The hospital is on its way to being saved and the exhale of relief not finished but another problem related to the institution will come to up Wednesday night on its heels for a final vote: the bond refi on the midtown garage.

With an upcoming change in the status of the hospital’s owners, the agreement between the Parking Utility and HUMC must be legally updated for the changeover to the new buyer Holdco.  With it a brand new agreement acting as a continuation for the hospital employees and Hoboken residents but for the City, a required refinancing to handle the outstanding bond is on the table. That leads to the latest development where the midtown garage stands to benefit Hoboken further with the low interest rates available with the change in tax status.  The savings to Hoboken would be $50,000 annually.  Sounds simple right? Well when it comes to Beth Mason and Mike Russo it actually isn’t. Coming on the heels of the Beth Russo hydra’s effort to cut off a $5.5 million bond to aid the sale of the hospital in its final critical hours, they saw an opportunity to massively sabotage Hoboken (while pointing the finger) blow up in their face.  Gov. Christie came in the very next day and said he’s not going to allow petty partisan politics see the hospital closed when the sale was so close to the finish line.  The only thing that wasn’t petty about it was the cost.  Hoboken would have seen massive tax increases and massive layoffs with a hospital closure. Well that was their point. Although a typical “normal” New Jersey town would welcome the opportunity for this change in tax status to bring in another $50,000 in revenue and fulfill its legal obligations, this is Hoboken.  As Councilwoman Terry Castellano says, “Hoboken is special.”   What makes Hoboken special to the virulent anti-Administration crowd is the 24 x 7 political gamesmanship where undermining the town is a full time sport if it means fun time for a political minority embittered by the town passing a critical benchmark selling the hospital.  The gambit was big, ugly and they were fully invested in seeing it to the end. So tomorrow night, there’s not much confidence a sixth vote is available among the Beth Russo hydra consisting of Mike Russo, Beth Mason, Terry Castellano and Tim Occhipinti.  If the bond is not refinanced on the transfer of hospital ownership, it becomes a liability to the City and must be paid in 90 days.  The bill will be in the millions. What’s at stake is not what the Beth Russo wishes – higher taxes but layoffs.  

The Beth Russo hydra sputtered when it tried to strike Hoboken on the hospital. Will they miss this time?

So after the failure to strike Hoboken hard with tens of millions in debt with the hospital closure, this is the second best shot the Beth Russo hydra has.  The hope they have to drive up taxes is countered with layoffs on the table.  That will cost people their jobs, people they claim to represent.  The taste from “victory” they invested in working to subvert the hospital sale and see it closed is not over and this is the sabotage tool remaining. Do you think they will pass it up?  

Office of the Mayor announces:

Update from Mayor Zimmer on Hoboken University Medical Center and Sinatra Park Reconstruction

