corps' landmark decision to finally disclose the plan Aug. 14 came after environmental activist Michael Nolan provided local officials U.S. government documents showing that no federal contract for removing any waste from a Superfund site should be signed with a contractor until after issuing a ROD.
The corps, in fact, violated this policy when it entered into a contract with the Cotter permanent disposal site in Canon City, Colo. The contract called for accepting roughly 450,000 cubic yards, exceeding the total estimated waste remaining under Phase II. The plan has run into major opposition in Colorado.
Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood (CCM), is hoping the council supports - what he terms as - "up and out."
But his group faces an uphill battle, since neither the federal agencies - nor Maywood elected officials - have done much of what it has proposed through the years - despite strong documented evidence backing its claims. Neither have they pursued activities in line with the results of a 1991 non-binding referendum, where roughly 90 percent of the voters endorsed a permanent cleanup of Maywood. They also requested that the feds dig up and move out contamination in other communities directly from their locations. Instead, the agencies have stockpiled these materials before loading them at the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS).
Under "up and out," Nolan wants a sweeping excavation and disposal plan that gets rid of a vast majority of the buried waste, via loading it onto train cars so a permanent cleanup results.
This plan has been implemented at other Superfund sites with a heavy volume of radioactive soil. They include the Kerr-McGee Residential Areas Superfund Site in West Chicago, Ill., and closer to home, the former U.S. Radium Corp.site in nearby Montclair, Glen Ridge and West Orange.
But the corps could have other ideas, based on a proposal to include "volume reduction and treatment" methods in the plan, along with some excavation. Details on how this plan impacts Maywood are pending an unveiling of the full details during the hearing process.
Corps officials have already indicated that, in executing any sweeping disposal plan, they will have to find a way to clean up while some Maywood site businesses (Federal Express, DeSaussure, Sears, etc.) still operate.
One treatment method the agency might discuss with the community .is soil separation. In 2000-2001, it ran tests on the process in town but has not shared the results.
Critics maintain that such methods - unlike excavation - cannot work in reducing the volume down to radiological criterias assuring "unrestricted use" at remediated sites.
In terms of radioactive dirt, this is historically defined as reaching levels of at least five picocuries per gram at all soil depths. Yet the corps appears to be leaving the door open to cleaning certain sites, using a less stringent criteria, via permitting a level of 15 picocuries per gram beyond the first six inches of soil. This could trigger serious future land use restrictions.
In 1994, EPA officials even once asserted that the lesser criteria could lead to designating Maywood a permanent storage site, and was "not protective of human health and the environment.".
During a formal dispute resolution process in 1994, the EPA's Jeff Gratz and Robert Wing told the DOE 's Lester Price that Maywood deserved the tighter criteria since the borough lies in a residential community and is not an old uranium mill tailings site in a sparsely populated area, such as the west, where a less stringent criteria might be justifiable.
Thus, EPA urged the DOE in 1994 to implement the more stringent "health-based" standard in use in West Chicago, called, "Action Criteria For The Kerr-McGee Residential Areas Superfund Sites."
For his efforts, Nolan, 81, has been branded an "environmental terrorist" by one-time Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy.
In 1994, he and other CCM members were ousted from an environmental advisory committee by Murphy's predecessor, Republican Mayor John Steuert. This move was applauded by Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ), Maywood's congressman at the time.
Nolan, active in his group the past 17 years, has repeatedly documented that Torricelli switched financial liability for paying to clean up thorium from his Democratic campaign donor, company President F. Quinn Stepan, to the taxpayers (in a move Nolan has alleged is a "sweetheart deal").
The group has called for an investigation of Torricelli's relationship with the chemical company, and his "DOE-Stepan agreement.".
Torricelli acted in 1983 shortly after the EPA informed Stepan's legal counsel that the company was reponsible for "radioactive contamination" on the site. Torricelli's arrangement, which does not affect chemicals, is still in place. It is most strongly supported by perhaps Torricelli's (and Stepan's) biggest council ally, Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards.
It has become a rather familiar scenario here. Nolan comes before the governing body, armed with ample documentation (using the government's own words) validating his position, and is often met with silence.
At other times, council members will talk among themselves, giving the impression that they are ignoring him. Once in a while, they will respond.
Over the years, the governing body has prioritized the effort by letting federal authorities use the MISS to clean up other communities, while not objecting to their stalling on issuing a proposed plan, which would address most of Maywood's own needs.
Critics have claimed repeatedly that this weakens the borough's hand in trying to get a permanent cleanup.
Essentially, federal authorities in Maywood abandoned a prior pledge to the community to subject the entire cleanup (both phases) to the proposed plan process.
They did this by opting to clean up Phase I residential (and the Ballod commercial) properties without any proposed plan, classifying these actiivities as "removal actions."
The EPA, while objecting to both the corps and the DOE's effforts to delay the process, has prettty much deferred to both in letting them do whatever they've wanted up to this point - despite repeated criticisms from the CCM. In the end, the corps will only subject Phase II of the cleanup to the proposed plan process.
"I think we forced the corps to finally release the proposed plan," Nolan told TRUTH HURTS.
To back his case on the need to have a ROD before any contract, Nolan provided the council on June 26 minutes from a 1991 DOE meeting in Wayne. An official, responding to a question from the Lenox Avenue resident, said at the time that a contract cannot be issued first since it "would prejudge the outcome of evaluation of disposal options in the feasibility study-environmental impact statement."
Nolan maintained that the corps tipped its hand by indicating that "up and out" is the preferred remedy in the Cotter contract. Yet the subsequent inclusion of "volume reduction" in the proposed plan raises questions as to if that's the case.
"They (DOE) have given a contract without a ROD," Nolan told the council.on June 26. "They said they couldn't have a contract without a ROD.
"I think you (the council) should tell the corps, 'That is the ROD - up and out,'" he added. "Just tell them to take it out."
The resident offered further evidence that federal authorities, through higher-ups in Washington, at some point decided to simply ignore long-held laws requiring the issuance of proposed plans before cleaning up at other sites. The documents included.
1. A 1996 article in the magazine, EM Progress, which stated that the DOE decided to abandon issuing a proposed plan before cleaning up at the Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratories site in California.
2. A 1995 letter from the EPA's Elliott Laws to the DOE's Tom Grumbly. Laws wrote that the EPA is "willing to defer specific ROD decisions, upon request, ... if delaying a decision can be demonstrated to be legal, responsible and appropriate, and if delaying a decision is done in full cooperation with all the appropriate stakeholders (states)."
3. Passages from the corps' 1996 report on sites it inherited from the DOE's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The report states, " No RODs had been issued at any of the 22 remaining sites currently in FUSRAP. At some sites, the remedial actions taken so far may be adequate to allow a ROD to be issued, pending a finding that no further response is required."
Additionally, the report states that cleanup standards implemented by the DOE were not based on "promulgated federal regulations."
"I think the way you're handling it is not to the benefit of the people," Nolan told the council, speaking, on July 24.
"In your opinion." shot back Richards, Nolan's principal foe throughout the site's long and tortured history.
Various government documents confirm that both the corps, and the DOE, concealed the details of this proposed thorium cleanup plan from the people of Maywood for at least the last eight or nine years.
They kept the plan from residents with the full knowledge of various members of Maywood's Borough Council, county, state and federal elected representatives, and personnel within Region II of the EPA in New York - which oversees the local activities.
The same plan, or a at least a very similar one, could have been released at least eight years ago and enabled this process to conclude much sooner.
For instance, in 1993, Albert Johnson, a DOE remedial engineer, informed Nolan that the department developed "a firm understanding of community concerns" at the site based on a seriesof public meetings convened by Susan Cange, DOE site manager at that time. Johnson assured Nolan that those concerns would be reflected in selecting a final proposed plan.
Yet the DOE proceeded to delay final issuance - and the delay continued, for another nine years. .
In 1994, an EPA progress report stated that the draft final cleanup plan was "on hold due to community concerns over soil washing." It was referrring to a treatment process that - just like the corps' soil separation machine - leaves some residual low-level radioactive waste on site.
FEATURE PROFILING MAYWOOD'S BEST
"THEY'VE BEEN WORKIN' ON THE RAILROAD"
Effort to save NYS&W station saves America's past
By Chris Neidenberg
While a dedicated group of volunteers spends many days "working on the railroad," specifically, the New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYS&W), Ed Kaminski and friends don't do it "just to pass the time away."
The hard work of the Maywood Station Historical Comittee is, instead, passing something very special down to future generations of Maywoodians - be they train enthusiasts, or people simply interested in preserving any meaningful piece of history reminding us of an earlier and more innocent time in America.
The former NYS&W whistle stop, built during Reconstruction, harkens back to the time when coal-driven locomotives were the only viable means of transporting people and freight to distant places at speeds faster than the standard horse and buggy of the day.
Indeed, when this small wooden station opened its doors in 1872, Henry Ford's Model-T would not dot our nation's landscape for at least another 30 years. The paved roadway running parallel to the building - that is now busy Maywood Avenue - could only be imagined. That is, if anyone even imagined at all
In fact, in 1872, the fast-developing railroad was America's version of today's sophisticated interstate highway system.
Men toiled long and hard laying down tracks and hammering spikes all through the land. Such large-scale manual labor eventually connected different stat
Maywood Healthcare LLC reps asked to scuttle entrance
By Chris Neidenberg
During the opening round of Maywood Health Care LLC's proposal to build a 120-unit nursing home off West Magnolia Avenue, area residents cited serious concerns over the impact of traffic the site could generate, leading to demands that the applicant remove one proposed entrance.
Additionally, an Eccleston Place resident living near the site offered the board a letter, personally signed by Gov. James McGreevey, responding to her concerns that the site could improperly encroach upon a wide area of wetlands if built to current scale. The site would be next to Westerly Brook.
McGreevey promised to turn the matter over to state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley Campbell for a further review. Board Attorney Greg Padavano had the letter marked as evidence for use during the hearings.
The applicant earlier received a letter of interpretation from the department after performing a survey delineating wetlands. McGreevey sent his letter to resident Heather Broad after she received, what she considered to be, unsatisfactory answers from officials within the DEP and Region II of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The developer will need a DEP stream encroachment permit - if the plan is locally approved.
The developer 's proposal, the Maywood Center for Health and Rehabilitation, would be built in a limited light industrial zone spanning over 69,000 square feet under a variance at the west end of West Magmolia and Eccelston. The plan calls for housing administrative offices and a kitchen on the first floor, and residential living space on the second and third.
About 10 residents, from an area encompasing streets including Brook, Hergesell and West Magnolia avenues, Eccleston, West Central Avenue and Magnolia Lane, attended in airing various concerns.
They included fears over potential flooding caused by drainage problems, traffic and the possible hazards any traffic coming into the site could pose to small children - including some developmentally-disabled children - playing in the area.
Additionally, the board requested that Ostreicher provide it with more information addressing the possible workload the site could impose upon the Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad in responding to patient emergencies.
The hearing is set to resume Aug. 27, in Borough Hall, 459 Maywood Ave., at 7:30 p.m.
The municipality has desired to build a senior facility in the area going back to the administration of Mayor Thomas Murphy. He called for creating a "senior assisted" living site in an area encompassing a former Department of Public Works (DPW) dumping ground.
Murphy cited a need for a site serving area seniors wishing to move into a care facility offering them some degree of independence, and the benefits of a new ratable. The borough has a direct interest in the matter since it auctioned the old DPW site off to Maywood Healthcare President Marvin Ostreicher. of Lynbrook, L.I., with the stipulation that he build a senior care site.
Ostreicher has rejected using the location for senior-assisted living, as Murphy desired, and instead wants to build a more traditional, heavily-supervised nursing home. He describes his proposal as a "full-service skilled nursing facility."
Ostreicher subsequently acquired an adjacent, privately-owned site further north, from Frank Weidner of Seasons Realty LLC in Saddle River, to extend his planned facility. Weidner bought that piece from the former operators of the Zechmeister Brothers (floral ) Nursery. The latter site has been placed on the state's Known Contaminated Sites list.
The former Zechmeister owners had to dig up massive amounts of soil, remove at least one underground fuel storage tank and analyze groundwater pollutants, all under DEP supervision, before selling the land.
To clear the former nursery are, the state must issue a "negative declaration." This certifies it has been cleaned up and is safe for residential use.
Actually, Ostreicher's proposal would, if approved, relocate senior care operations now in two buildings in Saddle Brook. The plan calls for a three-story design, with the physical building climbing to 42 feet, and an ornamental "Colonial-era design" spire rising an extra 13 feet.
To allay any possible concerns over a towering structure, the council in March amended prior specifications to keep the physical building from reaching the maximum 55-foot height.
Other features include:
A. Providing access from proposed driveways at Eccleston (front) and Hergesell (rear for deliveries), as well as offering 64 parking spaces, well below the borough's requirement of 233 (one space per 300 square feet). A bridge must be built over Westerly Brook for the Hergesell entrance.
B. Construction of a detention basin to accomodate an expected significant increase in stormwater runoff. The developer anticipates the great majority of rumoff will run into the basin, while other stormwater will be directed into the brook, as well as the drainage system in Magnolia Lane.
C. Landscaping - in the form of rows of trees and bushes - surrounding the proposed site.
"It's planned care," Ostreicher told the board. "It's a residence for basically frail and elderly individuals. We do rehabilitation as well."
The owner/developer explained that a resident's length of stay can vary from short to very long periods (many years), depending on factors such as state of health and family circumstances.
"It's really an extremely quiet type of facility," said the New York state developer, adding that personnel will man the facility during three eight-hour shifts.
During the roughly two-hour hearing, Ostreicher's various engineers and consultants provided information outlining their plan in areas including drainage, parking, landscaping and expected traffic.
Jay Trautman, a traffic consultant based in Manasquan, offered counts of the number of non-office care and maintenance staff members who will be present during three shifts: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3 to 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Ostreicher said that an administrative staff of from 12 to 15 people will man offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
At "the height of the day," the developer/owner explained, there will be 33 non-clerical nursing home staffers (from the day shift ending at 3 p.m.), along with the added 9 to 5 administrative office team. Using his math, this means there would be a maximum of 45 to 48 employees on site, from 9 to 3 p.m.
Trautman said the number of nursing care and maintenance personnel diminishes over the three shifts, from a high of 33 during the day, to a low of six people overnight.
As the 3 p.m. non-office shift comes in to work (and the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.shift leaves), the consultant estimated, the number of non-office nursing home staff (which excludes the 12 to 15 clerical workers) will temporarily exceed 33 for about an hour - from 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.
But Trautman said the maximum number should approximate 47. Of course, this number is not fixed, since members of the non-office nursing staff ending their day shifts leave throughout the hour.
Visitors must be factored into the total equation. Using a complex formula, Trautman estimated the site will attract on average 35 visitors a day - during the "peak hours" of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. - on weekdays, and approximately 45 visitors per day on Saturday and Sunday. Visiting hours end at 8:30 p.m.
"The plan provides more than a sufficient amount of parking for any peak situation that may occur," Trautman told the board.
Still, some residents were not convinced by the presentation. They and Councilman Thomas Gaffney cited a number of reasons why there should not be a front driveway off Eccleston. Gaffney demanded that all traffic (not just deliveries) be routed through Hergesell.
