Parks galore? County open space fund begins bearing fruit

Although North 40 Park is slated to open in the spring – one of the crowning jewels in the network of Bayonne parks – it is only one of three projects in Bayonne and almost a dozen countywide that have been approved for funding under Hudson County’s new Open Space Trust Fund.

The Open Space Trust Fund is generated through a one cent per $100 assessed value tax on property throughout the county. In 2004, the fund generated $3.5 million used towards projects awarded in 2005. The fund has generated $4.2 million from 2005, which is expected to be used in 2006. The county also receives $1.2 million in Green Acres grants as a result of having the trust fund in place.

The North 40 Park – almost 40 acres of formerly contaminated land just north of Stephen Gregg County Park – is seen as one of the more innovative of the new projects funded, an environmental passive park that will allow students to study nature, and nature lovers to watch wildlife in action close-up.

County officials said Bayonne got funding for several park projects, including money to help develop a memorial park to honor the victims of 9/11, and possibly a North Street soccer field. Bayonne received almost $1.4 million from the fund.

Other projects

But the fund also gave money to other projects in the county, which included:

· $2 million to help Secaucus purchase a vacant piece of land known as “the Petrillo site,” which will be annexed to an existing recreation and open space development as part of its riverfront passive and active recreation network.
· $1.2 million for the purchase of property at 7100 River Road in Guttenberg for the development of a waterfront park.
· $2 million for the purchase of land at 1600 Park Ave. in Hoboken for the development of a passive and recreation park that will connect to nearby Linear Park and create what the city calls a “green circuit.”
· $325,000 for purchase of vacant land at 2800 Palisades Ave. in Weehawken for a public garden with passive and recreational opportunities for the area and a nearby public school.
· $600,000 for the Loew’s Theater in Jersey City, approved with a provision that money be dedicated to state improvements and air conditioning in order to make the facility available year round.
· $400,000 for restoration of the Ellis Island Ferry Terminal in Jersey City.
· $600,000 for restoration, rehabilitation and preservation of the Apple Tree House in Jersey City.
· $515,000 for the construction of a riverfront walkway that will connect existing sections of the Hoboken walkway to future sections in Weehawken.
· $25,000 to The Education Arts Team Inc., a nonprofit organization that is seeking to repair its pool for its Cape Liberty summer program.
· $200,000 for the development and reconstruction of a playground in Kearny.

Steve Marks, director of the county’s Planning Department, said the county has already moved into the second season of review projects.

“We had a mandatory pre-submission conference,” he said, during a telephone interview in late January. Those who intended to submit proposals had to attend.”

About 40 to 50 people from most of the municipalities in Hudson County attended, and the Open Space Advisory Board fielded questions and held a Green Acres workshop that went over some of the details of the trust fund and what criteria projects needed to meet.

Officials from Garden State Green Ways project and the New Jersey Historic Trust Fund also attended since the Open Space Trust Fund is open to park development, improvements, and work dealing with preservation of historic places.

Applications due by March 27

Applications for new projects must be submitted to the county by March 27, slightly different from last year, when the county started later in the year.

Marks said the idea is to match the county’s funding with funds from other granting sources such as the state Green Acres program or Community Block Grant funds.

Last year, the county received 18 applications and recommended granting 13 to the Hudson County Board of Freeholders.

“We encourage municipalities and groups to develop partnerships, and this funding helps provide leverage for additional funds,” he said.

Every project is scored according to specific criteria, and the advisory board scores and ranks each project, and makes recommendations as to which should be funded.

“The freeholders actually decide which project to fund, and at what level or if there are conditions,” Marks said.

All the county’s municipalities are eligible, so are those nonprofits that have a 502 certificate. Open Space funds can be used for providing open space such as parks and recreation, making improvements to existing parks and recreation, or for historic preservation. The money must be used for capital improvements, not programs, he said.

Under the rules, the trust fund will fund up to 50 percent of the cost of land acquisition, up to 25 percent of the cost for development or redevelopment of recreation or conservation projects, and up to 25 percent of the cost of historic preservation.

Review and revise

Marks said that after the first year, the advisory committee sat down and re-examined many of the ways it evaluated applications and made some changes to the requirements such as requiring appraisals of the project submitted with the application as well as having the project ready to go.

In this regard, the county put in a stipulation that the application must be started within 36 months of approval, or the money reverts to the fund to be awarded elsewhere. This is more time than most other counties offer. Also, projects must meet state and federal disability accessibility requirements.

Marks said the board intended to have the next round of recommended projects ready for a June 14 public hearing at the freeholder board meeting, after which the freeholders would have 45 days to act.

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