Officials from Robotic Parking Inc., the Florida-based engineering firm charged with installing the automated features on the parking garage at 916 Garden St., issued a press release Friday saying they are not to blame for the latest delay in its opening. In an attempt to prove that the automated system does work, the company has scheduled a press conference for Monday to demonstrate garage’s performance – a decision they made on their own, not a joint one with the Parking Authority.
"We have been ready for weeks," said Gerhard Haag, the company’s founder, in Friday’s release. "We’re certified as ready, and now another month of delays has been added. Open the garage to Hoboken drivers or sell it to us."
The Hoboken Parking Authority’s seven-member volunteer board voted unanimously in a closed door meeting Wednesday, July 31 to extend the deadline for the surety to turn over a completed garage to Sept. 9. That established a new deadline for the insurance company that holds the performance bond to turn over a working and completed facility. Lumbermens’ Mutual Casualty Company of Princeton. N.J. holds the $6.3 million bond that guarantees the completion of the 324-car automated facility.
This is not a first time that the Hoboken Parking Authority (HPA) has granted an extension to Lumbermens’ (whose name occurs as "Lumbermen’s" on some documents, but is "Lumbermens’ " on the company’s own letterhead). If history is an indicator, it might not be the last extension. 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.
The180-day period came and passed, and the surety and its subcontractor Robotic continued working on the garage. On May 27, the board passed a resolution to give the contractors until August 3 to finish the work, 272 days from Sept. 10.
Even before the HPA and Lumbermens’ entered the take-over agreement in 2001, the project was already two years behind schedule.
Mayor David Roberts said Thursday that he is "frustrated and angry" about the "seeming endless" number of delays and cost overruns.
"Our goal is to have a garage that is safe and functional, and I’m guardedly optimistic that they will meet this final deadline," he said. He added that eventually the surety and "all the contractors involved" are going to have to produce a working product or stop work. "This can’t go on forever," said Roberts. He added if this deadline is not met, he said he will greatly step up the pressure and will utilize all legal options available to him.
Hard to get answers
What has made this whole process even more frustrating for many residents of Hoboken is that the public and media have not been let into the garage to see it function. Both advocates and critics of the facility have spun the status of the building in different ways.
The HPA’s attorney, Ryan Marrone, of the law firm Hill, Wallack, has advised the commissioners not to comment on the garage. Any time the commissioners talk about the status of the garage at meetings, they do so in closed session with no public comment.
Since neither the media nor public have been allowed to see the garage work, and the HPA doesn’t comment, the only information that comes out about the garage comes in the form of leaks from sources who may have varying agendas.
Don’t look at us
Haag, and Peggy Guignon, the company’s executive vice-president, said last week that this newest delay is not their fault.
"We’re ready to start phasing in cars," said Guignon Wednesday. "We, more than anyone, want this project to move forward. This last extension was done without our approval."
A memo that was received by the Reporter from an unidentified source (other than Guignon or Haag) supports some her and Haag’s claims.
The memo, which has not been officially released to the public, is from Vincent Miseo of Lumbermens’. The memo states that Retrotech Inc., the engineering consulting firm hired by surety to oversee the completion of the garage, observed the operation of the equipment on June 18, 2002. "As a result of its observations, Retrotech formally recommends the system be considered acceptable based on its current constructed and tested state," says the memo. "The surety understands that there are variances from the original design scope, but we recommend that these variances be accepted by the Hoboken Parking Authority."
The memo also says that the surety understands that are items left to be finished, but none of those items should be a "hindrance to normal automated operation."
Guignon said Wednesday that this is proof that their portion of the work is completed and the extension is only for the insurance company to finish such tasks as installing the sprinkler system, completing the electrical system and applying for a certificate of occupancy. Guignon said all of the remaining tasks are well out of the realm of what they are responsible for, and will be completed by Lumbermens’, not them. She added that they even gave their engineers the week off.
Different spin by others
However, critics of the project also point to the memo as proof that Robotics is turning over a faulty product. According to one official source, the "variances" discussed in the memo are significant. Robotic has admitted that the average car retrieval time of 132 seconds is 12 seconds over what is allowed in the contract. Haag blames this on what he called inconsistencies in the building’s steel construction.
This week, HPA engineering consultant John Coyle of Net Tech Solutions was in the garage testing the system. According to an official source, he will be testing the automated system as well as the safety systems for the next three weeks. He will then report back to the to the HPA, officials said.
Haag said that even though Coyle is in the garage doing tests, this was not the sole reason for the extension. He said Lumbermens’ was going to be working anyway, so this would be an opportunity for the HPA to "kick the tires".
"We’re ready," said Haag. "I was totally surprised by this new delay. I was ready to start phasing in cars Monday [August 5]."
Haag added that once the Lumbermens’ is finished, it will take about six week to phase in the public’s cars.
HPA Chairman Frank Turso had "no comment" and referred all questions to Marrone. Marrone did not return calls.