The Hoboken City Council awarded a $200,000 contract to Montclair-based Arterial LLC to provide concept development and preliminary design engineering services to rehabilitate Castle Point Terrance, while pushing votes on bird-safe glass and cannabis last night.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Hoboken Council President Ruben Ramos noted several individuals wanted to speak on the resolution regarding Castle Point, which is a relatively rare occurrence in the Mile Square City.
“Our street has not been touched in 100 years. It is collapsing with trenches, pits, holes, and uneven curbing that have already injured residents. This project has been delayed since 2018. And when the pipes were replaced in 2023, we were promised the road would be repaved. That never happened,” Jenny Rossini stated.
Next, Roseanne Versaci recalled that a meeting was held in 2018 back when it seemed that the project was moving quickly.
“Since then, we have had multiple meetings, Zoom, etc., conversations with council people, and we’re still at an impasse here, and the street is just worse and worse,” she explained.
“It’s buckling. There’s stones that are missing. The work that was done to pave the areas that were broken up … are black top … Not only is it an eyesore, it’s so dangerous. My tenant face planted and injured herself.”
6th Ward Councilwoman Diane Imus said the city has been talking about fixing the road for nearly a decade, with public meetings on the topic taking place in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023, with funding approved and taken away as the road continues to degrade.
“My 86- and 90-year-old parents, I have to walk behind them, ready to catch when we’re walking on the street. We are keenly aware of making sure this project proceeds in as cost effective of a manner as possible,” Imus added.
“This is an example of when you don’t maintain your infrastructure on a regular basis, the costs pile up. When I was first introduced to this topic, the sticker shock was real,” Councilman at-Large Joe Quintero argued.
He continued that they believe it could cost $4 million to repair two blocks, when it’s usually $150,000 a block, also pointing out that while a study was previously approved, a related contract was never awarded.
“My focus is going to be on getting it to that minimum state of repair. We really want to make sure that it’s cost effective,” Quintero reiterated.
“This money has to be used for a soft cost on an infrastructure project. We can’t use it to … fund youth sports or something.”
Similarly, 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen said next steps can’t be taken until the city is aware of what kind of costs are associated with the road improvements.
“Clearly in a year where we’re pressed financially …. we’re going to have a hard decision to make at some point in the future. Tonight, we’re approving money we can’t spend anywhere else in the budget,” he explained.
He further stated that they may ultimately need to secure grant funding to fix the street.
“I have worked on this since 2017 … The difference between where we are at this exact second and where we were a year ago is a different Administration, different politics, and really a commitment to look at things through a more rational lens,” stated 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher.
“It’s a 100-year-old road with a roadbed that has to be fully rebuilt, which makes the costs so much greater.”
1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano agreed that the project had been faced numerous delays “due to some politics of the last administration.”
3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo and Ramos agreed that action needed to be taken sooner than later on this matter.
“Let’s get the bare minimum tackled right away,” Russo urged.
“The road needs to be done. So we have to support it,” Ramos concurred.
The Hoboken City Council passed the resolution unanimously (9-0).
Additionally, two ordinances up for second reading, one for bird-safe glass and the other for cannabis and hemp law changes were pushed until the August 12th council meeting.
The former will remain on second reading, while the latter will be back up for first reading after significant revisions were made.
