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1 STATE OF NEW JERSEY
2 NEW JERSEY COMMERCE & ECONOMIC GROWTH COMMISSION
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5 NEW JERSEY URBAN ENTERPRISE ZONE AUTHORITY
6 PUBLIC MEETING
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8 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
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12 AT: MARY ROEBLING BUILDING
13 20 West State Street
14 2nd Floor Conference Room #218
15 Trenton, New Jersey 08625
16 DATE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2006
17 TIME: 10:05 A.M. TO 12:03 P.M.
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20 GUY J. RENZI & ASSOCIATES
21 GOLDEN CREST CORPORATE CENTER
22 2277 STATE HWY #33, SUITE 410
23 TRENTON, NEW JERSEY 08690
24 (609) 989-9199 TOLL FREE (800) 368-7652
25 http://www.renziassociates.com
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1 A U T H O R I T Y M E M B E R S:
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3 KATHLEEN KUBE, Chairwoman Designee
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5 JAMES MOORE, Labor & Work Force Designee
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7 AMBAR ABELAR, Public Member
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9 DONNA PEARSON, Public Member (arrived 10:43 a.m.)
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11 ADRIENNE KREIPKE, Department of Treasury Designee
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13 LEWIS HURD, Public Member
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15 A U T H O R I T Y P R O F E S S I O N A L S:
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17 PATRICIA BRUCK, ESQ., Deputy Attorney General
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19 LINDA LENOX, UEZ Staff
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1 A G E N D A
2 PAGE
3 1. Notice of Public Meeting 9
4 2. Roll Call 10
5 3. Approval of November 8, 2006 10
6 NEW BUSINESS:
7 4. Camden's two requests for:
8 a. $75,000 for Commercial Revitalization
9 Program - Orlando Mercado 11
10 b. $62,800 for Kaighn Avenue Corridor -
11 Streetscape Design Services
12 - Orlando Mercado 18
13 5. Elizabeth's request for $184,280 for
14 Historic Midtown Elizabeth SID Matching
15 Funds - Year 2007 - Mario Rodrigues 21
16 6. Hillside's request for $140,000 for Community
17 Policing Phase IV - Yves Aubourg
18 7. Jersey City's request for $650,072 for
19 UEZ Maintenance Phase 4 - Roberta Farber 29
20 8. Kearny's two requests for:
21 a. $300,000 for Business Development
22 Revolving Loan Fund Program - Phase III
23 - Joseph D'Arco & Matt Bouldin 35
24 b. $175,000 for Zone Fire Engine - Custom
25 Pumper - Joseph D'Arco & Matt Bouldin 40
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1 A G E N D A (Continued)
2 PAGE
3 9. Lakewood's two requests for:
4 a. $639,760 for UEZ Police Officers
5 Year 12 - Trish Komsa 47
6 b. $50,500 for Blinds-To-Go (USA), Inc.
7 Lease Subsidy - 2007 - Russell Corby 55
8 10. Millville's five requests for:
9 a. $379,670 for Tourism Marketing Project
10 - Year Four - Don Ayres 57
11 b. $162,151 for Funding for Police Officer
12 - Year 16 - Don Ayres 61
13 c. $149,000 for Facade Improvement Program
14 - Phase VII - Don Ayres 64
15 d. $127,291 for Millville Main Street/MDC
16 Operating Budget - Year 2 - Don Ayres 66
17 e. $74,770 for Funding for Fire Fighter
18 - Year 15 - Don Ayres 68
19 11. Passaic's request for $94,132 for Graffiti
20 Eradication Phase VI - Soraya Stam 69
21 12. Perth Amboy's two requests for:
22 a. $500,000 for Jewish Renaissance Medical
23 Center Project - Robert McCoy 71
24 b. $500,00 for King Plaza Redevelopment
25 Project - Robert McCoy 80
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1 A G E N D A (Continued)
2 PAGE
3 13. Pleasantville's request for $295,000
4 Litter Collection Services - Year 7 83
5 - James Hebron
6 14. Vineland's two requests for:
7 a. $2,349,766 for Economic Development
8 Loan to Bridor, Inc. - Frank DiGiorgio 88
9 b. $1,010,000 for Economic Development
10 Loan to Lucca Realty - Frank DiGiorgio 95
11 15. Jersey City's two Good Faith Waiver
12 requests for:
13 a. $102,007 for Small Business Development
14 Center Funding - Roberta Farber 98
15 b. $50,000 for WomenRising - Community
16 Partnerships in Hotel Employment (CPHE)
17 - Roberta Farber 100
18 16. Lakewood's Second Generation Fund request
19 for $16,661 for Business Center Roadway
20 Restriping Project - Russell Corby 103
21 17. Vineland's four Second Generation Fund
22 requests for:
23 a. $2,000,000 for Facade Improvement for
24 Property Owners - Phase I
25 - Frank DiGiorgio 105
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1 A G E N D A (Continued)
2 PAGE
3 b. $1,584,000 for Economic Development
4 Loan to Gus Hionas & Nicholas Isihos
5 - Frank DiGiorgio 108
6 c. $310,050 for Economic Development Loan
7 to Allied Specialty Food, Inc.
