Title
Dept/ Agency: Economic and Housing Development
Action: (X) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Application of Grant Funds
Purpose: Remedial Investigation, Remedial Action and report preparation for Newark Riverfront Park as part of the Lister Avenue Brown Development Area project
Entity Name: City of Newark/ Department of Economic and Housing Development
Entity Address: 920 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102
Grant Amount: $2,465,206.00 for Remedial Action and $147,825.00 for Remedial Investigation
Funding Source: New Jersey Economic Development Authority
Total Project Cost: $5,416,514.00
City Contribution: No municipal funds needed
Other Funding Source/Amount: 25% matching funds from Newark Community Economic Development Corporation
Contract Period: September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2018
Contract Basis: ( ) Bid ( ) State Vendor ( ) Prof. Ser. ( ) EUS
( ) Fair & Open ( ) No Reportable Contributions ( ) RFP ( ) RFQ
( ) Private Sale (X) Grant ( ) Sub-recipient ( ) n/a
List of Property:)
(Address/Block/Lot/Ward)
Lister Avenue BDA Project “City Parcels”/Block 2025, Lots 1 and 2/Block 2026, Lots 1, 7, 19 and 22/Block 2028, Lot 1, and Jackson Street Bridge Right of Way (East Ward)
Additional Information:
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WHEREAS, the Mayor and Municipal Council of the City of Newark, New Jersey recognize that redevelopment of potentially environmentally impaired and economically underutilized properties (i.e., Brownfields) is in the public interest and will contribute to generating new property tax ratables, provide jobs and stimulate cultural and economic health and community; and
WHEREAS, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP") works with selected communities to design and implement coordinated remediation and reuse plans for areas affected by multiple underutilized properties with known or suspected contamination through the Brownfield Development Area ("BDA") Initiative; and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Council supported and endorsed the determination of a BDA along the Passaic River in the East Ward of Newark, bounded by Lister Avenue to the South, (the “Lister Avenue BDA”) via Resolution 7Rcd (A.S.) adopted on June 4, 2003; and
WHEREAS, NJDEP approved the designation of the Lister Avenue BDA in 2004; and
WHEREAS, the NJDEP and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority ("NJEDA") have made funds available through its Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund Municipal Grant Program ("HDSRF Program") by providing grants for investigation and cleanup activities of brownfield development areas; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Resolution 7R3-d, adopted April 15, 2009, the Municipal Council authorized the Mayor to take action necessary and appropriate to extend the Lister Avenue BDA to include properties formerly known as Joseph G. Minish Passaic Riverfront Park and Historic Area, and now referred to as “Newark Riverfront Park”, with the goal of redeveloping and rehabilitating the properties as public open space, and to submit an application for a grant from HDSRF Program for environmental investigation and remediation; and
WHEREAS, in November 2009, NJDEP approved the expansion of the Lister Avenue BDA to include Newark Riverfront Park; and
WHEREAS, the following parcels are listed in the expanded Lister Avenue BDA and are part of the proposed Newark Riverfront Park, collectively referenced herein as the "City Parcels": Block 2025, Lots 1 and 2, Block 2026, Lots 1, 7, 19 and 22, Block 2028, Lots 1 and the Jackson Street Bridge Right of Way; and
WHEREAS, the Trust for Public Land ("TPL"), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving land for recreation and open space purposes, is partnering with the City of Newark to design, remediate and redevelop the City Parcels within the Newark Riverfront Park; and
WHEREAS, Hatch Mott MacDonald ("HMM"), an environmental consulting firm retained by TPL, has performed a Preliminary Assessment, Site Investigation, and Remedial Investigation of the City Parcels and determined that hazardous substances have been discharged on the property due to historic industrial activity and the historic use of fill materials; and
WHEREAS, in consultation with TPL and the City of Newark, HMM has prepared an application seeking a HDSRF grant in the amount of $147,825.00 based on a request for Remedial Investigation funding; and
WHEREAS, in consultation with TPL and the City of Newark, HMM has prepared an application seeking a HDSRF grant in the amount of $2,465,206.00 for Remedial Action as well as report preparation for the City Parcels; and
WHEREAS, no matching funds are required for the Remedial Investigation portion of the grants ($147,825.00); however the Remedial Action portion of the grants ($2,465,206.00) requires a 25% match of approved remedial action costs; and
