PORT AUTHORITY SEEKING CONSULTANT ON BAYONNE BRIDGE
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey issued a request for proposal for a consultant to review environmental and regulatory issues to expedite modification or replacement of the Bayonne Bridge.  

The current height of the bridge's vehicular deck is too low for clearance by the larger ships expected to sail into the region's port once the expansion of the Panama Canal is complete in the middle of this decade. The Bayonne Bridge crosses the Kill Van Kull.  

The Port Authority said it will accept RFP's until July 14 and award a contract in August.  The environmental alternative analysis is expected to be complete by the end of 2010.  

PATH RAIL SYSTEM TO RECEIVE $200 MILLION IN IMPROVEMENTS
A $200 million, ten-year program to improve the PATH rail system has been put in motion by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  It will feature new seating, more benches, cleaner surroundings, lighting, flooring and loudspeaker systems.  

The biggest project will be to transform the 97-year-old Harrison station with more than $100 million in improvements, including replacing the aging platform and tiny waiting room with glass and steel-covered pavilions.  The improvements will coincide with residential and commercial development in the area and increased traffic generated by the new Red Bull soccer stadium.  Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni said the work is designed to make the system more commuter friendly for the 70 million passengers who ride PATH each year.

COSCIA UNANIMOUSLY CONFIRMED BY US SENATE TO AMTRAK BOARD
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the nomination of Anthony Coscia, Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to the board that governs the Amtrak rail system.  

Coscia has chaired the bistate Port Authority since 2003 and is a member of the New Jersey Alliance for Action Board of Directors. He was nominated in October to the board which oversees Amtrak, a corporation whose stock is owned by the federal government.  

Commenting on Coscia's confirmation, US Senator Frank Lautenberg, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, said:  "As Amtrak continues to see record ridership, there is nobody better suited to help lead America's passenger rail service into the 21st Century."  

NEW OFFICE BUILDING IS COMPLETED IN METROPARK
Metrotop II, a nine-story, 255,000-square-foot Class A office property in the Iselin section of Woodbridge has completed construction, it was announced by commercial real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle.  

The building is adjacent to Metrotop Plaza's first phase, the fully leased 111 Wood Ave South, an 80,000-square-foot property.  The newly completed building originally broke ground in 2002, but was put on hold because of market conditions and had its second ground-breaking in 2007.  Both buildings are within walking distance of the Amtrak and NJ Transit Metropark train station.  

LAUTENBERG WINS KEY HOMELAND SECURITY POST
New Jersey won a key position in Congress when U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg was named to replace the late Senator Robert Byrd as chairman of the subcommittee that controls appropriations for homeland security.  

This puts Lautenberg in an important position to help shape the $44 billion federal government funding programs for such things as emergency response, airline security, the Coast Guard and local grants for training, equipment and personnel.  

Lautenberg has fought for a formula that ties homeland security to states like New Jersey where the risk of attack is greatest rather than the current system based on population.  

"This subcommittee is particularly important to New Jersey," Lautenberg said, noting that "the state is home to potential targets."  

MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT SET FOR JERSEY CITY BROWNFIELD SITE
The start was announced for a mixed-use development of a seven-acre brownfield site in Jersey City that was the home of the former Van Leer Chocolate factory on Hoboken Avenue.  The project will consist of more than 400 homes with 7,500 square feet of retail space.  

The project will be the first developed as part of PSE&G's Technology Demonstration Program, a $190 million initiative approved by the State Board of Public Utilities to test new energy-saving technologies.  

The project will be completed in three years.  

BASF BREAKS GROUND IN FLORHAM PARK FOR $100 MILLION HEADQUARTERS
BASF, the world's largest chemical company, broke ground in Florham Park on a $100 million, five-story, 325,000 square-foot building to serve as its North American headquarters.  Construction begins this month.  

BASF said at least 1,400 people will work in the building.  The company currently employees 2,000 at locations in New Jersey in manufacturing, administration, research and development.  

The company reported its new building will have a net tax benefit of $500,000 and will be a U.S. Green Building Council registered facility with the goal of attaining the highest LEED platinum certification.  

TURNPIKE AUTHORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO RETIRE
Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti will retire August 31 as Executive Director of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.  She began her career with the Authority 21 years ago and worked her way from assistant contract administrator in the law department to Executive Director.   

Gutierrez-Scaccetti will be succeeded as Executive Director by Veronique Hakim, who is senior vice president/general counsel for the New York MTA's capital construction agency.  

DEP COMMISSIONER TO REPORT ON PLANS TO AID THE ECONOMY
DEP Commissioner Robert Martin will be the featured speaker at the Alliance for Action "Meet the Players" series on Thursday, July 8.   The meeting will begin with registration at 9:30 a.m. and the program at 10:00 in the Carpenters Funds Conference Room, Raritan Plaza II, Raritan Center, Edison.  

Martin will report and respond to questions on streamlining the permit process and removing bureaucratic roadblocks to spur New Jersey's economy and create jobs.  To reserve a place, Go Here.  

MONMOUTH COUNTY ALLIANCE FOR ACTION  MEETING THIS FRIDAY
Monmouth County Freeholder John D'Amico will be one of the featured speakers at the Monmouth County Chapter meeting.  The meeting at Eagle Oaks Country Club on Friday, July 9, 2010 will begin at 8:15 a.m. with registration followed by the program at 9:00 a.m.  

Other speakers include Cortland Coleman, Director of Communications-Liberty Natural Gas, on the latest developments of the proposed natural gas terminal located in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park and David Rosenblatt, Administrator-Engineering & Construction of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection who will report on the condition of New Jersey's beaches.  To register, Go Here.  

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

• William Dougherty, Executive Vice President & COO for True Associates, was elected President of the New Jersey Subcontractors Association.
• Verizon New Jersey President Dennis M. Bone and former Congressman James Saxton were elected to the Board of Trustees of The Aviation Research and Technology Park in Pomona.

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