Dear Editor:
I want to acknowledge and applaud the many residents who took the time to attend the July 30th meeting at Huber Street School to learn the facts about the proposed development of the Ship Tank Property, ask their questions and express their concerns. The very reason that I, Mayor Dennis Elwell and the other second ward councilman insisted that the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) hold this meeting in Secaucus, and in the evening, was to give as many working residents as possible an opportunity to attend. The NJMC usually holds these variance hearings at 10 a.m. at its headquarters in Lyndhurst. Unfortunately, despite this fact, one speaker at the meeting, Mr. Troyer, accused town officials of holding “secret” meetings.
At the meeting, and in a Letter to the Editor published in your paper August 11th, Mr. Troyer made a number of false and misleading statements that I must set straight. While I defend every citizen’s right to question, comment on, and even disagree with any plan proposed for Secaucus, I cannot let misinformation stand as fact without setting the record straight.
What is common knowledge is the process for seeking variances. It’s a fact that the NJMC has a master plan, more commonly referred to as zoning laws.
Countless residents have stood before our local Board of Adjustment to seek variance from what is required when either constructing a new building or expanding their home. The law permits that. If the Ship Tank property developer is “held” to the master plan for that site, the town will get 288 units.
It is only through concessions gained by your elected officials and the NJMC that we’ve convinced them that 212 units are enough. Is Mr. Troyer arguing that we should hold them to the master plan because he endorses building 76 more units on that site?
Another deviation from the master plan that Mr. Troyer is against is to permit the developer to build a required marina at the town-owned property at the Old Mill site instead of at its project site. The benefits of not having to use tax dollars to build this marina and having it more accessible to a greater number of residents at the Old Mill site are obvious. What is not as well known is that the US Army Corps of Engineers has already determined that a marina cannot be constructed along the Ship Tank waterfront because it cannot be dredged to accommodate boats. The marina would have to extend 60 feet to make it usable, which would put it in the middle of the river and a hazard to other boats.
Also, to infer that the school board is seeking bond referendum to expand the middle and high schools and do repair on the elementary schools because of the Ship Tank residential development is ludicrous. Who should know better than Mr. Troyer, a school board trustee, that the board’s plans have been on its agenda for five years as a follow-up to the expansions of the Huber Street and Clarendon Schools? When he ran for the school board he said he voted against the school budget for years because he couldn’t get answers to questions and he didn’t understand it. This year, as a member of the board’s finance committee that increased the budget by more than a million dollars, he said he endorsed and voted for it because now he understood it. Maybe, if Mr. Troyer could only understand this project, he’d endorse it also.
He also claimed he was denied an opportunity to speak on the project, but it wasn’t development-related questions he was raising when the NJMC officials (not town officials) running the meeting, cut him off. When Mr. Troyer attempted to read what the NJMC staff deemed a prepared, “political statement,” he was stopped and told to confine his comments to the project. His response was to take his papers and leave the meeting. If he were truly interested in the project and what other residents had to say, he would have stayed there until 12:15 a.m. with the rest of us.
Again, I reiterate that I encourage residents to familiarize themselves with any development in the town, especially ones that are in their immediate neighborhoods. I urge residents, however, to get the facts before forming their opinion and not to listen to self-serving or politically motivated statements that are simply not true. I am always available to answer questions on this project or any other subject and can be reached at 201-348-2204.
Robert Kickey
Second Ward Councilman