TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Of the three remaining easements needed before Bergen County can set the Pascack Road–Washington Avenue intersection project on its 2021 schedule, one was approved June 21 and the township likely is heading to court in August to acquire the final two via eminent domain.
In all, the township needed to secure 13 road widening or temporary construction easements—and have copies in the county’s hands—before the county would schedule the long-awaited intersection improvement project.
On June 21, the Township Council approved resolution 21-244 to authorize an agreement for a 694-square-foot road widening easement at 667 McKinley Ave, adjacent to the Exxon station. The resolution notes that an agreement in lieu of condemnation for Block 3104, Lot 6, was authorized in the amount not to exceed $37,000.
No comments by the mayor, council, or residents were made at the June 21 meeting regarding the project. Our calls to Administrator Robert Tovo and Township Attorney Kenneth Poller went unreturned.
On July 3, a public notice was published that notified SZ Realty Investment LLC, Peter Covello, Tonya Covello and Pascack Auto Exchange Inc. of a Superior Court filing by the township to “exercise eminent domain” on Lots 1 and 7 of Block 3103.
They are requested to reply by July 23 to the township’s motion for condemnation and a Superior Court hearing on the condemnation is scheduled Aug. 18 at 1:30 p.m. at Bergen County Justice Center.
The motion invoking eminent domain asks the defendants to state why final judgment should not be entered that the Township of Washington “has duly exercised its power of eminent domain and further, why judgment should not be rendered appointing three disinterested commissioners… to fix the compensation to be paid for the taking of the property interests described in the Complaint.”
The Lot 1 widening easement comprises 1,679 square feet at 680 McKinley Ave. while the Lot 7 temporary construction easement encompasses 432 square feet at 689 Pascack Road, both also bounded by Jefferson Avenue and Pascack Road.
The council approved an eminent domain ordinance on the properties in mid-April. The administration had been negotiating with property owners since then to acquire the easements at fair market value.
The intersection improvement has been a defining priority for the current council. Funding the engineering “soft costs” was the first attempted ordinance of 2017. The intersection, now a notorious bottleneck near the fire station, daily serves tens of thousands of people in addition to residents.
The project has seen missteps and delays, including the original shared services agreement the council authorized Mayor Peter Calamari to sign and submit to Bergen County in mid 2019.
The SSA sets forth the division of responsibilities between the township and the county as per respective resolutions previously adopted. The Board of Chosen Freeholders approved it July 2, 2019 and the township adopted it that Aug. 12. The council understood Calamari to have sent the signed paperwork to the county that Sept. 9.
Due to last-minute reviews and editing requested by Poller— leading him to direct the whiting out of Calamari’s signature—the revised SSA was not signed off on by the township until late 2019. A final condition was added that requires the township pay for any new traffic signals needed at the nearby emergency services building under construction.
For more, see “Intersection Construction ‘Not Possible For 2020,’ Says County,” Pascack Press, Dec. 30, 2019.