Elwell has been a vocal critic of the NJMC’s tax sharing arrangements with the towns. Secaucus must hand over $3,325,271 in taxes in 2008, more than any one of the 14 towns in the Meadowlands district. Elwell asked Governor Jon Corzine if Secaucus could leave the district because of a zoning dispute over the Damascus Bakery.

Two large grain silos are located inside the bakery, which Elwell and construction official Vincent Prieto feel would be hazardous to a residence and elementary school located near the property. Flour, like any fine-grained organic substance, is highly explosive when mixed with air and ignited. Grain silos have caused death and destruction in other parts of the country, according to published reports.

Elwell wanted the matter to go to a public hearing, but because the silos are located indoors, they are not subject to public input by NJMC’s rules.

The NJMC was founded to protect the environment, provide for orderly development and manage solid waste activities in the New Jersey Meadowlands District. Today, the commission has zoning authority over the district, even though portions of the district are within the borders of its 14 member towns.

The commission also collects a portion of taxes from properties located in each town and redistributes it according to a tax sharing formula. This formula was created to bridge the gap between towns that have developable land and towns with land that is environmentally sensitive.

Zoning authority

Disputes between South Bergen towns and the NJMC over zoning are not uncommon. Carlstadt and East Rutherford have been head to head with the commission over adult entertainment zones, said officials in the boroughs.

Carlstadt Councilman Joe Crifasi said he had mixed feelings about the commission because while he appreciates when the commission lends its expertise in the technical aspects of land use, he has been disappointed with some of the zoning decisions the commission has made in Carlstadt.

East Rutherford Councilman Joel Brizzi said the borough sought to place an adult entertainment zone "off the beaten path" in the Meadowlands portion of the town, rather than allowing such businesses to operate in the center of town, but the Meadowlands Commission opposed the idea. The ordinance died before the second reading and is still being contemplated, said Brizzi.

Rutherford Mayor John Hipp admits he has little say with regard to potential development in its portion of the Meadowlands. Rutherford has expressed concern over housing proposals in the area, specifically the Highland Cross development and EnCap. While Rutherford, as with each town in the commission, has a say in what development happens in the Meadowlands, the buck ultimately stops at the commission.

Lyndhurst Mayor Richard DiLascio did not respond for comment.

Tax sharing

For 2008, eight towns in the Meadowlands district will pay into the tax sharing formula, five towns will receive money and one town, Teterboro, will break even.

After Secaucus, Carlstadt will pay the next highest amount into the Meadowlands tax-sharing formula this year, $1,390,808. Carlstadt’s frustration with the Meadowlands Commission comes from a decision by the state to take away the Empire Tract, a 577-acre property taken off the tax rolls for preservation.

Carlstadt misses out on $1.7 million in tax ratables from the property each year and the commission continues to take money from the borough.

However, Crifasi understands that the commission controls neither the cause nor the effect of the borough’s plight. If Carlstadt wants help for the loss of the Empire Tract, it must lobby Trenton to see a change. Crifasi has no problem setting the land aside for preservation, but laments the tax increase it creates. "We’re probably more pro-environment than we are pro-development, but we’re pro-finance, too," he said.

Losing Secaucus would wreak havoc on the district and leave the other towns to pick up the $3 million per year loss. Still, if given the choice, Carlstadt would leave the district because it would bring $2 million back into the municipal budget and the preservation of land in the borough has already been established. "I don’t want one town to leave," Crifasi added. "You win as a team, you lose as a team."

East Rutherford will receive $58,950 from the tax sharing formula in 2008. Brizzi speaks highly of the commission and felt the employees received undue criticism for their mishandling of EnCap. A state-issued report said the commission did not adequately check the qualifications of EnCap, the developer it picked to turn landfills in Rutherford, Lyndhurst and North Arlington into golf courses and housing.

The developer has left the land in worse environmental condition and over $140 million in state money remains at risk. Brizzi said blaming the commission or Executive Director Bob Ceberio for EnCap’s failures is inaccurate and unfair and believes the actions taken by the group were sent down from higher ranking state officials going up to the governor.

However, he admits criticizing the commission would be "biting the hand that feeds." He believes a town’s attitude toward the commission boils down to dollars and cents. "The paying towns hate it and the receiving towns are lukewarm to it," he said.

Rutherford will pay $101,196 to the commission this year. Mayor Hipp said, while sympathetic to Elwell’s plight, he is against Secaucus leaving the district and called it a "very, very bold step and not necessarily in the interest in the region."

"I am concerned that allowing one of the communities to leave will establish a precedent, which will result in the disbandment of the commission," said Hipp.

North Arlington will receive $837,966 from the tax sharing formula this year. Councilman Al Granell pointed out many positive aspects of the NJMC, but ultimately criticized the agency for its selection of EnCap to develop landfills in the Meadowlands. A small portion of the EnCap property falls within North Arlington, but EnCap will not build any structures in the borough. EnCap affiliate Cherokee Porete has a separate agreement exclusively with the town that is currently in litigation.

Porete Avenue, where 1,625 homes are slated to overtake a strip of warehouses and light industrial businesses, does not fall within the New Jersey Meadowlands District.

Both Granell and Councilman Steve Tanelli feel the mayors of the participating towns should compose the commission, rather than commissioners appointed by the governor. While the mayors belong to a stakeholders group with a voice in Meadowlands dealings, the buck still stops at the commission.