June 24,2015
Boyd A. Loving
Ridgewood NJ, Despite the contention by Ridgewood Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli that nobody on the dais knows exactly how much the new parking garage will cost (“. . . no price has been set. . . “) the number $15 million was put into play during Wednesday evening’s Village Council Work Session. The last I heard (just a few weeks ago), the number being kicked around was $10 million. A 50% increase in less than 60 days; I must say, somewhat surprising, but not utterly shocking.
Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn said on Wednesday evening that between $10-$15 million in public finding would “presumably” be “asked for.” Then the Mayor read the draft of a question intended to be part of a non-binding referendum the Council is considering including on the ballot of November’s general election.
The draft question was read as follows: “Do you support a proposal to finance and build a downtown parking garage on the Hudson Street lot, located on the corner of Hudson Street and South Broad Street, by bonding up to $15 million of public funds through Parking Utility revenues.”
Remember folks; following damage caused by Hurricane Floyd, renovations to Village Hall were expected to cost $4.5 million (or at least that’s what taxpayers were told). Change orders approved by the Village Council back then escalated the actual costs to above $11 million. How far above $11 million we spent is a closely guarded secret.
So now we’re being told, by our mayor, that we might spend up to $15 million to build a single garage. Anyone out there want to hazard a guess on what the real number will turn out to be? Will history (the Village Hall renovation fiasco) repeat itself?
And what about the language of that draft question (and you can insert any number you want into the equation). Is it just me, or would many of you interpret that language to indicate Parking Utility revenues will completely pay for the project (including bond interest?). Translation, our property taxes won’t increase? Am I the only one who’s a bit worried by that statement?
I am neither for nor against the financing and construction a parking garage at this point, but I am completely against being misled as to projected costs and the impact on an average homeowner’s property tax bill. I refuse to be fooled again.
If there is a non-binding referendum on your November ballot, be sure to read the entire financing plan very carefully before you make a choice.
You will never know about any project cost overruns. Just like we don’t know the exact numbers for Village Hall. I’m guessing that the reported cost will be under what they asked for and the overruns will be buried somewhere in the budget under misc.
Remember fellow taxpayers, Parking Utility revenues are now used for anything and everything. Portions of the Village’s daily police, fire, and public works expenses are paid for by monies dropped in parking meters and other parking revenues. If all of those funds are diverted to pay for the construction of a garage (and bond interest), taxpayers will be on the hook to cover the everytday expenses now paid for by parking fees. In a nutshell, expect your property taxes to be jacked way up.
Most annoying is this stupid non-binding referendum. Just listened to the U-Stream. Catch this: if everyone supports the referendum for the parking garage, they will feel justified in proceeding with this multi-million dollar project. If the public does NOT support the garage, then they will proceed regardless. They actually said that last night. They said that they have been charged with governing and they will do the garage even if the public overwhelming says no. Albert and Paul know what is best for the Village – just ask them.
What does it cost to put the referendum on the ballot? I assume there are expenses involved.
They should skip the referendum. They do not intend to act upon the public’s wishes unless the public agrees with them.
Sickening.
It will cost a lot more than $15mn… try double.
Now you know why it never got built. The risk/reward ratio never did compute. And now you have more people buying on line, and more, not to mention bigger, malls around you (among other things).
This has become just like Valley, it only makes sense to those who have some kind of personal agenda attached to it.
Somethings stinks here: The Village has $48.8 million in gross debt and we’re still paying off the previous bond that raised funds for an unbuilt parking garage, so now they want to bond up to another $15 million of public funds through Parking Utility revenues? This is pure stupidity and arrogance. The current budget presentation mentions continued payback of Parking Utility deficits in the 2016 budget, but then says “Do everything necessary to begin construction of a parking garage(s) by 2016” as well as “prepare for 2016 implementation of a new sidewalk café ordinance and enforcement”. So taxpayers get hosed – again – to help out the Greek restaurant?
That is exactly what I was thinking, to help out the Greek restaurant. What will the garage charge after 6 p.m. ? Will parking be free then?
People coming from other towns to eat after 6 p.m. and finding spaces a block or two from the Greek restaurant or not finding a space at all won’t want to pay several dollars an hour for parking in the proposed lot.
