On the Agenda: A Deed Restriction and Other Hospital Matters

Before the much anticipated hospital sale can go through, the city council will be discussing the issue during Wednesday night's council meeting.

Apart from a, which was proposed by the mayor and needs six votes to pass, there is also a resolution on the agenda that puts a seven-year deed restriction on the hospital site, proposed by Councilwoman Beth Mason.

A deed restriction puts use limitations on a particular site. In the contract between the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority, the buyer commits to keeping the hospital as an acute care facility for at least seven years.

Mason said she would vote for the bond ordinance—the $5 million will be used to go toward settling a bankruptcy between the hospital's management company and its creditors—if a deed restriction is put on the property.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer has said that the bond is needed to make sure the Zimmer said that if the sale fails, the hospital may close as early as mid October.

"I need the council to demonstrate their support for this," Zimmer said. 

Zimmer said she is against a deed restriction on the property, which she said could prevent the sale of the hospital.

Councilman Michael Russo, a staunch critic of the administration, said he needs more information before he can vote "yes" on the bond ordinance. In an email on Tuesday night he requested all financial documents regarding the hospital in an email to the mayor and the corporation counsel.

Russo also said that the mayor could decide to use the city's $5 million surplus.

"As it stands right now," Russo said on Tuesday afternoon, "I don't see how I can support (the bond)."

The resolution to put a deed restriction on the hospital site needs five votes and will likely be voted down by the council majority, which is aligned with Zimmer. During a previous meeting, Bhalla called the deed restriction a "poison pill."

Councilwoman Theresa Castellano also said she needs more information before voting "yes" on the bond ordinance. "How do you vote with no information?" she asked.

The council will also vote on a resolution to enter into a "parking access agreement," regarding the mid town garage that is attached to hospital. The documents about this resolution were not available on the city's web site yet on Wednesday afternoon.

The city council will also have to change re-financing of the bond it That ordinance is up for second reading next month and also needs six votes.