I am very excited that the park is finally going to be renovated. I am not going to be able to make it to the meeting tomm am, but for those of you that do, please, please , please mention that those trash cans HAVE to be put outside the park. When they closed it the first time they had them inside? That serves no one.

Quote:

Agreed! My dog agrees too.

A petition with such "demands" feels like the completely wrong approach to make toward your big fancy new neighbor who has already gone above and beyond what most developers would do.

Way to look a gift horse in the mouth.

++1 amy. This petition is silly at best, inappropriate at worse.

The reign of the entitlement generation is coming to an end.

Quote:

+1
am also a lifetime dog owner.
The owner who donated the land can make the rules.
What's more ironic, is that the petition is for a temporary dog area for a park that an official dog area doesn't exist, and is
being renovated with two dog runs to accommodate us.

I'm confused....how do you petition a gracious OFFER made by a non-governmental source? What if you petition the developer and he turns around and rescinds the offer. Do you have a Plan B?

I agree as well. The petition is a silly waste of time. Accept the temporary "inconvenience" and walk your dog on the sidewalk. It's really quite simple. In the end, you'll have a brand new park to enjoy.

I have to agree that the petition is uncalled for. It's very kind of the developer to spend his company's own money to provide the temporary space for children. Dog owners are just going to have to walk their dogs. When you move to a city with a breed that requires a lot of exercise, you should know what you're getting into. The park's off-leash area is not a right (in fact, without a dog run, it's not even legal). Dog owners need to suck it up and walk their dogs or hire a dog walker. It's your responsibility to make sure your dog gets exercise, not the responsibility of the city or a developer or anyone else. And I say this as a dog owner.

Quote:

I agree. The closure of the park may be a blessing in disguise for the non-leash dog owners: they may be forced to actually take their dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. They might come to appreciate the health benefits of a long walk and enjoy seeing more of their neighborhood and bonding with their dog. I know, I'm dreaming.

Very Important to know for those who might like circulate the petition and help with signatures:



All signatures must be Jersey City Residents and 18 years of age and up ONLY.



Quote:

+1 jerzeyboy

as a fellow lifetime dog owner, I am always amazed at the gall of some of my neighbors.

a developer donates the use of his property, and a petition is started because it's not good enough?!

the clueless ingratitude would be astounding, were it not found on JClist.

Under the topic of "get a life!" the "petition signers" need to get their priorities straight! NOBODY deserves or has the right to ANY of these things we are being offered...the park renovation, or the temporary park being donated..none of it is your RIGHT, they are all benefits and privileges to living in the area, and the generosity of a developer who wants to share some vacant property....any demands on these situations are blatant selfishness, nothing more. AND as a lifetime dog owner, have you EVER heard of walking your dog on a leash??? It actually won't kill you or your dog, and may actually give YOU more exercise than your dog, wouldn't that be nice for the neighborhood?

+1 lunawolf!!

I'll be signing.

This petition is so ridiculous I don't even know where to begin. Mr. Silverman has been gracious enough to offer the residents use of his property as a temporary park and now you want to give him agravation because the temporary park won't allow your precious dogs? Way to go lunawolf, start ruining the entire proposal for everyone else.

Very Important For All JC Dog Owners and Otherwise to know:


Quote from Hamilton Park Neighborhood Assoc Letter,
(the alternate park they are referring to is Enos Park) full HPNA letter attached:


In addition to our already existing alternate park, Paul Silverman of Exeter Property (developers of Hamilton Square) has graciously offered to allow the city to use now the vacant lot between the two buildings on McWilliams Place as an alternate park space. As mentioned in the Chief Architect's letter, the City has accepted his offer and is working closely with both Exeter Property and Goldman Sachs to build a temporary park which will have the following features:
Will be a total of about 14,000 sq. ft directly across from Hamilton Park.
Will be fenced in and feature both passive (grassy) recreational space and a playground.
Will be open from Dawn to Dusk (it will be locked after dark).
Will be dog free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In light of this proposal we have drafted a petition to secure off leash dog space within the temporary park.

You will have an opportunity to voice your concerns and sign the petition at this very important meeting tomorrow morning:

Please join the HPNA for a meeting at the Hamilton Park Gazebo tomorrow Saturday, April 25th, at 10:00 AM. Councilman Steven Fulop will provide information and answer questions regarding the park's renovation, alternative play spaces, trees, etc.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



This is the petition we drafted and we need your signatures on this tomorrow:

***If you are unable to get to either of these 2 locations pls write me off list and we will make arrangement*** at faeryx4@yahoo.com

You may also print out the attached Petition and help the cause, just let me know when I can pick them up from you after.





