The Town of Guttenberg tapped into its state Urban Enterprise Project Funds during July and came up with $125,000 for the Boulevard East Streetscape and Veterans Memorial Outlook Project, as well as an additional $43,318 towards the purchase of two new police vehicles, said Mayor David Delle Donna.
Two applications for funding from the U.E.Z. Project Fund were approved by the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Board at its monthly meeting last week after a presentation by Guttenberg U.E.Z. Coordinator Joanne Martin and Meadowlands Associates, Inc., the town’s grants consultant.
According to Delle Donna, the $125,000 award will be added to the $425,000 New Jersey Department of Transportation grant and $250,000 Community Development Block Grant from the county already obtained for the project. The application to the U.E.Z. was made necessary by additional costs created by subterranean conditions that had to be alleviated after the start of the project.
The Boulevard East Streetscape and Veterans Memorial Outlook Project involve installation of sidewalks, pavers, street lighting and the expansion of the current site at the Veterans Memorial overlook. The expansion is aided by approval from the county to extend the sidewalk out about 20 feet at what is the widest part of Boulevard East. With the expansion, more benches, trees and shrubbery will be added to create a mini-park right on the Boulevard at that point.
No municipal tax dollars
Councilpersons Jennifer Credidio and Efrain Velez, who serve on the Recreation and Public Works committees of the council respectively, praised the Boulevard East Project.
“It will serve as an additional passive recreation site at the overlook for the entire community,” said Credidio, “and the proximity to both the Galaxy Towers and the senior buildings will ensure that it is going to get a lot of use.”
“I’m grateful that the all the funding sources were available and that we aggressively pursued them,” said Velez, “because it allows us to complete this entire project and bring additional benefits to the community without the use of municipal tax dollars.”
New police vehicles
The application for $43,318 for the purchase of two new police vehicles will be used to purchase one Ford Crown Victoria and one Dodge Durango 4×4 to help modernize the police department’s equipment. The vehicles will be purchased under the state contract, and the municipality’s required contribution towards the total purchase price of $55,148 will be $10,830.
Councilmen Frank Criscione and Gerald Drasheff, who serve on the Public Safety and Finance council committees respectively, disclosed that the vehicle purchase is just part of a modernization and expansion program for the Police Department. “We have already submitted applications and are on the waiting list for funding under the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Community Oriented Policing Services for an additional police officer for general assignment and for an additional officer to be placed in the school,” said Criscione.
According to Drasheff, the town would receive $200,000 over a three-year period for both those positions, and will ultimately get the grant. “But, unfortunately, the yearly federal appropriation to the program was reduced because of fiscal demands brought about by the terrorism problem,” he said, “and we will have to wait longer to get the funding.”
“Both U.E.Z. awards came from sales tax monies collected by merchants and business that belong to the U.E.Z. program,” said Councilwoman Adela Martinez, who heads the Human Resources council committee, “and it points out the tremendous benefit to the Guttenberg Urban Enterprise Zone and the community as a whole by their participation.”
Martinez disclosed that the town is going to make a concerted effort this fall and implement a marketing program to attract more businesses to join the U.E.Z. According to Mayor Delle Donna, “Many of the improvements in the community would have not occurred without the availability of U.E.Z. monies. You can only stretch tax dollars so far, and as a small community our resources are limited. Aggressively pursuing outside funding is our only option.”