WHEREAS, on June 24, 2014, the Municipal Council adopted Ordinance 6PS&Fa granting a long term tax abatement to Three Penn Plaza Property Holdings Urban Renewal, LLC, an urban renewal entity qualified to do business under the provisions of the Long Term Tax Exemption Law as amended and supplemented, N.J.S.A. 40A:20-1 et seq., (“LTTEL Entity”) and authorizing the Mayor and/or his designee to enter into a financial agreement (the “Financial Agreement”) with the LTTEL Entity; and
WHEREAS, the Financial Agreement provides, in pertinent part, that, in lieu of payments which would otherwise be due and payable to the City, the LTTEL Entity shall provide a grant in the amount of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) to Greenspaces (a fund of the Community Foundation of New Jersey with a principal place of business at 35 Knox Hill Road, Morristown, New Jersey), to act as the City’s agent for certain delineated purposes, including but not limited to the acquisition, design, improvement and maintenance of riverfront parks within the City; and
WHEREAS, Resolution 7R3-a (AS), adopted by the Municipal Council on January 21, 2015 authorized the amendment of the Financial Agreement (the “Amended Financial Agreement”) to provide that Newark Community Economic Development Corporation (“Newark CEDC”) will replace Greenspaces as the City’s agent for the purposes delineated above; and
WHEREAS, the Amended Financial Agreement provides, among other things, for the LTTEL Entity to provide a grant in the amount of Five Million Dollars and Zero Cents ($5,000,000.00) to Newark CEDC to be used, among other things, for the acquisition of land for riverfront parks, and the design and development of Newark Riverfront Park site improvements in accordance with the Amended Financial Agreement; and
WHEREAS, Newark CEDC, through a letter from its Director which is hereby annexed as Exhibit A, has agreed to utilize $616,301.00 of these funds as the 25% match for the Remedial Action portion of the HDSRF grant.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Mayor and or his designee, the Business Administrator, and the Deputy Mayor/Director of the Department of Economic and Housing Development are hereby authorized to apply for an application to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund Municipal Grant Program requesting grant funding in the estimated amount of $147, 825.00 for remedial investigation and $2,465,206.00 for remedial action of Newark Riverfront Park as part of the Lister Avenue BDA Project Block 2025, Lots 1 and 2, Block 2026, Lots 1, 7, 19, and 22, Block 2028, Lot 1, and Jackson Street Bridge Right-of-Way, with a 25% match for the remedial action to be provided by Newark Community Economic Development Corporation in the amount of $616,301.00.
2. The Municipal Council hereby ratifies its authorization of this application from March 2, 2016 to the date of adoption of this authorizing resolution.
3. The application for a grant in the amount of $147, 825.00 based on remedial investigation and $2,465,206.00 based on remedial action for Newark Riverfront Park as part of the Lister Avenue BDA Project Block 2025, Lots 1 and 2, Block 2026, Lots 1, 7, 19, and 22, Block 2028, Lot 1, and Jackson Street Bridge Right of Way, from NJEDA HDSRF is hereby authorized
4. Newark Community Economic Development is authorized to execute grant documents and any amendment thereto as an authorized representative for the City of Newark for the NJEDA HDSRF grant awards in the amounts of $2,465,206.00 and $147,825.00 for remedial investigation, remedial action, and report preparation for the Newark Riverfront Park project pursuant to Resolution 7R3-a (AS), adopted by the Municipal Council on January 21, 2015.
5. The City Clerk shall furnish a certified copy of this Resolution to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
6. The Deputy Mayor/ Director of the Department of Economic and Housing Development shall file a fully-executed copy of the agreement between the City of Newark and NJEDA in the Office of City Clerk.
STATEMENT
This resolution authorizes and ratifies the Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator and Deputy Mayor/Director of the Department of Economic and Housing Development to apply for grant funds from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund Municipal Grant Program in the amounts of $2,465,206.00 and $147,825.00 for the Remedial Investigation, Remedial Action and report preparation for the proposed Newark Riverfront Park as part of the Lister Avenue BDA project, and to identify the allocation of funds from Newark Community Economic Development Corporation as the 25% match in an amount of $616,301.00, for the Remedial Action grant. No city funds required.