Whereas the dog owners who use Hamilton Park are being told to take their dogs to Enos Park - an overcrowded and noisy park, near freight train tracks, the deafening noise of which makes some dogs howl from blocks away. Enos Park is also a location with a history of crime including animal-related crime.



Whereas construction plans can change from cost over-runs, a downward economy, and time delays and whereas such information is more readily shared if all involved are utilizing a common space.



Whereas the reluctance of many dog owners to utilize Enos Park will lead to congestion at the Van Vorst Park Dog Run, a consequence that will result in disease and a harmful relationship between the dog owner community and other patrons of Van Vorst Park.



Therefore, we the undersigned feel it is imperative that a temporary, enclosed, and secure dog run area of approximately 2800 sq ft be included at The Hamilton Square property adjacent to Hamilton Park on McWilliams Place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Naturally after you leave Hamilton Park I KNOW you all will be hot footing it to Van Vorst Park for festivities MCP Rescue will be busy working on. I will also have the Petition on hand for you all to sign so please make it a point to attend ONE of these events tomorrow guys. Cross post to any others you feel should know. Including parent groups etc. Many parents understandable would much prefer our dogs be in a secured location and not running around off leash as I am certain will happen if we don't get this temporary dog run.



Mary Ann
www.downtowndogwalk.weebly.com
~ My Pet Care Company ~

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/DOGJC/
~ Our Dog Community ~

http://animaladoptions.weebly.com/
~ Local Rescue & Adoptions ~

Park Renovation Meeting Please join the HPNA for a meeting at the Hamilton Park Gazebo: Saturday, April 25th 10:00 AM Councilman Steven Fulop will provide information and answer questions regarding the park's renovation, alternative play spaces, trees, etc.

It appears that Steve accidentally posted a draft of the letter.  Here's the final version that went out on the public list and the HPNA Blog.

------

Hi All,
As I mentioned in my note last Wednesday on the HPNA's email list, the HPNA has been working with the city regarding the closing of Hamilton Park and the park renovation in general. This has been a long hard process to get the renovation underway and we're glad to see it finally come to fruition. On Friday, HPNA board members met with the city's Division of Architecture to reaffirm our lines of communication and to address the concerns raised by some of the residents of the area. The meeting went very well and the city has been very responsive to our needs. They also took the time to provide additional details and documentation around the choices made regarding construction. Attached at the bottom of the email is Click HERE to see the letter the city is sending to all the area schools, assisted living facilities, and large condo buildings to notify them of the closure.

In addition to the letter I have added following details from our meeting (which should answer most of the questions posed over the past few days).

Notification/Communications:
Glenn Wrigley, the City's Chief Architect, has apologized for the unannounced closure of Hamilton Park and agreed to do the following to insure the public is notified of the closure of the park (which will occur on April 30, 2009).

• COMPLETED: The city will send a notification letter to schools, assisted living facilities, large condo buildings, and impacted neighborhood organizations (see attached PDF)
• COMPLETED: The city will provide a detailed site plan so everyone can see and understand the changes to the park. You can download this site plan from http://www.hamiltonpark.org/PDFS/Hami ... _Renovation-Site_Plan.pdf. The plans are rather large so this may take some time to download.
• PENDING: The city will post signs in and around Hamilton Park notifying the public of the closure.
• The Division of Architecture has committed to arranging a meeting between HPNA representatives and the General Contractor, Green Construction, and will ensure that open lines of communications remain open between the community and the construction team.
• The Division of Architecture will invite the HPNA to send a representative to the construction progress meetings at least once a quarter (more often if it's warranted/requested). In addition the city will send a copy of the construction meeting minutes to the HPNA after every checkpoint meeting (not just the ones the HPNA attends).
• Finally Glenn Wrigley, the Chief Architect, and Brian Weller, the Project Manager for the HP renovation, will attend a HPNA general meeting along with Green Construction to bring everyone up to speed on the project's progress and answer any outstanding questions. This is tentatively scheduled for June (the May HPNA meeting is reserved for the Ward E Candidate debate).

Alternate Park Spaces:
The Hamilton Park neighborhood already has a second park less than three blocks from Hamilton Park called Enos Jones Park (located at Brunswick & Eighth Street). Enos Jones features:

• A playground
• A Water-spray ground
• A baseball field
• A passive use grassy back area for walking dogs, etc.