8 - Frank DiGiorgio 110
9 d. $67,500 for Economic Development Loan
10 to Vineland Construction Company
11 - Frank DiGiorgio 112
12 CONSENT AGENDA
13 (One Motion Items 18-22) 114
14 18. Asbury Park's request for $21,987 for
15 Central Business District - Streetscape
16 - Trash Containers
17 19. Millville's request for $15,000 for
18 Cumberland County College Mobile Learning
19 Center - Year 11
20 20. West Wildwood's request for $32,289 for
21 Police Officer - Year 2
22 21. Contract Amendments:
23 Asbury Park UEZA 02-49 extension
24 UEZA 03-69 extension
25 UEZA 03-96 extension
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1 A G E N D A (Continued)
2 PAGE
3 UEZA 03-115 extension
4 Bridgeton UEZA 05-02 extension
5 UEZA 05-93 extension,
6 change, other
7 Lakewood UEZA 99-104 extension
8 UEZA 07-36 increase
9 Millville UEZA 06-49 extension
10 Mount Holly UEZA 02-105 extension,
11 increase
12 UEZA 04-04 other
13 Orange UEZA 05-85 change
14 Pleasantville UEZA 06-146 change
15 UEZA 06-147 change,
16 increase
17 UEZA 07-12 increase
18 Passaic UEZA 03-82 extension
19 UEZA 06-42 change
20 Paterson UEZA 03-132 extension
21 Phillipsburg UEZA 05-65 extension
22 UEZA 06-120 change,
23 increase
24 Plainfield UEZA 03-26 extension
25 UEZA 03-63 extension
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1 A G E N D A (Continued)
2 PAGE
3 UEZA 03-64 extension
4 UEZA 04-82 extension
5 UEZA 04-116 extension
6 UEZA 04-144 extension
7 UEZA 05-106 extension
8 UEZA 06-52 extension
9 Trenton UEZA 03-84 extension
10 22. In-Lieu request for $5,304.50 for
11 Cumberland Mall Associates, Vineland,
12 New Jersey, File #2064
13 OLD BUSINESS:
14 23. Other 115
15 24. Open to the Public 115
16 25. Adjournment 116
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1 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Good morning.
2 Could everyone please be seated. The agenda is
3 very long. I would like to get through it.
4 Ms. Pearson will be arriving. She's
5 just a little bit late.
6 Today is Wednesday December 13,
7 2006, and I welcome you all to our meeting. I
8 will ask each of the coordinators to make a brief
9 presentation and to obviously answer any
10 questions that the Authority members may have.
11 We have a quorum so I'm going to get
12 started. I do apologize to the Authority
13 members. I can't apologize for the size of the
14 agenda, but I can tell you, I apologize that we
15 got it out to you a day or two later than normal.
16 So I'm sorry and we will strive to be better at
17 it.
18 We're going to start. I'm going to
19 ask Linda to read the Notice of Public Meeting
20 and to take roll.
21 MS. LENOX: In compliance with the
22 Open Public Meetings Act, at least 48 hours of
23 notice of this meeting was sent by way of the
24 Secretary of State to the following newspapers:
25 the Star Ledger, the Trenton Times, the
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1 Trentonian, the Courier-Post, Asbury Park Press,
2 Atlantic City Press, and the Bergen Record.
3 Now we'll have roll call.
4 James Moore, Labor?
5 MR. MOORE: Present.
6 MS. LENOX: Adrienne Kreipke,
7 Treasury?
8 MS. KREIPKE: Here.
9 MS. LENOX: Public member, Ambar
10 Abelar?
11 MR. ABELAR: Here.
12 MS. LENOX: Public member, Lewis
13 Hurd?
14 MR. HURD: Here.
15 MS. LENOX: Chairwoman designee,
16 Kathleen Kube?
17 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Here.
18 MS. LENOX: We have a quorum.
19 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Okay, great. At
20 this time, I will ask the Authority to give me a
21 motion for the approval of the minutes of the
22 November 8th, 2006 Authority meeting.
23 May I have a motion, please?
24 MR. HURD: So moved.
25 MS. KREIPKE: Second.
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1 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Motion by
2 Mr. Hurd, second by Ms. Kreipke.
3 Any questions, comments or concerns?
4 Hearing none, all in favor please
5 signify by saying "aye."