Resident Anne Quigg was not impressed with Trautman's work.
"I request that you (board) ask for realistic statistics, not just a survey," said Quigg, parent of at least one child who plays in the area.
Quigg maintained that a careful study of traffic conditions at Eccleston and West Magnolia will already show trucks doing business in the area use the route as "a shortcut to avoid the traffic light at West Central Avenue (causing them to travel down West Magnolia)."
She predicted that traffic will be exacerbated if the proposed facility has an Eccleston entrance.
Elizabeth Baird, of Eccleston, concurred.
"We can't have that (Eccleston driveway) open," said Baird. "They (moving vehicles) are going to go through that like Route 17. I wish they would do something to (have all traffic) go into and come out of Hergesell."
Gaffney drew applause when he echoed the residents' sentiments.
"I'd really like the board and the engineer to see if they can do something with this traffic," urged thee councilman, running for re-election. "I'd like you to examine if they can (have all traffic) come through Hergesell, and come back (through Hergesell) to get to West Central Avenue and Route 17."
At the very least, the site will generate large numbers of people during the day to an area that has been relatively quiet, since the Zechmeister nursery site (a far less intensive commercial use) shut down.
"That corner (Eccleston-West Magnolia) was always perceived as a quiet residential area," a man living in the neighborhood told officials. "I think the board will see that construction of this facility will definitely change the character of that corner forever."
Board Chairman George Brush, while praising the concept behind Ostreicher's proposal, seemed sympathetic to the residents' concerns. Brush said the initial plan needed to be overhauled.
"From the borough's point of view, it leaves a lot to be desired," he told the applicant. "I think it's incumbent upon you and the engineers to go back to the drawing board and provide us a new plan for (traffic) circulation, ingress, egress and so forth."
"We (board) think this is an asset to the borough," Brush continued. "We want this to be an asset to all members of our borough, and not just a few."
To get a handle on how the site might affect emergency services, Brush directed Ostreicher to provide the board statistics from Saddle Brook detailing all emergency responses to the existing senior facility oer the last two years.
PB TENTATIVELY OKS MAYWOOD MARKET EXPANSION
Could give NY developer parking area he says isn't essential
By Chris Neidenberg
A Planning/Zoning Board majority seemed poised to give backers of the Maywood Market Place at least some of what they want in terms of expanding the store and enlarging the adjacent parking lot.
The board initially moved Aug. 13 to approve the proposal, in priinciple. Just how much owner Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners get depends on the final resolution, if it is memorialized Aug. 27. The meeting is set to resume at 7:30 p.m. in Borough Hall, 459 Maywood Ave.
The initial plan called for enlarging the parking lot to almost three times its current size (from roughly 25 to 71 spaces), which the owner earlier told members, he could live without.
"It's not that we would be put out of business if we don't have it (bigger parking lot)," Katapoudis told the board, during the first night of the hearings last May. "But we'd like to have more space for our clientele."
To do this, the owner would have to demolish two homes containing three residences (89 West Passaic Street, and a two-family house at 95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer Ave.). The board approved use variances changing zoning from A-1 residential to restricted commervial (RC) to allow at least some of the changes.
Additionally, Katapoudis and his partners want to add a second floor atop the West Pleasant Avenue site, and a second entrance on West Pleasant. The full plan encompasses about 37,000 square feet.
Members voted 5-1 in directing Board Attorney Greg Padavano to draft a resolution endorsing MNK Development Corporation's concepts .The final resolution, if approved, will likely not cover the entire area. Katapoudis originally pushed a two-phase plan for the site. The board, however, opted to pass on considering Phase II. It only approved Phase I variances, and a minor subdivision.
MNK would develop the site, but there are two other players in the mix: Jay-Zee Realty, which owns the store, and the store itself. Katapoudis, of Manhasset, L.I., is a partner in all three. But Market lawyer Thomas Hynes refused to reveal the addresses of MNK and Jay-Zee during the hearings. Board Chairman George Brush upheld Hynes' right to conceal such information.
Backing the plan were Brush, Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny,and Board Members Geroge Georgeou, David Pegg and former Councilman Harry Hillenius. Al Ballerini was the lone dissenter.
"It's only an authorization to draw up a resolution," Padavano explained. "If it (board) chooses to vote for the resolution at the next meeting, it's done."
Brush said on July 23 that Katapoudis, absent that night, would need to attend when the authorization vote was taken. Yet he was again absent.
Those who supported the proposal really never revealed why they believe it will benefit Maywood, and offered no rationale to support it, during three months of hearings.
Hynes and the Market's architect, Anthony Garrett, conceded the expansion could add traffic and congestion to the area. Yet they said it would be worth the price of progress by bringing new customers into the business district, who might shop in other businesses. At the same time, Katapoudis has not ruled out further expanding his store in the future, by evicting other businesses on properties he owns along the avenue.
Critics opposing the plan questioned why neither the board, nor the applicant, offered a professioal traffic study focusing on the impacts of a larger parking site. In a Feb. 21 memo to fellow board members, Brush warned, "Since this project is certainly designed to bring in more business, traffic will increase."
He called for the board to obtain an opinion from the police department, which was never publicly discussed during three months of hearings.
Hlillenius did say he hoped Katapoudis would negotiate with the borough to share use of the parking lot.
"Maywood needs parking," he claimed..
This point bothers Lillian Single, a resident who would live directly across the street from the lot Single pointed out throughout the hearings that Katapoudis and his partners carried on discussions with some members of the Borough Council over possibly having taxpayers share paying some of the lot's expansion costs, in return for sharing the facility. At lea st some council members believe the area would be aided via having more parking spaces.
Yet she questioned whether holding such discussions, before the board even listened to the merits of the application, assured that it was a "done deal." from the start.
Further adding to this intrigue are contradictory statements from Mayor Wayne Kuss, and those offered by Hynes and Brush.
Kuss said during a July 24 council meeting that having taxpayers finance some of the lot's costs was "not a dead issue." Yet Hynes promised at the board's June 25 meeting that taxpayers would not pay "one red cent" for the expansion under any deal to share parking.
Brush seemed to reaffirm Hynes' position, further contradicting Kuss, on Aug. 13.
"It was certainly clear to me they don't want anyone but their own customers parking there," the chairman said.
After the meeting, Single promised to continue monitoring the situation.
"I am opposed to the scope of this project," said the resident, who wants the Market to confine any expansion to the ground level on West Pleasant. "I don't want the second floor, and I am opposed to removing the two houses."
Exactly what Katapoudis stands to get under Phase I seems somewhat vague, based on the developer's proposals as outlined in the official notice served those living within 200 feet of the site.
For instance, the notice makes no reference to the fact that the market wants to add a second floor along West Pleasant, and a second store entrance on the street. It only discusses the proposed use variances and subdivision permits. Additionally, the notice indicates that both phases need a use variance in the one house spanning two addresses (95 West Passaic and 520 Palmer).
The minor subdivision granted merges two lots at 89 and 95 West Passaic into one.
Before voting "yes" Georgeou said the board should attatch as a condition eliminating one parking stall to widen a "turnaround area" in the lot, for moving vehicles, from 10 to 12 feet.
He essentially concurred with Alan Magrini, lawyer for objectors Victor and Nancy Paparazzo.
"I think 10 feet is too narrow," said Georgeou.
In rejecting the plan, Ballerini said he had plenty to find fault with. He argued that sacrificing the two houses for a bigger blacktopped parking lot, to bring in more cars, was a tradeoff that would seriously disrupt the quality of life.
Ballerini also saw no public benefit to approving a plan helping Katapoudis expand his catering business.
"By expanding a kitchen, which is basically a catering business, I don't see how that expands commerce (within Maywood)," he said.
During the hearing, objector Victor Paparazzo maintained that the market broke prior commitments made in originally establishing the business to replace the IGA. He contended that the store often violated ordinances related to deliveries and trash removal.
The board refused to deny the new application on those grounds. But Hillenius asserted that the store needed to be monitored in those areas, as well as for keeping its landscaping attractive.
"I think we have to admonish the owner very strongly that he has not been a very good neighbor," said Brush, before voting to conditionally approve the expansion.
FINAL DECISION ON THORIUM FUTURE NEARING?
TOWN COUNCIL WON''T COMMIT TO "UP AND OUT"
Pols spent years cleaning other towns, backed Stepan
By Chris Neidenberg
Despite being pressed during the last two regular meetings in June and July, Borough Council members from both parties have refused to say publicly where they stand over how extensively massive amounts of buried thorium-tainted soil, lying beneath their community, should be cleaned up.
A council commitment is being requested, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a proposed plan and launched a public comment period seeking input over how it should implement the cleanup's second phase.
..
The public comment period kicked off Aug. 14 and runs through Sept. 12. As part of that process, the corps will conduct a three-hour hearing on the proposed plan, from 6 to 9 p.m., at Borough Hall on Aug. 28.
This proposal primarily impacts large and active commercial properties in Maywood (where most of the roughly 350,000 cubic yards of mixed toxic chemical and radiological waste is buried underground on large contaminated sites adjacent to residential areas). Yet the phase also includes contamination at other sites in neighboring Lodi.
This plan had been hidden from the community with the knowledge of three federal agencies - and Maywood's own elected officials - for at least the last eight years.
The corps replaced the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as the lead agency for handling thorium in 1997. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has some oversight in the matter.
Following the comment period, the final selected remedy will be incorporated into a record of decision (ROD). Though much of the waste is mixed with chemicals and thorium, the corps' plan is separate from any plan which addresses chemical contamination, based on the outcome of a remedial investigation feasibility study (RIFS) performed by the borough's major polluter, Stepan Chemical Company.
In what could be described as a strange coincidence, the corps' landmark decision to finally disclose the plan Aug. 14 came after environmental activist Michael Nolan provided local officials U.S. government documents showing that no federal contract for removing any waste from a Superfund site should be signed with a contractor until after issuing a ROD.
The corps, in fact, violated this policy when it entered into a contract with the Cotter permanent disposal site in Canon City, Colo. The contract called for accepting roughly 450,000 cubic yards, exceeding the total estimated waste remaining under Phase II. The plan has run into major opposition in Colorado.
Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood (CCM), is hoping the council supports - what he terms as - "up and out."
But his group faces an uphill battle, since neither the federal agencies - nor Maywood elected officials - have done much of what it has proposed through the years - despite strong documented evidence backing its claims. Neither have they pursued activities in line with the results of a 1991 non-binding referendum, where roughly 90 percent of the voters endorsed a permanent cleanup of Maywood. They also requested that the feds dig up and move out contamination in other communities directly from their locations. Instead, the agencies have stockpiled these materials before loading them at the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS).
Under "up and out," Nolan wants a sweeping excavation and disposal plan that gets rid of a vast majority of the buried waste, via loading it onto train cars so a permanent cleanup results.
This plan has been implemented at other Superfund sites with a heavy volume of radioactive soil. They include the Kerr-McGee Residential Areas Superfund Site in West Chicago, Ill., and closer to home, the former U.S. Radium Corp.site in nearby Montclair, Glen Ridge and West Orange.
But the corps could have other ideas, based on a proposal to include "volume reduction and treatment" methods in the plan, along with some excavation. Details on how this plan impacts Maywood are pending an unveiling of the full details during the hearing process.
Corps officials have already indicated that, in executing any sweeping disposal plan, they will have to find a way to clean up while some Maywood site businesses (Federal Express, DeSaussure, Sears, etc.) still operate.
One treatment method the agency might discuss with the community .is soil separation. In 2000-2001, it ran tests on the process in town but has not shared the results.
Critics maintain that such methods - unlike excavation - cannot work in reducing the volume down to radiological criterias assuring "unrestricted use" at remediated sites.
In terms of radioactive dirt, this is historically defined as reaching levels of at least five picocuries per gram at all soil depths. Yet the corps appears to be leaving the door open to cleaning certain sites, using a less stringent criteria, via permitting a level of 15 picocuries per gram beyond the first six inches of soil. This could trigger serious future land use restrictions.
In 1994, EPA officials even once asserted that the lesser criteria could lead to designating Maywood a permanent storage site, and was "not protective of human health and the environment.".
During a formal dispute resolution process in 1994, the EPA's Jeff Gratz and Robert Wing told the DOE 's Lester Price that Maywood deserved the tighter criteria since the borough lies in a residential community and is not an old uranium mill tailings site in a sparsely populated area, such as the west, where a less stringent criteria might be justifiable.
Thus, EPA urged the DOE in 1994 to implement the more stringent "health-based" standard in use in West Chicago, called, "Action Criteria For The Kerr-McGee Residential Areas Superfund Sites."
For his efforts, Nolan, 81, has been branded an "environmental terrorist" by one-time Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy.
In 1994, he and other CCM members were ousted from an environmental advisory committee by Murphy's predecessor, Republican Mayor John Steuert. This move was applauded by Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ), Maywood's congressman at the time.
Nolan, active in his group the past 17 years, has repeatedly documented that Torricelli switched financial liability for paying to clean up thorium from his Democratic campaign donor, company President F. Quinn Stepan, to the taxpayers (in a move Nolan has alleged is a "sweetheart deal").
The group has called for an investigation of Torricelli's relationship with the chemical company, and his "DOE-Stepan agreement.".
Torricelli acted in 1983 shortly after the EPA informed Stepan's legal counsel that the company was reponsible for "radioactive contamination" on the site. Torricelli's arrangement, which does not affect chemicals, is still in place. It is most strongly supported by perhaps Torricelli's (and Stepan's) biggest council ally, Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards.
It has become a rather familiar scenario here. Nolan comes before the governing body, armed with ample documentation (using the government's own words) validating his position, and is often met with silence.
At other times, council members will talk among themselves, giving the impression that they are ignoring him. Once in a while, they will respond.
Over the years, the governing body has prioritized the effort by letting federal authorities use the MISS to clean up other communities, while not objecting to their stalling on issuing a proposed plan, which would address most of Maywood's own needs.
Critics have claimed repeatedly that this weakens the borough's hand in trying to get a permanent cleanup.
Essentially, federal authorities in Maywood abandoned a prior pledge to the community to subject the entire cleanup (both phases) to the proposed plan process.
They did this by opting to clean up Phase I residential (and the Ballod commercial) properties without any proposed plan, classifying these actiivities as "removal actions."
The EPA, while objecting to both the corps and the DOE's effforts to delay the process, has prettty much deferred to both in letting them do whatever they've wanted up to this point - despite repeated criticisms from the CCM. In the end, the corps will only subject Phase II of the cleanup to the proposed plan process.
"I think we forced the corps to finally release the proposed plan," Nolan told TRUTH HURTS.
To back his case on the need to have a ROD before any contract, Nolan provided the council on June 26 minutes from a 1991 DOE meeting in Wayne. An official, responding to a question from the Lenox Avenue resident, said at the time that a contract cannot be issued first since it "would prejudge the outcome of evaluation of disposal options in the feasibility study-environmental impact statement."
Nolan maintained that the corps tipped its hand by indicating that "up and out" is the preferred remedy in the Cotter contract. Yet the subsequent inclusion of "volume reduction" in the proposed plan raises questions as to if that's the case.
