| Author | Message | ||
     MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 1884 Registered: 5-2001  |
Doublea, I just my hands on the Village President's redevelopment update for tonight: "SOPAC is moving along. A developer's agreement for Beifus is being worked on. A developer's agreement for Village Market is being worked on. We should see a lot of progress downtown soon." You heard it here first.  | ||
| mrosner Citizen Username: Mrosner Post Number: 1704 Registered: 4-2002 |
We were given written updates on SOPAC last night and some specifically deal with the rumors that SOAR spread on here and via email. The memo comes from Construction Technology Construction who are the site managers (they watch over the contractors to make sure the job is done correctly, etc). I will paraphrase but if anyone wants the full memo, please privateline me and I will forward a copy to you. On 12/16/04, Allstate Oil recovery came to the site and puped the standing water for precautinary measures to make sure no oil did infiltrate the site. Water samples were taken from the standing water to make sure there was no contamination. The water was then pumped into catch basins. On the next day the oil tank was encapsulated and covered as required by DEP regulations. It was then removed and soil samples were taken. They were tested at an independent lab and the results came back below levels of contamination as per the DEP regulations. The tanke was mostly filled with water, the liquid was removed and then the tank was removed (it was wrapped in special plastic and had absorption pads ). On 12/20/04, the tank was being removed by Sunrise Environmental Service. They inadvertently cut a Verizon cable. Verizon was called and they came and fixed it. Stores did lose phone service. By the way, Verizon had marked out their lines incorrectly which led to the cable being cut. The tank was removed, and soil that had been adhered to the tank was sent for testing. That soil came back above the acceptable limits and it was removed from the site. Essex County was notified and the soil was sent to the Mt. Hope Recycling Plant. As for the police and fire departments "swarming around the pit", an informational meeting was held on 02/07/05 to discuss the next stage of the construction and the logistics with regards to how it might affect the day to day life in the village operations. This has been the only time since the project began that the fire, police and village officials have met at the site, although I would guess that there could me other meetings over the next year. The same construction company is still doing the work and the same sub-contractors are on the site (none have been fired). Pizzaz: Those are the facts about the oil tank, the rest are the rumors. | ||
| Pizzaz Citizen Username: Pizzaz Post Number: 1478 Registered: 11-2001  |
Did Construction Technology Corporation approve the movement of fill to Sayed's property? BTW: I didn't know that the town departments needed to swarm in order to undertake a discussion concerning village operations as it relates to this site development? I do hope things will improve as we proceed. | ||
| mrosner Citizen Username: Mrosner Post Number: 1706 Registered: 4-2002 |
I put the word swarm in quotes because that is how Ms. Stile phrased it. As far as I know, it was a meeting. I do not have a final report on the movement of the fill to Sayed's property yet and I don't think that would fall under their jurisdiciton. | ||
| Pizzaz Citizen Username: Pizzaz Post Number: 1480 Registered: 11-2001 |
I heard the sub-contractor left the job site because they haven't been paid? Would payments to the sub-contractor come from Construction Technology Corporation or the Village? | ||
| mrosner Citizen Username: Mrosner Post Number: 1709 Registered: 4-2002 |
I caution against rumors. Usually when I hear a sub-contractor has not been paid, it means the work has not been finished or approved. The ok on the work would come from CTC (constrution tech corp). Arnell is the firm that has the contract to build SOPAC so payments would be made to Arnell and they pay the sub-contractor. | ||
| hariseldon Citizen Username: Hariseldon Post Number: 273 Registered: 5-2001  |
If they couldn't post rumours, WHAT WOULD THEY POST?????? | ||
| MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 1891 Registered: 5-2001 |
Hari sounds more and more like Kevin Bacon's character at the end of "Animal House" - a lone figure screaming hysterically to "Remain calm!! All is well!!!" while the whole s**thouse goes up in flames.  | ||
| Mayor McCheese Citizen Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 165 Registered: 7-2004  |
SoOrLady: I am not trying to spread rumors. All I can comment on is what I saw and smelled. Did anyone ever see the movie the Pentagon Wars, about the Bradley fighting vehicle? This SOPAC issue is beginning to remind me a lot of that movie. | ||
| hariseldon Citizen Username: Hariseldon Post Number: 274 Registered: 5-2001 |
Gosh, yoose guys watch a lot of movies! | ||
| Sitoyan Citizen Username: Sitoyan Post Number: 37 Registered: 7-2004 |
Thank you mrosner for the clarification. This is another thread of misinformation spread by Shelley Stile and her SOAR people. | ||
