NA Mayor’s statement on EnCap negotiations

NORTH ARLINGTON – Mayor Peter Massa said today he will not negotiate with EnCap and that statements published yesterday by a candidate for local office that he would support EnCap’s housing plan is “just ridiculous and dangerous to the legal battle that we are engaged in with EnCap over the future of our community.”

The Mayor issued the following statement regarding yesterday’s published remarks:

“Regardless of politics, I believe that what is best for this community is for us to put EnCap in the rearview mirror and move forward to secure a safe future for our community.
I find it unconscionable that for the sake of politics some people would embrace the notion of negotiating with a company of questionable character and ability that has a gun pointed to our head. These kinds of comments send the message that negotiating with EnCap is still a viable option.
We need to remind people that EnCap sued us because the people of North Arlington are opposed the Arlington Valley project. Our decision to defend ourselves in court was a bipartisan decision by the council. I have to question exactly what would be our motivation to negotiate while the company is still suing us. What is there to negotiate – the use of eminent domain – the construction of high-density housing? That’s what EnCap wants.
EnCap has proven that it is incapable of doing what it says it will do. It lacks financing to complete the job it was given, and has reportedly accepted tainted dirt in the meadowlands. I have been a law enforcement officer all my adult life and I find it troubling that anyone would suggest that our community should negotiate with a company that is involved in a development that is being investigated by both federal and state law enforcement agencies.
This company and its pie-in-the sky, high density housing development plan, has wreaked havoc with two neighboring communities and there is no reason to believe that given the opportunity, they would not do the same to us.
I appreciate that we all are entitled to have different points of view and that we have political differences on a range of issues in our borough – but on the matter of EnCap, our community must remain united and resolved to fight the EnCap proposal.”