"They (DOE) have given a contract without a ROD," Nolan told the council.on June 26. "They said they couldn't have a contract without a ROD.
"I think you (the council) should tell the corps, 'That is the ROD - up and out,'" he added. "Just tell them to take it out."
The resident offered further evidence that federal authorities, through higher-ups in Washington, at some point decided to simply ignore long-held laws requiring the issuance of proposed plans before cleaning up at other sites. The documents included.
1. A 1996 article in the magazine, EM Progress, which stated that the DOE decided to abandon issuing a proposed plan before cleaning up at the Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratories site in California.
2. A 1995 letter from the EPA's Elliott Laws to the DOE's Tom Grumbly. Laws wrote that the EPA is "willing to defer specific ROD decisions, upon request, ... if delaying a decision can be demonstrated to be legal, responsible and appropriate, and if delaying a decision is done in full cooperation with all the appropriate stakeholders (states)."
3. Passages from the corps' 1996 report on sites it inherited from the DOE's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The report states, " No RODs had been issued at any of the 22 remaining sites currently in FUSRAP. At some sites, the remedial actions taken so far may be adequate to allow a ROD to be issued, pending a finding that no further response is required."
Additionally, the report states that cleanup standards implemented by the DOE were not based on "promulgated federal regulations."
"I think the way you're handling it is not to the benefit of the people," Nolan told the council, speaking, on July 24.
"In your opinion." shot back Richards, Nolan's principal foe throughout the site's long and tortured history.
Various government documents confirm that both the corps, and the DOE, concealed the details of this proposed thorium cleanup plan from the people of Maywood for at least the last eight or nine years.
They kept the plan from residents with the full knowledge of various members of Maywood's Borough Council, county, state and federal elected representatives, and personnel within Region II of the EPA in New York - which oversees the local activities.
The same plan, or a at least a very similar one, could have been released at least eight years ago and enabled this process to conclude much sooner.
For instance, in 1993, Albert Johnson, a DOE remedial engineer, informed Nolan that the department developed "a firm understanding of community concerns" at the site based on a seriesof public meetings convened by Susan Cange, DOE site manager at that time. Johnson assured Nolan that those concerns would be reflected in selecting a final proposed plan.
Yet the DOE proceeded to delay final issuance - and the delay continued, for another nine years. .
In 1994, an EPA progress report stated that the draft final cleanup plan was "on hold due to community concerns over soil washing." It was referrring to a treatment process that - just like the corps' soil separation machine - leaves some residual low-level radioactive waste on site.
FEATURE PROFILING MAYWOOD'S BEST
"THEY'VE BEEN WORKIN' ON THE RAILROAD"
Effort to save NYS&W station saves America's past
By Chris Neidenberg
While a dedicated group of volunteers spends many days "working on the railroad," specifically, the New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYS&W), Ed Kaminski and friends don't do it "just to pass the time away."
The hard work of the Maywood Station Historical Comittee is, instead, passing something very special down to future generations of Maywoodians - be they train enthusiasts, or people simply interested in preserving any meaningful piece of history reminding us of an earlier and more innocent time in America.
The former NYS&W whistle stop, built during Reconstruction, harkens back to the time when coal-driven locomotives were the only viable means of transporting people and freight to distant places at speeds faster than the standard horse and buggy of the day.
Indeed, when this small wooden station opened its doors in 1872, Henry Ford's Model-T would not dot our nation's landscape for at least another 30 years. The paved roadway running parallel to the building - that is now busy Maywood Avenue - could only be imagined. That is, if anyone even imagined at all
In fact, in 1872, the fast-developing railroad was America's version of today's sophisticated interstate highway system.
Men toiled long and hard laying down tracks and hammering spikes all through the land. Such large-scale manual labor eventually connected different stat
QUORUM CRISIS STILL TROUBLES PLANNING/ZONING BOARD
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERED
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERED
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
QUORUM CRISIS STILL TROUBLES PLANNING/ZONING BOARD
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERED
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERED
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
QUORUM CRISIS STILL TROUBLES PLANNING/ZONING BOARD
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation.
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERE
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation.
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERE
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
QUORUM CRISIS STILL TROUBLES PLANNING/ZONING BOARD
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation.
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERE
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
Market hearing delayed again by Panos' conflict of interest
By Chris Neidenberg
Following about 20 minutes of uncertainty and confusion June 11, the Planning/Zoning Board decided to further delay continuing hearing Maywood Market Place's massive expansion plan. The additional delay resulted after Board Member James Panos recused himself over a conflict of interest.
The meeting marked the second consecutive cancellation of a scheduled hearing on the matter. Testimony has not been heard since the inaugural May 14 session.
After conferring with the members, Board Attorney John Lamb announced that the former Democratic mayor (1984-87) had to step down from the case. He told the audience Panos suddenly realized during a recess that his business, the Our Town newspaper office on West Pleasant Avenue, is within 200 feet of the application.
Panos and his wife, Kathy, co-publish the paper. Panos was at the May 28 meeting, when he and other zoners agreed to delay continuing the case until June 11 - at the Market's request.
Chairman George Brush, sitting at his first regular meeting concerning the major proposal, announced the hearing will resume on June 25 at Borough Hall on 459 Maywood Ave. The meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Brush noted that those New York-based interests, pushing the far-reaching proposal, will not have to re-notice landowners falling inside the 200-foot radius.
Under normal conditions, the board could have continued without missing a beat. Yet the body, for at least the third consecutive meeting, was plagued by quorum troubles which have seriously hampered its ability to effectively perform.
"I apologize, it's not as we planned," said Brush, adding that, "Every now and then, the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always pan out.
The trouble-plagued meeting got off to a rocky start when resident Lillian Single refused Brush's offer to join the dais in listening to the hearing.
Earlier, board officials informed Single they could not meet her request to provide a speaker system as they did on May 14 and May 28. Single, who is hearing-impaired, earlier forced the board to respond through filing a request with the U.S. Deparmtent of Justice. She acted under terms of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For at least the second meeting in a row, only five members (of a total of nine) showed up. If the board falls under five members, it cannot hear cases. Quorum problems also popped up during the body's May 14 and 28 sessions. On May 28, the meeting's start was delayed by about a half hour when the board had to wait for a fifth member (police Lt. David Pegg) to show up. On May 14, the lack of members caused a resident to unexpectedly withdraw his application. This occurred when Lamb told him that chances for obtaining his particular variance (needing approval from a certain percentage of the board) could increase with more members present.
Recently, former Councilman Anthony Napoli resigned from his unpaid position as board member, further reducing the pool of available members until the Borough Council names a replacement. Brush himself occasionally misses meetings, since the chairman lives part of the year in Florida. To participate on June 11, he had to review transcipts of the first hearing.
The board made residents, and those waiting to testify that night, wait arround for at least 20 minutes as it furiously scrambled in trying to find a fifth member. During the recess, officials tried calling Board Member Al Ballerini (who attended on May 14 and 28). He did not come.
The applicants are part of three related corporations: Maywood Market Place, MNK Development Corporation and Jay Zee Realty. They are pushing for a two phase proposal. The developers want three use variances so they can destroy separate houses now in A-1 residential zones: at 89 and 95 West Passaic St., and 520 Palmer Ave.
The developers, represented by Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., want to replace the homes with restricted commercial (RC) uses so they can set up a black-topped parking lot (with a total capacity of 71 spaces).
Additionally, they want to expand the current building via adding an entrance on West Pleasant, increasing floor space and building a second-story warehouse.
The project would encompass roughly 37,000 square feet. If approved, it would forever change a current residential area adjacent to the municipality's central business district
During a discussion of issues leading up to the hearing's abrupt cancellation, attorney Alan Magrini - of Secaucus, representing objectors Victor and Nancy Papparazzo - vigorously protested a motion from Market lawyer Thomas Hynes to bifurcate (split) the store's use variance requests.
Hynes wanted to divide the Market's request for use varianes at 89 and 95 West Passaic - with the request relative to 520 Palmer - into two separate hearings. He noted that the applicants' ability to proceed with Phase II could be impacted by a board vote rejecting the first phase. Indeed, Hynes has not ruled out eventually withdrawing the application - depending on future developments.
The Maywood lawyer's motion marked a sudden departure by the applicants, who offered their initial May 14 testimony based on the assumption that a hearing on all three use variances - needed in creating the big parking site - would be heard at once.
These three variances cover areas that would be developed under the two separate phases. In earlier correspondence, sent to the applicants' engineer from the borough's zoning/construction official, Phase I is defined as covering the area including the two houses on 89 and 95 West Passaic, while Phase II covers the third home on Palmer.
In Phase II, the developers are seeking a sudivision permit for eliminating lot lines so the Palmer property can be merged with the two Passaic Street sites, in developing one parking lot.
Had Hynes' motion gone through, all future technical discussions in the current hearing would have been limited to Phase I. Hynes ultimately withdrew the motion.
Magrini said Hynes' push to bifurcate use variance requests was unprecedented based on his experience, and an effort to change the rules in the middle of the game.
He insisted that it was too late to change those rules. Earlier, Hynes got the board ro bifurcate the three use variance requests from any site plan review hearing. Magrini acknowledged that this request was more legitimate.
"This is one application," the objectors' counsel told the board. "There are traffic issues common to both of them and there are circulation issues common to both of them.
"At the first meeting, you had substantial testimony on the (three) use variances and the infrastructure that would be put in," added Magrini.
He was referring to testimony offered May 14 from the applicants' architect, Anthony Garrett, with the Billow Group of Ridgefield Park.
Magrini also maintained that, based on its past record, Maywood Market Place has serious credibility problems which he would prefer addressing during a single hearing on all three variances - as the applicants themselves intended in filing the application.
"You'll see that a lot of things they said to my client - a lot of things that were said in the past - haven't been adhered to," he alleged, alluding to his side's pending presentation.
Yet Hynes said his clients should not have to discuss any issues dealing with Phase II, if the board rejects the two use variances covering Phase I.
"It doesn't make sense to approve Phase II if Phase I isn't approved," he maintained.
Hynes added that Maywood Market Place is trying to secure "a long-term lease" from parties owning the Phase I sites, as it tries obtaining property for the large parking area. Hynes explained that his clients want to assure they can negotiate a lease agreement they can later withdraw from - if the board kills their parking proposal.
Lamb disagreed with Magrini that Hynes' request (on splitting the use variance hearings) was unprecedented.
"Bifurcation offen happens when there's a use variance and a site plan," he told Magrini. "Bifurcation also happens in other cases."
The board attorney added that deciding what phases are approved - and how - is entirely the board's call.
"You (members) can approve Phase I, provided only (if) Phase II happens," Lamb said. "Or you can say, " Phase I won't happen.'"
Brush questioned the store's now-aborted effort to try suddenly shifting gears in seeking to break down the application for variances into two different hearings.
"Why don't you put forward two applications?" the chairman asked Hynes.
In verbally jousting with the board, Single, forced to sit through the hearing without the amplication previously offered, demanded that the members speak clearly.
"I believe we're not hear to watch a silent movie, we're here to participate," said the West Passaic Street resident.
Single complained that the members always seem "to mutter, stammer and mumble."
To which Brush replied, "Join the table."
Single, who is looking into lodging a complaint with the federal government over the board's actions, refused the invitation.
MARKET LAWYER: DROPPING BIG LOT PLAN CONSIDERE
Store's attorney has boro zoners adjourn hearing until June 11
By Chris Neidenberg
The lawyer for Maywood Market Place, in getting the Planning/Zoning Board to adjourn the hearing on its massive parking lot proposal until June 11, revealed that his clients briefly flirted with withdrawing the application.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood attorney representing New York-based development interests who want to destroy three homes and replace them with a paved, 71 space-parking complex in the area of Palmer and Bergen avenues, and abutting West Passaic Street, told zoners at their May 28 meeting that the partners only wanted an adjournment - for now. He cited various factors.
As a result, no testimony was taken. It was the second hearing set after the opening round May 14. The June 11 meeting will start at 7:30 p.m., in Borough Hall, at 459 Maywood Ave.
For a while, some wondered whether the May 28 meeting would occur at all. Only four of five members needed for a quorum initially attended. They waited for about a half hour as they struggled to find a fifth member (a full board should have nine). Finally, police Lt. David Pegg raced across the street from the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Carnival after ending his duties. He joined the dais at around 8 p.m.
Finding quorums for the unpaid board, which performs functions typically reserved for separate bodies in other communities, was difficult during the May 14 and May 28 sessions. While at least five attended the May 14 meeting, the final number was not enough to assure approval of one particular variance a property owner was seeking. Board Attorney John Lamb told the applicant, caught completely off-guard by the development, that he could proceed in the hopes of winning approval from a sufficient majority of those present, or delay the process and wait for a bigger quorum to increase his chances. The applicant opted to wait.
On May 14, former Republican Councilman Anthony Napoli sent his resignation letter, further lowering the pool of eligible members until a replacement is found.
The Maywood Market Place proposal touted by Long Island businessman Nickolas Katapoudis and his partners would - if approved - forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes (with some businesses) further south and west.
The three corporations pushing this plan are the Maywood Market Place, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation. Hynes has refused to reveal where the offices of MNK and Jay Zee are located.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic. All three are now being rented.
Among the approvals they are seeking are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse.
They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The three corporations further maintain that destoying the houses and replacing them, with a fenced-in, black-topped parking lot, while likely adding traffic, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
"A number of issues have come across since the last meeting," Hynes explained, citing the fact that a qualified objector suffered a death in the family, and the unavailibility of an MNK architect for the May 28 session.
Hynes said he discussed the matter with the objector's lawyer, who was set to grill the developers over various aspects of their plan on May 28 - before the new developments.
Hynes left the door open to permanently canceling the request down the road, depending on issues which may come up.
"The applicant may well withdraw the application," he told zoners..
Hynes asked board members whether he should re-notice all property owners within 200 feet of the application. Zoner Frank Lichtenberger, chairing the session for the absent Chairman George Brush and Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Panny, responded that, given the delay, it was recommended so the applicants could protect themselves in case of future litigation.
"It might be wise to do that," said Lichtenberger, citing "confusion" caused by the new developments.
Hynes' adjornment request came two weeks after Katapoudis publicly revealed the developers held discussions with some unidentified members of the mayor and council - acting in their capacities as members of a Special Improvement District Management Corporation - over possibly helping t0 pay for new town-wide parking facilities if the massive parking lot is approved. He did not rule out considering allowing Maywood to use part of any new lot for general parking.
The request also comes after Katapoudis said the major parking lot proposal was not the most important part of his application, since it only seeks to increase customers' convenience.
TOWN LAWYER ADMITS COUNCIL BUNGLED PARK HEARING
Notices, linked to bogus DEP loan, are rife with inconsistencies
By Chris Neidenberg
The governing body improperly listed a public hearing concerning its proposed Briarcliff Avenue Park on the May 22 meeting agenda, a town lawyer has ruled.
Borough Attorney Andrew Fede's ruling marks a continuation of a three-year saga related to $128,000 in available funds from the New Jersey Green Acres (GA) Program.
