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Transportation Trust Fund Legislation Signed by Governor Corzine |
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Transportation Trust Fund Legislation Signed by Governor Corzine New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund was about to run out of money this year. Unless the Legislature acted prior to July 1, all of the revenue collected for the TTF would have been used to pay off existing TTF debt - roughly $805 million a year. This would have left no money to fund capital improvement projects or infrastructure maintenance. During March, the legislature amended the “"New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority Act" by passing bills A-2813/S-1470. Governor Corzine signed the legislation on March 23rd.
These changes will permit the TTFA to issue bonds and refunding bonds, and to receive additional revenues, sufficient to provide a TTFA program of $1.6 billion annually in each of the next five fiscal years, FY 2007 – FY 2011. Legislators were not completely satisfied with the measure, as many feared that additional borrowing was not the way to solve this major funding problem. One of the main sponsors of the legislation was Assembly Transportation Chair John Wisniewski who said, “Members on both sides of the aisle, myself included, are not happy with every portion of this plan. Despite these fixes, I maintain my strong commitment to finding a long term, stable funding source for the TTF. In the interim, we have created a system that will enable the state to press ahead with transportation projects and provide us additional time to craft a lasting TTF financing mechanism." Spring Meeting Recap We were fortunate to have two distinguished speakers at the Spring meeting of NJSME. Dave Kuhn, Director of Local Government Services for NJDOT, informed us about pending changes in the Local Aid regulations. (see his article below). William Connolly, Director of Codes and Standards for NJ Dept. of Community Affairs, spoke about developments in the Uniform Construction Code that relate to the practice of Municipal Engineering. These are summarized, below. The Construction Official has the responsibility to ensure that proper accessible routes are provided on a site before issuance of a building permit, however the Municipal Engineer has the opportunity to review the plans at an earlier stage, during site plan or major subdivision review. By working together, with the Construction Official, the Municipal Engineer could help to avoid a situation where building permits are denied and the applicant must return to the board of jurisdiction. The State of New Jersey has adopted ICC/ANSI A117.1 – 1998 as its model code for accessibility. This works in conjunction with NJAC 5:23-7, the Barrier Free Subcode. It's important for Municipal Engineers also to recognize that renovations to an existing building may trigger a need to improve site features to current accessibility standards. The UCC requires that up to 20% of the cost of a renovation be devoted to bringing a building into compliance with the Barrier Free Subcode. While this amount of money may not be adequate to bring the site and building into total compliance, it will often require site improvements. There is a hierarchy to making a building accessible: getting into the building, accessible parking, accessible toilet rooms, etc. The requirements for alterations or changes of use to existing buildings may be found at NJAC 5:23-6, the Rehabilitation Subcode. Recreation facilities are an area in which the Municipal Engineer may actually be responsible for compliance with accessibility requirements. The UCC makes the manager of the recreational facility responsible for insuring that the facility complies with the law – even though a building permit may never be required. Enforcement of these provisions is complaint driven. First the complainant gives notice to the owner of the facility. The facility manager must respond to the complaint within thirty days after which the complainant may bring the matter to the Department of Community Affairs for adjudication. Requirements for the issuance of a building permit for retaining walls have been modified. A building permit must be obtained for the construction or reconstruction of all walls on the same slope with a total height of over four feet, unless the wall is to be dedicated to the municipality and is covered by the bond for site improvements. Coordination between the Construction Official and the Municipal Engineer is important at the time a developer asks for a temporary certificate of occupancy. There is a requirement that a temporary certificate of occupancy be issued if the site is safe. The site must also be accessible e.g. no lips at curb ramps even though the final pavement is not yet installed. It’s extremely important that all items of incomplete work be covered by a bond, since it is highly unlikely that a temporary certificate of occupancy will be revoked. The Construction Official may, however, issue penalties, of up to $2000.00 per week for failure to complete site improvements if they are part of a prior approval. The DCA is implementing new requirements for special inspections for Class 1 structures, including structural steel, concrete, structural masonry, spray applied fire proofing and EIFS. Licensed professional engineers, who can document experience in these areas will be able to obtain this certification without taking the test but will be required to apply for and maintain the certification. The program certainly served to reinforce the need for Municipal Engineers to stay abreast of developments in the Uniform Construction Code.