In addition to our already existing alternate park, Paul Silverman of Exeter Property (developers of Hamilton Square) has graciously offered to allow the city to use now the vacant lot between the two buildings on McWilliams Place as an alternate park space. As mentioned in the Chief Architect's letter, the City has accepted his offer and is working closely with both Exeter Property and Goldman Sachs to build a temporary park which will have the following features:

• Will be a total of about 14,000 sq. ft directly across from Hamilton Park.
• Will be fenced in and feature both passive (grassy) recreational space and a playground.
• Will be open from Dawn to Dusk (it will be locked after dark).
• Will be dog free.

It should open by May 15, 2009 and will remain open to the public until the renovation is complete.

Trees:
A lot of concern has been raised over the trees marked with X's. The City has assured us that every effort will be made to save every tree possible and that trees are only marked to come down where absolutely necessary. The trees that are marked fall into the following categories:

• The tree has to be removed to allow for the installation of rain underground retention basins. These retention basins are essential to prevent the renovated park from overflowing the surrounding sewer systems. Without them homes within a few blocks of the park would flood when it rains
• The tree is dead / near death. These trees pose a hazard to the general public. If they are left up to fall on their own, there is a very real chance that some will be hurt or killed.
• The tree is surrounded by asphalt. This last category includes the tree closest to the Hamilton Park gazebo. The General Contractor marked it for potential removal because once the asphalt is removed, the roots will be exposed and if they are unable to stabilize the tree quickly it will fall on its own. The City has stated they will make every effort to save it however it only has about a 50/50 chance of being salvaged.
• There is one 30" sycamore that was marked a little further North of the gazebo. That is not scheduled for removal. It was marked only because the instructions on the drawings are to remove the cast iron grate around the base of the tree. The tree is being strangled by the grate (which should have been removed years ago). Its marked because removing the grate may damage the tree. Again the City has said they will do what they can to save that tree.
• Finally, there is also a 12" cherry tree along the pathway from the Ninth Street entrance to the Gazebo that was scheduled for removal. The contractor will attempt to work around it thereby saving that tree as well.

One final note, while it may not be apparent from the previously posted documents, the city is planting additional trees as well. They have provided the HPNA with the landscaping plan which shows the trees being preserved (they look like a cloud) the new trees being put in (they look like circles) and the retention basins being installed to prevent flooding. The landscaping plans can be downloaded at http://www.hamiltonpark.org/PDFS/Hami ... vation_Landscape_Plan.pdf. Again this PDF file is rather large so it may take some time to download.

Timetable:
Unfortunately not much could be done here. The park renovation would cost considerably more if it were completed in sections and it would take years rather than months. Additionally, the construction would present a constant safety risk to those people using the park while it went on. The bid contract calls for the park to be completed in 1 year or less and the contractor's internal estimates are that it will be completed in six months.

For any remaining pre-construction questions the HPNA has arranged a public meeting at the Hamilton Park Gazebo on 10:00 AM this Saturday April 25th. Councilman Fulop will answer any outstanding questions regarding the renovation.

Thanks,
Olu Howard
HPNA President

Quote:

All the areas mentioned aren't grass areas. There should be one lawn space that is pet free. Personally, I think it's fair. I have a dog and I love dogs, but I will use the dog run so it won't really matter to me in the long run. But not everyone likes dogs. Some people are terrified of them. as someone who was attacked once I can understand. There should be one area where those people won't have to worry, and everyone else (as someone else mentioned) not have to worry about irresponsible owners not picking up after themselves. The park is big enough.

But even if there is, how long do you actually think people will follow it, or be enforced anyway?

a green space not drenched with urine and fecal matter (human and canine varieties ) would be nice.

Quote:
stevehpna/SF -

FYI... I don't think that link works. The other one you PM'd me ( http://www.hamiltonpark.org/PDFS/Hamilton.Park.2009.pdf
) seems to work better.