A low-interest loan, earmarked for Maywood, remains unused even though then-Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman falsely announced during a 1999 borough visit that the council would utilize the monies in improving the current Arthur Fenniman Park, across from the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recreation Center. That never happened.
Eighteen months later, President George W. Bush tapped Whitman to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now municipal officials want to use the loan to develop a new park on vacant space at the southerly end of Briarcliff Avenue, and the westerly end of West Pleasant Avenue. An artist's rendering in Trinka Hall shows it would be landscaped with numerous trees, feature a kiddie play area and have a footpath leading from Briarcliff.
Borough officials have said that its purpose is two-fold: provide a new park while also blocking county officials from ever implementing long-discussed plans for continuing Plaza Way in Paramus, near the Garden State Plaza, through Rochelle Park and Maywood, before connecting to West Pleasant.
The passage for the public hearing was listed in the section, "Public Hearing on Pending Ordinances, Adoption of Ordinances, Receipt of Bids," as prepared by Borough Clerk Maryanne Rampolla, though the item is not assigned a number and fails to meet any of those categories.
Additionally, while Mayor Wayne Kuss said during the meeting that the hearing concerned the council's seeking the state loan, the agenda stated that it pertained to "any comments or questions relative to the dedication of borough property as parkland," a different topic.
And while officials said the hearing pertained only to the Briarcliff proposal, it was titled in the agenda as a "Public Hearing on Multi-park Development."
Additionally, a May 2 printed public notice on the upcoming hearing contains the wrong date (May 26), along with passages which seem contradictory as to how far ahead the Briarcliff proposal has advanced.
The $128,000 loan itself has a rather curious history. On July 1, 1999, during a publicized appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, Whitman falsely announced her administration awarded the community a loan for the Fenniman facility, referred to then as, "Duvier Park."..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would retroactively finance an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Additionally, the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Perkins resisted implementing a state requirement for performing "an environmental assessment" of the park area before receiving the funds. Ultimately, Wells signed off on a questionable decision waiving the requirement - even after Martha Sapp, a GA ptogtam planner, told Maywood officials it was mandatory. The Fenniman site lies in the vicinity of areas containing radiological and chemical contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The state Department of Environmental Protection let Maywood hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
During the May 22 meeting, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, complained that the agenda item seemed vague. Fede agreed that, to better clarify the hearing's purpose, the item should have been listed under an entirely separate heading - instead of being lumped together with ordinances.
"I think Mr. Nolan has a point," said Fede. "There probably should be a separate heading for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is specifically dedicated to that (Briarclifff). It should not come under hearings of ordinances, etc., because it's a separate issue."
While he conceded Fede's point, Kuss downplayed the significance of the error. He stressed that GA officials told him the funding could be applied to Briarcliff, since it was ultimately determined that the monies were "not needed" for Fenniman. Kuss said Green Acres already signed off on the transfer, even though the public hearing had not commenced.
"The Green Acres (Program) doesn't have any questions as to the use of the money," the mayor said. "They've already permitted it."
Nolan asked if the council ever ran a legal advertisement announcing the Green Acres loan hearing, and Rampolla ultimately provided him a copy. Yet the ad said the hearing was slated for May 26 - a Sunday - not May 22. The title of the public notice makes no mention of the Green Acres Program (though the text cites the requirement, "since the project will be funded" by the program.
The title of the ad, provided by Rampolla, also makes no mention of a hearing on dedicating the vacant land for park use. Rather, it is cited as resolution number 74-02, "authorizing the borough attorney and the borough engineer to prepare specifications and other documents for, and to authorize the borough clerk to advertise for the receipt of bids for" the park proposal.
Thus, the council moved ahead in finalizing the steps needed for creating the park before commencing any public hearing on the merits of the idea.
KUSS REJECTS CITIZEN'S PUSH FOR NEW ADVISORY BOARD
Haag: Council should name expert panel for long-range issues
By Chris Neidenberg
Citing what, he contended, has been serious missteps by the governing body in recent years, former school board member George Haag proposed that it appoint a panel of expert volunteers who could advise elected officials in addressing future fiscal, planning and development issues.
Yet his pitch was immediately rejected by Mayor Wayne Kuss. The mayor vowed that the governing body will continue being the only major decision-making group in place, at least as long as he is in the top spot.
Besides, Kuss said, the municipality has enough trouble filling existing volunteer boards with interested residents.
"You are avoiding the best of minds here to get positive results," said Haag.
A borough developer, Haag maintained that there is an ample pool of individuals in town, including people with professional finance backgrounds, who would likely step forward if the council decided to create such a committee.
"I'm hoping the mayor and council, together with the borough administrator, will put forth a committee of the best people on engineering and on accounting for the future of the town," the Parkway resident urged. "Right now, we're running at the seat of our pants."
While he praised the council for bringing in Terhune, Haag said the governing body would be well-served by naming a separate group of individuals who would have time to carefully analyze some of the municipality's needs, and make recommendations to elected offficials.
He called for developing a long-range, "five-year plan."
Among the problems Haag cited, and has repeatedly complained about, included a seriously flawed new municipal complex under construction at 15 Park Ave., the unnecessary use of a full-time building inspector for a town of Maywood's size and population, and stagnant ratable growth that has caused taxes to continue spiraling.
In discussing construction of the new John. A, Steuert Municipal Complex on Park Avenue, Haag
criticized the efforts of GRE Construction of Parlin. He previously criticized the prior contractor, Monument Construction of Newark, which went bankrupt last year.
Earlier, Haag complained that the borough inexplicably kept paying Monument even as it performed shoddy work and could not finish the job, as per its contract. One resident, John Shanahan of Terrace Avenue. a person who has served in municipal administration, studied the troubled project and backs Haag, called for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to review the municipality's dealings with Monument. Former Borough Attorney William Rupp is now tasked with analyzing how much Maywood will ultimately pay in cost overruns, and a clerk of the works hired late in 2000 is trying to correct earlier flaws in finishing the job.
In hammering away at GRE on May 22, Haag asked the council why it has let a large mound of unearthed soil (from 15 Park Ave.) remain at the westerly end of Thoma Avenue (at least through May 22) about a year after Bergen County Soil Conservation District officials advised that it was not properl secured, causing soil to be blown on to the vehicles and homes of neighbors near the site. District officials threatened to fine the municipality. While the unsightly mound has since been tarped, Haag suggested that GRE has had ample time to dispose of it.
"I want an understanding of why the contractor should be paid when we still have the soil there," said Haag.
He also warned that overruns could bring the project's final price tag to $7 million. Haag warned that the cost will have serious financial implications - such as accrued interest - that will burden taxpayers in the small borough of roughly 9,500 during the coming years.
At one time, Kuss' predecessor, Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, vowed to hold the line on any Park Avenue work to $2.5 million. Yet the then-mayor was referring to plans aimed only at renovating the Protection Hook and Ladder Firehouse and Maywood Volunteer Ambulance Squad headquarters. A subsequent GOP-controlled council, under Kuss, decided to expand the scope of the project via including a new municipal building and enlarging and modernizing the adjacent 86-year-old police department. The new complex will occupy the former public safety site.
In terms of development issues, while the borough has added a new Commerce Bank branch on Maywood Avenue and a Duane Reade Drugstore (the latter replacing five run-down houses at Essex Street and Maywood Avenue), they have added minimal tax revenues to the roughly $10 million municipal budget. Major and massive developments (and ratables) could come in future years on sites now seriously polluted with radiological and chemical contamination (at the Maywood Interim Storage Site and Sears Distribution Center).
Additionally, a regional mass transportation planning authority for Northern New Jersey is eyeing the area as the possible home of a light rail station emanating in Paterson to take commuters into New York. One proposal the borough has considered is having a developer construct three 10-story buildings at the current Sears site in conjunction with a possible rail project.
Yet these larger development issues will not be resolved until the federal government executes a plan for cleaning toxic soil and groundwater pollution in the area, and determines how much Stepan Company will pay toward the final cleanup.
Haag said that an advisory committee could address all these issues sure to burden Maywood in the coming years, and help the governing body avoid a repeat of past mistakes, such as the new municipal building controversy.
Kuss flat-out rejected the idea The mayor said the borough already has a dedicated group of individuals ready to take it into the future. He pointed a finger at his elected colleagues on the governing body.
While Kuss complained that not enough people are volunteering for current open positions on borough boards, governing bodies past and present have chosen not to appoint certain individuals highly critical about the way they have conducted business. For instance, a council faction blocked efforts by Lillian Single, coordinator for the Alliance to Protect Maywood, to join the West Pleasant Avenue Special Improvement District Magement Corporation in 2001. Previously, governing bodies have rejected Michael Nolan's various efforts to be named to the Planning Board and the Board of Health. Nolan is environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood.
MARKET REP SAYS NEW PARKING LOT IS NON-ESSENTIAL
Admits denying 71-space W. Passaic site won’t hurt his store
By Chris Neidenberg
A Maywood Market Place owner told members of the Planning/Zoning Board May 14 that, while he’d like his 71-space West Passaic Street parking lot plan approved, it would only offer shoppers convenience, and won’t aid the store’s continued success.
The board opened a hearing on a sweeping proposal that would forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes further south and west. It was adjourned until May 28. Board Attorney John Lamb said the hearing will start no earlier than 8 p.m., when it will continue in Borough Hall at 459 Maywood Ave. The board meeting actually starts at 7:30.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic.
Among the approvals they want the board to give are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, situated in the vicinity of Bergen and Palmer avenues, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse. They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The New York-state based corporations, despite renting the homes to people, claim that these sites are in poor shape. They further maintain that replacing them, with a fenced-in black-topped parking lot, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
Yet Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., a partner in the market and its development and realty companies, said keeping the houses would not adversely affect his business’ fortunes. This, despite the fact that the massive parking lot plan is a major element of his application.
“It’s not as though we would be put out of business if we don’t have (extra parking),” he said. “But we’d like to have more space for our clientele.”
He described parking for his customers as “hard now.”
“We notice a lot of (the shoppers) park against the building which is a fire hazard,” Katapoudis said. “We want to give our clientele more room to park."
While Katapoudis downplayed the importance of the increased parking for his own business, Anthony Garrett, a licensed planner and architect with The Bilow Group of Ridgefield Park (which designed the market’s plans), asserted that it will alleviate on-street parking congestion in freeing up spaces near the store.
Katapoudis further testified that increasing space and erecting a second floor seek to enlarge his customer base and spur more economic activity in Maywood. Yet those promoting the plan throughout the two-hour hearing, attended by about 30 people, acknowledged this will also bring more traffic into the community.
Katapoudis is vice president of Jay Zee Realty and president of MNK Development Corporation. He pointed out that these two entities (and the actual store) do not all have the same common partners.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood lawyer representing these interests, refused to tell a resident where the companies’ offices are located. He said inquiring residents with any questions can call his office.
The applicants do cite one address in documents - the store’s - at 78 West Pleasant. Lamb agreed with Hynes that the public is not entitled to know the addresses of either MNK or Jay Zee.
Katapoudis noted that the building changes are far more important than any new parking areas. Yet questions arose regarding whether he and his partners have seriously discussed with the municipality giving control of any new market parking site to the Special Improvement District’s (SID’s) Management Corporation, for use as a municipal parking lot open to all residents - and having taxpayers subsidize some of the store’s project costs in return.
Resident Lillian Single, a member of the SID corporation’s Project Planning subcommittee since January, claimed that at least some corporation members have voiced interest in possibly having the municipality pay for acquiring and demolishing the homes under any agreement tied to parking.
Single said forcing taxpayers to pay for the three homes will aid interests connected with the market, since Katapoudis and his partners will lose the mortgage value on the houses after they are demolished. Yet she also claimed that the taxpayers will lose even more money when Maywood loses property tax revenues once the homes are gone.
At least some members of the SID corporation feel that the long-term future of Maywood's central business district will be best served via adding major parking areas, even if modest homes near the district must meet the wrecker’s ball in the process.
In responding, Katapoudis somewhat vaguely confirmed that there were discussions “a couple of weeks ago” with “a couple of members” of the governing body (he did not identify) on the parking issue.
He explained that they asked him whether Maywood Market Place would help “pick up some of the bill” for developing municipal parking areas if his own parking lot plan is approved. Katapoudis said these representatives initiated contact with him. He added that he and his partners would consider negotiating an agreement.
“Our position now is that we would like to keep the parking for ourselves,” he told Single. “But we wouldn’t rule out allowing the town to come in and use properties for parking for the borough.
“We never asked the town to do anything,” the businessman added. “The town approached us about developing these areas for public parking. If someone wanted to ask us about doing that, we couldn’t stop them.”
Yet Single, who first started attending the SID management corporation’s meetings as an interested resident in September, asserted that discussions involving the group and Maywood Market Place date back much further than a “couple of weeks ago.”
“His (Katapoudis’) statements are misleading,” Single tod TRUTH HURTS. “There have been ongoing discussions between Maywood Market and the SID management corporation since last summer."
Zoning/Construction Official Joseph Mellone, in an effort “at clarification,” said the SID corporation is a wholly separate entity from the mayor and council. Yet Mellone did not also state that all seven mayor and council members appointed themselves to the SID corporation's board. Thus, these elected officials can control all of the board's operations, as its voting majority.
As for the store’s expansion, Katapoudis said he wants to renovate the site via adding “more selling space” to make way for extra merchandise, and to “enlarge the kitchen.” He said the second-floor storage area will encompass roughly 3,000 square feet for such uses as housing “dry goods” inventory – such as groceries, cereal and tuna fish.
While the borough has advised the developers to add a “second-floor parking requirement,” all spaces (tied to the building’s total area) will apparently stay on the ground.
In his presentation, Garrett asserted that the changes perfectly comply with claims made in a 1995 board master plan revision, citing the market as “strong establishment” benefitting the entire business district.
By knocking down the two West Passaic Street homes, the planner /architect claimed, “a view shed” will result giving motorists on often busy West Passaic Street a good look at the West Pleasant shopping area. (thus, promoting it).
“I believe it (proposed parking site) will promote the general welfare of the Borough of Maywood),” said Garrett, “because it will create additional parking in the central business district.”
The argument for gutting the three homes mirrors that advanced via proponents of "Tiffany Plaza" in 2000, a highly-touted maze of stores which never became a plaza at all and is now just another chain drugstore (Duane Reade). The commercial site replaced residences. The plan was approved despite massive opposition from residents in the south end of the municipality. Opponents instead wanted the row of modest homes, with property maintenance problems, to remain with upgrades. A critic now living next to the store complained that the borough inexplicably let the houses, which the developers rented for a time to welfare recipients, fall into disrepair.
. . .
Sunday, May 12, 2002
NY DEVELOPERS WOULD GUT HOMES FOR PARKING LOT
Maywood Market also wants 2nd floor on W. Pleasant Ave.
By Chris Neidenberg
New York State-based interests owning the Maywood Market Place are set to appear before the Planning/Zoning Board Tuesday, May 14, in seeking to rezone three homes near Palmer Avenue’s south end to put up a big parking lot, as well as add a second floor on the West Pleasant Avenue building and expand the store.