NJSME Experience Benefits Award Winning Golf Course Three current advisory members of the NJSME executive committee helped define, direct, manage and execute the completion of the Berkshire Valley Golf Course in Jefferson, New Jersey. The project was recently recognized with the design excellence award given by the New Jersey Parks and Recreation Association to the Morris County Park Commission at their annual conference in Atlantic City. Past President Jeffrey A. Biggs, PE, as Director of Engineering Services for the Morris County Park Commission; Bob Vogel, PE, Assistant Director; and Arthur Vitale, PE, LS, also Assistant Director (replaced Bob) managed the project scoping, site selection, acquisition, remediation, design parameters, permits, construction contracts and inspections. The Morris County Park Commission’s Berkshire Valley Golf Course is par 71 and 6810 yards with many breathtaking views, challenging shots and a driving range. The “project” total cost was $19.9 million dollars including remediation of an existing brown field, preservation and the course. Being 185 acres of groomed golf (including water and wetlands buffers) in the middle of approximately 600 acres (415 acres of remaining preserved woods), the course is literally a diamond in the rough! Biggs said “The timing was particularly fitting since this is the 50th anniversary year for the Morris County Park Commission!” The project is located in the NJ Highlands Region and was the former and abandoned Berkshire Sand and Gravel Quarry site which was a substantially degraded property that included erosion, destroyed wetlands buffers, contaminated petroleum tanks, construction debris, stumps, tires and liens on the property. Building a golf course today requires tremendous coordination with state agencies, local officials, and residents. Past President Biggs is convinced the heavy involvement with NJSME, and municipal engineering positions held, greatly benefited the execution of this award winning project by his team. The Roger Rulewich Group, as subcontractor to The RBA Group was selected for design. The beauty and playability of any golf course is largely due to the golf course architect. In researching private vs. public golf construction, Biggs found examples of conflict between golf architects, owners and engineers when artistic expression and field design conflicted with lump sum budgets. “Since we were building a public facility under the control of the public contracts law we needed to find a way to control costs while also providing a fair way for that artistic expression” Biggs said. Therefore Biggs suggested that the golf architect work as a subcontractor to the engineers for the course. "We felt this process would lead to greater engineering controls on the design of contract documents." Biggs also required the contract documents be prepared with detailed grading and “unit prices”. This process allowed the golf course architect certain freedom to create and modify in the field as artistic expression would and did demand. Biggs retained veto power over field changes to control costs. The process worked well in that the combined “prime construction contracts” (course and buildings) were completed within a 5.2% contingency that was very reasonable for a necessarily flexible project of this type and magnitude. About half of the 5.2% was due to NJDEP midstream changes ordered to our plan and not to golf design factors. Biggs invites all to check out the Morris County Park Commission’s web site at www.morrisparks.net a schedule of activities and special events. The Morris County Park Commission and Biggs prepared our 75th Anniversary CD that was shown in the Liberty Science Center I-Max Theater and appeared on local TV during NJSME’s anniversary. New Jersey Department of Transportation Report It’s Spring and things are changing. It’s greening up all over, including the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Municipal Aid Program. Although not to the level many would have liked to have seen, the proposed funding level for Fiscal Year 2007 is $78.75 million. For the past several years the program remained steady at $67.5 million. The next question is how is the money divided up and allocated to municipalities. First, $5 million is set aside for Urban Aid qualifying municipalities and approximately $2.2 million is set aside for Newark and Jersey City. The remainder is divided amongst the counties through a formula that factors in county population and municipal road mileage. The municipalities within a specific county then compete for the funds allocated to the county via the NJDOT’s competitive Municipal Aid application process. NJDOT has recently sent its request for Fiscal Year 2007 applications and set a June 30, 2006, application due date. While you may be familiar with the application process, it is important to know now that the rules of the game will be changing in the fall. The current rules (regulations) that govern the Municipal Local Aid Program expire on April 26, 2006. NJDOT is filing for adoption of revisions to the rules to bring them up to date with current business practices, clarify them, modify them to increase flexibility for municipalities, and strengthen the rules to improve expenditure of funds and increase the likelihood that grants will be closed out. The proposed regulations will provide for 18 months from grant agreement execution to construction contract award, with the possibility for one six-month extension. A second six-month extension may be granted under extraordinary circumstances. Not meeting award timeframes will result in the grant contract being cancelled and future grants being provided on a reimbursement basis. Under the proposed regulations, NJDOT will have the option of inspecting or not inspecting grant related work before requesting a final payment voucher. Final payment vouchers will be required within six months of notification. If not provided within the specified time, the grant contract will be cancelled and remaining funds will be rescinded. We expect the proposed regulation revisions will be published in the State Register in early June. A 60-day public comment period will follow and we expect the revised regulations to be enacted in October, close to the time when the Fiscal Year 2007 Municipal Aid grants would be announced. As you put together your application for the Fiscal Year 2007 application, we ask that you take the time to understand the proposed regulation changes and factor them into your application. The proposed regulations have been written with the cooperation and assistance of the New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers. We are grateful for your help. The proposed regulations in their entirety have been made available to the Society and we hope to make them available on NJDOT’s website shortly. Our goal is to see improved delivery of transportation grants and this is one of the ways we can do that. Please take the time to read and understand these new rules. As always, NJDOT’s Local Aid and Economic Development Division is here to help you with your grants. |
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The following new members have joined the Society this year. Please join me in welcoming them into the Society and be sure to introduce yourself should you meet them at one of our Society’s events!
Reminder to all Municipal Engineers The deadline for submitting your municipalities Annual Report and Certification for your NJPDES Stormwater Permit is May 2nd, 2006! In Memoriam William Pluymers, township engineer, 69, headed civil engineering firm A memorial service for William Pluymers, 69, of Manchester was held at noon on March 18 in the Pinelands Reformed Church, 898 Route 37 West, Toms River. Mr. Pluymers died the previous Saturday in Community Medical Center, Toms River. A professional civil engineer, he was president of Pluymers, Williamson and Associates in Chester before retiring. He also was a township engineer in Butler, Kinnelon, Mendham and Chester. He was a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark. Mr. Pluymers was a trustee of Leisure Knoll at Manchester Association and also participated in the bowling and golf clubs. He was an elder at the Pinelands Reformed Church. Born in Paterson, he lived in Hawthorne, Oakland and Mendham before moving to Manchester in 1999. Surviving are his wife, Marion; sons, David and Todd, and four grandchildren. Contribute To The MEQ! The NJSME is looking for volunteers to contribute to the MEQ publication by submitting articles. This publication is a great opportunity to discuss an issue facing you or your town, or even to point out some news relating to an interesting project you’ve been working on. For more information, contact Matt Halpin.
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ME Quarterly Newsletter Layout/Graphics The opinions expressed in bylined articles are those of the authors and do not represent the opinions
of NJSME. The authors are solely responsible for the information contained
in those articles. |
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