Offering moral support for the purchase of property on the corner of Fifth Street and Centre Avenue, Mayor Dennis Elwell appeared at the Secaucus Housing Authority meeting on Feb. 28.
In a short statement given at the meeting, Elwell encouraged the SHA to continue negotiations that would purchase the house on the corner, possibly for use as a temporary parking lot or residential housing. Elwell said that now, the large brick building contributes to poor visibility at a dangerous intersection.
“A few years ago we had a traffic accident at that corner,” Elwell said. “It is a corner in which there are often problems. Part of the reason is the difficulty for drivers to see coming out of Fifth Street. I’ve talked to [SHA Executive Director] Bill Snyder and he told me the SHA would clean up the site. I think it is the right thing to do.”
The SHA operates three federally-funded senior citizen buildings in town and is charged with overseeing the town’s affordable housing vouchers.
The building, which once housed a bakery, has fallen into disrepair, and the SHA would – if negotiations for a sale were successful – tear it down for parking, at least temporarily.
Elwell said a future residential use will be considered. Politically savvy observers say there is a move to provide more low-cost housing in Secaucus to meet a federal mandate. Earlier this year, Secaucus was notified that its number of low-cost (Section 8) housing units fell below the required number to justify federal aid to the Housing Authority.
Since salaries and other aspects of the Authority are tied into this federal funding, the Affordable Housing Board – a board sharing members with the SHA, but whose function is to collect fees from developers for construction and renovation of affordable housing – has been seeking opportunities to increase the number of units for low-income people. Last year, the AHB purchased a garden apartment complex on Paterson Plank Road. They are in the midst of repairing it for use as low-income housing.
The building on Fifth Street and Centre Avenue – along with its associated garages – is located on a large piece of property about 100 by 75 feet, which could accommodate the construction of two, possibly three townhouse-style homes.
Elwell sang the praises of SHA Executive Director Bill Snyder for cleaning up the area and providing a possible solution to the dangerous situation at the intersection.
“Since becoming mayor of Secaucus I have had the opportunity to travel around the state, and everywhere I go, people are asking questions about the remarkable things our Housing Authority is accomplishing,” Elwell said. “That’s due to the vision of Bill Snyder, and we are very lucky to have him in our community.” Snyder said the property – if negotiations with the current owners are fruitful – would be used to provide additional parking for tenants and visitors.
“We’ve been very concerned about the dangers of that intersection, not just for the students who cross there on their way to school, but for tenants as well,” Snyder said. “The corner has a history of problems and accidents, and residents can often hear screeching brakes and crashes.”
Snyder said when the proposal to purchase the property came up; he saw it as a prime opportunity to do something good for the area.
Meetings are scheduled over the next few weeks to work out a purchase price.
Former SHA Commissioner Frank MacCormack, who had attempted to attend the meeting but found the meeting over by the time he got there, spoke out against the sale in a telephone interview.
“While the corner is dangerous, so are most of the corners on Centre Avenue,” he said. “Does this mean we’re going to buy every house on every corner?”
The property has been for sale for nearly 35 years, MacCormack said, noting that the owner has wanted too much for anyone to pay. Despite the size of the property, the building and its garages are in terrible condition, he said.
The meeting, convened an hour earlier than usual to allow Elwell to attend a later $1,000 a plate political fund raiser with local vendors, inspired MacCormack’s wrath. He came at the advertised time only to find the meeting was over and the other commissioners gone.
“That was an illegal meeting,” he said, noting that the public notice given for the change was published in a newspaper on the same day as the meeting.
Larger-scale projects
In another matter, Snyder said the Housing Authority is looking into a way to leverage 25 percent of its capital improvement funds in order to bond for larger-scale rehabilitation projects.
“This is cutting edge financing,” he said.
The move is not without controversy since the sale will likely mean one more property removed from the town’s tax rolls. The town has purchased numerous properties over the last five or six years, including three pieces of property near Town Hall – one of which was knocked down for a parking lot, another which is being used for a storage and a third currently on loan to the Board of Education. Property in the north end of Secaucus has also been purchased to make parking lots.