In what it will likely try promoting as a plan to improve services for shoppers, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation will unveil a proposal to demolish three homes on West Passaic Street (2) and Palmer (1) for the lot. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Borough Council chambers, at 459 Maywood Ave.
Jay Zee is the realty company owned by MNK. MNK’s name appears on ownership documents for the three houses. Yet addresses provided for the two firms in some documents (78 West Pleasant Ave. in Maywood, the supermarket site), conflict with other passages citing their New York state connections. Neither Jay Zee nor MLK provide addresses or phone numbers for any offices in New York State.
For instance, an affidavit filed with the board only cites Nickolas Katopodis, president of MNK and vice president of Jay Zee, as “a resident of the State of New York.”
The document shows blank lines in spots seeking Katopodis’ specific address, municipality and county.
If approved, the project will bring a final end to the residential character of the small area on the east side of Palmer, between West Pleasant and West Passaic and close to other residential areas on the south side of West Passaic (such as Bergen, Poplar and Oak avenues).
While a letter from the building department has described the proposed second floor as “a partial” structure designed “for storage,” the department has also directed those preparing conceptual plans to “include a second floor parking requirement.” This suggests that a second-floor parking deck might come under review during the upcoming hearing. This passage is in a Jan. 31 letter the department sent to the company preparing the developers’ plans, obtained by TRUTH HURTS.
A second department letter to the developers, dated Feb. 28 and concerning floor plans, raises the possibility that the store will also place an “additional entrance” on West Pleasant and “reconfigure” the “existing entrance.” The latter is at West Pleasant and Palmer.
In an unsigned memo dated Feb, 21 and also obtained by TRUTH HURTS, attributed in a heading to Board Chairman George Brush, Brush warns fellow members that the plan would significantly add traffic to the immediate area, and could cause the borough to lose tax revenues.
It is likely that the borough will lose revenues by eliminating the homes, should borough officials pursue a proposal letting the market make annual payments "in lieu of taxes." The chairman calls for an analysis of the revenue issue. He also points out that the developers did not specify points of entry and exit for the proposed lot.
Yet Brush also maintains that the plan, which has been discussed by Maywood’s Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation, will offer overall benefits provided the developers address certain concerns.
“In general, the project should enhance the business district,” he tells colleagues, questioning whether an unspecified committee involving Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace had offered any input on the plan as of that time (Feb. 21).
Eustace sits on the SID management corporation, as a council member, and heads the Maywood Chamber of Commerce. He is perhaps the borough’s foremost advocate for a SID.
Local interests are representing the New York developers in promoting the plan, which has some opposition, and in negotiating with the property owners who surrendered their homes and moved out for the right price. Thomas Hynes, a lawyer on Palmer who has served as municipal prosecutor, is the local point man for these New York interests. Hynes will argue the case before zoners. The Bilow Group, of Ridgefield Park, will present conceptual plans.
In his memo, Brush questioned whether Hynes might have a conflict representing the developers, since his office is within 200 feet of the application.
Properties that would be affected include the store at 78 West Pleasant and the three homes, in an A-! residential zone: at: 520 Palmer and 89 and 95 West Passaic.
In the legally mandated, though unsigned and undated, notice sent to landowners within 200 feet of the application, major changes Hynes wants approved include: 1.) Use variances to change the three houses from A-1 residential, to restricted commercial, zones. 2.) Subdividing part of 95 West Passaic, so it is merged with 520 Palmer, to construct the new parking lot. 3.) Bulk variances for the three residential tracts so they can exceed the permissible impervious lot coverage. 4.) A site plan application. This would encompass the three residential zones and the adjoining Maywood Market property on West Pleasant. The latter is in Maywood’s central business district.
Yet in that same notice, Hynes does not tell residents exactly how many parking spaces the new lot would provide.
In describing reasons for seeking the variances in correspondence with the municipality, the developers vaguely assert that gutting the houses for a site to accommodate more traffic and expanding the store offers “new and needed investment in the area in question, the benefits of which will far outweigh any negatives which might be associated with” the variance requests. Hynes and company will have to expound upon and prove these claims in the upcoming hearing.
Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood who has volunteered on the SID management corporation's Project Planning subcommittee since January, expressed concerns over the project. Single first started attending the district management corporation's meetings as an interested observer in September.
Single, who would live four houses down from the lot, maintained that it has the potential for lowering area property values, depriving the municipality of needed ratables, "and burdening a small town with all the problems associated with big-city life."
Yet what appears to concern her the most is an idea to have the municipality buy the three homes from MNK and Jay Zee. Citing discussions vaguely touched upon in the SID management corporation’s minutes, Single said some borough officials sympathetic to the plan have discussed possibly having taxpayers bear the brunt of the costs of the development.
According to the SID management corporation’s minutes, Mayor Wayne Kuss has sought to discuss the project with Maywood Market representatives. In a Jan. 15 transcript, SID Management Corporation Chairman Rich Henion quoted Eustace as saying that the mayor “was going to speak with someone from Maywood Market.”
Single also questioned whether Jay Zee and MNK are "phantom" companies, since they have no listed phone numbers or addresses in New York State.
“This situation is a local version of the kind of wheeling and dealing that goes on behind closed doors in Washington D.C.,” charged the West Passaic Street resident. “There is a tendency here to cater to special interests with big money, yet to the detriment of our community. It’s what happens when the taxpayers don’t pay attention to what their politicians are doing.”
Single alleged that "some of the same council members who were behind the $6 million-$7 million-$8 million 15 Park Ave. fiasco (referring to the troubled new municipal complex project) now serve on the SID management corporation." She asked, "Is there more trouble to come?"
The resident further maintained that, though a Project Planning subcommittee member, she has been shut out of the ongoing discussions involving management corporation members and the Maywood Market, starting last fall. The governing body's seven members comprise the SID corporation's majority. Single called for this corporation to meet more frequently than it has thus far: only four times in the past eight months.
“I represent the public in serving on this subcommittee,” said Single, who earlier tried gaining an appointment to a seat on the SID corporation, but was blocked due to opposition within the governing body. “The public was totally shut out in terms of being told the details of the discussions involving our officials and the Maywood Market. All correspondence has been private.
"I was led to believe this was just a small-town 'mom and pop' deal,'" Single added. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The public has been shut out from all the discussions on this, even though the taxpayers will be subsidizing the developers if the project is approved."
Single said residents needing more information can call her at 201-843-7822. She urged that concerned residents gather in Borough Hall at 7 p.m., at least a half hour before the meeting.
posted by Chris Neidenberg 2:54 AM
. . .
Wednesday, May 01, 2002
QUESTIONS RAISED OVER SENIOR LAND CHANGES
Borough Council will let nursing home rise up 55 feet
By Chris Neidenberg
The Borough Council has given the green light to letting a company pursue plans for a new nursing home, with a total height of 55 feet, near a residential area including Eccleston Place and West Central Avenue.
Yet a councilman, who questioned the majority's desire to alter the dimensions of the site via amending the zoning ordinance, without reopening the bidding process on the borough's part of the tract, opposed the measure.
Maywood has agreed to sell a former Department of Public Works (DPW) waste storage area near Westerly Brook to North Jersey Healthcare Realty LLC of Saddle Brook, headed by Marvin Ostreicher. Under terms of the deal, Ostreicher's firm can build a three-story building to a maximum 55-foot height. The council amended the initial height specifications.
North Jersey Healthcare negotiated another agreement, to take an adjacent privately-owned parcel further north, for the same development. That piece once housed the demolished Zechmeister Brothers Nursery. The old Zechmeister site, which has been on the state's Known Contaminated Sites list, was bought earlier by Frank Weidner of Saddle River. He heads Seasons Realty LLC. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is requiring that this piece, once the site of contaminated wells, be cleaned up before development.
The Planning/Zoning Board will have to hear and approve an application letting North Jersey Healthcare proceed. Yet no building can occur until after regulators in Trenton sign off on the plan.
Members voted 4-1 for the height language change on March 27, with Councilman Thomas Richards opposed. Yet Richards stressed that he backs the basic premise of allowing this type of development. Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace was absent.
The ordinance allows a "nursing home" as "a conditional use in a limited light industrial zone." Borough Attorney Andrew Fede said this means any developer cannot simply build a nursing home as "a right." Rather, he said, it can only be done "as a condition set forth in this ordinance." That is, subject to all mandatory local and state approvals.
Richards stated that he did his own doorbell survey of area residents and found broad support for this type of project. However, a majority of the roughly 12 speakers commenting on the proposal - mostly those living near the site - protested March 27. Critics argued that it will seriously disrupt a tranquil neighborhood..
The council is ironically fighting a proposal in neighboring Paramus to place another tall building - a planned Sears Great Indoors Store - on the east part of the Bergen Mall (behind homes in areas including Rutherford Place and Cedar Avenue, as opposed by many residents). Municipal officials tried assuring those opposing the senior site that the March 27 vote does not mean the borough is allowing a 55-foot skyscraper in the middle of town.
Yet an arrchitect with North Jersey Healthcare claimed that he will need more than 42 feet in attaching a pitched roof.
Upon Fede's advice, a council majority amended language via allowing a total height of 42 feet for the physical building. The attorney pointed out that a decorative calupo would occupy the remaning 13 feet, and extend from the structure. In endorsing the language change, Fede said the ordinance should reflect this.
Yet Richards argued that, in modifying the ordinance, the council changed the terms of the original specifications North Jersey Healthcare submitted in getting the winning bid on the borough tract. He called on the council to reopen the bidding process. This, despite the fact that North Jersey Healthcare already received a go-ahead from the Planning/Zoning Board.
"I'm in favor of a project of this type," said Richards. "But I believe the project should be re-bid ... With respect to the concept, I agree. With respect to what's actually being done, I vote 'no'"
Fede explained that his read of the developer's proposal assures the building will not pass beyond 42 feet, even though the calupo will make it seem taller. He said amending the proposal explaining this would keep the project in line with the borough's specifications - and the Planning'Zoning Board's own guidance.
"There seems to be a consensus that the Planning/Zoning Board's recommendations should be considered tonight as a potential amendment to the ordinance," he told the council.
"The building itself, the rectangle - the box of the building - will be 42 feet in height in a limited light industrial zone," the lawyer added. "You can have a decorative piece abut that, which can go up to 55 feet."
Yet an architect representing Ostreicher cautioned that only allowing a 42-foot tall structure will hurt the developer's plans for putting a pitched roof on the building. He said that will make the site more aesthetically suitable to the surrounding residences. The architect advised that the developer could only erect a less-desireable flat roof with the limitation.
Whatever roof is erected, resident Marion Ravensbergen claimed that the devlopment's nature will negatively impact the area.
"With a nursing home facility, there will be traffic all day," she warned. "The people who go in there, will go in there all day. The people who visit there, will visit all day.... To put that in a residential area would be a disaster."
Anna Quigg, of Eccleston Place, concurred.
"My concern is the traffic a nursing home would bring," said Quigg, a parent with young children who play in the area. "I'm recommending that we don't zone this for a nursing home, particularly, for the quality of life a nursing home would bring to a residential area in the middle of the night."
One-time Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy initially endorsed making the borough's portion of the site for "a senior-assisted living" facility (which allows the elderly greater independece than the more traditional nursing home Ostreicher is now pushing). In fact, the council later set forth building a senior facility - on the old DPW piece - as a mandate for any sale.
Yet when asked from the audience why the council could not have endorsed building houses there, Mayor Wayne Kuss (a councilman under Murphy) replied that it was the buyer's decision.
"Because the people who bid on it, and purchased it for sale, didn't want to build homes," the mayor said.
. . .
Admits denying 71-space W. Passaic site won’t hurt his store
By Chris Neidenberg
A Maywood Market Place owner told members of the Planning/Zoning Board May 14 that, while he’d like his 71-space West Passaic Street parking lot plan approved, it would only offer shoppers convenience, and won’t aid the store’s continued success.
The board opened a hearing on a sweeping proposal that would forever change the residential character of the small area, between West Pleasant Avenue and West Passaic, and a larger, adjacent area of homes further south and west. It was adjourned until May 28. Board Attorney John Lamb said the hearing will start no earlier than 8 p.m., when it will continue in Borough Hall at 459 Maywood Ave. The board meeting actually starts at 7:30.
Under a two-phase plan encompassing roughly 37,000 square feet, developers want to demolish three occupied homes which interests linked to the market bought from former homeowners. They are at: 520 Palmer Avenue, and 89 and 95 West Passaic.
Among the approvals they want the board to give are variances changing land use for the three house lots from A-1 residential to restricted commercial. The changes would ultimately increase the capacity of the store’s current parking lot area, situated in the vicinity of Bergen and Palmer avenues, now at roughly 25 stalls. If the board approves the use variance requests, it will then hear and vote separately on other issues, such as the site plan.
These interests also want to enlarge the store via adding an entrance to the one now at West Pleasant and Palmer avenues, “reconfigure” the current entrance and add a second-floor warehouse. They have also not ruled out possibly enlarging the store further down the line, thus even exceeding the current two-phase plan, via acquiring and replacing other, smaller West Pleasant businesses.
The New York-state based corporations, despite renting the homes to people, claim that these sites are in poor shape. They further maintain that replacing them, with a fenced-in black-topped parking lot, will help improve the overall quality of life and promote commerce in Maywood.
Yet Nickolas Katapoudis of Manhasset, L.I., a partner in the market and its development and realty companies, said keeping the houses would not adversely affect his business’ fortunes. This, despite the fact that the massive parking lot plan is a major element of his application.
“It’s not as though we would be put out of business if we don’t have (extra parking),” he said. “But we’d like to have more space for our clientele.”
He described parking for his customers as “hard now.”
“We notice a lot of (the shoppers) park against the building which is a fire hazard,” Katapoudis said. “We want to give our clientele more room to park."
While Katapoudis downplayed the importance of the increased parking for his own business, Anthony Garrett, a licensed planner and architect with The Bilow Group of Ridgefield Park (which designed the market’s plans), asserted that it will alleviate on-street parking congestion in freeing up spaces near the store.
Katapoudis further testified that increasing space and erecting a second floor seek to enlarge his customer base and spur more economic activity in Maywood. Yet those promoting the plan throughout the two-hour hearing, attended by about 30 people, acknowledged this will also bring more traffic into the community.
Katapoudis is vice president of Jay Zee Realty and president of MNK Development Corporation. He pointed out that these two entities (and the actual store) do not all have the same common partners.
Thomas Hynes, the Maywood lawyer representing these interests, refused to tell a resident where the companies’ offices are located. He said inquiring residents with any questions can call his office.
The applicants do cite one address in documents - the store’s - at 78 West Pleasant. Lamb agreed with Hynes that the public is not entitled to know the addresses of either MNK or Jay Zee.
Katapoudis noted that the building changes are far more important than any new parking areas. Yet questions arose regarding whether he and his partners have seriously discussed with the municipality giving control of any new market parking site to the Special Improvement District’s (SID’s) Management Corporation, for use as a municipal parking lot open to all residents - and having taxpayers subsidize some of the store’s project costs in return.
