Park agency in precarious position

State authorities seek to eliminate Liberty State Park Development Corporation
Prescott Tolk
Reporter staff writer		 April 14, 2002
The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking to terminate its contract with the Liberty State Park Development Corporation, an agency that collects fees for leased property on the 600-acre park in Jersey City, after a departmental audit has questioned its effectiveness.

In an April 3 letter to the corporation's president, Peter Ylvisaker, DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell wrote, "The Office of Audit review memorandum raises serious concerns about the Liberty State Park Development Corporation and its oversight of the facilities under its management." Citing underpayments to state agencies, alleged mismanagement practices, and plans that go against the public's vision for the park, Campbell called for a termination of the contract and gave Ylvisaker a 60-day period to justify the accusations cited.
The Development Corporation was created in 1984 as part of an innovative private-public partnership strategy that was supposed to find ways to attract investment in the public state park in an effort to reduce the need for state aid.

According to a press release from the DEP, the audit report focuses on the "consistent under-collection" of rental fees for the parking facilities at the park. The DEP Office of Audit also expressed concern about potential future losses or liabilities that the state may experience as a result of those revenue shortfalls.

With a $1.3 million operating budget, Liberty State Park has coupled state aid with private ventures to come up with the money. However, the amount that those ventures have brought in has long remained a mystery, as previous administrations have done broad audits on the agency that have not provided the public with specific information, according to Greg Remaud, the president of the Liberty State Park Conservancy.

According to Campbell, the DEP's Division of Parks and Forestry would take over the responsibilities presently under the Development Corporation. Those functions primarily include collecting the rental fees from the two paid parking lots and Liberty Landing Marina.

The letter has come as a shock to Ylvisaker. "Our only comment is that we're responding to the commissioner's letter, and because we're a partner for the state, this will remain an internal matter," he said last week.

Ylvisaker said that the marina generates approximately $250,000 in revenue for the park. He said the Development Corporation spends $380,000 each year in the maintenance of the park's two parking lots. The revenue from the parking lots was not been disclosed, and the amount collected is the subject of this dispute.

Most of the operating budget comes to the park in the form of state aid. Whatever revenue comes in from private interests goes through the Development Corporation.

The Development Corporation controls its own budget, Ylvisaker said, which is funded through grants and fees for the leased land on the park. Ylvisaker and his assistant are the only two employees of the Development Corporation.

Where did that money go?

Park advocates said a red flag went up recently when a park brochure and in-flight airline commercial said that the Development Corporation raised $30 million for the park since it was created, raising the question where the money went.

Ylvisaker said that the majority of such money stemmed from capital improvement projects. For instance, a deal that brought Liberty Landing Marina led to $12 million in construction money that came into the park. Another example, he said, was a $2 million donation from Prudential to sponsor Millennium Park, a grassy patch of land within the park.

Despite these claims, DEP officials said they are worried about the basic duties of the Development Corporation when it comes to collecting fees from the leased properties.

Mayor Glenn Cunningham said that he would wait to see what the Development Corporation comes up within the next 60 days before rushing to any judgement. "They may come up with something that is totally different that is different than their previously philosophy and vision of the park," Cunningham said.

History of Debate

After the agency was founded in 1984, park advocacy groups opposed its purpose. They were fearful that private interests would dominate an oasis of green space created for public use. Those fears came to light a few years later when the Development Corporation sought to build a private golf course in the park, thereby eliminating green space for public use.

Fights continued through the 1990s when proposals for a second golf course, a water park, and an amphitheater surfaced at meetings concerning the park's future development.

Aside from collecting those fees, the mission of allocating money for the park via private investment is no longer necessary or possible, park advocates said. Because the remaining 251 acres of undeveloped land in the park's interior has already been slated for nature trails and wildlife preserve, the purpose of the Development Corporation has diminished.

During last year's gubernatorial election, a coalition of advocacy groups petitioned both gubernatorial candidates to terminate the contract. Upon hearing the news about the DEP's audit, those advocacy groups expressed sentiments of victory.

"The Friends of Liberty State Park feel that the Development Corporation is an unnecessary middleman," said Sam Pesin, president of the Friends. Before being privy to the present audit, the Friends have argued that the park was not receiving its due share from the private ventures.

"Many people feel that the park would make more money without them," Pesin said.

Pesin, whose father founded Liberty State Park in 1976, said that many groups were calling for the Development Corporation's termination because "the commercializing mission contradicts with what the vast majority want for this urban state park. People want a free green accessible park."

ŠThe Jersey City Reporter 2002

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