After nearly two mouths of legal bickering over the legitimacy of two commissioners the Hoboken Parking Authority got back to work Sept 10. While there were a couple of awkward moments, for the most part the meeting went forward with an atmosphere of conciliation.
For the first time, Alan Cohen and Daniel DeCavaignac took their seats on the seven-person volunteer board after Superior Court Judge Arthur D’Italia had ruled that former Mayor Anthony Russo’s appointments were not valid, thus clearing the way for current Mayor David Roberts’ two appointments.
The first order of business was to appoint new legal counsel for the board. By a unanimous vote, the firm of Hill, Wallack of Princeton was hired. and attorney Ryan A. Marrone sat in on the meeting as counsel.
Hill, Wallack was the firm that successfully defended Cohen and DeCavaignac when their validity was challenged.
The second matter of business was the much-troubled garage at 916 Garden St. The automated garage has been the focus of litigation and is almost two years behind schedule.
The authority announced that Retrotech, of Victor, N.Y., was selected by the surety bondholder to oversee the completion of the 324-car parking garage.
Work on the garage had been stopped for several months ever since the contractor, Belcor/Megan Group of Hackensack, fired its subcontractor, Robotic Parking Inc. of Ohio. Robotic had been saddled with the task of installing the software for the nation’s first fully automated garage.
Under the new agreement, the surety of Lumberman’s Insurance of Lyndhurst has 191 days to finish the building. If there is a major problem in the completion, the firm can extend the contract for 90 days.
Retrotech will be the primary subcontractor, but Lumberman has brought Robotic back on as a secondary consultant.
According to the HPA Executive Director Joanne Serrano, work on the garage began again on Sept. 10 and will not stop until the garage is finished.
Another major issue facing the HPA was whether or not the authority should bring the management of three city’s parking garages in house. Currently garage B, G, and A are run by Central Parking, a company that manages garages throughout the region. Their contract is month-to-month. The HPA has been without been without a long-term management contract for more than six months.
The HPA pays a monthly fee, and in return, Central controls the hiring and maintenance of the facility. According to the board’s chairman, Donald Pellicano, the advantage of taking the garages in house is that the HPA would gain control over whom they hire and the Authority will save on the management fee.
Pellicano estimated the savings could be between $150,000 and $200,000 yearly, but did admit that the HPA has not conducted a cost analysis to support his estimate.
Cohen and DeCavaignac we skeptical about taking over the garages. "Without a cost analysis there is no way that we can go forward," Cohen said. He also added that Central Parking having hiring authority is not necessarily a bad thing. "If the [HPA] takes control, it’s not that hard to hire friends," he said. "How many times in the past have we heard, ‘We can stick them in the Parking Authority, that’ll shut them up.’ I personally like the fact that they are not our employees."
However, it’s not as if there aren’t politicians working for Central Parking. Former City Council President Nellie Moyeno has a job there.
After and hour of debate on the subject, Pellicano agreed to for
m a subcommittee to perform a cost analysis and to further investigate the pros and cons of taking control of the garages.
The subcommittee will be made up of Cohen, DeCavaignac and Pellicano and will report back to the board within the next month.