Is the EnCap project nothing but a house of cards ready to collapse?
Politically connected developer now seeks $366 million from New Jersey while state finance official says proposal "does not provide sufficient protection for the municipalities."
Rutherford, Lyndhurst potentially liable if controversial project falls through according to Bergen Record investigative report, North Arlington needs to get out of this deal now!
NORTH ARLINGTON - In a scathing attack on the financial integrity of the EnCap deal as it applies to Lyndhurst and Rutherford, The Record of Hackensack reported yesterday that "taxpayers could be left holding the bag" if the financing falters.
According to The Record, Encap is strapped for dollars and is seeking an incredible $366 million from state officials that would be paid back on future taxes generated by the risky notion of home buyers purchasing homes atop remediated landfills and garbage dumps.
But Susan Jacobucci, Chairman of the state's Local Finance Board is not convinced this financial arrangement protects either homeowners or the municipalities (Read Letter).
"The board must know what happens in the event of a default in the repayment of the bonds. If you decide to proceed, please provide plain-language explanation," said the state's Local Finance Chair.
While state officials are questioning the whole viability of the financing, the New Jersey Senate passed a controversial bill that would bolster EnCap's questionable financial standing.
Jacobucci's concerns have caused a swirl of concern among those officials who for years have praised the EnCap deal as the some financial savior. But despite all this support from county and state officials, the people who live in these municipalities have long found this whole development suspect at best.
"How many elected officials need to get beat before someone at the county or state level notices? James Guida and Len Kaiser were defeated along with Russ Pitman because they all turned their backs on local homeowners for the concerns of EnCap. Now this year we saw John Genovesi win in Rutherford on the same issue of overdevelopment. EnCap has never enjoyed any semblance of public support in any of these municipalities and now the chickens are coming home to roost," said one ardent EnCap opponent.
Opposition to EnCap has been at the heart of the resurgence of the North Arlington Democratic Party that has opposed the project since it's inception. When Mayor Russ Pitman reversed his position, Democrats dumped Pitman in the Primary and remain steadfast in their resolve to void this deal as negotiated.
"What additional information is needed for any reasonable individual to realize EnCap is just bad for South Bergen?
When will the social engineers at the NJMC and other bureaucrats realize this project has more questions than answers?" said one vindicated EnCap opponent.
"The Record article is very disturbing. It only confirms our worst suspicions about the whole credibility of this project.
The wheels seem to be falling off the wagon and I'm glad we've taken the positions we took in the election as it applies to EnCap, eminent domain and low income housing," noted incoming Councilman Al Granell, himself a target of eminent domain seizure and an early opponent of the EnCap housing project in North Arlington.
"This is a massive housing project. This is not about golf courses or an enhanced lifestyle. This is about urbanization. It's about eminent domain seizure. It's about the construction of thousands of units of housing and hundreds of units of low income housing. Nobody in North Arlington wants anything to do with EnCap and this latest revelation confirms what we believed all along," said North Arlington Councilman Steve Tanelli.
North Arlington officials now believe the school promised for Lyndhurst is just that, a promise.
"How can EnCap promise Lyndhurst a school if they need nearly $400 million from state officials? This whole project must come under greater public scrutiny. Pete's request for a formal inquiry into this project in hindsight was the right thing to do," noted Granell, Massa's running-mate and councilman-elect.
Mayor-elect Massa sent a letter to US Attorney Chris Christie last Spring to investigate the North Arlington deal as negotiated by outgoing Mayor Russ Pitman and retiring Borough Attorney Joseph Mariniello.