Hoboken, NJ – Monday, October 17th, 2011

In a memo to the City Council, Mayor Dawn Zimmer provides an update on Hoboken University Medical Center and the reconstruction of Sinatra Park and Castle Point Park. The full text of the memo is included below. October 17, 2011 Dear City Council Members, I am writing to provide an update on two very important matters related to Hoboken University Medical Center and an agreement with Stevens developed to ensure the repairs for Sinatra Field and our walkway are as efficient and cost-effective as possible. HUMC UpdateLate Friday my Administration received word that HUMC Holdco agreed to changes we sought in the parking agreement, an agreement necessary for the sale of the hospital. The changes would shift a significant portion of the HUMC employee parking out of the Midtown garage to City garages along Hudson Street. An ordinance with this new version of the agreement was approved on first reading at Saturday’s Council meeting. The use of the Midtown garage by a new private owner of HUMC will still require either refinancing the midtown garage to a taxable status or paying down the debt enough so that it fully covers the private use due to the taxable exempt status of the existing Garage Bond. Thanks to the cooperation of HUMC Holdco, a revised agreement has been reached whereby many HUMC employees will park in City garages on Hudson Street, where no bond issues exist. As a result of the modifications made to the Agreement, the City will have two choices. We can refinance the bond changing to taxable status, putting no stress on next year’s budget and saving $50,000 in debt service costs. In the alternative, we can pay down the current bond debt by $4.5 million requiring the otherwise unnecessary allocation of $4.5 million from our budget, creating serious budgetary pressures. This revised agreement was negotiated based on the concern that the Council would not approve the refinancing of the Midtown garage which is scheduled for a second reading on Wednesday. The changes made would reduce a required payment from $10 million to $4.5 million in the event the bond refinance is not approved. While this change eliminates the need for wide-scale layoffs, only the approval of the refinancing of the Midtown garage bond and the multipurpose bond for crucial Police headquarter upgrades and other essential initiatives for road cleaning and snow plowing will enable the City to completely avert the need for layoffs as a result of these transactions (Without the equipment requested in the multipurpose bond, my Administration will be forced to outsource in order to maintain the level of services our community needs). As bond counsel has indicated previously, refinancing the Midtown garage bond would actually save taxpayers $50,000, and it would make sense to do this regardless of the hospital sale. Unfortunately if the City Council fails to authorize the refinance of this bond, then layoffs will be unavoidable to absorb the costs and avoid a tax increase. A special meeting will be called for Tuesday, October 25th for the second reading of the parking agreement ordinance. As previously discussed, a parking agreement is essential to the completion of the sale of HUMC, scheduled for Wednesday, October 26th. Sinatra Park/Stevens UpdateThe Department of Environmental Protection recently approved the City’s plans to reconstruct the collapsed field and walkways at Sinatra Park and Castle Point Park. As soon as that approval was received, the City submitted the approved construction drawings to the Army Corps of Engineers for their review. That approval is expected by the beginning of November, allowing the City to go out to bid. As part of the design work regarding the construction of Sinatra Field, the City determined, in coordination with Stevens, that the current deteriorated condition of the City’s low level relief platform and the associated seawall prevent the final connection of the Stevens walkway to Sinatra Park until repairs to the structure are completed. As a result, discussions occurred between the City and Stevens on how to accomplish the final connection of the Stevens walkway into the Sinatra Field and walkway in the most efficient and effective manner. Rather than Stevens spending an estimated $78,000 to complete its walkway (in addition to the materials they have already purchased), only for the City to have to partially demolish it in order to complete the reconstruction of Sinatra Park and the City’s walkway, we determined that a public-private partnership agreement would represent a win-win for both parties. The intent of the agreement is for the remaining work of the Stevens walkway and the City’s project at this particular connection to be conducted all at once. To do so, it is expected that the City will coordinate the construction utilizing the remaining materials for the Stevens walkway which have not been installed and are currently being stored at the Stevens site. It is also the understanding that the materials will remain stored at the Stevens facility until the materials were needed for the project. Again, the thinking for the agreement is that it will enable Stevens to avoid the cost of having to complete the walkway and avoid delay in closing the Stevens walkway contract, and to enable the City to avoid having to wastefully demolish a walkway just constructed in order to complete the reconstruction of Sinatra Field and the City’s walkway, only to have to rebuild the walkway again. Stevens will realize a savings in the construction costs, and the City will be able to move forward efficiently with the completion of its project with little rework. I thank Stevens Institute of Technology and the newly inaugurated President Farvardin for working with my Administration to finalize the attached agreement. I hope you will approve this agreement on Wednesday so there won’t be any further delays to begin construction. Once this agreement with Stevens is approved, the City can finalize the bid specifications to ensure the accurate labor hours and materials are incorporated. We expect to have an approval of the construction drawings from the Army Corps of Engineers at the same time as the bid specifications are completed in order to go out to bid in early November. Attached is an aggressive, yet realistic, timeline for the project, assuming that the bid process and winter weather go smoothly. As you can see, as soon as the bid is awarded, the demolition and piling work can begin. Therefore there is no lag during the cold weather months. Although the project completion is expected by the end of September, the field itself will be completed before that. The field can be constructed as soon as the deck and backfill is completed. The work to be done in September includes the finishing touches, such as the pavers for the walkway, railing installation, bench placement, etc. Sincerely, Dawn Zimmer Attachments: Sinatra Field Reconstruction Timeline Stevens Waterfront Agreement Stevens Waterfront Agreement Exhibits

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Mayor’s twitter celebrates the completion of the wet weather pump. Here she’s pictured with Mayor Richard Turner of Weehawken and Richard Wolff of the NHSA.

