HOBOKEN–The beginning of construction on the planned Southwest Park in Hoboken will be delayed for at least three months after the state mandated that the city search for Indian ruins, colonial artifacts, and signs of early man beneath the parking lot slated to become the city’s newest recreation area, according to Assistant Business Administrator Stephen Marks.
As a condition of receiving a $4.7 million low-interest state loan to fund the park’s build out, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has required that Hoboken undertake a level 2 environmental review of the property, which includes an archeological survey.
“It’s definitely not something we would do on our own,” said Marks. “We appealed it, but per the letter of the regulation…they have the right to ask for this and we either have to comply or we don’t move forward.”
The loan from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (NJEIT) has not been officially granted yet, but Marks said he could not foresee a circumstance in which it wouldn’t be.
The changes push back the city’s expected date for breaking ground on the park to October 2015, but Marks said much of the construction work should be able to continue through the winter. With the exception of final planting and landscaping, said Marks, “the only thing you really can’t do during the colder weather months is asphalt.”
In order to conduct the archeological excavation and other unforeseen services, landscape architecture firm Starr Whitehouse, the city’s contractor for the pre-construction work on the Southwest Park, requested an increase of $90,751 on its contract with Hoboken, bringing its total value to $504,302. The City Council approved the increase Wednesday with eight affirmative votes and Councilwoman Theresa Castellano voting present.
Starr Whitehouse’s request had been $3,040 higher, but the firm agreed to come down on the costs cited for its investigation of installing a large-scale rainwater recycling system in the park, according to Councilman Tim Occhipinti. The City Council decided not to pursue such a system in April, but the park will still include a 200,000-gallon stormwater retention chamber.
Through various amendments, Starr Whitehouse’s contract for the planning of the Southwest Park has increased by $145,751 since it was first awarded last September. $250,000 of the contract is covered by a U.S. Department of the Interior grant.
The Southwest Park, which the city hopes to expand in the future, will occupy most of a trapezoidal lot inscribed by Harrison Street, Observer Highway, Paterson Avenue, and Jackson Street.
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