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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Newbie
 
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Quote:
driverjase wrote: I wasn't able to make it to the meeting tonight. Any word yet on how it went? 
Posted on: 2009/9/12 0:54
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
 
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I just hadn't had my coffee yet, it wasn't anything on you and I appreciate you relaying the info. I'll gladly have works with anyone turning a blind eye to letting their dog/child digging holes in the new lawn. The way the park looked before the renovation started was pitiful. There were huge holes in the middle of the field and 80% of the grass had been torn up in the western lawn.
Posted on: 2009/9/4 18:05
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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I must have missed something, the contamination is not where the trees are? I wasnt there and dont live in HP but I am curious. If one option included removing contaminated soil and would destroy trees, I assumed the trees were in contaminated soil. If the other option is to cap 6 inches down how is that possible with the trees in place...roots and all?
Posted on: 2009/9/4 17:46
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Could someone explain why the community was against a community garden? Was it a question of space? It seems to me having local gardeners invested in the park would be good for the park.
Posted on: 2009/9/4 16:25
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I live by the river.
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Theoretically, you are right. But if you ever had a dog or child you will know that it only takes a quick turn of the head for something to happen (think Kramer vs Kramer). I'm just repeating the question and stating that I thought their answer was unsatisfactory. If you want to insult other peoples pets and children I suggest you go to the next meeting and say it to their face, rather than on an anonymous blog. Like I said, overwhelming majority so I don't think anythings going to hold it up. Quote:
I was personally hoping they would say they'd look into the cost of a little higher cap, but it doesn't look like it. I agree capping seems to be the best option. The only reason I raised my hand against was because there was about 10 people with their hands raised when they stopped to take the vote, and I thought all concerns should be addressed before taking a count. I usually pay my 5 dollar dues in the summer at an event in the park, with it being closed I couldn't do this year, so at the time my vote probably didn't officially count anyway.
Posted on: 2009/9/4 16:01
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Thank you PBW for stepping up and letting us that couldn't attend what happened at the meeting........The 6 inch cap seems like the best option but it does seem a little wierd that they wouldn't have a secondary cap proposal. How much would a 10 inch cap cost?
Posted on: 2009/9/4 11:49
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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How about not letting your little mongrel (canine or human) dig a hole in a public park for five minutes??? Capping is clearly the option. I hope nobody tries to hold this up because little Johnny loves to eat paint chip and dirt.
Posted on: 2009/9/4 10:45
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Thanks for clearing that up.
Posted on: 2009/9/4 1:14
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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it was a great meeting and the two suits did a pretty decent job explaining what the potential causes of the lead and arsenic contamination were and the relative severity of each.
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this is a concern that was raised. since the dogs and their owners will have two separate runs (one for the big ones and the other for the smaller ones), it is less likely that they would run around and dig in the park. but certainly, it is a possibility. and if a new family were to plant a flower, even in that case, digging below 6 inches would be somewhat of a stretch. should either of these violate the integrity of the barrier layer, there are ways to remedy the situation. coincidentally, the greatest concentration of contaminants was under the old basketball court .....
Posted on: 2009/9/4 0:12
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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The only semi community garden will be the one supervised by the folks who manage the garden pre school, and that will be for children.
The community strongly voted against any other community gardens in HP. So there will be no other community garden in HP. If you are interested in a community garden there is one on Brunswick St.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 23:47
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Surprised no one else posted.
