Reasons for the DEP Terminating its contract with the Development Corp.
Varied points on ending the Development Corp.’s contract with the DEP
- The Dev. Corp. has been a constant source of negative wasteful public
battles. The DC has repeatedly pushed for unpopular plans(golf course, watermark
etc.) , ignoring the overwhelming public consensus for a free,
non-commercialized, non-privatized LSP.
- With the will, the way will be found by NJDEP lawyers and auditors to end the contract.by just cause by looking at the contract itself, the sub-contracts, the mismanagement of funds, the financial management of the marina and private parking lots.
- No other state park has a DevCorp , which has outlived any usefulness it may have had.
-There was no public bidding when the DEP gave the contract to the Dev. Corp (DC). The DC is a private vendor which was awarded a contract with the state. When the government awards a contract involving large sums of money, there are laws, procurement rules, and regulations which require that the contract be put out with Requests for Proposals in a competitive public bidding process. This process has never occurred.
- It is unlawful for a contract to have NO TERM LIMIT. The DC contract is written as an exclusive life-time contract. Any valid government contract has to have a term limit and to periodically come up for a new bidding process. For instance with the private vendor concession stand operator at the park, or with any contract with the state. The DC began their contract in 1984; there has been no public bidding process at inception or since.
- After the ‘83 "Action Plan" got DEP approval ,(based on 3 Ad-hoc DEP workshops and having NO PUBLIC HEARINGS ), the DC was awarded the non-bidding contract.
- Their books should be made available to the public due to the PUBLIC DISCLOSURE SUNSHINE LAWS. The Friends of LSP and the LSP Conservancy never before got from the DEP - the cooperation of getting timely accounting reports about the DC.
LSP Would Make More Money Without a Costly Unnecessary Middleman
-The park can and should have a direct contractual relationship with the privatized Marina and the privatized parking lots. As it is now, the DC has kept the money from the marina and has taken a Cut from the parking lot revenues.If Mr.Ylvisaker’s and his administrative assistant’s salaries were eliminated, that money would go directly to the park. With those salary savings of between $150,00 - 180,000 each year, LSP could hire a financial manager at a great savings to do the work of dealing with marina and parking lots.
- The DC gets FREE RENT in the historic Terminal. LSP could use that office for staff.
- The marina itself never had a Public Hearing.Without the DC, LSP would make some money from the sub-contracts on the marina land, for instance with the Liberty House Restaurant & Spirit Cruise tours.As it is now, the DC gets a cut from those sub-contracts. The marina is a boat junkyard eyesore and is sprawling onto non-marina land.
Questions About Dev. Corp. finances, pointing toward benefits of ending contract
- What is DC doing with all the marina rent? Why isn’t park getting almost all of marina rent, and DC only taking out a commission?Why should DC get all (most)of marina rent?
- With the parking lot bonds in default and the DEP having been paying off the bonds, instead of the DC - is the DC still getting a Cut from the parking revenues? Is the DC supposed to pay back the DEP for the DEP’S paying back the bonds? Is the DC turning over all the parking lot fees to the DEP.
Why can’t the state move toward taking over the parking lots and using its employees, instead of having privatized lots?
- With the DEP making the Bond payments, what is the point of still having the DC involved? The parking lot fees should go into the park, with the DEP paying off the bonds, and having no DC as the costly unnecessary middleman.
Where is the circus money?
In the newspapers, Mr. Ylvisaker made very exaggerated claims about hundreds of thousands of dollars which would come to park, from the Circus causing traffic jams for two and a half months last Spring. It seems that LSP only made $105.,000. Where is $ ?
The Dev. Corp.’s Pattern of Going Over the Head of the DEP and the Public
- With the Cirque du Soleil, the DC went over the DEP’s head to get the circus approval. Circus had 2500 seats, & traffic jams , for over 2 months, and 2 shows on Sat. & Sun.
- Last Spring, the Dev. Corp. tried to get a Commercial amphitheater and commercial concerts approved by DEP with no public hearings.
- After the DEP’s Nov.. rejection of their new commercial concert plan, the DC tried to get Gov. DiFrancesco to approve the plan over the head of the DEP.