Weehawken and Hoboken plan to pay $15,000 per month to share space at a private facility near both towns’ border for storage of public works equipment and salt.
The city of Hoboken announced the joint venture in a press release on Monday, after it had searched desperately for a place to move some operations from its existing municipal garage. Their garage has to be moved from the southern part of town to make way for a private developer who bought the land.
The two towns plan to use a private facility at 1714-16 Willow Ave. in Hoboken.
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner said the details of the arrangement and payments will be determined in the next few weeks.
“It depends on how much storage space each town is using,” Turner said. Weehawken plans to use the space as an auxiliary to their main storage facility on Park Avenue near Town Hall, to house “spill over” equipment like snow spreaders and salt, he said.
“This location was convenient for both municipalities.” – Juan Melli
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Turner said Weehawken will probably use only about 25 percent of the building.
Hoboken, on the other hand, plans to store 50 vehicles, including snowplow trucks, pick-up trucks, and four garbage trucks.
Hoboken residents had protested in the past few months because the city had considered residential areas for garage operations. Many people feared having recycling trucks going in and out of a garage in their neighborhoods.
Learning to share
The terms of the agreement ban the storage of hazardous materials or garbage on site, and require that entry and exit must take place on access roads, not residential streets.
“We have to watch traffic and noise impacts, but depending on how the joint operation works, we would be interested in expanding this location or looking into sharing other locations in the future,” Turner said. He added the county is also in need of a location to store salt.
With land at a premium in Hudson County, townships sharing facilities might become more and more common.
“Sharing a location cuts down on all sorts of costs like lighting and surveillance,” he said. “And land is very dear in this area.”
This is not the first time Hoboken and Weehawken have found ways to share common facilities. Stevens Institute’s soccer, softball and track teams use the Weehawken Waterfront Recreation Center fields, while Weehawken residents can use the university’s library and are eligible for special summer classes and seminars, Turner said.
Under the bridge
The decision to house equipment in a “desolate area” under a bridge wasn’t only to keep the operation away from residents, Turner said.
“All kinds of illegal behavior takes place under bridges, especially in an urban environment,” he said. “We’re always down there picking up illegally dumped garbage and cleaning up the area.”
Weehawken will house as many as 10 trucks, including at least one dump truck, 12 salt spreaders and tons of salt at the new location.
“The only place you can’t build [residentially] is under a bridge. This location was perfect for us.”
What happened to Clinton Street closing?
The announcement to move Hoboken’s municipal garage to Willow Avenue came just a week after the City Council passed a plan to shut down Clinton Street between 15th and 16th Streets to temporarily house the city’s vehicles.
“We only discovered [the Weehawken agreement] was a possibility the day after the council voted,” said Hoboken city spokesman Juan Melli.
“We don’t yet know whether the developer is going to close [on the Observer Highway property],” he added. “For now at least we have other options.”
Melli said there are no plans to close Clinton Street for municipal use at this time.
The city sold the Observer Highway garage building to the S. Hekemian Group for $25.5 million dollars in 2008 in a deal that should be finalized at a closing Aug. 13.
The 60-day lease agreement, entered into with Willow Avenue Enterprises, began Monday and ends Sept. 26, when both towns have the option to renew it for two 180-day periods.
“In the short term, we didn’t want to enter into an agreement in case the [development] deal isn’t finalized,” Melli said, regarding the sale of the current building. “Once we know what happens and where we stand, we’ll evaluate what we need to do going forward.”
Sean Allocca can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com