WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—A new passive park for walking, talking, daydreaming, and generally enjoying nature might soon be coming to the borough.
The borough engineer said recently he hopes to have the 2.1-acre former Galaxy Gardens site completely remediated by early to mid-March and with “positive results” following recent soil tests.
The borough purchased the site—at the corner of Woodcliff Avenue and Werimus Road—in February 2018 and hopes to turn it into a passive park for residents. This may include walking paths, benches, and green space.
Borough Engineer Evan Jacobs, of Neglia Engineering, said the site’s soil remediation had been delayed due to Covid-19 staff shortages which affected the contractor.
He said he hoped to have a licensed site remediation professional (LSRP) representative at the council’s March 15 meeting to update members.
“The anticipation is that once the positive results come back in terms of the outcome… by early to mid March we’ll be able to close out the [state] DEP’s involvement in the cleanup of the site there,” Jacobs said.
He said all remediation work has been completed, which was approved last summer. The $48,000 cost included $31,525 to remove and replace 225 tons of soil, and $17,100 for site monitoring.
All told, Mayor Carlos Rendo and the council committed $355,600 on clearing, grading, and remediating the former garden center and gas station property.
Once the LSRP deems the site fully remediated, the borough will submit the paperwork to the county to release a long-held $500,000 Bergen County Open Space grant to help develop a passive park on the site.
Other possible grant funds the borough applied for include a $341,000 county matching grant to help with park design and construction.
The site was purchased in February 2018 for $1.65 million by a 4–3 council vote, with Rendo breaking the tie. Some residents and officials had opposed the purchase over a suspicion of environmental contamination.
In addition, the site was considered by Valley Chabad for possible expansion but that effort faltered when possible contamination became an issue and the borough moved to acquire the property for open space.