In this first State of the City address, Mayor Rick Proctor pledged to continue redevelopment focused on the arts, remove barriers to stimulate revitalization and recruit new business and redevelopment projects while beginning to actively market the city.
Category Archives: City Council
Breakdown of SID taxes
Catching up on some older items during this slow week, the City Council last month approved a 2010 budget of about $130,000 for the Special Improvement District (SID).
Parking prohibitions proposed on Pierpont
A public hearing and final approval of an ordinance that would restrict parking along Pierpont Street will be held during the City Council’s regular meeting on Monday.
The ordinance would allow parking by permit only on Pierpont Street, from West Milton to Maple avenues, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The measure was introduced by the governing body at its Nov. 8 regular meeting.
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said complaints were received about commuters parking along much Pierpont Street, making it difficult for res
idents to find parking for their own cars and visitors. Residents were surveyed and only one negative response was received, according to city officials. Residents would get a Parking Authority sticker to place on their cars.
Fifth Ward Councilwoman Jennifer Wenson-Maier said similar restrictions were put in place at Maple Avenue and Pierpont and it’s reasonable to restrict parking at Pierpont and West Milton Avenue. She cited a group home on West Milton and Pierpont which has a lot of staff as well as on-street parking by visiting trucks, and motorists parking close to the corner. “It’s definitely an overparked street. A lot of residents don’t have their own parking,” she said.
Wenson-Maier lives on nearby Bryant Street where parking also was restricted in recent years. “It took some getting used to but it was heavily overparked and it’s better for a majority of the block. It’s a little bit of a hassle but it’s provided some more parking,” she said.
Public hearing Tuesday on SID budget
The City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget for the Special Improvement District (SID) at its regular meeting on Tuesday (not Oct. 5, as originally reported when the governing body introduced the plan).
The SID budget proposes to raise $131,565.94 in taxes, based on a rate of $3.34 per $100 of assessed value on about 138 downtown properties. The parcels have a total assessed value of $39.391 million.
About 31 individual lots pay at least $1,000 in SID taxes, and among those, at least eight properties would pay at least $4,000:
* Carriage City Properties, $10,923.13 [$8,192.35 for hotel + $2,730.78 for retail space]
*RSI Bank, 1500 Irving St., $9,671.97
* SDI Technologies, 1299 Main St., $7,278.53
* Rahway Office Center c/o Basad Realty Management, $6,220.08
* Raw Realty, 123 E. Milton Ave., $4,025.37
* MM Rahway Associates, 1537 Main St., $4,016.02
* The Center Circle, 1255 Main St., $4,008
This past spring, the City Council shifted the taxes collected through the Special Improvement District from the Rahway Center Partnership to the Arts District. (Contrary to some public perception, however, the Partnership has not dissolved but just no longer has any paid staff.)
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The New Jersey Hot Dog Tour earlier this month included a stop at Rahway Grill on East Cherry Street, where The Star-Ledger/nj.com called it “old-timey…with its screen door, booths, swivel stools, coat racks and Rhapsody II Stereophonic jukebox.” Apparently, their chili was a big hit with the tour.
Check out how the Rahway Grill did in our polls for favorite burger and favorite breakfast place.
Council introduces $130K SID budget
The City Council on Monday night introduced a $130,000 budget for the Special Improvement District (SID) budget, which now funds the Rahway Arts District. A public hearing on the SID budget will be held during the governing body’s Oct. 5 meeting.
The City Council this past spring shifted the taxes collected through the Special Improvement District from the Rahway Center Partnership to the Arts District.
Created in the early 1990s, the SID taxes some 165 downtown commercial properties an additional roughly 7 percent on top of the usual tax bill. The average tax for a SID property works out to about $790.
Among the highest taxpayers to the SID are:
* Carriage City Properties, 1423 Irving St., $10,792
* RSI Bank, 1500 Irving St., $9,556
* SDI Technologies, 1299 Main St., $7,191
* Rahway Office Center c/o Basad Realty Management, $6,146
* Raw Realty, 123 E. Milton Ave., $3,977
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Not at all redevelopment related, but I know some who read this blog also watch “The Amazing Race”. This season, which premieres Sept. 26, will feature a Rahway resident among the contestants.
Council moves forward on Green Acres plan
The City Council unanimously approved a $1-million application to the state Green Acres program aimed at bringing a pocket park to the corner of Monroe and Essex streets.
Auto parts store could make way for park
The Planning Board Tuesday night endorsed an application to the state Green Acres program that puts in motion a plan that might turn an auto parts store into a city park.
The City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. regarding the possible acquisition of Norwood Auto Parts at 125 Monroe St. for use as a public park.
Former city planner Lenore Slothower, who’s been retained to do some grant work since retiring last year, told the Planning Board that the owner of Norwood Auto Parts approached the city administration earlier this month about the possibility of buying the property because of issues with stormwater flooding.
The city would apply to the State Green Acres program for funding that would cover about 75 percent of the $1,005,000 estimated cost. Another $221,000 would be sought from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cover the remaining quarter. Preliminary estimated costs include appraisal, acquisition, relocation assistance, demolition and remediation, if necessary, among other things.
Union County’s hazardous mitigation plan must be approved by FEMA before it can be eligible for the federal funding and county officials are working to expedite that approval, she said. Deadlines loom for both the state funding and federal FEMA dollars, requiring Tuesday’s special meeting of the City Council.
The 0.1588-acre site at the corner of Monroe and Essex streets, about a block from the Rahway River, was acquired in 1991 for $257,000, according to PropertyShark.com. Assessed at $222,800, the annual property tax bill runs about $11,000.
The Monroe Street neighorhood, including the PSE&G substation across the street, has been mentioned in the past as a potential redevelopment area. The city in May 2009 opened Myron Ross Park, another park along Essex Street, this one a few blocks south, off East Milton Avenue.
Council approves $400k for acquisition
The City Council last week approved a $400,000 bond ordinance for the acquisition, demolition and remediation of 324 Hamilton St. The 2 1/2-story home is one of four remaining near the site of the proposed amphitheater at the former Hamilton Laundry property.
The Redevelopment Agency last month adopted a resolution to acquire the home for $240,000. In addition to the sale price, the ordinance includes $35,000 for demolition and asbestos removal, $10,000 for tank removal and asbestos survey, $32,000 for engineers, with the other costs for financing and bond issuance, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier.
A home adjacent to the amphitheater site was razed earlier this year after the agency purchased it for $340,000, spending another $35,000 for demolition. Five homes in all between the site of the future amphitheater and the Bell building have been targeted for acquisition, with plans to eventually raze them all to create parking for the arts district projects.
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The Star-Ledger’s Munchmobile went through Rahway again recently, this time in search of the best burgers.
They said Flynn’s Irish Pub & Steakhouse “lives up to its claim as ‘a little bit of Ireland in downtown Rahway,'” but the steakhouse burger wasn’t “breaking down any doors,” though they were cited for having the best onion rings – “crackly, and slightly, agreeably greasy.”
Flynn’s you might recall was tops in our poll last spring for Best Burger.