When they opened, there was a concession stand with VERY reasonable prices. They don't have one anymore???

Quote:

You can forget about the 5-year abatement. I learned that this quietly was ended last year.

Is the metal scrap yard on the end of Jersey Avenue by Morris Canal still open? I thought it closed down recently. Does anyone know of another metal scrap yard around Jersey City?

No Rain!!!

Perhaps as has been successful in the past...you can communicate your request to the BOE Board members(Suzzanne Mack, etc.). Several elderly residents had an interest in swimming in Paulus Hook but didn't have the penchant or wherewithall to schlep up to Pershing Field for a swim (and then have to pay a fee on top of that). They got access...don't know if it continues to this day.

The US Dept. of Interior Standards for Rehabiliation only sets the criteria for how the colors are chosen NOT the actual colors themselves.

I think its highly commendable that you are actually willing to go that far... The fact is that keeping to the historical character really does go far in terms of propping up your prop values and those of your neighbors by developing "cache" for your neighborhood.

As for the actual color, you'll have to avail yourself of the HPO at 30 Montgomery to help with the selection of colors.

That's about all I can offer.

With reference to jcgurl...

I'm afraid your advice is mistaken... Anything having to do with an exterior facade requires a CoNE (Certificate of No Effect) from the Historic Preservation Officer (14th floor at 30 Montgomery). Its a fairly simple process but you will need color chips/samples to present to the HPO for his approval.

Painting it with "some" historic color is not the right way to go. The paint color has to be consistent with Dept. of Interior Standards (so it not some random color or whim) in that the color is consistent and appropriate for your structure.

How do I know? Because I've gone through it.

Good Luck

A fellow on the Yahoo Group JCSOS (created by Jersey City Ward E Councilman, Steve Fulop, to provide a forum for discussion about the problem of chronic flooding in Jersey City, NJ. Membership is open to all individuals and businesses in Jersey City) posted this:

I have a US EPA investigator coming to my home this Friday due to the
health and safety issues from the sewage flooding into homes. His
name is Larry Gaugler 212-637-3950. He said it would be helpful if he
could visit other affected people. Please give him a call or send me
your contact info and I will forward it to him.


And remember to send your completed JCMUA questionaires to Councilman Fulop's off. These will be copied and delivered to the JCMUA. If you have already mailed yours to the JCMUA, please send a copy to Councilman Fulop's office.

Municipal Council Office
280 Grove St. Room 202
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Attn: Councilman Steven Fulop

A fellow on the Yahoo Group JCSOS (created by Jersey City Ward E Councilman, Steve Fulop, to provide a forum for discussion about the problem of chronic flooding in Jersey City, NJ. Membership is open to all individuals and businesses in Jersey City) posted this:

I have a US EPA investigator coming to my home this Friday due to the
health and safety issues from the sewage flooding into homes. His
name is Larry Gaugler 212-637-3950. He said it would be helpful if he
could visit other affected people. Please give him a call or send me
your contact info and I will forward it to him.


And remember to send your completed JCMUA questionaires to Councilman Fulop's off. These will be copied and delivered to the JCMUA. If you have already mailed yours to the JCMUA, please send a copy to Councilman Fulop's office.

Municipal Council Office
280 Grove St. Room 202
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Attn: Councilman Steven Fulop

Tracy LaBad asked that the JCMUA forms be sent to this address:

Municipal Council Office
280 Grove St. Room 202
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Attn: Councilman Steven Fulop

In this way, each respondent's form will be photocopied (and saved by the Councilman's office) and then forwarded on to the JCMUA in bulk via hand delivery.

Terms:

Garden level/Ground level is defined by FEMA as a floor level that is at ground level on at least one side. If your backyard is approx. level with the interior floor, it is a ground floor.

A basement is a level that is surrounded by Earth on all sides (even if one or more sides is only is partially covered). If you have steps leading from ground level to your floor level, this is a basement.

It really appeared that this JCMUA "collection of data" is a divide and conquer action. They said at the meeting, in this way they "can find the problem areas" and "make house by house visits to identify if the property owner's lines are to blame for some problems". And for those people that don't respond, the JCMUA will finally say that this is not a truly widespread problem (they've said it before at meeting last year where they said, that the last "supposed" flood event, they only received 3 phone calls...so it can't be the big problem that we are conveying).

It was made clear at the meeting, they know where the problems are. An examination of the city sewer maps clearly shows where backups are going to occur (e.g., 134" line draining into a 84" interceptor, some drainage basins encompass wide swaths of area that are served by the same size lines draining much smaller drainage basins). The JCMUA has been party to community meetings going back years...and they want to collect more information?

After discussing the situation with Steve Fulop this morning, it is suggested that RATHER THAN SENDING THE COMPLETED JCMUA FORM TO THE JCMUA -- SEND IT TO TRACY LABAD. The Councilman's office will keep a copy of the document and deliver, in bulk, these completed forms to the MUA. This way none get "lost in the mail", etc.

If you have sent yours off already, please fill out another copy and send it to Tracy Labad / Steve Fulop.

First things first. The facts.

No matter the cost to install storm sewers, the amount of work involved and its relationship to flooding, JC MUST split its sewers. Why? Federal mandate. The Clean Water Act (CWA) that has helped turn around the state of our rivers (and Jersey City is wayyyyyyyyyyy behind) and receiving waters makes it illegal to allow the release of untreated wastewater. Its as simple as that.

This is why, those of you who have renovated or put in new plumbing lines in your house were required to split your rain gutters (storm sewer) and the lines servicing your toilet, etc. (sanitary). Thus when the city gets around to installing storm sewer lines, they will remove the Y at your connection and connect the lines correspondingly.