My recap. Was my first HP Association ever. About 45 people there. Two guys in suits talking and a map of the park. I was ten minutes late and missed the introductions. Fulop was standing there too but was just listening like the rest of us. Good to see him involved in community affairs. The whole meeting was about the lead and arsenic levels in the park. No one knows for sure how they got there, as the park was built in the 1870\'s and no dumping was ever recorded. and. there was never a factory specifically on the spot, so everything is speculative. Now, for the record, it was a bit confusing, so I may have some of this wrong, so anyone please correct me. The 2 dudes seemed to be steering towards capping. capping involves a six inch layer of topsoil in the affected areas. Additionally, there will be a layer of this white texture separating the layers. It meets NJ standards, which are surprisingly more strict than US standards. And the contaminants are bottom heavy, that is they will only go down, and not seep into the topsoil above. And most of the affected areas will also have additional layers of protection (The concrete on the Bball court, the rubber ground on the playground). Cost is about 75 grand. Would not delay construction (spring 2010 was mentioned). Complete removal would be 10 times the cost, would destroy trees (Cause of all the roots), delay construction and could potentially be more harmful to residents, because as they did removal the toxins would be released into the air. Then a lot of questions. The two I didn\'t think they answered satisfactory were: Q..6 inches doesn\'t seem like a lot, my kids and dogs can dig that in five minutes. Have you looked into double that (a foot). A. 6 inches is the acceptable level, and when they hit the white layer they will probably stop digging. Q. What if some new family moves in, is unaware of these issues, and goes to plant some flowers. A. Hopefully the neighbors will have told them, plus it against the law to to that. Then time ran out, and they took a vote. Who is for capping? Overwhelmingly amount of hand went up. Who is against capping? Mine was the only hand that went up. (the rest abstained). I did it more for principal - that there seemed to be a lot of questions left, and we shouldn\'t rush a vote because time was up. Plus maybe we should do it right the first time. Also, there was a question about a community garden. It confused me a bit. Apparently at one point they discussed having a community garden but decided against it. But on the plans they have space for one - but it is for a local private school only - with space to expand for the residents if it is successful. Did I get that right? Someone please confirm or correct me.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 18:57
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Just can't stay away
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The BB court adds no value to the neighborhood and is, instead, a nuisance. Anyone who would deny that is deluded or hopelessly PC. No area of the park collected more trash and more problems than that court. I support the summer leagues but they can play at Enos Jones, as they did this year, or the Charter School. The 2am basketball games are a disgrace and no one should have to put up with that. BTW? I don't even live near the courts but I have seen and heard the screaming and yelling on summer nights and anyone who would excuse that behavior is an idiot. Bingo yet again. I absolutely how quiet it is walking around the park at night. And now that its cooling off, I can actually leave my windows open at night without wearing earplugs. Good stuff.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 15:42
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Quote:
The BB court adds no value to the neighborhood and is, instead, a nuisance. Anyone who would deny that is deluded or hopelessly PC. No area of the park collected more trash and more problems than that court. I support the summer leagues but they can play at Enos Jones, as they did this year, or the Charter School. The 2am basketball games are a disgrace and no one should have to put up with that. BTW? I don't even live near the courts but I have seen and heard the screaming and yelling on summer nights and anyone who would excuse that behavior is an idiot.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 15:28
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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The new children's play area is going to be less than 100 feet from residences. I'm not to thrilled about that. Not that children play at night, but I work from home.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 15:06
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Just can't stay away
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This may be the perfect excuse for finally getting rid of the basketball courts. Tear it up, cap it properly with the 2-3 feet of fill that is required by law and plant some trees where the court was. That court being less than a 100 feet from residences is the STUPIDEST thing ever. bingo
Posted on: 2009/9/3 14:37
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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This may be the perfect excuse for finally getting rid of the basketball courts. Tear it up, cap it properly with the 2-3 feet of fill that is required by law and plant some trees where the court was. That court being less than a 100 feet from residences is the STUPIDEST thing ever.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 14:14
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Same here. Curious to hear what the capping actually entails.
They already have paving stones down for the SW walkway to the gazebo. Looking good.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 12:05
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Just can't stay away
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I wasn't able to make it to the meeting tonight.
Any word yet on how it went?
Posted on: 2009/9/3 2:12
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Posted on: 2009/9/3 1:51
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Home away from home
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I wonder how badly we are being poisoned in Jersey City compared to other cities.
Does anyone even test the air and water? There should be very detailed results somewhere if they did...
