The agency voted to sell a nine-acre site in the northwest corner of the Meadowlands to the college for $1.

The college intends to build a South Bergen campus on the property, on Paterson Plank Road, adjacent to the new NJ Transit rail station currently under construction and across the street from a $1.3 million Giants and Jets football stadium planned for the area.

"The campus will serve as a catalyst for the region, providing educational opportunities and job training for thousands of students," said G. Jeremiah Ryan, president of Bergen Community College.

Jets and Giants stadium owners will have to sign off on the school building plan before construction can begin.

Ryan says stadium owners will review the aesthetics and safety of the proposed building before they approve the project.

"We have showed them early drawings," Ryan said.

The South Bergen campus will include a 60,000-square-foot school building built on stilts to maximize parking, according to Ryan.

It’s anticipated courses there will complement a $2 billion Xanadu development being built at the Meadowlands that will feature a 200-foot high snow dome, 300-foot high Ferris wheel and 48,000-square-foot Legoland Discovery Center, among other attractions.

Hospitality, culinary, criminal justice and sales training courses are planned for the new college in order to prepare students for jobs at the giant shopping and entertainment center expected to create 20,000 new jobs.

Xanadu begins staffing in summer 2008. Ryan said the college is seeking a temporary building to conduct customized training classes for Xanadu employees by July 2008.

Showing their support, Colony Capital Acquisitions, who took over building Xanadu from Mills Corp. in 2006, plans to throw $2 million into Bergen Community’s project.

NJSEA Chairman Carl Goldberg is excited about the "synergy" of the new campus in the developing area.

"This is a great example of what can be accomplished when public agencies work together for the greater good, as the new campus will create an important synergy between the authority, the college, the Xanadu project and the Giants/Jets Stadium joint venture," said Goldberg.

Construction is expected to begin on new school in 2009 and may be completed by 2010, according to Ryan.

Ryan expects enrollment will reach 5,000.

The college’s Paramus campus enrolls about 15,000.

Classes will not be in session when sports games are scheduled in East Rutherford.

"We should be able to plan around [games]," said Ryan, who added that both football teams play most of their games on weekends and rarely on Mondays and Thursdays.

Ryan does have one concern: traffic. He said the college plans to work with Xanadu and stadium owners to avoid bottlenecking problems on area highways.

East Rutherford Mayor James Cassella also has concerns, but not over Bergen Community College’s plans.

"I don’t see the college being a major issue in terms of traffic. The major issue will be there or is already there," Cassella said, referring to the number of motorists Xanadu and the new football stadium may bring to the area.

Furthermore, Cassella believes that the state Department of Transportation’s proposal to upgrade Paterson Plank Road will boost congestion. The plan calls for three lanes to merge into two prior to entering the stadium.

"It’s a bad design," he said.

If anything, the new campus may alleviate congestion, according to Cassella. "A number of students in the South Bergen area go to Bergen Community. The new school may take cars off Route 17.