News
Pallone Urges NPS To Seek Stimulus Funds For Fort Hancock
By John Burton
SANDY HOOK - U.S. Representative Frank Pallone Jr. said his recent attempt to obtain federal stimulus money for restoration of some of the aging structures at historic Fort Hancock could be thwarted by the commercial lease agreement between the National Park Service and Sandy Hook Developers that the Congressman has long criticized.
Pallone, a Democrat who represents the 6th Congressional District, an area that includes Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook, last week sent a letter to the National Park Service (NPS) director requesting that the NPS pursue funds available through the federal American Recovery Reinvestment Act to restore the historic structures located at the fort.
Fort Hancock, located on the northern tip of Sandy Hook, is a former military installation, which, along with its structures, is deemed to have significant historical value.
On Tuesday Pallone said he sent a letter last week to Mary A. Bomar, NPS director, asking the director to seek some of the $589 million from the federal stimulus package designated for projects on national parkland. Pallone, however, said on Tuesday 36 of the fort's approximately 100 structures would not be eligible for the money, because those structures are currently under contract with a private developer, Sandy Hook Partners, headed by Rumson resident James Wassel.
The NPS entered into a lease agreement with Sandy Hook Partners in 2004, having selected the developer in 2000. The lease calls for Sandy Hook Partners to renovate and restore 36 of the fort's building. In exchange the developer would get 60 years to sublease the buildings for a variety of private commercial and educational uses.
The proposed public/private partnership has been controversial, as a group opposed to the plan fought a lengthy legal battle, suing the federal government and the developer to block it. Pallone, too, has been on the record, voicing his longstanding opposition to the plan, often referring to it as "over-commercialization" of publicly owned parkland.
A better plan, the Congressman has said, would be to work with not-for-profits and historic preservation groups to find the money to save the buildings.
One of the objectors' major criticisms has been directed at the series of extensions of time to show proof of financing that the NPS has granted to Sandy Hook Partners over the years and the developer's failure to provide proof that he has the financial support necessary to do the project.
NPS officials have argued that the extensions were necessary because of a lawsuit filed by opponents of the development has impeded the developer's ability to court investors. The NPS's most recent extension was granted last June, giving Sandy Hook Partners one year, or 90 days from the end of legal action, to provide financial documentation.
The objectors dropped their suit in December, giving Sandy Hook Partners until March 25 - less than a week - to submit its financial plans to federal officials.
In his letter to Bomar, Pallone stated that the stimulus money would be, "a tremendous opportunity to finally turn the page in what has been a process full of setbacks. I encourage the National Park Service to immediately request the appropriate funds to begin the restoration of the historic buildings at Fort Hancock."
But the money cannot go to the 36 buildings, which Pallone labeled the fort's most historically significant.
"Again," Pallone said, "this falls under the category of why they shouldn't have extended his (Wassel's) contract."
"This is just another criticism that I have with the process," Pallone said.
Pallone said he will continue to urge Bomar to seek the money for the fort's other buildings.
Brian Feeney, a spokesman for the NPS, on Wednesday declined to address Pallone's arguments. But Feeney did confirm the March 25 deadline. Should Sandy Hook Partners provide the funding information, federal officials would have 90 days to review the documentation and evaluate that information, Feeney added.
On Wednesday, Wassel said he couldn't comment about using stimulus money to restore the Fort, but he did say that in addition to the 36 buildings he proposes to redevelop, "There are 60-some other buildings that could use attention."
As for the deadline to submit his documentation of funding for the project, Wassel said, "We have a deadline; we're aware of that deadline and we'll get our package in."