6 AUTHORITY MEMBERS: Aye.
7 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Any opposed, any
8 abstentions?
9 Motion carried.
10 The next agenda item we'll move into
11 New Business. Camden has two requests which
12 we'll take separately. The first one being for
13 75,000 for Commercial Revitalization Program. We
14 have Mr. Orlando Mercodo.
15 Good morning, Orlando.
16 MR. MERCODO: Good morning,
17 everyone.
18 Camden UEZ is requesting $75,000 in
19 Zone Assistance Funds to provide services on the
20 development of a commercial revitalization
21 program on the River Road of Federal Street
22 Corridor. This revitalization program would be
23 based on the tenets of the Main Street approach
24 which is created by the National Historic Trust.
25 The organization that we're working
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1 with along this Corridor, along the River Road
2 and Federal Street Corridor, is the Latin
3 American Economic Development Association.
4 They're a 501Z3 non-profit organization based in
5 Camden that has worked in Camden that has worked
6 on economic development activities throughout
7 their 19-year history throughout the city of
8 Camden.
9 They have immersed themselves in
10 learning about the Main Street Program and
11 actually advocating on the benefits on that and
12 have worked with the Camden Redevelopment Agency
13 and the Urban Enterprise Zone Program over the
14 last year engaging business owners into our
15 program, into the process. And as far as making
16 they -- making incentives available to small
17 businesses and advocating on behalf of small
18 businesses.
19 UEZ funding will be utilized to fund
20 a program director that will oversee these
21 activities along the River Road and Federal
22 Street Corridor. Those corridors just happen to
23 have the lowest vacancy rates throughout the city
24 of Camden and they're also, if I could say,
25 probably the most ethnic of our corridors. Our
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1 Federal Street Corridor has a tremendous mix of
2 Latino merchants there and we feel this would be
3 a positive fit.
4 In addition to providing funding for
5 the program coordinator, his activities will
6 entail ongoing public awareness of the Federal
7 Street and River Road activities, providing
8 advice and guidance on financial mechanisms for
9 physical improvement. They would create a budget
10 and they would provide activities such as joy
11 activity hours such as promotional events,
12 advertising, uniform store hours, parking
13 management, and so on. Included in the packet
14 were some of the activities that LAEDA has
15 engaged in over the last few months regarding
16 this program.
17 That's all I have to add.
18 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Okay. May I have
19 a motion, please?
20 MR. ABELAR: So moved.
21 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Motion by
22 Mr. Abelar.
23 Second?
24 MR. HURD: Second.
25 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Second by
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1 Mr. Hurd.
2 Any questions?
3 Mr. Abelar?
4 MR. ABELAR: What does LAEDA exactly
5 do with the money?
6 MR. MERCODO: What would they do
7 with the money is they would fund the program
8 director's salary from LAEDA.
9 MR. ABELAR: And the program
10 director is president, I guess, of LAEDA?
11 MR. MERCODO: No, he's the director
12 of their Main Street initiatives.
13 MR. ABELAR: Thank you.
14 MR. MERCODO: He's also a
15 graduate -- the Department of Community Affairs
16 has a Main Street Institute. He is a graduate of
17 that program. He's helped -- last month when I
18 was here regarding the Fairview Main Street
19 Program, he helped put that Main Street Program
20 together.
21 MR. ABELAR: Thank you.
22 CHAIRWOMAN KUBE: Any other
23 questions?
24 MS. KREIPKE: Could you discuss what
25 are the deliverables on this project?
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1 MR. MERCODO: Each month -- well,
2 quarterly they're going to provide -- well,
3 deliverables, one, my carrot is I need to have
4 UEZ businesses into the program. Right now, one
5 of the reasons that we contracted or are looking
6 forward to a contract with LAEDA is that we have
7 a large amount of Latino businesses particularly
8 on the Federal Street Corridor, Mexican-based
9 businesses. Even though my business is
10 bilingual, when you tell them you're from the
11 government and you're here to help, they tend to
12 shy away from us.
13 But over the last year they have
14 assisted us in adding I believe 16 to 17
15 additional UEZ businesses through their Main
16 Street Programs and their initiatives, that's one
17 thing, deliverables, the number of enrollments.
18 Two, they provided a quarterly
19 report to us on the type of technical assistance
20 that they would provide to these business owners
21 whether it's assisting them in financial matters,
22 accounting matters, promotional matters, that
23 would be included as part of their deliverables.