April 21, 2009 Letter from Olu Howard, HPNA President ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hi All, As I mentioned in my note last Wednesday the HPNA has been working with the city regarding the closing of Hamilton Park and the park renovation in general. This has been a long hard process to get the renovation underway and we're glad to see it finally come to fruition. On Friday, HPNA board members met with the city's Division of Architecture to reaffirm our lines of communication and to address the concerns raised by some of the residents of the area. The meeting went very well and the city has been very responsive to our needs. They also took the time to provide additional details and documentation around the choices made regarding construction. Attached at the bottom of the email is the letter the city is sending to all the area schools, assisted living facilities, and large condo buildings to notify them of the closure (See post #558 in this thread) . In addition to the letter I have the added following details from our meeting (which should answer most of the questions posed over the past few days). Notification/Communications: Glenn Wrigley, the City's Chief Architect, has apologized for the unannounced closure of Hamilton Park and agreed to do the following to insure the public is notified of the closure of the park (which will occur on April 30, 2009). * COMPLETED: The city will send a notification letter to schools, assisted living facilities, large condo buildings, and impacted neighborhood organizations * COMPLETED: The city will provide a detailed site plan so everyone can see and understand the changes to the park. You can download this site plan from http://www.hamiltonpark.org/PDFS/Hami ... _Renovation-Site_Plan.pdf . The plans are rather large so this may take some time to download. * PENDING: The city will post signs in and around Hamilton Park notifying of the closure. * The Division of Architecture has committed to arranging a meeting between HPNA representatives and the General Contractor, Green Construction, and insure that open lines of communications remain open between the community and the construction team. * The Division of Architecture will invite the HPNA to send a representative to the construction progress meetings at least once a quarter (more often if it's warranted/requested). In addition the city will send a copy of the construction meeting minutes to the HPNA after each meeting. * Finally the Glenn Wrigley, Chief Architect, and Brian Weller, the Project Manager for the HP renovation, will attend a HPNA general meeting along with Green Construction to bring everyone up to speed on the project's progress and answer any outstanding questions. This is tentatively scheduled for June (the May HPNA meeting is reserved for the Ward E Candidate debate). Alternate Park Spaces: The Hamilton Park neighborhood already has a second park less than three blocks from Hamilton Park called Enos Jones Park (located at Brunswick & Eighth Street). Enos Jones features: * A playground * A Water-spray ground * A baseball field * A passive use grassy back area for walking dogs, etc. In addition to our already existing alternate park, Paul Silverman of Exeter Property (developers of Hamilton Square) has graciously offered to allow the city to use now the vacant lot between the two buildings on McWilliams Place as an alternate park space. As mentioned in the Chief Architect's letter, the City has taken him up his offer and is working closely with both Exeter Property and Goldman Sachs to build a temporary park which will have the following features: * Will be a total of about 14,000 sq. ft directly across from Hamilton Park. * Will be fenced in and feature both passive (grassy) recreational space and a playground. * Will be open from Dawn to Dusk (it will be locked after dark). * Will be dog free. It should open by May 15, 2009 and will remain open to the public until the renovation is complete. Trees: A lot of concern has been raised over the trees marked with X's. The City has assured us that every effort will be made to save every tree possible and that trees are only marked to come down where absolutely necessary. The trees that are marked fall into the following categories: * The tree has to be removed to allow for the installation of rain underground retention basins. These retention basins are essential to prevent the renovated park from overflowing the surrounding sewer systems. Without them homes within a few blocks of the park would flood when it rains * The tree is dead / near death. These trees pose a hazard to the general public. If they are left up to fall on their own, there is a very real chance that some will be hurt or killed. * The tree is surrounded by asphalt. This last category is includes the tree closest to the Hamilton Park gazebo. The General Contractor marked it for potential removal because once the asphalt is removed, the roots will be exposed and if they re unable to stabilize the tree quickly it will fall on its own. The City has stated they will make every effort to save it however it only has about a 50/50 being salvaged. * There is one 30" sycamore that was marked a little further North of the gazebo. That is not scheduled for removal. It was marked only because the instructions on the drawings are to remove the cast iron grate around the base of the tree. The tree is being strangled by the grate (which should have been removed years ago). Its marked because removing the grate may damage the tree. Again the City has said they will do what they can to save that tree. * Finally, there is also a 12" cherry tree along the pathway from the Ninth Street to the Gazebo that was scheduled for removal. The contractor will attempt to work around it thereby saving that tree as well. One final note, while it may not be apparently from the previously posted documents the city is planting additional trees as well. They have provided the HPNA with the landscaping plan which shows the trees being preserved (they look like a cloud) the new trees being put in (they look like circles) and the retention basins being installed to prevent flooding. The landscaping plans can be downloaded at http://www.hamiltonpark.org/PDFS/Hami ... vation_Landscape_Plan.pdf . Again this PDF file is rather large so it may take some time to download. Timetable: Unfortunately not much could be done here. The park renovation would cost considerably more if it were completed in sections and it would take years rather than months. Additionally, the construction would present a constant safety to those people using the park while it went on. The bid contract calls for the park to be completed in 1 year or less and the contractor's internal estimates are that it will be completed in six months. For any remaining pre-construction questions the HPNA has arranged a public meeting at the Hamilton Park Gazebo on 10:00 AM this Saturday April 25th. Councilman Fulop will answer any outstanding questions regarding the renovation. Thanks, Olu Howard HPNA President

Quote:
Don?t forget the spray pool area, the gardens, fountain and other areas where pets will be off-limits. I?m guessing the current HP plan is maybe at 45% percent pet-free now.