Resident Lillian Single, a member of the SID corporation’s Project Planning subcommittee since January, claimed that at least some corporation members have voiced interest in possibly having the municipality pay for acquiring and demolishing the homes under any agreement tied to parking.
Single said forcing taxpayers to pay for the three homes will aid interests connected with the market, since Katapoudis and his partners will lose the mortgage value on the houses after they are demolished. Yet she also claimed that the taxpayers will lose even more money when Maywood loses property tax revenues once the homes are gone.
At least some members of the SID corporation feel that the long-term future of Maywood's central business district will be best served via adding major parking areas, even if modest homes near the district must meet the wrecker’s ball in the process.
In responding, Katapoudis somewhat vaguely confirmed that there were discussions “a couple of weeks ago” with “a couple of members” of the governing body (he did not identify) on the parking issue.
He explained that they asked him whether Maywood Market Place would help “pick up some of the bill” for developing municipal parking areas if his own parking lot plan is approved. Katapoudis said these representatives initiated contact with him. He added that he and his partners would consider negotiating an agreement.
“Our position now is that we would like to keep the parking for ourselves,” he told Single. “But we wouldn’t rule out allowing the town to come in and use properties for parking for the borough.
“We never asked the town to do anything,” the businessman added. “The town approached us about developing these areas for public parking. If someone wanted to ask us about doing that, we couldn’t stop them.”
Yet Single, who first started attending the SID management corporation’s meetings as an interested resident in September, asserted that discussions involving the group and Maywood Market Place date back much further than a “couple of weeks ago.”
“His (Katapoudis’) statements are misleading,” Single tod TRUTH HURTS. “There have been ongoing discussions between Maywood Market and the SID management corporation since last summer."
Zoning/Construction Official Joseph Mellone, in an effort “at clarification,” said the SID corporation is a wholly separate entity from the mayor and council. Yet Mellone did not also state that all seven mayor and council members appointed themselves to the SID corporation's board. Thus, these elected officials can control all of the board's operations, as its voting majority.
As for the store’s expansion, Katapoudis said he wants to renovate the site via adding “more selling space” to make way for extra merchandise, and to “enlarge the kitchen.” He said the second-floor storage area will encompass roughly 3,000 square feet for such uses as housing “dry goods” inventory – such as groceries, cereal and tuna fish.
While the borough has advised the developers to add a “second-floor parking requirement,” all spaces (tied to the building’s total area) will apparently stay on the ground.
In his presentation, Garrett asserted that the changes perfectly comply with claims made in a 1995 board master plan revision, citing the market as “strong establishment” benefitting the entire business district.
By knocking down the two West Passaic Street homes, the planner /architect claimed, “a view shed” will result giving motorists on often busy West Passaic Street a good look at the West Pleasant shopping area. (thus, promoting it).
“I believe it (proposed parking site) will promote the general welfare of the Borough of Maywood),” said Garrett, “because it will create additional parking in the central business district.”
The argument for gutting the three homes mirrors that advanced via proponents of "Tiffany Plaza" in 2000, a highly-touted maze of stores which never became a plaza at all and is now just another chain drugstore (Duane Reade). The commercial site replaced residences. The plan was approved despite massive opposition from residents in the south end of the municipality. Opponents instead wanted the row of modest homes, with property maintenance problems, to remain with upgrades. A critic now living next to the store complained that the borough inexplicably let the houses, which the developers rented for a time to welfare recipients, fall into disrepair.
. . .
Sunday, May 12, 2002
NY DEVELOPERS WOULD GUT HOMES FOR PARKING LOT
Maywood Market also wants 2nd floor on W. Pleasant Ave.
By Chris Neidenberg
New York State-based interests owning the Maywood Market Place are set to appear before the Planning/Zoning Board Tuesday, May 14, in seeking to rezone three homes near Palmer Avenue’s south end to put up a big parking lot, as well as add a second floor on the West Pleasant Avenue building and expand the store.
In what it will likely try promoting as a plan to improve services for shoppers, Jay Zee Realty and MNK Development Corporation will unveil a proposal to demolish three homes on West Passaic Street (2) and Palmer (1) for the lot. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Borough Council chambers, at 459 Maywood Ave.
Jay Zee is the realty company owned by MNK. MNK’s name appears on ownership documents for the three houses. Yet addresses provided for the two firms in some documents (78 West Pleasant Ave. in Maywood, the supermarket site), conflict with other passages citing their New York state connections. Neither Jay Zee nor MLK provide addresses or phone numbers for any offices in New York State.
For instance, an affidavit filed with the board only cites Nickolas Katopodis, president of MNK and vice president of Jay Zee, as “a resident of the State of New York.”
The document shows blank lines in spots seeking Katopodis’ specific address, municipality and county.
If approved, the project will bring a final end to the residential character of the small area on the east side of Palmer, between West Pleasant and West Passaic and close to other residential areas on the south side of West Passaic (such as Bergen, Poplar and Oak avenues).
While a letter from the building department has described the proposed second floor as “a partial” structure designed “for storage,” the department has also directed those preparing conceptual plans to “include a second floor parking requirement.” This suggests that a second-floor parking deck might come under review during the upcoming hearing. This passage is in a Jan. 31 letter the department sent to the company preparing the developers’ plans, obtained by TRUTH HURTS.
A second department letter to the developers, dated Feb. 28 and concerning floor plans, raises the possibility that the store will also place an “additional entrance” on West Pleasant and “reconfigure” the “existing entrance.” The latter is at West Pleasant and Palmer.
In an unsigned memo dated Feb, 21 and also obtained by TRUTH HURTS, attributed in a heading to Board Chairman George Brush, Brush warns fellow members that the plan would significantly add traffic to the immediate area, and could cause the borough to lose tax revenues.
It is likely that the borough will lose revenues by eliminating the homes, should borough officials pursue a proposal letting the market make annual payments "in lieu of taxes." The chairman calls for an analysis of the revenue issue. He also points out that the developers did not specify points of entry and exit for the proposed lot.
Yet Brush also maintains that the plan, which has been discussed by Maywood’s Special Improvement District (SID) Management Corporation, will offer overall benefits provided the developers address certain concerns.
“In general, the project should enhance the business district,” he tells colleagues, questioning whether an unspecified committee involving Democratic Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace had offered any input on the plan as of that time (Feb. 21).
Eustace sits on the SID management corporation, as a council member, and heads the Maywood Chamber of Commerce. He is perhaps the borough’s foremost advocate for a SID.
Local interests are representing the New York developers in promoting the plan, which has some opposition, and in negotiating with the property owners who surrendered their homes and moved out for the right price. Thomas Hynes, a lawyer on Palmer who has served as municipal prosecutor, is the local point man for these New York interests. Hynes will argue the case before zoners. The Bilow Group, of Ridgefield Park, will present conceptual plans.
In his memo, Brush questioned whether Hynes might have a conflict representing the developers, since his office is within 200 feet of the application.
Properties that would be affected include the store at 78 West Pleasant and the three homes, in an A-! residential zone: at: 520 Palmer and 89 and 95 West Passaic.
In the legally mandated, though unsigned and undated, notice sent to landowners within 200 feet of the application, major changes Hynes wants approved include: 1.) Use variances to change the three houses from A-1 residential, to restricted commercial, zones. 2.) Subdividing part of 95 West Passaic, so it is merged with 520 Palmer, to construct the new parking lot. 3.) Bulk variances for the three residential tracts so they can exceed the permissible impervious lot coverage. 4.) A site plan application. This would encompass the three residential zones and the adjoining Maywood Market property on West Pleasant. The latter is in Maywood’s central business district.
Yet in that same notice, Hynes does not tell residents exactly how many parking spaces the new lot would provide.
In describing reasons for seeking the variances in correspondence with the municipality, the developers vaguely assert that gutting the houses for a site to accommodate more traffic and expanding the store offers “new and needed investment in the area in question, the benefits of which will far outweigh any negatives which might be associated with” the variance requests. Hynes and company will have to expound upon and prove these claims in the upcoming hearing.
Lillian Single, coordinator of the Alliance to Protect Maywood who has volunteered on the SID management corporation's Project Planning subcommittee since January, expressed concerns over the project. Single first started attending the district management corporation's meetings as an interested observer in September.
Single, who would live four houses down from the lot, maintained that it has the potential for lowering area property values, depriving the municipality of needed ratables, "and burdening a small town with all the problems associated with big-city life."
Yet what appears to concern her the most is an idea to have the municipality buy the three homes from MNK and Jay Zee. Citing discussions vaguely touched upon in the SID management corporation’s minutes, Single said some borough officials sympathetic to the plan have discussed possibly having taxpayers bear the brunt of the costs of the development.
According to the SID management corporation’s minutes, Mayor Wayne Kuss has sought to discuss the project with Maywood Market representatives. In a Jan. 15 transcript, SID Management Corporation Chairman Rich Henion quoted Eustace as saying that the mayor “was going to speak with someone from Maywood Market.”
Single also questioned whether Jay Zee and MNK are "phantom" companies, since they have no listed phone numbers or addresses in New York State.
“This situation is a local version of the kind of wheeling and dealing that goes on behind closed doors in Washington D.C.,” charged the West Passaic Street resident. “There is a tendency here to cater to special interests with big money, yet to the detriment of our community. It’s what happens when the taxpayers don’t pay attention to what their politicians are doing.”
Single alleged that "some of the same council members who were behind the $6 million-$7 million-$8 million 15 Park Ave. fiasco (referring to the troubled new municipal complex project) now serve on the SID management corporation." She asked, "Is there more trouble to come?"
The resident further maintained that, though a Project Planning subcommittee member, she has been shut out of the ongoing discussions involving management corporation members and the Maywood Market, starting last fall. The governing body's seven members comprise the SID corporation's majority. Single called for this corporation to meet more frequently than it has thus far: only four times in the past eight months.
“I represent the public in serving on this subcommittee,” said Single, who earlier tried gaining an appointment to a seat on the SID corporation, but was blocked due to opposition within the governing body. “The public was totally shut out in terms of being told the details of the discussions involving our officials and the Maywood Market. All correspondence has been private.
"I was led to believe this was just a small-town 'mom and pop' deal,'" Single added. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The public has been shut out from all the discussions on this, even though the taxpayers will be subsidizing the developers if the project is approved."
Single said residents needing more information can call her at 201-843-7822. She urged that concerned residents gather in Borough Hall at 7 p.m., at least a half hour before the meeting.
posted by Chris Neidenberg 2:54 AM
. . .
Wednesday, May 01, 2002
QUESTIONS RAISED OVER SENIOR LAND CHANGES
Borough Council will let nursing home rise up 55 feet
By Chris Neidenberg
The Borough Council has given the green light to letting a company pursue plans for a new nursing home, with a total height of 55 feet, near a residential area including Eccleston Place and West Central Avenue.
Yet a councilman, who questioned the majority's desire to alter the dimensions of the site via amending the zoning ordinance, without reopening the bidding process on the borough's part of the tract, opposed the measure.
Maywood has agreed to sell a former Department of Public Works (DPW) waste storage area near Westerly Brook to North Jersey Healthcare Realty LLC of Saddle Brook, headed by Marvin Ostreicher. Under terms of the deal, Ostreicher's firm can build a three-story building to a maximum 55-foot height. The council amended the initial height specifications.
North Jersey Healthcare negotiated another agreement, to take an adjacent privately-owned parcel further north, for the same development. That piece once housed the demolished Zechmeister Brothers Nursery. The old Zechmeister site, which has been on the state's Known Contaminated Sites list, was bought earlier by Frank Weidner of Saddle River. He heads Seasons Realty LLC. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is requiring that this piece, once the site of contaminated wells, be cleaned up before development.
The Planning/Zoning Board will have to hear and approve an application letting North Jersey Healthcare proceed. Yet no building can occur until after regulators in Trenton sign off on the plan.
Members voted 4-1 for the height language change on March 27, with Councilman Thomas Richards opposed. Yet Richards stressed that he backs the basic premise of allowing this type of development. Councilman Dr. Tim Eustace was absent.
The ordinance allows a "nursing home" as "a conditional use in a limited light industrial zone." Borough Attorney Andrew Fede said this means any developer cannot simply build a nursing home as "a right." Rather, he said, it can only be done "as a condition set forth in this ordinance." That is, subject to all mandatory local and state approvals.
Richards stated that he did his own doorbell survey of area residents and found broad support for this type of project. However, a majority of the roughly 12 speakers commenting on the proposal - mostly those living near the site - protested March 27. Critics argued that it will seriously disrupt a tranquil neighborhood..
The council is ironically fighting a proposal in neighboring Paramus to place another tall building - a planned Sears Great Indoors Store - on the east part of the Bergen Mall (behind homes in areas including Rutherford Place and Cedar Avenue, as opposed by many residents). Municipal officials tried assuring those opposing the senior site that the March 27 vote does not mean the borough is allowing a 55-foot skyscraper in the middle of town.
Yet an arrchitect with North Jersey Healthcare claimed that he will need more than 42 feet in attaching a pitched roof.
Upon Fede's advice, a council majority amended language via allowing a total height of 42 feet for the physical building. The attorney pointed out that a decorative calupo would occupy the remaning 13 feet, and extend from the structure. In endorsing the language change, Fede said the ordinance should reflect this.
Yet Richards argued that, in modifying the ordinance, the council changed the terms of the original specifications North Jersey Healthcare submitted in getting the winning bid on the borough tract. He called on the council to reopen the bidding process. This, despite the fact that North Jersey Healthcare already received a go-ahead from the Planning/Zoning Board.
"I'm in favor of a project of this type," said Richards. "But I believe the project should be re-bid ... With respect to the concept, I agree. With respect to what's actually being done, I vote 'no'"
Fede explained that his read of the developer's proposal assures the building will not pass beyond 42 feet, even though the calupo will make it seem taller. He said amending the proposal explaining this would keep the project in line with the borough's specifications - and the Planning'Zoning Board's own guidance.
"There seems to be a consensus that the Planning/Zoning Board's recommendations should be considered tonight as a potential amendment to the ordinance," he told the council.
"The building itself, the rectangle - the box of the building - will be 42 feet in height in a limited light industrial zone," the lawyer added. "You can have a decorative piece abut that, which can go up to 55 feet."
Yet an architect representing Ostreicher cautioned that only allowing a 42-foot tall structure will hurt the developer's plans for putting a pitched roof on the building. He said that will make the site more aesthetically suitable to the surrounding residences. The architect advised that the developer could only erect a less-desireable flat roof with the limitation.
Whatever roof is erected, resident Marion Ravensbergen claimed that the devlopment's nature will negatively impact the area.
"With a nursing home facility, there will be traffic all day," she warned. "The people who go in there, will go in there all day. The people who visit there, will visit all day.... To put that in a residential area would be a disaster."
Anna Quigg, of Eccleston Place, concurred.
"My concern is the traffic a nursing home would bring," said Quigg, a parent with young children who play in the area. "I'm recommending that we don't zone this for a nursing home, particularly, for the quality of life a nursing home would bring to a residential area in the middle of the night."
One-time Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy initially endorsed making the borough's portion of the site for "a senior-assisted living" facility (which allows the elderly greater independece than the more traditional nursing home Ostreicher is now pushing). In fact, the council later set forth building a senior facility - on the old DPW piece - as a mandate for any sale.
