June 3, 2015
Re: Delaney Homes Property
Dear Mr. Lebreault,
I wanted to set the record straight and review the history surrounding the negotiations and attempted acquisition of the Delaney Homes property by the Board of Education for the construction of a new high school. As you know I chair the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and have served on that board for more than 30 years. I am a former teacher and school administrator and was also a member of the Board of Education at one time. I believe my experience in both of these arenas gives me a unique knowledge and perspective on the present situation.
First, you should be aware that the concept of using the Delaney Homes Property for a new high school has been discussed, negotiated and abandoned numerous times over the past 12 years. In 2001, the Housing Authority of the City of Perth Amboy (hereinafter referred to as “HACPA”) decided to redevelop the obsolete public housing site into a mixed-income neighborhood. It was on its way to achieving that goal when the Board of Education and the State School Construction Corporation determined and advised HACPA the site would make an excellent location for a sorely needed new high school. As an agency interested in public benefit, we at HACPA understood the logic in locating the school on the site. We entered into an agreement with the State School Construction Corporation that would identify and acquire suitable alternative sites within the City for HACPA to build its replacement housing. The intent was those sites would then be traded for the Delaney Homes site. Accordingly, we revised our housing development plans to accommodate the school plans and spent over two years working with the state only to have the deal fall apart.
After that we worked with the City and the Board of Education to create alternative ways to fund the acquisition or leasing of the site using various bond transactions. These efforts also failed to result in a contract or acquisition after nearly a year of work.
We as citizens of the City realize that the new high school is one of the greatest needs of our City along with affordable housing. For more than a decade HACPA held this property vacant. The Delaney Homes site was then and remains now the only clean site large enough to build a new school. The HACPA has been carrying this site during the discussions and negotiations at great expense, risk of losing federal funding, reduction of sorely needed affordable housing and delaying our replacement housing program.
In 2011, after nearly a decade of no serious movement toward the new school HACPA decided that they could no longer leave that site as vacant property at one of the gateways to the city. We decided to reconstitute our plans for developing the site. We informed the Board of Education of our intention and offered them one last chance to purchase the land. Nothing came from that offer and we proceeded with our master planning process. The result of that was a mixed income, mix-use development plan that received community and city support. The first phase of the development is underway with the construction of 70 affordable housing units on 4.0 acres of the site. We also solicited development proposals for the remaining portion of the site and received a proposal to develop back various commercial facilities.
Now once again the Board of Education has come back to discussions with us pursuing their intent to purchase the remaining portion of the Delaney Homes site. It is my understanding that they have the support of the State and the necessary funds to purchase the land. Once again, we as good citizens, are prepared to work to make that happen. My frustration is that once again there seems to be no urgency to culminate the deal. Although offers and counter offers have been made, I have no confidence that we are not going down the same dead end path we have gone down before.
HACPA has a fiduciary responsibility to the Department of Housing and Urban Development who administers and funds the public housing program regarding the property. Furthermore, we are bound to be good stewards of our public housing resources. From that context, HACPA is still willing to negotiate a fair and equitable real estate transaction in good faith subject to full Board approval and HUD approval. I would only expect the same from the Board of Education. I would hate to see this acquisition turn into a contentious or litigious situation since we all support the construction of the new school. Such a course of action would only be a black eye on our community.
However as a former educator, I am most concerned that this has been going on for nearly a decade and a half at the expense of our children. We have needed a new larger high school for more than 20 years and quite frankly I am outraged that nothing has happened to make that come to fruition. Let’s not waste another decade and possibly jeopardize or lose valuable resources necessary to build this school.
Very truly yours,
Edna Dorothy Carty-Daniel
Chairperson, Board of Commissioner
Housing Authority of the City of Perth Amboy
cc: Charles McKenna, NJ School Development Authority
Housing Authority of the City of Perth Amboy – Board of Commissioners
Derek Jess, Perth Amboy Board of Education
Mayor Wilda Diaz
Members of the Perth Amboy City Council
Members of the Perth Amboy Board of Education
June 16, 2015
RE: Negotiations regarding 11.7 acres – Delaney Property
Dear Mr. Lebreault,
On behalf of the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of the City of Perth Amboy (PHA), I am writing to you to express the Board’s concerns and determinations. The PHA Board is concerned that no agreement has been reached and there appears to be no progress. There has not been a response to the PHA Executive Director’s letter dated April 15, 2015 which is more than (60) sixty days at this point in time. In addition, there has been no response to the PHA’s Chairperson’s letter dated June 3, 2015. In fact, the PHA Board believes there has not been any active negotiations in response to the Authority’s position on the fair market value of the property. As a result, the Board believes that it has an obligation to move forward with its plans for redeveloping the property.
Accordingly, on June 16, 2015, the Authority has resolved to set a hard deadline for negotiations. Please be advised that in the event that the Board of Ed and the Authority fail to reach an agreement on terms for the voluntary sale/purchase of the 11.7 acres remaining on the Delaney site on or before August 15, 2015, then the Authority shall withdraw from active negotiations and pursue its redevelopment plans for the property.
Your attention in this regards is greatly appreciated.
Very truly yours,
Edna Dorothy Carty-Daniel
Chairperson, Board of Commissioner
Housing Authority of the City of Perth Amboy
cc: Charles McKenna, NJ School Development Authority
Housing Authority of the City of Perth Amboy – Board of Commissioners
Derek Jess, Perth Amboy Board of Education
Mayor Wilda Diaz
Members of the Perth Amboy City Council
Members of the Perth Amboy Board of Education
