CNBNews

By Bill Cleary

GOOD NEWS-55,000 tons of clean fill is presently being dumped behind the old AMSPEC 
Chemical Plant on Water Street. The property was brought for $5 million by the city of Gloucester City a year or so ago. According to Mayor Bill James, “the dirt is coming from Somerdale where a new Wal Mart is being built". The Good News? In return the contractor is paying the City $450,000.

Photo: In the distance is one of the trucks along with the mounds of dirt that are being dumped on the site. Click to enlarge.

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE…SOLD -The City has hired Warner Real Estate & Auction Company to sell at auction on October 1 four properties it owns. They are 326 Market Street, 328 Market Street, 29 S. Burlington Street. The preview for these properties is September 26 from noon to 2 PM. According to the auctioneer’s website www.warnerrealestate.com the purchaser of these properties must make the home habitable and obtain a certificate of occupancy within one year of the closing. The fourth property up for sale is  308 Ridgeway Street, a 14 foot x 100 foot vacant lot.

Speaking of auctions,  Heavy’s Tavern, 200 Jersey Avenue, Gloucester City  is being sold via auction on October 5, time 11 AM at the site. This is a 2 1/2 story bar with an upstairs apartment. Included in the sale is the liquor license and bar equipment. The auctioneer is Comly Auctioneers & Appraiser (www.comly.com).  Inspection of the property is Thursday, Sept. 16 from 10 AM to 2 PM. Heavy’s opened in December 2008 and closed around May of this year.

New ideas are needed to take care of the blight caused by empty homes and vacant lots. And many cities across the nation are looking back at our country’s history for the solution to that problem and at the same time raise needed tax ratable.

For example in July the City of Beatrice located in Gage County Nebraska passed legislation entitled the Homestead Act of 2010. From their website,

Like the original Homestead Act passed in 1862, the Homestead Act of 2010 offers applicants the opportunity to acquire a parcel of real estate if they build a residence on the land and it is their primary residence for five years.  At this time, the City of Beatrice is offering several lots as homestead property.  If you are interested in participating in the Homestead Act of 2010, please review the contract and contact Tobias J. Tempelmeyer, City Attorney, at 228-5211.  Act now as the land will be distributed on a first come, first served basis.

Gloucester City has been talking about a similar program for over a year. In an article dated May 9, 2009 posted on CNB Mayor James stated –

"We have identified all of the City owned vacant lots and in an effort to increase the value of these parcels and to create new tax ratable we are having conversations with residential developers to generate an interest in an in-fill housing program in the west side of town. These properties have sat for years and years and right now collect nothing but trash, overgrown weeds and abandoned vehicles. This can not continue to be the norm and we feel as though this initiative shows promise".

Click the highlighted link for the forms, applications and contracts for the City of Beatrice Homestead Act. Maybe the City of Gloucester City could use this information to get the program started in our community.

ETCETERA- How many vacant lots does the City of Gloucester City own? Although I asked a city official that question in July I am still waiting for the information. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded the state of New Jersey $122 million in federal funding to rehabilitate foreclosed properties across the state and sell them to residents. 

The program is in its third phase and last week announced $11.6 million for depressed New Jersey communities, with $2 million going to Newark. Since September 2008, HUD has awarded $7 billion for such programs nationwide that are attempting to spur a stagnant housing market, create jobs, and turn around neighborhoods beset with foreclosures and blight.

In Newark the program works through HANDS Inc., a local development company, which has purchased 47 houses throughout the city with the HUD money. The nonprofit organization then hires contractors to do repairs and will sell the homes at a discounted price to qualifying families.

The  Grand Opening of the new City Water Treatment Plant on Johnson Blvd.,  will be held on Tuesday, September 21 from 6 to 8 PM.  The completion of the new plant couldn’t come at a better time. Over the  past year several residents have complained that the City’s water was responsible for the death of their pond and aquarium fish. The City argued that the water wasn’t the cause. Most recently resident Judy Baker wrote that the water was giving her pets stomach problems and that the water had a strong chlorine smell to it.  Last year Baker said the water killed her pet fish.

The old Gloucester City Water Treatment Plant was originally constructed in the early 1880s. The reservoir and filter building were constructed in 1883, while the settling tank and pump house were constructed in 1921. The main treatment equipment, which are the pressure sand filter tanks were installed in 1959.

The new water treatment plant was constructed on the site of the reservoir and will include new aerators for gas removal from the well water, plate settlers for iron and manganese removal, new pressure sand filters to polish the water, and air stripper towers to remove chemical contaminants from the water. The replacement plant was designed by the City Engineers, Remington & Vernick Engineers in coordination with the City’s Water Department Director, Fred Schindler, and his staff.

Construction was completed by L. C Construction of Williamstown, NJ for the amount of $ 9,636,000. The work was constructed with organized labor groups from South Jersey. The City funded the project through a low interest loan from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust Program.