MILE SQUARE VIEW EXCLUSIVE

This Wednesday’s City Council meeting will once again be decisive as Hoboken municipal jobs will be on the line and the mayor puts a formal request for a bond refinance on the table for the hospital midtown garage.

As it requires six votes, someone in the Beth Russo hydra or MORTe (death in Italian) – Mason, Occhipinti, Russo and Terry Castellano must vote to do the right thing for Hoboken in a simple financing.

After their attempt to sabotage the hospital sale days before its closure and saddle Hoboken taxpayers with tens of millions of debt and massive layoffs are they even capable of doing the decent thing for Hoboken? Read More...

Planned forums to discuss the important issues leading into next month’s Freeholder election may not take place after all.  The incumbent Freeholder Anthony “Stick” Romano initially was running unopposed on Column A before independent Kurt Gardiner, a strong voice for reform filed in time to take on the challenge.

Romano has held fundraisers including another recently in Hoboken but an initial plan to hold two forums, one on cable TV and one in Hoboken itself have not been scheduled with the election in November around the corner. In the summer, MSV spoke to both candidates about forums and both agreed to general parameters of two forums.  Campaign Manager Jamie Cryan who recently was given an honorary award as “Italian of the Year” at a Columbus Day celebration sponsored by the County has not returned several emails as directed by Romano to set up the panels, an unusual development for Cryan who typically will get back within a day. Kurt Gardiner continues to show interest in having a discussion of the issues important to Hoboken.  

Freeholder Anthony “Stick” Romano (l) at an outdoor forum on the Viaduct with Mayor Dawn Zimmer.  MSV is awaiting a response to determine whether a forum on the issues will occur before the November election.

=&0=&: It’s bad enough when the County runs a slate of unopposed candidates consolidating all the power to itself, but Hoboken a cash cow to the County to the tune of tens of millions annually with regular tax hikes may not even have a forum for the public to have its voice heard at all before election day for its County (Freeholder) representative. Frankly that’s not only undemocratic, it’s unacceptable.

REMEMBER WHO VOTED TO KILL THE HOSPITAL Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Just over a week ago, against all odds, our community
hospital was saved from the brink of closure. Many thanks to the hard work and
dedication of Toni Tamarazzo and the rest of the hospital board, to Mayor
Zimmer for her perseverance, and to Governor Christie for his action to save
the hospital and the Hoboken taxpayers from those who voted to kill the
hospital.

How could anyone with good conscience vote to saddle their
town with an immediate $52+ million dollar burden, flush away 1,200+ jobs in
the community, and close the acute care facility they claimed to want to remain
open? That is a question that Michael Russo, Beth Mason, Tim Occhipinti, and
Teresa Castellano have yet to answer. Read More...

The first reading of the parking agreement for the hospital under the buyer Holdco was voted on Saturday morning and it passed 5-1.  Corporation Counsel described the agreement as primarily a “continuation” for the anticipated change when the sale of the hospital is completed.

One member from the public spoke, John Keim who thought it would be a good idea to have a discussion on first reading (there is isn’t any) and attempted to give public time to Tim Occhipinti.  Council President Ravi Bhalla explained there is no discussion on first reading and the rules do not allow the public (or political operatives) to give time to the Council and change the rules. Read More...

From the desk of 5th ward Councilman Peter Cunningham:

Friends Family and Neighbors,   I hope this note find you all doing well.  As I have said many time before, there are many worthy causes in Hoboken, Hudson County and the greater New York metropolitan area to support.  And now more than ever, one of our most respected non profits in our area –  Hudson County CASA, is in need of your support.    For the great work they do to protect the interest of abused and neglected children in the County, the Turtle Club at 10th and Park will host a beer tasting event =&0=&.  They will have a wide array of craft beers, great college games at a very reasonable price of $30 per ticket.    Please consider making a donation to Hudson County CASA and joining us for great refreshments at the Turtle Club.    The following link provides additional details.  http://www.hudsoncountycasa.org/index.asp?pid=4   Thanks for the consideration and let me know if you have any additional questions.  Thanks, —Peter Cunningham201-562-7071

From the Office of the Mayor:

