The Hoboken City Council voted for Hudson Regional Health to establish a payment plan for their tax liens related to their facility at 308 Willow Ave. at Wednesday’s meeting.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The resolution came about after a closed session with Special Counsel Joe Baumann “to discuss legal matters subject to attorney-client privilege relative to Hudson Regional Health/Hoboken University Hospital.”
Council President Ruben Ramos read the measure into the record, which broadly states that HRH must repay the tax liens they owe the city via a payment plan agreement for this year, with a tax lien sale set for today.
No dollar amounts were listed in the resolution, prompting 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, who suggested last month that the city collect on the $183,005.50 HRH owes them for parking, to ask if the resolution could be more specific.
5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, the council vice president, noted that they were briefed in closed session since there is an active negotiation with HRH and therefore it made sense not to include specific numbers in the locals legislation.
“But we should at least be able to put a sentence in there that says ‘pursuant to the discussions at the closed session,'” Fisher noted, to which several of her colleagues seemed to agree.
1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano then expressed some concerns about the specificity of what they were about to vote on.
“Again, and I’m not doubting that Mayor [Emily] Jabbour will do the right thing, but read that one sentence: Anything under the sun she can basically said she can do,'” he stated.
Cohen, a lawyer by trade, then offered to read the sentence he wanted to include in the amended resolution.
“Number 2 will say ‘The council hereby authorizes the mayor to enter into a payment plan, with the advice of counsel, consistent with the parameters of the council discussions in closed session,'” he said.
Fisher noted that they discussed “a floor,” which should be the bare minimum HRH should have to pay.
After Presinzano expressed further concerns with some of the resolution language, 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo wanted Corporation Counsel Arlene Quiñones Perez to put the issue to bed.
” … So we feel as confident as we need to, is there anything else we need to put in that resolution to reach the goal that Councilman Presinzano is trying to achieve, and again, I think we all are in agreement that there’s a clear path from closed session, we understand that,” Russo began.
“But just to make sure that we’re all on that same page, no funny business can happen or will happen, is there anything else we need to put into that resolution so that we protect the City of Hoboken?”
Quiñones Perez suggested to “make it very clear” that the agreement reflects upon what was discussed on closed session, with those meeting minutes becoming public once the matter is settled.
The resolution was approved unanimously (9-0) shortly thereafter.
Why do I think that this will end up in up rezoning and a high rise luxury development with a PILOT