Agenda for Special City Council Meeting:
1. RESOLUTION TO HOLD A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR DISCUSSING, AND TAKING ACTION RELATING TO, THE PURCHASE AND SALE OF THE DPW MUNICIPAL GARAGE AT OBSERVER HIGHWAY (BLOCK 1/LOT 1).
2. RESOLUTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION TO DISCUSS ANTICIPATED LITIGATION RELATING TO THE PURCHASE AND SALE OF THE DPW MUNICIPAL GARAGE AT OBSERVER HIGHWAY (BLOCK 1/LOT 1).
3. VOTE ON RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A COURSE OF ACTION AS A RESULT OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CLOSED SESSION AND THE COUNCIL’S CLOSED SESSION DELIBERATIONS WITH REGARDS TO THE DPW MUNICIPAL GARAGE AT OBSERVER HIGHWAY (BLOCK 1/LOT 1).
Note: The issue I see as being a possibility is that that The City of Hoboken could not be ready for the close based on insufficient environmental remediation of the site by August 13th which was a condition for the sale of the garage to Hekemian. If the City were not ready for the transaction to take place they could stand to lose the $2.5 million deposit to Hekemian not to mention any additional damages should Hekemian decide to pursue a lawsuit against the City. Perhaps the City of Hoboken would counter sue for obstruction in the remediation process. Based on my sources that is a possibility. We should find out more tonight as to the status of the remediation effort.
Original Post 8/9/2010: There is already a City Council meeting scheduled for August 11th but now there is also one for August 10th tomorrow due to potential litigation between Hekemian and the City of Hoboken over the Municipal Garage. According to a source of mine in City Hall the agenda for tomorrow will have enough items on it to justify a separate meeting on it rather than wait until Wednesday.I will post the agenda once it is available on the City Website.
Here is the announcement...
An emergency City Council meeting has been called for tomorrow night, Tuesday, August 10th at 7:00 regarding the sale of the municipal garage. The Council will be briefed by the City’s environmental and legal professionals, and requested to conduct deliberations in closed session due to the potential for litigation between SHG (Hekemian) and the City of Hoboken. A vote on a resolution to provide direction to the City’s redevelopment counsel, will occur in public session.
In addition, Mayor Zimmer announced that she intends to introduce the budget at the first meeting in September rather than the August 11th meeting. This action is necessary due to a number of issues, including further analysis regarding the municipal garage based on the results of the emergency meeting. In addition, further assessments regarding the cost of potential legal exposure in a number of matters must be completed prior to introduction of the budget, as well as a full evaluation of the number of potential retirements.
“The introduction of the budget is the beginning of the process for the City Council to perform its duty to review our City’s budget,” Mayor Zimmer said. “I want to provide the Council with the best starting point possible, and therefore my Administration needs additional time to fully assess the potential impact of significant issues related to the budget.” ◦