Hoboken, NJ – Friday, October 14th, 2011

In a memo to the City Council, Mayor Dawn Zimmer provides an update on the sale of Hoboken University Medical Center. The full text of the memo is included below. October 14, 2011 Dear Council Members, Tomorrow, you will be asked to approve a Parking Agreement relating to the sale of Hoboken University Medical Center, and on Wednesday you will be voting on a second reading of a refinance of the Midtown Garage bond. It is important that every City Council Member fully understand the ramifications of these matters for our City, its residents and its employees. If the Parking Agreement, requiring 5 votes, and the bond refinance, requiring 6 votes, are not passed, then unfortunately the City will be forced to begin implementing layoffs immediately. Yesterday we advised the Police Chief, Fire Chief and Public Safety union leaders that the City will be forced to do at least a 10 percent cut across the board for all employees, including Public Safety, if the Council does not approve the refinancing of the Midtown garage bond or we cannot get favorable changes to the agreement that address the bond issue. We have requested changes to the Parking Agreement that would protect the City from the consequences of a failure to refinance the Garage bond, but do not know whether it will be possible to have those revisions incorporated into the final Agreement. Corporation Counsel emailed the revised parking agreement yesterday that was sent to HUMC Holdco. Unfortunately we will not be able to get their final comments on the agreement until later today. Here are the straight facts: The City Council has been asked to refinance the Midtown garage from a non-taxable to a taxable bond. Given the favorable interest rates currently available, this refinance will save the City of Hoboken an estimated $50,000. It would, therefore, be an appropriate and responsible action for the City to pass this bond completely independent of the Hospital transaction. The bond must be refinanced from tax exempt to taxable because the tax exempt status of the bonds will no longer be appropriate under the proposed parking Agreement with Holdco due to private use. A failure to refinance could cause the City to be in default under the existing tax covenants associated with the bond (including certain Internal Revenue Code regulations) and, as a result, the City would be liable for significant damages to the bondholders due to the change in tax status. While I fully anticipate that the City Council will support our City and its residents by supporting the refinance of the Garage Bond, we have requested changes to the parking agreement that would protect the City’s interests in the event we are unable to refinance. However if the City Council does not approve the refinancing and our proposed changes are not agreed to, we will have to pay down the bond debt with a $10 million payment within the next 90 days in order to avoid default. As previously stated, there is no need for this consequence to occur as the refinance of the garage bond will actually save the City money and would be an advisable course even if it were not a part of the Hospital transaction. The revised agreement, designed to deal with the tax issue and possibility that no refinancing of the garage will be approved, would also require many HUMC employees to park in City garages on Hudson Street where we do not have any bonding issues. The alternative, the closing of the Hospital and immediate liability under the $52 million Hospital bond, would be even more disastrous for our City and its finances and is, quite simply, not an option. Three million dollars in transportation initiatives have already been removed from this year’s budget, and the City would be forced by the Council’s refusal to pass a bond refinance to do another round of major layoffs and find $7 million more in the 2012 budget. None of this is necessary, however, since the bond refinance, which would resolve all of these issues, is not only costless but actually saves the City $50,000 due to the favorable interest rates available. The bottom line: Saving our Hospital is an enormous achievement for which all of our elected officials deserve their share of credit. We must move ahead, save our hospital, get the City off of its $52 million bond guaranty, and ensure that we maintain financing reflecting the appropriate tax status of the Garage. We must put politics aside, work together and move our City ahead. The attached memo from bond counsel provides more background on all of the bond issues related to the Midtown garage. Please vote for the parking agreement and vote for the refinancing of the midtown garage. These two votes will protect the financial interests of our City for years and years to come. The final parking agreement will be sent to the Council as soon as possible. In the meantime, I am asking Corporation Counsel to resend the revised version of the agreement again, as we hope that it represents the final agreement. If any Council Member has any questions whatsoever as to this matter or requires further information, please call me immediately or contact Director Sacs or Corporation Counsel so that your questions and concerns are fully addressed and you have all the information required to make an informed decision tomorrow. Best regards, Mayor Zimmer

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A reader sent in the information on the robocall making the rounds last night.  The numbers appeared as 201 895-2954.  It’s a spoofed number, when called is out of service.

The call charges the hospital will be turned into a 22 floor story condo.  How will that go over at the ribbon cutting at the hospital celebrating its preservation as an acute medical facility when the sale to Holdco is shortly completed?

There’s a question on the Freeholder Race next month between Anthony “Stick” Romano and Kurt “Giant” Gardiner in the robocall too. Read More...