Looking at the other downtown parks - I don?t have the exact square footage, but VVP seems 65% pet-free. My guess is that Enos Jones is probably 85% pet-free. Isn?t that enough total pet-free areas in the parks available to downtown residents?...

There is no reason for HP to be any more than 50% pet-free, especially given the final truncated dog-run plans.

Quote:

The new playground area, the basketball court and the tennis courts. There is your 50% dog-free zone.

less than 50% of people own dogs...non-do owners should band together and demand that at least 50% of the park is pet-free.

RE: the renovation - Badly needed? yes.

But,? poorly planned with regard to the dog runs. I predict the truncated size and bad ratio of small-dog:big-dog space and shape will give little incentive to actually use the runs. Too bad ?Concept E? wasn?t pursued more vigorously, especially after the economy took a dive.

If it comes to it, I do hope the area dog owners will band together to block any effort to make HP any more than 50% pet-free. HP is big enough where 50% should be more than enough.

Is this notice posted in the park for all residents to see?

Letter from Glenn A. Wrigley, AIA, Chief Architect of Jersey City:

20 April 2009
Dear Residents & Park Patrons,
On behalf of the Mayor and the City of Jersey City, the Division of Architecture is pleased to announce that
construction for the Renovation of Hamilton Park is about to begin. A Construction Contract was awarded to
Green Construction, Inc., of South River, New Jersey, at the City Council meeting held on 25 March 2009.
In order to perform the construction tasks in a safe, through, and efficient manner, this park will be closed to
the public on or about 30 April 2009 for the duration of construction.
Closure of the park is a necessity due to the means and methods of construction. The renovation of the park
includes not only the visible and tangible amenities, but also a significant amount of underground infrastructure
in the form of improved drainage and new utilities. At the same time, the Contractor is charged with the task
of protecting the many existing historic features of the park, including its more than 120 valuable shade trees.
For these and several other technical reasons, it appeared impractical (and sometimes dangerous) to attempt to
stage and move around work to keep features such as athletic courts or the playground open for periods of time.
Public safety is paramount, and concerns over proximity of citizens (including children) within an active
construction site led us to conclude that park closure is the best method of protection for both people and the
historic texture of the park.
Staging work also added significant time to the construction schedule, as well as significant construction cost.
We equally value your taxpayer money, and want to deliver this park on time, and within budget.
At the same time, the Mayor?s office and the Department of Administration is working closely with Paul
Silverman of Exeter Property (Hamilton Square) and Goldman Sachs to set up a temporary park & children?s
playground on the current vacant property between the two residential buildings along McWilliams Place. This
park will provide neighborhood children and residents with a nice, nearby location to enjoy the outdoors. You?ll
also have a front-row seat to watch your renovated park take shape. Construction of the temporary park should
be complete on or about 15 May 2009, and will be available throughout the duration of construction.
We hope you will understand and accept the inconvenience, secure in the knowledge that within a short
period of time, Hamilton Park will be restored to its randeur.
Until then, I remain,
Sincerely,
Glenn A. Wrigley, AIA, Chief Architect

Never underestimate what people will complain about...NEVER! This renovation is so BADLY needed, many of us longtime (10 years or more) residents have been looking forward to the new park for years...after seeing the VVP renovation, we should be so lucky.
What people fail to understand is the public spaces are a PRIVILEGE and not RIGHT. The deed or lease to your home does not include RIGHTS to a park. If the city has earmarked money for this renovation (so badly needed) why would ANYONE stand in the way? The benefit of a beautiful new park will enhance everyone's lives in the area while improving the property value and quality of life. Why would you complain about that?? Will there ever be a perfect time to close the park?? The minor inconvenience of having to walk to OTHER recently renovated park 3 blocks away, or the sprawling 600 acres of Liberty state park down Jersey Ave, or even VVP...there are options and none of them horrible.
Many people don't have a park in their backyard, and those that do, don't have the city willing to spend millions of dollars to give it a complete makeover. PLEASE be inconvenienced for the months it takes to give our park a makeover, and embrace the gift of a new renovated park....meanwhile explore other park areas in the city and let the renovation begin now (winter is not an option, snow and ice would delay it ever further into next spring).

Is it really going to take 6 - 8 months to complete the renovation???? What exactly are they going to do.. can't seem to see any difference in the plans...

Quote:


Thank God Greg has greenlighted this project! But in all seriousness, the concern is with the city not warning residents and others about the impending closing. By all means renovate the park, just let people know a little bit ahead of time that the park will be off-limits for 6 to 8 months. Meanwhile there are still no notices posted.

Truthfully I can't wait for them to shut the park down. It will be damn fantastic not to hear the screaming and carrying on cricketers for one summer.