The Hoboken Parking Authority (HPA) has set a deadline for the completion of the much-maligned 324-car automated parking garage at 916 Garden St. On Monday, the HPA’s volunteer board passed a resolution 4-0 to select Tuesday, August 3 as that date when Lumberman’s Mutual Casualty Company of Lyndhurst must either turn over a working garage or stop work.
During the meeting, the board’s attorney, Ryan Marrone, of the law firm Hill, Wallack, presented the board with three options. The first was to wait and give Lumberman’s as much time as is needed to have its contractor finish the garage, which is already almost three years behind schedule. The second option was to set a time period and give surety a specific number of days to finish the building, while continuing to accrue late fees. The final option given was to call it quits, declare Lumberman’s in breach of contract, and pursue collecting the $6.3 million performance bond on the garage immediately.
After a couple of minutes of discussion, the HPA board came to a consensus.
“I think it is time we set a deadline,” said HPA Commissioner Michele Russo during Monday’s discussion. Russo then made a motion that was passed by the board. Outgoing Commissioners Alan Cohen and Daniel DeCavaignac abstained from voting because their last day on the board is Sunday, June 30.
According to the motion, Lumberman’s has 272 days from Sept. 10 of last year, not including federal holidays and Sundays, to either turn over a working product or cease work. If, at that time, the garage is not finished, the HPA will declare a breach in contract and attempt to claim the $6.3 million performance bond on the garage, a process that could take months or even years to litigate.
On Sept. 10, 2001 a “Take Over Agreement” between the HPA and the surety went into effect. Under the agreement, the insurance company was given 180 days to complete the project. The 180-day completion period ended April 17, 2002. Under that agreement, the HPA had the right to extend the completion period by an extra 90 days. Shortly after April 17, the HPA denied a request for an extension, and according to Marrone, the HPA began fining Lumberman’s $1,000 per business day in liquidated damages.
According to one HPA official, Lumberman’s has yet to pay any fines. This official added that Lumberman’s contends that the Take Over Agreement protects surety from paying liquidated damages. It is likely that, for the HPA to receive any damages, the autonomous body is going to have to litigate.
The 272-day period that was selected Monday was combination of the original 180-day period plus the 90-day extension (which was never granted) that were outlined in the original Take Over Agreement, plus two extra days for accounting purposes. The HPA was clear Monday that the resolution that passed was not an extension but is, in fact, a deadline. Therefore, the HPA will continue to assess a $1,000 per business day fine on Lumberman’s, according to the board’s attorney.
In the resolution, the HPA also requested a full accounting document from the insurance company. That document would include what Lumberman’s has spent since Sept. 10 and what the company plans on spending until completion. This is important because, according to the take over agreement, all construction costs incurred since Sept 10 can be deducted from the overall value of the $6.3 million construction bond.
Can it be done?
Now all of the attention turns to surety and the contractor that is charged with finishing the garage. The surety must oversee the contractor and make sure they get the work done.
On Thursday, Robotic Parking Inc., the Florida-based engineering firm charged with installing the automated features, released a statement stating that it will finish the project by the deadline.
“The company’s minimal portion of the contractual work left to be done will be completed within the project’s deadline,” the statement read. “Over the past two weeks, as part of the final phase of completing of the automated system, Robotic Parking has routinely stored and retrieved cars in continuous cycles daily, and will continue to do so. The purpose of this is to increase the system’s reliability in this final phase of installation.”
Also Thursday, HPA chairman Frank Turso had a positive take about the testing that is ongoing. “This week, I viewed several demonstrations where a number of cars were successfully and smoothly parked and retrieved simultaneously,” he said.
But the previous week, the head of Robotic Parking, Gerhard Haag, had released a memo to the HPA suggesting that he was concerned about the testing. The memo, in reference to a failed test held June 11, was discussed at Monday’s HPA meeting.
“The incident of today raised questions and opened my eyes in different ways,” Haag wrote. “Obviously we are not where we thought we are.”
In the communication, he said that “the expectation that this garage can be run without the support from an operator is not realistic” and that he expected it would be between four and eight weeks from June 11 before the garage would be ready for the phasing in of cars.
Robotics responded to that memo Friday by saying that it was an internal memo that should never have been leaked to the public. They said that glitches and small setbacks like the one on June 11 are common and just part of the construction process.
“We are on the cusp of completion,” said Haag in a statement released Friday afternoon. “As is typical of any automation installation project, whether it be your own computer network installation or the space shuttle launch, there may be glitches in the final installation process, and occasionally along the way. Taking this hiccup and blowing it out of proportion is unfortunate. Necessary adjustments have been made and the problem has been addressed honestly, promptly and professionally.”
The company added in the statement that it has full confidence in its employees to finish the project. “We have a very dedicated and competent staff that has been working literally around the clock to bring a great product to the city to help offset a major parking problem,” the statement reads. “There are many people very excited about seeing this garage finally open. It will help make life better and easier for Hoboken’s residents. That’s the message that can’t be forgotten.”
Resident parking changes to be implemented shortly
In March, the City Council passed a regulation stating that half of most city streets not covered by meters will be marked for “Resident Parking Only.” People with a business permit, temporary permit, visitor permit or no permit at all would never be able to park on that side. Residents can park on either side of the street. While it has taken longer than expected to implement, City Business Administrator Laurie Cotter said Thursday that she expects the phase-in of the regulations to happen within the next 30 days. “City workers are diligently making the signs as we speak,” said Cotter. She added that the regulations will be phased in street by street and full notification will be given to residents. She also said the new signs will be visually distinctive from the old ones. While the current resident parking signs are white with green letters, the new signs will be green with white letters. Not all city streets will be governed by the ordinance. The regulation states that the entire length of Washington Street will be exempt from “Resident Parking Only” zones. Other exempt areas include Hudson Street from Observer Highway to Fifth Street; Hudson Street from 11th to Fourteenth streets (where the Shipyard project and King’s supermarket are), and Bloomfield Street from Seventh to 14th Street.