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Residents press city on scrap‑metal site; Holy Family Head Start renovation timetable updated
Summary
Residents raised health and environmental concerns about piles of scrap metal at 85 East 2nd Street; city officials said state agencies have jurisdiction. Separately, Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation updated the council on Holy Family Head Start renovation and grant timeline with construction expected late 2025–spring 2026.
Several residents used the public‑comment period at the Aug. 13 Bayonne council meeting to press city officials about environmental and community‑program matters.
Gene Perry told the council piles of scrap metal remain at 85 East 2nd Street and said he had video evidence of metal falling into the water. He cited a June 27 memo from the Bayonne Fire Department and similar guidance from the Bayonne Police Department that advised personnel to wear K95 masks when operating at or adjacent to the EMR Duroport facility at that address. Perry asked whether litigation and state investigations had changed and why residents had not seen stronger enforcement.
A city official replied that several appeals at the Hudson County Construction Board of Appeals had been withdrawn without prejudice and are expected to be reinstituted in September, and said recent protective memos were issued as a precaution during a film shoot and followed DEP and Hudson Regional Health reviews. The official emphasized that jurisdiction over site remediation and related regulatory enforcement rests with state agencies, including the DEP and regional health entities.
Anthony Seguerra, executive director of the Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation, gave a detailed update on the Holy Family Head Start project. He outlined a timeline dating back to the building purchase in 2017, described federal grant applications and awards, noted COVID‑related delays, and said soil sampling and remediation are ongoing with expected completion by September 2025. Seguerra said design work will be finalized in August 2025, bidding should begin in September 2025, construction is expected to start in October 2025 and that licensing and occupancy inspections are targeted for spring/early summer 2026 to allow for an opening in the 2026–27 school year.
City staff said funding is in place and the city will coordinate bidding and contracting steps with the applicant and invited Seguerra to provide the council with copies of his timeline and documentation for clerk distribution.
No formal council action was taken on the scrap‑metal matter at the meeting; officials advised residents about the state‑level jurisdiction and the likely schedule for appeals and investigations.