| PARROT HEAD Citizen Username: Island_jack Post Number: 37 Registered: 3-2004  |
I saw and smelled the same thing Cheesy. It was the smell of diesel oil. If that is being pumped into catch basins, then it is flowing into the brook. The brook is above the level of the South Orange Grand Canyon which means, eventually, water is going to seep back into that oversized pothole. And whatever diesel isn't already on it's way down the Rahway River annex, could be making it's way back into the Canyon. | ||
| PARROT HEAD Citizen Username: Island_jack Post Number: 38 Registered: 3-2004 |
By the way, this is a message board not campiagn headquarters. Rumors and silly name-calling can be fun sometimes | ||
| Mayor McCheese Citizen Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 168 Registered: 7-2004 |
Is it too late to fill the hole back up with dirt, pave over it, and create more parking? | ||
| MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 1903 Registered: 5-2001 |
Mark, I usually credit you with staying above the fray & avoiding the name-calling that your fellow Trustees resort to. However, I think your latest blog http://www.nj.com/weblogs/rosner/ is too much of a personal attack on Shelly. Your blog is usually informative and an additional take on an issue in town, but this time I think it's just a negative attack on someone who actually speaks pretty highly of you. | ||
| mrosner Citizen Username: Mrosner Post Number: 1714 Registered: 4-2002 |
MHD: Frankly I thought Ms. Stile went too far and when I found out that she knew some of the facts I posted prior to her email and posting, I was pretty annoyed. We have a volunteer board at SOPAC and Ms. Stile has been giving them a pretty hard time. I think she owes them an apology. She has made herself a public figure and when she does something wrong I will call her on it (just as you would do). I think Shelley could be a lot more effective if she stuck to facts and did not post information until she had them. Since SOAR has their own webpage and their own blog, she owes it to those who look to her to give them accurate information. However, if you think I was too tough, I offer my apology to Ms. Stile. | ||
| Soda Supporter Username: Soda Post Number: 2593 Registered: 5-2001  |
Speaking "highly" of someone out of one side of your mouth while you paint them and all their colleagues with the same broad brush is hardly behavior worthy of defense, MHD. Ms. Stile may in fact, be a concerned and ernest citizen, but she's also a specious, politically-motivated rumor-monger who seems to have no ethical problem with spreading half-truths and rumors here on MOL, on her website, and through emails. You actively supported one of our Trustees in the last election. Does he approve of -- or even condone -- Ms. Stile's style of debate? I think not. -s. BTW: If that trustee DOES approve of how Ms. Stile conducts herself, I hope he will please correct me here on MOL. | ||
| MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 1904 Registered: 5-2001 |
Mark, Thank you for updating your blog today. Once again, I think it was the right thing to do. (that's 2 for you, this week)  | ||
| Soda Supporter Username: Soda Post Number: 2599 Registered: 5-2001 |
Let's see if Ms. Stile has the class to alter the sense and substance of her communications as has Mr. Rosner... -s. BTW: Thanks for being a mensch, there, Mark. | ||
| talk-it-up Citizen Username: Talkitup Post Number: 100 Registered: 3-2004 |
mrosner stated: SoOrLady: I have not been given a report on the soil at Sayad"s site. I have been told that it was legally transferred. doublea stated: Mark - The facts are as I have described above. Sayed failed to obtain a soil disturbance permit from the planning board. When asked to get a soil sample at the January meeting,he came back last week and instead of obtaining a soil sample from his site, he relied on a sample taken from the SOPAC site which showed excess amounts of pesticides. For confirmation, check with Sal, Janine Bauer, Anabile or anyone on the planning board. I'm just reporting what happened in a public meeting. I've listened to the last two planning board meetings, and my comments have been pretty subdued. Some of the planning board members weren't as subdued. , Follow-up: The above has not been addressed. It is understood that - there was no soil disturbance permit applied for from the Planning Board - the site was filled illegally - South Orange did not address this, the Planning Board did - the soil was obtained from the SOPAC site - the soil was not certified as clean - it now appears to be the private owner's problem Has this been addressed? How will this be resolved so that the residents of SO are sure that, what may be contaminated soil is not used as fill on the SO site under private ownership? How does this occur without a response from the village or the entities responsible? - it appears that SO was aware of the situation. - what person is responsible for allowing soil to be what appears to be illegally transferred from a Village project to a private property? - Does the village have any legal exposure? |