Posted on: 2009/9/3 1:42
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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You should get an environmental engineers opinion on some of this rather than assuming things or taking guesses. These toxins are cumulative so it is next to impossible to track say?someone?s lymph-node cancer to a specific park they played in versus all the other environments they were in. I agree that this may not be a concern at all, but I don?t know that and I would be cautious about taking a ?its been like that for a while so..who cares" stance. If I was you and had kids, I would want to know a little more. Ask questions?off the top of my head I would start by finding out if those pollutants can migrate, get taken up in the plants, grass, or even change phases and become stuff you are breathing while in the park. Ask how they can cap effectively while keeping trees in place. Find out what a cap means in this situation, cant go up? What about down and sideways mixing with the water table, what happens then? Does it migrate? Undergo changes? Caps are literally sweeping it under the rug, which if its not too bad, why not. Its never profitable to do it right and the rest of the city?s spaces are probably in a similar state. Again with the trees have someone who knows about these things give you the lay of the land. I think you may not be considering all possibilities. A couple of things to consider....removing 22 trees or even planting 300 more isnt going to make an appreciable dent in our toxic air. If you want to make a dent equal or greater than foresting all of JC...get them to reduce or better scrub the HUGE emissions from the coal fired PSEG plant on the Hackensack about 4 miles to your west! If you reforest the park you may even have the option to choose species that have higher respiration rates than what is currently there, maybe evergreen trees will scrub the air year round? Also I think NEP and NPP actually are higher during secondary succession than when a forest is mature?but that is for a forest not a park. I am not sure of what this means for respiration. Good luck!
Posted on: 2009/9/3 1:21
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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This seems to be a good news bad news situation. There are contaminants, but the levels are marginally higher than requires remediation levels and the area is concentrated around the old basketball courts at Jersey Ave/9th street.
The contaminants are in the ground and under the surface.
Posted on: 2009/9/3 0:18
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Quite a regular
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If complete removal means cutting down even one more tree, I am against it.
A number of years ago, the corner of 12th Street and Erie Street was identified as one of the most polluted corners in the COUNTRY. The trees in Hamilton Park and in the surrounding area are the lungs of this neighborhood. Cut them down (22 trees for the complete removal) and you subject the entire community to lung-destroying toxins. I for one will protest any more tree cutting than is absolutely necessary. Furthermore, I invite any and all to join me in raising funds to add more trees to the landscape. Finally, where is the money? As a person who owns a home on the park, I will not donate money or support any form of a tax increase to cover the overage. This is not a farm where the contaminants in the soil will be absorbed by the food or livestock and passed on to everyone who eats the product of this soil. This is a park. The contaminants have been in this soil since before the 1970s renovation. People, children and pets have been playing in this park without any problems for generations. Why get hysterical now? What?s changed? Cap it. Live with it. There are far worse contaminants in the Hamilton Park area (homes built on capped chromium fields) than some lead buried deep in the soil, that is covered by grass and other vegetation.
Posted on: 2009/9/2 20:06
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Quote:
oskilo wrote: when curing this contemination, our community faces a very difficult decision. we need to have a serious discussion both at the meeting and on jclist. i'll be there ....
Posted on: 2009/9/2 19:40
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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I don't have kids and I wanna use the effing park. Getting the money to remove the soil is gonna add delays so I vote for capping it.
Posted on: 2009/9/2 19:26
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Newbie
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A friendly reminder, tonight's HPNA meeting is all about remediating the soil contamination in the park...
-Olu
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The other, more pressing, issue is the soil contamination. Results indicate several areas of concern which contain elevated levels of lead, arsenic and hydrocarbons (which are most likely due to the combustion of organic fuels). There are several options for addressing the contaminants which range from capping to full remediation (removal). Each method has its own cost and impact ranging from $75k for capping to $500 - $750k for full removal. Capping will have with no impact to trees or the park renovation time line, while full remediation will cause the loss of approximately 24 trees, and a delay on the completion of park renovation. The city has asked for community input regarding the clean-up decision. The Division of Architecture along with Councilman Fulop has arranged for an environmental consultant to be present at September?s HPNA meeting to present the findings and discuss the possible solutions. Please join us this Wednesday, September 2nd at 7:45PM at Cordero Elementary School (located at 158 Erie Street, on the corner of 10th Street) for this very important meeting/update.
