Council Meeting Wrap-Up: January 17, 2024
Greeting Hoboken! We are officially in the second half of January, it’s dark and it’s cold, but the days are getting longer so that’s some good news. Please enjoy this bi-weekly summary of our City Council meeting. Today, I’ll be covering what we discussed on January 17, 2024. If you’d like to more on any of these items, or have questions about other issues, please email me at councilmanquintero@gmail.com. Also, if you’d like to get these messages directly, please visit joequintero.com or sign up directly here (note: no need to sign up if you have already, direct emails will launch soon).
At our last Council meeting we had a scheduled closed session for 6pm… then we didn’t. More on that in a bit. Our regular session ran about three hours, and we covered a lot, including approving a park plan and discussing gun safety issues.
Closed Sessions
Originally, we had a closed session scheduled for 6pm, then it was cancelled. Why? Well, this is the part where my Council colleagues will freak out because as with Vegas… what goes on in closed session stays in closed session! Don’t worry friends, I’m not going to divulge anything I shouldn’t; however, I think this is a good opportunity to discuss what closed sessions are for. Long story short, from time to time, the City Council needs to have private sessions to focus on sensitive topics that would be inappropriate to discuss in an open forum. For example, legal counsel might need to update us on who is suing the City (and why) and we do this privately to protect attorney-client privilege. In other instances, we might be briefed on (and discuss) negotiation strategies between the Administration and counterparties like unions for contracts or property owners for potential land acquisitions.
Closed sessions are typically run in the same way as open sessions, with the Council President presiding, opening debate, moderating discussions, etc. We even stand up and do the pledge of allegiance! One big difference between how open and closed sessions operate is that we DO NOT vote on anything of substance. Any votes which would impact the community at large occur during open sessions. Really the only thing we vote on during closed session is whether to come out of closed session.
With respect to the previously scheduled (then cancelled) closed session, I can’t really discuss the subject matter or why it was postponed. I’m sure it will be rescheduled soon.
Proclamation Honoring Assembly Woman Annette Chaparro
To start our meeting Council President Giattino presented Annette Chaparro with a proclamation honoring her achievements as Assemblywoman for NJ’s 33rd district. For eight years Ms. Chaparro served in the NJ State Assembly with honor and passion. Born and raised in Hoboken, Ms. Chaparro has demonstrated that coming from meager beginnings doesn’t have to be a limitation, in fact, it can be a driving force for a lifetime of service and achievement. She’s a true inspiration to me and our community not only as a woman and a Hispanic, but as a Hoboken original. Thank you, Annette.
Public Hearings for… More Parks!
Next up were two public hearings for a new park at 800 Monroe and the (previously discussed) Church Square Park upgrades. These hearings had a very specific purpose, as they were required as part of grant applications the City will submit to cover significant portions of the costs of both parks.
First up was 800 Monroe Resiliency Park (click here for details). A representative from AECOM presented the final design concept for this park which will be located on Monroe Street between 8th and 9th. You might recognize this block as that big weird scary empty block next to the Monroe Center. While it’s been fun to scare our kids with stories about what Tony Soprano and his boys would do at this site, I think we are all excited for this space to turn into our newest resiliency park.
The final concept was the culmination of a year-long process involving significant community input, including four public meetings (January, April, August, and November 2023). When completed this park will be a new home to three regulation size tennis courts on one side (don’t worry pickle ballers, the tennis folks will share… I hope) and a wonderful passive area (lawns, seating, flowers… you get the picture) on the other.
Two additional huge wins for our community will be the addition of a new dog run in the area and significant flood mitigation measures. Personally, I’m excited about the new dog run as this part of town is in dire need of one. I’m also excited that this run will have a separate space for big and small dogs, but I’m not sure how my dog will take it. You see he is kind of a little dog with a Napoleon complex. So, while I’ll put him in the small dog area to start, I’m sure he will complain about it.
