Local Finance Board Approves $5 Million for Parking Garage

The local finance board today approved the Parking Authority’s application to appropriate $5 million for the new parking garage in the town center, according to Mayor Raymond McCarthy.

“The finance board approved the amendment the Parking Authority submitted a few weeks ago, to allow the township of Bloomfield to provide the Parking Authority with a total of $5 million,” said McCarthy in a phone interview with Patch.

The on July 23, sought to increase the appropriation amount from $3 million to $5 million to help pay for the parking garage.  As an amendment to the resolution, Bloomfield Parking Authority Attorney Joe Baumann vowed to give taxpayers one hundred percent of the excess revenues generated by the Parking Authority in a given year.

At the time, McCarthy called the idea “a good move credit-wise because it reduces the debt of the town," saying the revenue generated by the parking garage, which he estimated would be $4 million dollars in the long run on the $5 million investment.

McCarthy said the application was approved today over the objections of three Bloomfield residents who attended the hearing. Russell Mollica, Carol Humphreys and Jim Wollner argued that the Bloomfield taxpayers should not be responsible for the financing of the parking garage.

McCarthy said transferring the money to the Parking Authority, which should be done in the next couple of weeks, is the last step towards greenlighting the project.

"Now we're full steam ahead," he said.

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