Posted on: 2009/9/2 12:41
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Soil Contamination:
The other, more pressing, issue is the soil contamination. Results indicate several areas of concern which contain elevated levels of lead, arsenic and hydrocarbons (which are most likely due to the combustion of organic fuels). There are several options for addressing the contaminants which range from capping to full remediation (removal). Each method has its own cost and impact ranging from $75k for capping to $500 - $750k for full removal. Capping will have with no impact to trees or the park renovation time line, while full remediation will cause the loss of approximately 24 trees, and a delay on the completion of park renovation. Like I said "brace yourselves". If I had kids I would want that stuff out of there but then you have to first dig up the money to pay for it. Would the Silverman's kick in the money? It is the center-piece of their new development. Getting money from the city or state could add more time. Either way it sucks.
Posted on: 2009/8/29 13:55
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Newbie
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Last week, members of the HPNA met with the Division of Architecture to review overall progress for the Hamilton Park renovation. Soil contamination notwithstanding, the renovation of the park appears to be going well. A great deal of progress has been made and the renovation is on schedule to complete by late fall (although the schedule may be impacted by the contamination clean-up).
The following tasks have been completed:
Trees:
The one item of concern which came out of the meeting involves a few trees which are either diseased, at the end of their natural lives, or severely damaged in the thunderstorms we had a couple of weeks ago. Two of the trees are on the path leading in from the southeast corner of the park (on the right), one is in the large dog run, one is near the gazebo (directly to the west of it), and the remaining two near the center of the park. The City has reiterated their commitment save trees wherever possible and will replace each of the trees which must be removed. A full copy of the Arborist's reports can be found at the bottom of this post.
Soil Contamination:
The other, more pressing, issue is the soil contamination. Results indicate several areas of concern which contain elevated levels of lead, arsenic and hydrocarbons (which are most likely due to the combustion of organic fuels).
There are several options for addressing the contaminants which range from capping to full remediation (removal). Each method has its own cost and impact ranging from $75k for capping to $500 - $750k for full removal. Capping will have with no impact to trees or the park renovation time line, while full remediation will cause the loss of approximately 24 trees, and a delay on the completion of park renovation.
The city has asked for community input regarding the clean-up decision. The Division of Architecture along with Councilman Fulop has arranged for an environmental consultant to be present at September?s HPNA meeting to present the findings and discuss the possible solutions.
Please join us this Wednesday, September 2nd at 7:45PM at Cordero Elementary School (located at 158 Erie Street, on the corner of 10th Street) for this very important meeting/update.
Thanks,
Olu
Aug 11, 2009 Hamilton Park - Arborist Update June 18, 2009 Hamilton Park - Arborist Report
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Posted on: 2009/8/28 1:13
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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Lots of progress indeed in the park, they started framing the alleys and playgrounds. Starting to look exciting !
Posted on: 2009/8/21 0:18
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Newbie
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As you can tell if you read any of my other posts I am not a big proponent of those who run things in JC, but the people who get the actual work done, once they have the permission and money to do so, are mostly pretty great.
I have had the pleasure of working with Glenn on two projects and have complete faith he is doing everything he can to keep it on schedule. As for starting in summer, that was just bad luck. The bid and rebid process took longer than expected, leaving the city with the choice of starting this summer (nearly 9 months late) or waiting still longer. They decided to get to work as soon as possible. Inconvenient in the short term, but it means we will have a new park sooner. I will now return to my regularly scheduled ranting. Thank you.
Posted on: 2009/8/15 14:30
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