New consultant to assist Galaxy Gardens remediation

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BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF PASCACK PRESS

WOODCLIFF LAKE —Council members voted unanimously Oct. 1 to change environmental consultants—citing much lower proposed billing costs—to help the borough manage the upcoming bidding and soil remediation process for the 2.1-acre Galaxy Gardens site that it plans to turn into a passive park.

Under pressure to hire a licensed site remediation professional, or LSRP, in June to close on its $1.65 million Galaxy Gardens purchase, the council then hired Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc., Parsippany to prepare site remediation bid specifications for approximately $41,000, partly based on the consultant’s previous work with the borough.

When the site was purchased in late June—after a split council voted along party lines with Republican Mayor Carlos Rendo casting a tie-breaking vote—$100,000 was put in escrow for site remediation purposes, including pesticide contamination of soil and possible asbestos contamination in buildings.

Councilwoman Nancy Gross said two consultants were interviewed to replace Langan moving forward, and she noted the “scope of work” presented by First Environment Inc., of Boonton, was half the price of Langan’s fees although the resolution approved Oct. 1 did not list hourly rates or a total contract price.

A public records request for the contract revealed project costs including $8,500 for a remedial investigation and action work plan, $7,000 for a remedial action report, $2,525 for post-blending soil sampling and investigation, $2,425 for groundwater sampling, and professional staff billing rates: $185 an hour for a senior associate, $150 an hour for an licensed site remediation professional, $100 an hour for a geologist, $80 an hour for a draftsperson and $55 an hour for administrative costs.

Gross said that First Environment would review and complete the site remediation bid documents submitted by Langan and prepare bid specifications for site remediation. She said the consultant has experience dealing with soil-blending projects—a type of environmental remediation for sites contaminated with pesticides and other toxins—and the preferred cleanup method for Galaxy Gardens.

“There were a lot of reasons we decided to switch to this company,” said Gross, who noted after the meeting that Langan was a large company and First Environment a smaller organization. Gross said in June she would have preferred more bids and several members noted the high cost of services under Langan’s contract.

However, with a mid-August deadline to get a licensed site remediation professional on board and an LSRP needed to close on the Galaxy Gardens site remediation, council members approved hiring Langan.

Gross said Oct. 1 that she and Councilwoman Angela Hayes had “a comfort level” with First Environment Inc. and Hayes said that the new consultant would “not only be cheaper” but also assist the borough when a park is installed “and do this in a most cost-effective manner.”

‘Really benefit this town’

Upon request from Councilwoman Jacqueline Gadaleta, Borough Business Administrator Thomas Padilla said he would provide council members with weekly updates on Galaxy Garden site developments.

She thanked Gross and Hayes for finding and vetting First Environment Inc. to “really benefit this town and make Galaxy Gardens on the right path.”

Padilla said he expects to advertise bid specs for site remediation contractors by late October. He also noted that due to the site purchase, development of remediation specs, and communications with state Department of Environmental Protection, the Bergen County Open Space fund had approved an extension of their $500,000 grant through February 2019.

NJDEP sign-off

An official from the county Open Space office said NJDEP must provide approval sign-off on site remediation work before the county grant funds are released to Woodcliff Lake.

Padilla said borough engineer Neglia Engineering was negotiating with NJDEP for approval of its future planting plan for the site.

He said NJDEP requires plants or trees destroyed during remediation to be replanted but because the site is planned to be turned into a passive park, the borough would like to replace plant materials based on its future park design.

“What we don’t want is to replant something and then say that’s where we want to put a
gazebo,” said Padilla. He said no design plan exists for the future park.

Previously, Padilla said site environmental remediation costs were estimated between $250,000 to $500,000, with high end estimates being for complete removal of site soil if contamination levels required it.

However, that was not necessary and a soil blending remediation process will be advertised in site remediation specs likely later in October, said Padilla.

Valley Chabad link

Previously, the Galaxy Gardens site was under contract by Valley Chabad in 2016, a local Jewish organization, to construct an expanded temple for its growing congregation.

That purchase fell through and the borough moved to acquire the property for use as a passive park. On Nov. 1 2016, Valley Chabad filed suit against the borough alleging “a consistent campaign of bias” against its expansion efforts.

Also in June 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, New Jersey District, filed a lawsuit against Woodcliff Lake charging the borough and its Zoning Board with violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) noting “Valley Chabad’s inability to relocate within Woodcliff Lake and the denial of its variance application.”

The federal lawsuit notes Valley Chabad’s three attempts to purchase local properties that were either acquired or rezoned by the borough and charges the borough infringed Chabad’s religious freedom “by repeatedly meddling in its attempts to purchase property in the area and citing subjective and misleading reasons to justify denying its zoning application,” says the federal complaint.

Neither case has yet gone to trial, Woodcliff Lake special counsel Henry Klingeman told Pascack Press Oct. 3. He said the Valley Chabad lawsuit and federal lawsuit discovery period was ongoing.