Yet when asked from the audience why the council could not have endorsed building houses there, Mayor Wayne Kuss (a councilman under Murphy) replied that it was the buyer's decision.
"Because the people who bid on it, and purchased it for sale, didn't want to build homes," the mayor said.
. . .
OOUNCIL FINDS NEW USE FOR BOGUS DEP LOAN
Whitman's fake Fenniman award could fund Briarcliff park
By Chris Neidenberg
A $128,000 low-interest loan "that never was" from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) could apply to a second municipal park proposal, if the state approves its use for a facility at the south end of Briarcliff Avenue.
At the Borough Council's April 24 meeting, Republican Councilman Fred Zigrest announced that the new municipal engineering firm, Neglia Engineering, has prepared artistic renderings displaying the planned site. The council that night adopted a resolution to use the loan for the purpose.
The borough wants to put it on a vacant strip, not far from the Rochelle Park border and West Passaic Street. Neglia's renderings were on display behind the council dais.
"Just look at the picture," said Zigrest, who told residents the council will review bids submitted on the site. "(Neglia) did an excellent job."
If the Green Acres (GA) loan is used, it will mark a continuation of a rather curious local history for the funding, dating back almost three years.
In July 1999, then Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman, 18 months before President George W. Bush named her U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, visited Maywood. During a publicized joint appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, she falsely announced her administration had awarded the community a loan in helping construct Arthur Fenniman Park near the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recrreation Center at Magnolia Lane..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would be used retroactively in paying for an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Yet a spokesman in her press office later said it was routine policy for the now-former governor to make such announcements even when all the Is were not dotted and the Ts were not crossed in finalizing certain applications. He noted that the grant was still available to Maywood, even though the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Martha Sapp, a GA program planner in 1999, informed Maywood shortly after Whitman's visit that it had to perform an "environmental assessment." at the Fenniman site. Yet Perkins resisted doing so. After complaining about an unreasonable delay in finally getting the loan, Perkins ultimately got Wells to approve a waiver to the requirements.
This, despite the fact that the Fenniman kiddie park is not far from areas known to have chemical soil and groundwater pollution, as well as thorium contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The DEP allowed Maywood to hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
As for the planned new site, Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards explained that its construction will protect Maywood.
"Development of the park is a two-fold thing," he told residents. "It protects us from traffic, and if the county wanted to connect us from Paramus and Rochelle Park (by fully developing Pleasant Avenue starting at Farview Avenue near the Garden State Plaza), it would protect us because it's parkland."
Currently, Pleasant Avenue starting in Paramus is isolated and cut off from West Pleasant Avenue in Maywood. The county for years has floated the possibility of establishing a major through-street running in the three communities. Pleasant Avenue continues eastward and ends in Hackensack
Whitman's fake Fenniman award could fund Briarcliff park
By Chris Neidenberg
A $128,000 low-interest loan "that never was" from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) could apply to a second municipal park proposal, if the state approves its use for a facility at the south end of Briarcliff Avenue.
At the Borough Council's April 24 meeting, Republican Councilman Fred Zigrest announced that the new municipal engineering firm, Neglia Engineering, has prepared artistic renderings displaying the planned site. The council that night adopted a resolution to use the loan for the purpose.
The borough wants to put it on a vacant strip, not far from the Rochelle Park border and West Passaic Street. Neglia's renderings were on display behind the council dais.
"Just look at the picture," said Zigrest, who told residents the council will review bids submitted on the site. "(Neglia) did an excellent job."
If the Green Acres (GA) loan is used, it will mark a continuation of a rather curious local history for the funding, dating back almost three years.
In July 1999, then Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman, 18 months before President George W. Bush named her U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, visited Maywood. During a publicized joint appearance with then-Democratic Mayor Thomas Murphy, she falsely announced her administration had awarded the community a loan in helping construct Arthur Fenniman Park near the Maywood Senior Citizens and Recrreation Center at Magnolia Lane..
Then-Borough Administrator John Perkins explained that the funds would be used retroactively in paying for an installed drainage system. Yet, shortly after Whitman made the bogus claim (with a facsimilie check she handed Murphy), Whitman GA Administrator Thomas Wells confirmed the loan did not exist.
Wells explained that GA employees were still reviewing the application, and that Whitman must have been misinformed. Yet a spokesman in her press office later said it was routine policy for the now-former governor to make such announcements even when all the Is were not dotted and the Ts were not crossed in finalizing certain applications. He noted that the grant was still available to Maywood, even though the public hearing (required before any award could be made) was still months away.
Martha Sapp, a GA program planner in 1999, informed Maywood shortly after Whitman's visit that it had to perform an "environmental assessment." at the Fenniman site. Yet Perkins resisted doing so. After complaining about an unreasonable delay in finally getting the loan, Perkins ultimately got Wells to approve a waiver to the requirements.
This, despite the fact that the Fenniman kiddie park is not far from areas known to have chemical soil and groundwater pollution, as well as thorium contamination.
Ultimately, Maywood never used any of the loan for Fenniman Park. The DEP allowed Maywood to hold the application in abeyance for a future site. The council now wants to use it for the Briarcliff proposal.
As for the planned new site, Democratic Councilman Thomas Richards explained that its construction will protect Maywood.
"Development of the park is a two-fold thing," he told residents. "It protects us from traffic, and if the county wanted to connect us from Paramus and Rochelle Park (by fully developing Pleasant Avenue starting at Farview Avenue near the Garden State Plaza), it would protect us because it's parkland."
Currently, Pleasant Avenue starting in Paramus is isolated and cut off from West Pleasant Avenue in Maywood. The county for years has floated the possibility of establishing a major through-street running in the three communities. Pleasant Avenue continues eastward and ends in Hackensack
FORMER TOP COUNTY LAWMAN TO RUN MAYWOOD
Jack Terhune also ran state prisons under Whitman
By Chris Neidenberg
A former Bergen County sheriff, who later ran the state prison system under-then Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, has decided running Maywood will make a nice add-on on his resume.
\The Borough Council unanimously moved April 24 in naming Jack Terhune new
borough administrator, effective May 20. The decision ends an on-again, off-again search that essentially started in February, 2001, when John Perkins left town to become Tenafly's administrator. Perkins, a Maywood resident, is still municipal emergency management coordinator.
Terhune spent his early years in Maywood. He eventually selected police work as
his career choice in joining the Teaneck Police Department. Bergen County Republican leaders nominated him to run for county sheriff in 1989, when he was first elected. Terhune won re-election four years later. He left Hackensack in the midst of his second term when Whitman, impressed with his efforts in running the sheriff's department, called. She named him state Department of Corrections commissioner.
Terhune's selection ends a 15-month process where the governing body reportedly
screened some 200 names and narrowed the choices down to six finalists. He will start by earning an annual salary of $80,000. For a time after Perkins' departure, Borough Clerk Mary Anne Rampolla held the dual post of administrator.
Terhune was not at the meeting. Mayor Wayne Kuss said the incoming administrator has assured him he will hit the ground running well before May 20, by meeting with the various department heads and employees he will oversee. The mayor described Terhune's current job as a "consulting" business.
"I'd just like to say how much I'm looking forward to working with our new administrator, Mr. Terhune," said freshman Councilman James Petrie. "He's going to work hard for our community and he's going to do a lot for the community. And he has a tenacity for getting the job done."
The former top county law enforcement officer's arrival in Maywood comes at a time
when some critics have charged that U.S. government agencies have repeatedly violated sensitive federal environmental laws in handling toxic waste at sites near borough residential areas, while the governing body has enjoyed too cozy a relationship with Stepan Chemical Company. The politically-connected firm was cited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the major polluter in the Superfund site. Additionally, a resident who has reviewed information related to huge cost overruns plaguing construction of the new John A. Steuert Jr. Municipal Complex has called upon the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to investigate the borough's role in the matter.
Terhune's arrival also comes when vartous big-ticket, big money construction and
re-development projects could be in the works. The council is looking at possibly supporting constructing three 10-story buildings in the current and polluted Sears Distribution Center site once federal authorities certify the land is cleaned up. This same area could also feature a major railroad station as part of a new light-rail transportation system which could start in Paterson and wind its way through a site ending at the Hudson River for New York commuters. This will depend on what a North Jersey regional mass transportation authority decides, following an examination of possible sites. Yet a final decision could still be years away.
Other pending development issues include the possible building of a new 55-foot tall nursing home near West Central and Hergesell avenues, over parcels formerly owned by the borough and once occupied by the Zechmeister's Brothers Nursery, and a controversial plan to establish a state-approved Special Improvement District to beautify and add shoppers' parking on West Pleasant Avenue. Municipal officials have not ruled out trying to acquire adjacent residential property for the extra parking space.
Borough officials undoubtedly hope Terhune will have the same access to
Whitman, who now runs the nationwide EPA, that he enjoyed as a state cabinet officer.
Her agency will likely be making critical decisions in the coming months. These
decisions will ultimately determine one of two courses: 1.) Will residents be left living near massive amounts of soil laced with thorium and chemical contamination, requiring placement of future land use restrictions on seriously polluted tracts? 2.) Or will they see large volumes of dirt either shipped off-site or treated, so cleanup levels are deemed "health-based," and all lands are cleared for "unrestricted use?"
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has steadfastly refused to finally release a mandated proposed plan revealing just how these soils, and any groundwater contamination, will be handled. This, even though the EPA has criticized corps officials for needlessly prolonging the process leading to the plan's release.
Kuss told residents he was glad to see a Maywood native acquire the top post. He added that Terhune told him he is eager to start.
"When I called to offer him the position, we had quite a lengthy conversation," the
mayor said, praising Terhune for wanting to get an extensive look at municipal operations in the weeks before he starts drawing a paycheck. "I appreciate that ... he'd want to get to take the town in ahead of time, on his own time, in getting to know the different personalities involved."
FORMER TOP COUNTY LAWMAN TO RUN MAYWOOD
Jack Terhune also ran state prisons under Whitman
By Chris Neidenberg
A former Bergen County sheriff, who later ran the state prison system under-then Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, has decided running Maywood will make a nice add-on on his resume.
\The Borough Council unanimously moved April 24 in naming Jack Terhune new
borough administrator, effective May 20. The decision ends an on-again, off-again search that essentially started in February, 2001, when John Perkins left town to become Tenafly's administrator. Perkins, a Maywood resident, is still municipal emergency management coordinator.
Terhune spent his early years in Maywood. He eventually selected police work as
his career choice in joining the Teaneck Police Department. Bergen County Republican leaders nominated him to run for county sheriff in 1989, when he was first elected. Terhune won re-election four years later. He left Hackensack in the midst of his second term when Whitman, impressed with his efforts in running the sheriff's department, called. She named him state Department of Corrections commissioner.
Terhune's selection ends a 15-month process where the governing body reportedly
screened some 200 names and narrowed the choices down to six finalists. He will start by earning an annual salary of $80,000. For a time after Perkins' departure, Borough Clerk Mary Anne Rampolla held the dual post of administrator.
Terhune was not at the meeting. Mayor Wayne Kuss said the incoming administrator has assured him he will hit the ground running well before May 20, by meeting with the various department heads and employees he will oversee. The mayor described Terhune's current job as a "consulting" business.
"I'd just like to say how much I'm looking forward to working with our new administrator, Mr. Terhune," said freshman Councilman James Petrie. "He's going to work hard for our community and he's going to do a lot for the community. And he has a tenacity for getting the job done."
The former top county law enforcement officer's arrival in Maywood comes at a time
when some critics have charged that U.S. government agencies have repeatedly violated sensitive federal environmental laws in handling toxic waste at sites near borough residential areas, while the governing body has enjoyed too cozy a relationship with Stepan Chemical Company. The politically-connected firm was cited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the major polluter in the Superfund site. Additionally, a resident who has reviewed information related to huge cost overruns plaguing construction of the new John A. Steuert Jr. Municipal Complex has called upon the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to investigate the borough's role in the matter.
Terhune's arrival also comes when vartous big-ticket, big money construction and
re-development projects could be in the works. The council is looking at possibly supporting constructing three 10-story buildings in the current and polluted Sears Distribution Center site once federal authorities certify the land is cleaned up. This same area could also feature a major railroad station as part of a new light-rail transportation system which could start in Paterson and wind its way through a site ending at the Hudson River for New York commuters. This will depend on what a North Jersey regional mass transportation authority decides, following an examination of possible sites. Yet a final decision could still be years away.
Other pending development issues include the possible building of a new 55-foot tall nursing home near West Central and Hergesell avenues, over parcels formerly owned by the borough and once occupied by the Zechmeister's Brothers Nursery, and a controversial plan to establish a state-approved Special Improvement District to beautify and add shoppers' parking on West Pleasant Avenue. Municipal officials have not ruled out trying to acquire adjacent residential property for the extra parking space.
Borough officials undoubtedly hope Terhune will have the same access to
Whitman, who now runs the nationwide EPA, that he enjoyed as a state cabinet officer.
Her agency will likely be making critical decisions in the coming months. These
decisions will ultimately determine one of two courses: 1.) Will residents be left living near massive amounts of soil laced with thorium and chemical contamination, requiring placement of future land use restrictions on seriously polluted tracts? 2.) Or will they see large volumes of dirt either shipped off-site or treated, so cleanup levels are deemed "health-based," and all lands are cleared for "unrestricted use?"
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has steadfastly refused to finally release a mandated proposed plan revealing just how these soils, and any groundwater contamination, will be handled. This, even though the EPA has criticized corps officials for needlessly prolonging the process leading to the plan's release.
Kuss told residents he was glad to see a Maywood native acquire the top post. He added that Terhune told him he is eager to start.
"When I called to offer him the position, we had quite a lengthy conversation," the
mayor said, praising Terhune for wanting to get an extensive look at municipal operations in the weeks before he starts drawing a paycheck. "I appreciate that ... he'd want to get to take the town in ahead of time, on his own time, in getting to know the different personalities involved."
CORPS REP STILL IN DARK ON CLEANUP PLAN'S RELEASE
Five more years of study at Maywood site can't yield answers
By Chris Neidenberg
It has been almost five years since his agency took over the project from the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE). Yet the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) site manager recently told borough officials he still has no clue on when Maywoodians will finally see the federally-mandated proposed cleanup plan for over 300,000 cubic yards of soil - laced with thorium and chemical contamination - under large industrial tracts in the Superfund site.
Allen Roos, head of the corps' efforts here since 1998, told Borough Council.members on March 27 that his group wanted to clean up another roughly 1,500 cubic yards from some smaller sites in Lodi and Maywood in 2002 without any conceptual plan.
Roos made a very rare public appearance before the governing body during its March 27 meeting. The site manager and other corps representatives have generally restricted contact with municipal officials to forums away from the council chambers, including private meetings in Borough Hall and at the site.
He announced that the corps wants to start cleaning up five of eight eligible sites, in part. to help the state Department of Transportation (DOT) replace the Essex Street Bridge and improve Route 17.
At least two of the targeted sites are in Lodi. Thus, this will require the corps to keep shipping foreign contaminated soils into the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) for off-site disposal. Maywood governing body members have historically allowed this, even while two federal agencies have admitted to stalling providing their own community details on a comprehensive cleanup plan for almost eight years.
