Jersey City council caucus previews Wednesday agenda with bike-share expansion, HUD grants and road project

At a Jan. 13 caucus meeting, the Jersey City Municipal Council heard briefings on several items headed to a formal vote at the regular council meeting on Wednesday, including a proposed Citi Bike expansion funded with a state ferry grant, the Community College/Communipaw Avenue intersection construction project, and the city’s program-year 2024 HUD entitlement allocations.

The council’s most detailed transportation briefing came from Mike Mandela, director of the Division of Transportation Planning in the Department of Infrastructure, who described a plan to use State of New Jersey grant money tied to Port Liberte ferry-service restart efforts to extend the Citi Bike system into the southern part of the city and add roughly 21 new stations. Mandela said the grant is limited to transportation services near the ferry terminal and that “this is the first step in the expansion process,” noting long lead times for equipment and a likely earliest installation timeline toward the end of summer. He also emphasized outreach to promote Citi Bike’s reduced-fare program for Jersey City Housing Authority residents and SNAP beneficiaries.

Mandela told council that the city’s contract with Lyft/Citi Bike requires the municipality to identify funding for expansion and that the city has subsidized the system in past years. He said the city paid about $156,856 toward operations in 2024 under a formula that previously required a $400,000 annual operations contribution; the 2020 contract included a revenue-share threshold and a concession percentage. Council members pressed Mandela on station siting, sidewalk versus on‑street placement, the new generation of individual docks, and whether the city can seek better revenue shares when the current five-year agreement expires.

A separate transportation item was a long‑delayed safety and corridor upgrade for Communipaw Avenue between Marcy Avenue and Park Street. Mandela said the Federal Highway Administration has authorized the city to move forward and that construction is fully covered by grant funding. He provided a construction cost figure of approximately $5,163,457.20 and said the scope includes ADA-compliant curb ramps, signal upgrades, drainage improvements and full mill-and-pave of the corridor; the city will put the project out to bid after signing a cost-reimbursement agreement with the New Jersey DOT. Council members requested renewed community meetings before construction begins.

On housing and federal grants, a Division of Community Development representative summarized the city’s HUD entitlement awards for program year 2024: $5,267 (Community Development Block Grant), $1,853,579 (HOME Investment Partnerships), $2,598,046 (Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS), and $448,922 (Emergency Solutions Grants), plus $222,577 in prior-year HOME funds — a total the presenter gave as $10,391,102.67 available for program year 2024 activities. The same division also presented several mortgage-discharge resolutions for properties that have satisfied terms; the presenter listed repayment amounts tied to each mortgage (for example, $226,373 for a mortgage recorded in 2003 and $102,731.88 for a 1995 HOME mortgage) that will return funds to the city accounts identified in those loan agreements.

Planning and zoning items discussed included proposed amendments to the Morris Canal redevelopment plan that add on-site affordable housing incentives and require public access to new parks and greenway connections. A Ward City Planning representative said the Morris Canal amendments incorporate new height limits tied to affordable-housing bonuses — for example, up to six stories/70 feet in one mixed-use zone and seven stories/75 feet in another when bonuses are used — and that petitioners conducted outreach beginning after a 2022 council resolution.

Council members also heard that the planning board will be directed to prepare an amendment to the Liberty Harbor redevelopment plan (Resolution 25-017), a petition submitted by a property owner representative was included with the proposal, and staff noted the petitioner listed limited ownership information on the beneficial-ownership form.

Other items briefed at caucus included: HHS nutrition awards from Hudson County (an initial award of $1,110,221 with a city match figure provided), a modest donation of toiletries valued at about $407.68 for unhoused residents, animal-control professional services ratifications for emergency and supplemental veterinary services, an emergency roof-repair contract for the Charlie Heger ice-rink at Pershing Field, and a second amendment to Suburban Consulting Engineers’ professional services for City Hall Park that extends the contract at no additional cost.

Council discussion also touched on the designation of official newspapers (the Bergen Record and El Especialito) following the pending end of a Hudson County daily print edition, and an internal personnel resolution urging the appointment of Thomas Best as director of recreation — a nomination that prompted requests from members for broader input about candidates and departmental priorities.

A number of agenda items were presented for consideration but not voted on at the caucus; presenters and council members repeatedly noted that formal votes are scheduled for the regular council meeting on Wednesday. The caucus concluded at about 5:10 p.m.