With respect to the flood mitigation measures – as this is a resiliency park – there will be tons of storm water retention. Specifically, this park will have the capacity to store 430,000 gallons of water during large rain events. As we know, this is important for reducing flooding as it means the park will help keep 430,000 gallons of water out of our sewers, thereby reducing the stress levels, and keeping the water off our streets.
Following this presentation, we held a public meeting on the initial phase of the Church Square Park redesign. Under Jake’s Law, the State of NJ provides funding for constructing inclusive playgrounds for children and adults with disabilities. This hearing was to review the elements of the playground which will be moved to the southwest corner of the park. The plan was well received with some minor comments to reconsider some of the proposed vegetation which would limit the square footage of the play area – the Administration noted that they could rework the design to increase that space.
National Gun Violence Survivors Week
During public portion, Amy Faucher, who co-heads the Hudson County Mom’s Demand Action for Gun Sense in America chapter, discussed her support for a proposed resolution designating the next week (i.e., January 22-26) as National Gun Violence Survivors Week. Amy is a remarkable leader in Hoboken and spoke eloquently on the continued need for vigilance in pressing our leaders to continue to pass gun safety laws that work.
Later in the meeting, as we discussed this resolution several council members raised excellent points in support of this resolution, including Councilwoman Jabbour (who co-leads the Mom’s Demand Action group with Amy), Councilman Ramos, and Councilwoman Fischer. Apologies if I missed anyone. During my comments, I reflected on how mass shooting have seemingly become common place – as evidenced by the most recent event not even rising to the level of front-page news. However, while that fact might be disheartening, I remain hopeful. Recently, NJ announced that in 2023 we saw the fewest shooting incidents since NJ started keeping such records. This is a direct result of the aggressive gun policies in this state, and a direct result of the advocacy of groups such as Mom’s Demand Action. There is an answer to gun violence in America and we know what it is. Our challenge is to stick to the plan and make it happen.
Church Square Park Again
A few weeks ago, the City Council reviewed a presentation on the Church Square Park Vision Plan (click here for the plan). The plan called for the restoration of the central oval for passive recreation, while pushing active areas (like playgrounds) to the perimeter. At the time, the most significant push back related to the existing location of the dog run and the painting of pickle ball court lines on the basketball courts. While the basketball courts issue was resolved then (there will be no pickle ball lines – sorry again pickle ballers) the question on whether to move the dog park remained.
During an intense back and forth between Councilman Russo and Director Gonzalez the dog run question was addressed directly. Councilman Russo’s main concerns related to long standing complaints by leadership at Our Lady of Grace Church that the dog run is disruptive to church goers. Director Gonzalez noted that recently the State of NJ conducted multiple noise surveys at the request of the Church, and in no instances did the State find any noise violations caused by the dogs in the park. Rather, the findings showed multiple noise sources including vehicular traffic, helicopters (stop the chop), dogs (yes dogs), emergency vehicles (the hospital is right there), and more. In other words, yes there is noise, but none of it exceeds acceptable limits and dogs are but one of many many many sources.
Additionally, Director Gonzalez pointed out that moving the dog run would not only constitute a significant change to the vision plan, but it would end up with a material decrease in size of the dog run… not to mention significant costs associated with changing the plans. Nevertheless, the updated plans will include installation of a noise abating barrier along the border separating the run from the Church in an effort to reduce whatever noise is produced.
I agreed with Director Gonzalez’s points, as did several of my colleagues (the plan passed 7-2). Councilman Russo, seemingly did not and frankly I don’t think anything aside from moving the run would have swayed him, so he voted no (as did Councilman Ramos).
More Fun Things
Best Line: In response to Councilman Cohen’s slight misstatement that 800 Monroe Park would hold 450,000 gallons of storm water, Council VP Doyle, Councilman Ramos, and Councilwoman Fischer, and I murmured “its 430,000” in near perfect unison. Pedantic? Yes! But it was still beautiful.
Best Presentation: Amy Faucher for her comments in support of National Gun Violence Survivor’s Week. No joke here, this issue is too important. Thank you, Amy for your comments.
Thanks for reading Hoboken, hope to see you at our next meeting (February 7). Have a great week. Go get ‘em!