Critics have asserted that the council's letting federal authorities use Maywood as a base to clean up everyone else, without first requiring them to reveal how all of Maywood will be cleaned up, is tantamount to a sellout. They argue that doing so ultimately weakens the municipality's hand as it advocates for a permanent cleanup of all borough sites.
As part of its plan, the DOT also wants to improve exit and entrance ramps from Route 17 leading to and from the bridge, and perform some widening on Essex Street straddling Maywood and Lodi. The state has been negotiating access agreements with Maywood property owners, including homeowners on the southerly end of Maywood Avenue, to start the massive project. DOT officials have held at least one preliminary meeting, at the Bergen Mall, to brief residents and officials on their plans.
Roos had no good news on making definite progress in divulging the proposed plan.
The federal government still does not know what to do with Maywood's larger commercial tracts. This despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars cleaning up 64 smaller sites and over 20 years studying the area's problems using contractors Bechtel National Inc. (DOE) and Stone and Webster (ACE).
"We hope to have it (plan) before the public in the next couple of months," said
Roos, who has made such comments for at least the last two years.
"Whether you (mayor and council) have any reason to have faith in that statement," he continued, "I make it just the same."
Any plan would address the biggest volume of waste remaining under "Phase II" commercial properties. These include the Sears Distribution Center, DeSaussure Engineering, Federal Express and the MISS tract near Stepan Chemical Company, the cited responsible party.
Just how much Stepan - whose company president regularly donates campaign cash to Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) - pays could be essential in determining the scope of Maywood's final cleanup. Torricelli, who helped negotiate bringing DOE into the site while a congressman in 1983, has remained silent regarding his position on Maywood's future cleanup.
Torricelli's efforts made the federal government responsible for paying all future thorium (though not chemical) contamination costs. He acted after the EPA already told Stepan in early 1983 that it was liable for financing the cleanup of "radioactive contamination," under the Superfund law.
Torricelli's successor, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), has called on the corps to move toward issuing an ultimate record of decision (ROD). Yet he has also stated that the taxpayers, and not Torricelli's campaign donor, should finance any final thorium cleanup. This is in line with the arrangement, known then as the "DOE-Stepan agreement," Torricelli negotiated.
Under federal regulations, developing a proposed plan requires a public hearing in receiving input for reaching a ROD, which details the final cleanup remedy. Yet the ACE and the DOE have instead implemented "removal actions" in doing smaller cleanups.
They have done this while citing regulations, which, they say, let them get around providing the public a proposed plan. Yet in doing so, Roos' agency and the DOE abandoned a prior federal promise to obey the proposed plan requirements for the entire cleanup. These regulations are spelled out in the federal Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Superfund law. Federal officials once pledged to follow these regulations in cleaning up both residential (Phase I) and commercial (Phase II) sites.
While the U.S. government has performed removal actions, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, has repeatedly provided federal officials text from their own written regulations questioning the legality. These documents clearly state that agencies can only do "removals" in addressing "immediate threats," which they must first declare.
Nolan asserts that the corps cannot undertake "removals" in starting construction projects, like the DOT's highway plan.
"We have indicated our intentions to undertake removal actions for eight properties," said Roos, adding that 24 (of 88) properties, including Maywood's bigger commercial sites, must still be addressed.
He identified two of the Lodi tracts as being at 72 Sydney St. and 88 Money St.
Roos said they are undeveloped and have no ongoing activities. Maywood properties the corps wants to address, as part of the DOT plan, include a portion of the Sears Distribution Center site off Route 17.
"With undeveloped sites, the logistics of getting on the property and doing the remediation are much easier," he explained, contrasting the situation to the larger commercial sites in Maywood still operating, such as Sears.
In trying to develop a proposed plan for the larger commercial sites, Roos and his agency have been holding discussions for the last three to four years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state Department of Environmental Protection. These other agencies play some role in evaluating the plan.
Roos told council members that he could not discuss what the corps might want to do under the plan before its public release.
In offering a "best-case scenario" to Mayor Wayne Kuss, Roos said it could take up to six years to finally clean up all of Maywood. Yet Roos told TRUTH HURTS after his appearance that the corps will try making "every effort" to shorten that time frame.
The EPA has already informed Roos that the corps should have provided a remediation schedule for any remaining Phase II properties. The corps never did. Additionally, the EPA criticized Roos' agency for needlessly prolonging the entire process leading to the proposed plan and ROD.
Yet Roos has steadfastly balked at signing a Federal Facilities Agreement with the EPA, which would give that agency greater oversight authority. The EPA has not forced this issue to a head, despite repeated criticisms from Maywood residents upset with the snail's pace of these activities.
But as early as 1994, the EPA stated that the DOE was also witholding the proposed plan's release (DOE took control in 1983). The EPA then cited "community concerns" over a DOE proposal to implement soil washing as the reason. Roos' agency is still considering treatment options eight years later.
Nolan, who branded Roos as "totally arrogant," told TRUTH HURTS it was time for the corps to offer his communnity some firm answers on Maywood's future.
"That's the problem with Mr. Roos," said Nolan reacting to the site manager's own
admission that council members had a right not to trust his predictions on the proposed plan. "He never has given the community any definite answers."
The council, as has been existing policy, did not press the corps on why it has delayed providing Maywood residents the proposed plan since acquiring the site five years ago. It essentially gave Roos the green light for moving forward in 2002 on the DOT plan.
Republican Councilman Thomas Gaffney did criticize the corps in charging that it never told the council of recent and dramatic developments, which could seriously impact Maywood, happening out in Colorado.
There, the state's Republican governor has iced the corps' plans for taking Phase II wastes (including from the properties Roos discussed March 27) on rail cars to the Cotter Corp. permanent disposal site in Canon City.
Citizens there have expressed opposition to accepting what published reports have cited as up to 470,000 cubic yards from New Jersey. The State of Colorado recently enacted a law requiring its health department to carefully review the plan in addressing safety concerns.
Though local government estimates have cited over 300,000 cubic yards of tainted soil remaining in Maywood, Roos told the council his agency plans on cleaning up only about 200,000 yards of that total. Roos' figure conflicts with press accounts in Colorado, which have cited up to 470,000 cubic yards remaining in Maywood, under the corps contract with Cotter. Some commercial sites remain in Lodi as well.
"What upsets me is that this has been going on and you haven't heard anything
about it," Gaffney.told Roos.
He noted that he only learned of the flap in reading a Colorado newspaper article on
the Internet.
Roos, who made no mention of these developments in his presentation (before Gaffney raised them), seemed unconcerned.
"That's not affecting us in our current schedule," he said. "We have existing contracts in place ... If the Colorado Department of Health said no ... it won't affect what I'm doing now."
Kuss thanked Roos for coming out. "It's the first time anyone proactively came forward (from the corps) and offered information," the mayor said.
Roos noted that he earlier appeared at a council meeting under Mayor Thomas Murphy in 1998.
END OF ALL ORIGINAL POSTS, DUPLICATES FOLLOW
Five more years of study at Maywood site can't yield answers
By Chris Neidenberg
It has been almost five years since his agency took over the project from the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE). Yet the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) site manager recently told borough officials he still has no clue on when Maywoodians will finally see the federally-mandated proposed cleanup plan for over 300,000 cubic yards of soil - laced with thorium and chemical contamination - under large industrial tracts in the Superfund site.
Allen Roos, head of the corps' efforts here since 1998, told Borough Council.members on March 27 that his group wanted to clean up another roughly 1,500 cubic yards from some smaller sites in Lodi and Maywood in 2002 without any conceptual plan.
Roos made a very rare public appearance before the governing body during its March 27 meeting. The site manager and other corps representatives have generally restricted contact with municipal officials to forums away from the council chambers, including private meetings in Borough Hall and at the site.
He announced that the corps wants to start cleaning up five of eight eligible sites, in part. to help the state Department of Transportation (DOT) replace the Essex Street Bridge and improve Route 17.
At least two of the targeted sites are in Lodi. Thus, this will require the corps to keep shipping foreign contaminated soils into the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) for off-site disposal. Maywood governing body members have historically allowed this, even while two federal agencies have admitted to stalling providing their own community details on a comprehensive cleanup plan for almost eight years.
Critics have asserted that the council's letting federal authorities use Maywood as a base to clean up everyone else, without first requiring them to reveal how all of Maywood will be cleaned up, is tantamount to a sellout. They argue that doing so ultimately weakens the municipality's hand as it advocates for a permanent cleanup of all borough sites.
As part of its plan, the DOT also wants to improve exit and entrance ramps from Route 17 leading to and from the bridge, and perform some widening on Essex Street straddling Maywood and Lodi. The state has been negotiating access agreements with Maywood property owners, including homeowners on the southerly end of Maywood Avenue, to start the massive project. DOT officials have held at least one preliminary meeting, at the Bergen Mall, to brief residents and officials on their plans.
Roos had no good news on making definite progress in divulging the proposed plan.
The federal government still does not know what to do with Maywood's larger commercial tracts. This despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars cleaning up 64 smaller sites and over 20 years studying the area's problems using contractors Bechtel National Inc. (DOE) and Stone and Webster (ACE).
"We hope to have it (plan) before the public in the next couple of months," said
Roos, who has made such comments for at least the last two years.
"Whether you (mayor and council) have any reason to have faith in that statement," he continued, "I make it just the same."
Any plan would address the biggest volume of waste remaining under "Phase II" commercial properties. These include the Sears Distribution Center, DeSaussure Engineering, Federal Express and the MISS tract near Stepan Chemical Company, the cited responsible party.
Just how much Stepan - whose company president regularly donates campaign cash to Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) - pays could be essential in determining the scope of Maywood's final cleanup. Torricelli, who helped negotiate bringing DOE into the site while a congressman in 1983, has remained silent regarding his position on Maywood's future cleanup.
Torricelli's efforts made the federal government responsible for paying all future thorium (though not chemical) contamination costs. He acted after the EPA already told Stepan in early 1983 that it was liable for financing the cleanup of "radioactive contamination," under the Superfund law.
Torricelli's successor, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), has called on the corps to move toward issuing an ultimate record of decision (ROD). Yet he has also stated that the taxpayers, and not Torricelli's campaign donor, should finance any final thorium cleanup. This is in line with the arrangement, known then as the "DOE-Stepan agreement," Torricelli negotiated.
Under federal regulations, developing a proposed plan requires a public hearing in receiving input for reaching a ROD, which details the final cleanup remedy. Yet the ACE and the DOE have instead implemented "removal actions" in doing smaller cleanups.
They have done this while citing regulations, which, they say, let them get around providing the public a proposed plan. Yet in doing so, Roos' agency and the DOE abandoned a prior federal promise to obey the proposed plan requirements for the entire cleanup. These regulations are spelled out in the federal Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Superfund law. Federal officials once pledged to follow these regulations in cleaning up both residential (Phase I) and commercial (Phase II) sites.
While the U.S. government has performed removal actions, Michael Nolan, environmental chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Maywood, has repeatedly provided federal officials text from their own written regulations questioning the legality. These documents clearly state that agencies can only do "removals" in addressing "immediate threats," which they must first declare.
Nolan asserts that the corps cannot undertake "removals" in starting construction projects, like the DOT's highway plan.
"We have indicated our intentions to undertake removal actions for eight properties," said Roos, adding that 24 (of 88) properties, including Maywood's bigger commercial sites, must still be addressed.
He identified two of the Lodi tracts as being at 72 Sydney St. and 88 Money St.
Roos said they are undeveloped and have no ongoing activities. Maywood properties the corps wants to address, as part of the DOT plan, include a portion of the Sears Distribution Center site off Route 17.
"With undeveloped sites, the logistics of getting on the property and doing the remediation are much easier," he explained, contrasting the situation to the larger commercial sites in Maywood still operating, such as Sears.
In trying to develop a proposed plan for the larger commercial sites, Roos and his agency have been holding discussions for the last three to four years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state Department of Environmental Protection. These other agencies play some role in evaluating the plan.
Roos told council members that he could not discuss what the corps might want to do under the plan before its public release.
In offering a "best-case scenario" to Mayor Wayne Kuss, Roos said it could take up to six years to finally clean up all of Maywood. Yet Roos told TRUTH HURTS after his appearance that the corps will try making "every effort" to shorten that time frame.
The EPA has already informed Roos that the corps should have provided a remediation schedule for any remaining Phase II properties. The corps never did. Additionally, the EPA criticized Roos' agency for needlessly prolonging the entire process leading to the proposed plan and ROD.
Yet Roos has steadfastly balked at signing a Federal Facilities Agreement with the EPA, which would give that agency greater oversight authority. The EPA has not forced this issue to a head, despite repeated criticisms from Maywood residents upset with the snail's pace of these activities.
But as early as 1994, the EPA stated that the DOE was also witholding the proposed plan's release (DOE took control in 1983). The EPA then cited "community concerns" over a DOE proposal to implement soil washing as the reason. Roos' agency is still considering treatment options eight years later.
Nolan, who branded Roos as "totally arrogant," told TRUTH HURTS it was time for the corps to offer his communnity some firm answers on Maywood's future.
"That's the problem with Mr. Roos," said Nolan reacting to the site manager's own
admission that council members had a right not to trust his predictions on the proposed plan. "He never has given the community any definite answers."
The council, as has been existing policy, did not press the corps on why it has delayed providing Maywood residents the proposed plan since acquiring the site five years ago. It essentially gave Roos the green light for moving forward in 2002 on the DOT plan.
Republican Councilman Thomas Gaffney did criticize the corps in charging that it never told the council of recent and dramatic developments, which could seriously impact Maywood, happening out in Colorado.
There, the state's Republican governor has iced the corps' plans for taking Phase II wastes (including from the properties Roos discussed March 27) on rail cars to the Cotter Corp. permanent disposal site in Canon City.
Citizens there have expressed opposition to accepting what published reports have cited as up to 470,000 cubic yards from New Jersey. The State of Colorado recently enacted a law requiring its health department to carefully review the plan in addressing safety concerns.
Though local government estimates have cited over 300,000 cubic yards of tainted soil remaining in Maywood, Roos told the council his agency plans on cleaning up only about 200,000 yards of that total. Roos' figure conflicts with press accounts in Colorado, which have cited up to 470,000 cubic yards remaining in Maywood, under the corps contract with Cotter. Some commercial sites remain in Lodi as well.
"What upsets me is that this has been going on and you haven't heard anything
about it," Gaffney.told Roos.
He noted that he only learned of the flap in reading a Colorado newspaper article on
the Internet.
Roos, who made no mention of these developments in his presentation (before Gaffney raised them), seemed unconcerned.
"That's not affecting us in our current schedule," he said. "We have existing contracts in place ... If the Colorado Department of Health said no ... it won't affect what I'm doing now."
Kuss thanked Roos for coming out. "It's the first time anyone proactively came forward (from the corps) and offered information," the mayor said.
Roos noted that he earlier appeared at a council meeting under Mayor Thomas Murphy in 1998.
END OF ALL ORIGINAL POSTS, DUPLICATES FOLLOW