Additionally, federal mandate is enforced in NJ by the NJDEP. Jersey City is required to install storm sewers citywide. Yes, it will likely be very costly...but I'm pretty sure they aren't planning on doing it all at one time.

One thing is clear, some areas in JC flood with regular frequency. JC should focus on these areas, right? These troubled areas won't be cheap but they won't be billions either. Why does the MUA paint it so?

Oh and the JCMUA has known about the problem for many years. Rather than showing even false sympathies, they blamed the flooding on acts of God and those foolish enough to live on a ground floor. All these years, the MUA could have slowly been doing a little work here and there...

There are folks working to make something happen. Make your voice heard at the April 30 meeting Councilman Fulop has organized.

See ya there!

You can make something happen. Councilman Fulop is creating a paper trail and is pursuing action with the MUA but momentum is needed. If you've have flooding issues, an absolute must is to send an email to Councilman Fulop's aide, Tracy at tracylabad0@hotmail.com.

Your email should include your address and if you have any picture of the sewer backup or flooding, all the better if you can attach them.

Next call the NJ DEP. Enough calls and they have the power to fine the MUA into action.

Finally, call the JCMUA. In all likelihood, they won't be very helpful (and possibly even negative, like "its your mistake if you're living in a ground floor apartment") but they do record the incidents and the paper trail may be the most important thing you can do.

Next pass the message along to others who have been flooded. Numbers here are the most critical thing. The more complaints, the more "real" this is. The Chief Engineer from the JCMUA told an audience last summer that they don't get many incident calls except for the usual complainers. Hence their point was that there wasn't a real problem. His final piece of advice, "Don't make your ground floor space habitable and you won't have problems". What a gem of a guy!

Finally, its worth mentioning that there is a standing decree by NJ DEP that Jersey City seperate the sanitary and storm sewers. The JCMUA automatic reply, "there is no money". Hmmm...given that many municipalities in NJ require developers to pay $4000 to $5500 per unit in a development, why is JC leaving loads of money on the table by only charging $1700/unit? With all the units coming online and the added sewage load on the 100+ sewer lines, JC is missing the boat.

It is clear that the JCMUA is asleep at the wheel. We need to WAKE them up.

It really is worthy of mention that it is likely that many metals...not just chromium, as mentioned here, at present regulated levels are problematic. A recent article highlights the risk with developing brain...

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hslead0206,0,3014503.story?coll=ny-leadhealthnews-headlines

Just because science has had difficulty in making ever more sensitive measurement does NOT mean that there isn't a problem with metals at existing standards.

I think there is a more salient point that nobody has touched upon. In receiving the funds (perhaps $8M), does this not remove the urgency for the city to find ways to operate more efficiently? There is nothing like pain (or taxpayer uproar) to get things changed. Sure we could use the funding, but the movtivation for cutting bullshit expeditures would be decreased in direct relation to the amount we get. Furthermore in future years, when the economy picks up and the city's revenue increases, we can expect that the city will never cut the fat and everyone will become resigned to the fact, that there is just no changing the wasteful nature of JCs budget.

Whether or not it is true that the JCMUA doesn't have the money, other than to "put out fires"...it is my feeling that they probably do not have the funds.

HOWEVER, part of the problem is their funding arrangement. Every new sewer hookup (read every new condo, apartment, home, etc.) necessitates the payment of a hookup fee (paid by the developer). Many townships and municipalities in NJ require quite a bit of developers who are looking to make some green in these towns. Not only do they require hookup fees of $4K, $5K above, the towns often require sewer upgrades, installation of playgrounds, etc. According to the JCMUA's Beckmeyer, JC only collects $1700 per unit, in spite of the big dollars the developers will make and the load they place on our antiquated system. AND there are no other requirements made.

If you factor how many new units are coming on-line and the attendant sewage load, why isn't JC charging something more in line with other cities or for that matter, charging more??? And what about the suggestion of upgrades?

This issue is partly related to our growing tax bill here in JC. Rather than making established residents pay for the increasing cost of services (especially those services greatly impacted by new residents), how about thinking about revenue sources outside the box? Like sewer connection fees!!! Other cities around the country (although I don't like it) shift some of their burdens to visitors. Ever rented a car in Houston and then pay a $3/day stadium fee, or the $1.50/day property tax reimbursement fee or the others??? You'll see this in St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, etc. In some cities there are no less than 6 different taxes and fees -- raising the cost of a rental car by 35%!

My 3 cents.

There was a recent meeting with affected residents, JCMUA (Joe Beckmeyer, Chief Engineer) and Councilman Fulop. Essentially, Joe Beckmeyer got lambasted because every possible suggestion that was offered, Joe had the same response....NO. Clearly there is not even any thought going on there to try to innovatively solve the constant flooding problem.

Questions like...what is happening with the new connection fees that are being paid by new developments that are tying into already overloaded, old sewer lines? Should they not be going into a fund to upgrade these lines rather than just disappearing? In many other towns, these connection fees can be $4K to $5 per unit. Why is the JCMUA not looking to capture some larger connnection fees from these very expensive developments (more than the present $1700) and putting them to very necessary uses?

In the end, we seem to have gained some traction. Councilman Fulop has worked out with the JCMUA, an informal task force to delve into these issues and strive to come up with some mitigating solutions.

If you want action, please join your voice NOW. The next informal task force meeting is coming in the next couple of weeks!

Initiating an income tax is not the solution to this problem. Once this tax starts, it will only grow and it will be seen as a new tap for revenue for whatever the administration wants to spend it on...especially for the $40 mil tax shortfall we are seeing now.

One thing to keep in mind here is that there are many of us who live and own here and find it very difficult to park just one car. A car for us is not a luxury and with the pace of development AND rowhouses being converted to multiple condo, there will NOT be enough parking for everyone. What to do????? Steve Fulop's idea is exactly what is needed and probably even comes too late.