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BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF PASCACK PRESS
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—Following last month’s purchase of the 2.1-acre Galaxy Gardens site for $1.65 million, Woodlcliff Lake has started a two-pronged approach to expedite creation of its newest park: applying for a flood hazard area permit so work can take place and soon advertising to hire a site remediation contractor.
Officials said the June 29 purchase went off with no glitches, but warned delays, cost increases, and even surprises are possible as Borough Administrator Tom Padilla, Borough Engineer Neglia Engineering, and newly hired licensed site remediation professional Langan Engineering and Environmental Services start turning a contaminated site into a park.
Underlying the regulatory and remediation steps remains the divisive history of the project: Woodcliff Lake purchased the property after Valley Chabad—a local Jewish organization suing the borough for religious discrimination—dropped its interest in purchasing the property to expand after the borough decided the site would make a nice park.
The 4-3 vote to purchase the property split down party lines, with Republican Mayor Carlos Rendo breaking a 3-3 council tie to buy the former landscape center and gas station site.
As Padilla described the next steps in site remediation, he noted this is uncharted territory for him and the municipality.
Neglia Engineering is applying for a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection flood hazard area individual permit and Langan Engineering, who previously investigated site contamination and subsequently was hired to manage site cleanup with NJDEP guidance, will develop site remediation bid specifications used to advertise for site remediation contractors.
Site remediation specs
A draft of site remediation specs have been prepared, Padilla said, and were undergoing revisions before advertisement for contractors will occur. Contractors bidding on site remediation work must obtain the bidding package, including site remediation and technical specs, before submitting any final bid.
Additionally, Padilla has applied to the county Open Space office to get a grant extension on the $500,000 Open Space grant originally awarded to the borough Aug. 10, 2016, which expires two years from that date.
He said it’s likely to be extended due to the borough’s success in purchasing the site for a park as well as moving ahead with legal and agency requirements necessary for site soil remediation.
Padilla also said the county understands it’s likely unanticipated delays may slow down site remediation work.
Asbestos and demolition
Another possible unknown is whether the required asbestos inspection of existing site buildings will yield any additional costs or remediation.
Reached July 6, Padilla said the borough’s professionals—Neglia, Langan, and himself, with council consultation—were debating whether the borough should first advertise for an asbestos inspection contractor or make the asbestos inspection, building demolition and site remediation work all part of one comprehensive bid package for contractors to respond to.
In addition to the potential bidding and permit issues, Padilla previously mentioned that Borough Attorney Ronald Dario recommended the council needs to precisely define “passive recreation” in its local Open Space ordinance as this could impact what types of “passive” park facilities/amenities may be funded.
‘Soil blending’ cleanup
Reached July 9, Michael Morris of Langan Engineering, said a site remediation work plan was being prepared for NJDEP and the plan and additional technical details would be available to potential contractors bidding on site remediation.
Padilla and Morris said soil blending—which NJDEP defines as physical mixing of impacted soil with clean soil—would likely be used to attain state soil remediation standards for the site.
“Blending is often the most economical way of addressing historically applied pesticides,” states a section of NJDEP’s manual, “Historically Applied Pesticide Technical Guidance,” dated August 2016.
While no date is set for advertising bid specifications for site remediation work—possibly late July or August—actual remediation work on the site cannot begin until an asbestos inspection and on-site building demolition has occurred.
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Permits and work plans
Padilla said the borough may advertise bid specs for remediation contractors prior to receiving its NJDEP flood hazard permit. Once a remedial action work plan is submitted by Langan, and a contractor is hired, site remediation work can be begun, said Padilla.
Evan Jacobs, borough engineer with Neglia Engineering, said because the flood hazard individual permit only affects approximately one-third of the site, work could commence on the rest of the site before a permit is received.
He said the NJDEP has 90 days to respond to its permit application, giving NJDEP to about mid-October to approve its permit or request more information.
Jacobs said the flood hazard area permit is needed because a tributary of Musquapsink Brook, a so-called Category 1 water on the western side of Werimus Road, must maintain a 300-foot riparian buffer and soil disturbances that may affect the waterway or buffer require approval from NJDEP.
The brook eventually flows into Oradell Reservoir, a public drinking water supply.
Over the next months, the borough, and its professionals, will be moving on many fronts to turn the former garden center into a park for “passive recreation,” a term that will be more clearly defined by the council soon.
And once bid specs are put out and bids are received and opened— Padilla said likely sometime in summer or early fall—the council will know the cost of site remediation, a topic raised by citizens who criticized the original decision to purchase the property.
Using Langan’s initial site investigation and remediation proposals, Padilla previously said remediation estimates are $250,000 to $500,000.
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