A complete ship of fools led by the three stooges.
The plan makes no sense except for someone looking to line their pockets by skimming off the inevitable overcharging, legal fees, graft and corruption that will be associated with spending this much on construction in north Bergen. There’s a huge difference between $10 million and $15 million, yet there’s no clear, transparent explanation on the cost. This has to be stopped at all costs, the Village cannot afford this without tax increases or layoffs, wage & benefit cuts for current employees.
Parking structure construction studies available on line indicate that on average in the US, it costs $18,000 per parking space to build an unautomated garage (2014 data).
Doing the math very quickly, $15,000,000 divided by $18,000 would net the Village just over 800 spaces.
Is the Village Council really planning to construct a single garage with that much capacity?
https://www.carlwalker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/April-Newsletter-2014.pdf
https://www.vtpi.org/tca/tca0504.pdf
1:55 –
It looks like they are planning to have plenty of extra money. Maybe they can use it to build an u derground tunnel from Paulies Greek Place to the garage.
Recall. The only way to save this town.
Seriously folks……….if there is a lot of opposition to the 15 million dollar parking garage, why in the world would they insist that the plan move forward? Who stands to gain? This must be investigated. Who knows the parking garage contractors?
Okay 4:05, get the ball rolling…. and none of the bullshit online petitions…. the Mahwah effort has volunteers going door to door… if people want a recall, take the online ranting in anonymity to the next level… here, this may help… good luck…. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/recall-of-local-officials.aspx
According to Marshall Valuation Service (updated May 2015), the cost of multi-level parking structures range from $9,900/space to $21,500/space depending upon height and quality. We can assume in Ridgewood, it would be at the upper end of the range. But that’s just a rule of thumb. Marshall’s estimates the cost per square foot of gross building area at $92.12 per square foot, which is the cost before developer’s profit, and is the more accurate method. So what is the size of the proposed building? Using an average of 350 +/- square foot per space including an aisle would result in a per space price of $32,200. So $15,000,000 divided by $32,200/space results in a garage with 465 spaces. Does this math sound crazy yet? A 465 space garage sounds crazy, unbelievable and won’t look very good no matter how it is dressed up.
All the bad stuff gets railroaded down our throats. If its so attractive let it be public private bonding so the geniuses can go down with the sinking ship with Ridgewood Taxpayers ..realtors in for some large turmovers ahead. PS PAVE THE STREETS And the shabby lots we operate today
The 3 amigos what their name on the big bronze plaque that will be on the garage. What a bunch of narcissist but then again a lot of village residents voted for them. So how do you like them now?
Let me make one thing perfectly clear: Paul Aronsohn and Albert Pucciarelli will not, I repeat WILL NOT, be swayed by public opinion, common sense, or realistic facts. They are going to build this god-forsaken garage and look out anybody who gets in their way. They feel this will make their mark in town. Yep, it will be a mark alright, a gigantic debt and a garage with so few cars in it that it will look like an abandoned property. But they won’t care. In a couple of years Aronsohn will be in DC (he hopes) working as a gopher for Hillary, and Pucciarelli will be living in MidlandPark, and we will be left with this mess, their legacy.
maybe, maybe Gwenn will decide to rein this project in and make it mor sensible and less colossal. Say what you will about Gwenn, but she of the three of them truly TRULY cares about Ridgewood. lately there have been glimmers of hope that she might be standing on her own away from the two of them on a couple of issues. Maybe she will back off on this folly. We can hope.
S Frapz, a 465 space garage in the CBD of Rudgewood sounds INSANE, thanks for exposing what looks to be nothing but a scam
If the Greek wants a garage so badly, why isn’t this being set up as a public-private partnership (PPP) between business owners in the CBD and the Village? If business owners are involved in funding the construction, you can be damn sure they’ll be keeping a laser focus on cost overruns and potential graft/corruption. If it’s just the Village paying we all know what will happen. How can the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and VM not be pushing for a PPP if these parking spaces mean so much to business owners? If they try to push this through by themselves their support base vanishes immediately. Focus on cutting taxes, not leaving us with a white elephant that will increase everyone’s taxes. Pure arrogance.