While Trump has yet to reveal any specifics regarding his plans for the Meadows, he said it would include a "world class" golf course with "world class" retail, commercial and residential facilities.

Still, Trump acknowledged that the task of convincing the state and the local towns to accept his plan still lies ahead. "We, of course, recognize there are a myriad of mechanical, legal and other tasks that must be accomplished to fulfill this vision, including a full vetting of this project by the local communities. I look forward to working with the state and local stakeholders in this effort," wrote Trump in his letter to the state attorney general.

State requests

Trump’s letter was in response to two requests from the state. The first was a request for a budget for the closure and remediation of landfills in Rutherford, Lyndhurst and North Arlington. The second request was Trump’s proposal to pay off the debts incurred by EnCap.

Trump gave the state a budget, but did not have a proposal to cure EnCap’s financial defaults. Instead, Trump said he is in talks with EnCap’s biggest backer, Cherokee, to buy out its interest in the project. Secondly, he said he would soon front "significant sums" of his own money to entice lenders to back the project.

Local level

Rutherford Mayor John Hipp said he was not interested in hearing about Trump’s big development plans for the project site. "The whole idea is to focus on cleanup," said Hipp.

North Arlington Councilman Al Granell hesitated to comment on Trump’s statements because the borough remains in litigation with the developer, but agreed with Corzine’s mandate to focus on the cleanup first. EnCap struck a deal with North Arlington, separate from its deal in the Meadowlands, to build housing on Porete Avenue. EnCap sued the borough after it failed to take Porete businesses through eminent domain.

"Until we actually see a viable plan presented by the parties in question, as a borough, we’re still going to move forward with the lawsuit," said Granell. "There’s nothing concrete on paper for people to look at."

The landfills-to-golf courses and housing project went awry when the focus moved from cleaning the dumps to building an extravagant real estate development atop the remediated dumps, said Hipp. "The real driving force behind this was development. We, the government, made serious errors in judgement," added Hipp, who took office this year after defeating the incumbent mayor on an anti-EnCap platform.

Combined front

Hipp, along with other local politicians involved in the project, met with Governor Jon Corzine at the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission two weeks ago to discuss the project. The group consensus was to focus on cleaning up the area before development is discussed. "I take the governor at his word. Now the focus is on the cleanup and that is where I want it to stay," said Hipp.

Hipp believes Rutherford does not need or want Trump’s help in cleaning up the landfills and said it can be done without it.

The state still has the right to void its agreement with EnCap for contractual defaults and call upon a $148 million insurance bond from AIG to fund the landfill closure. In the past, Meadowlands Commission executive director Bob Ceberio would not say why the state does not void the agreement and clean the dumps using the bond, citing legal issues.

The state wrote a letter to AIG in November calling up the insurance bond. The group responded stating it could not call upon the bond until the deal with EnCap was officially dead.

Lyndhurst Mayor Richard DiLascio did not respond for comment.