A plaque on the Union Drydrock and Repair Company property commemorates Hoboken's heyday as a commercial and industrial port city

HOBOKEN -- The City Council on Monday night took steps to acquire two pieces of property for the creation of a new park on the city's northern waterfront, and for the expansion of an existing park in Hoboken's southwest corner.

In the first of the two separate actions, the council voted on second reading to approve a resolution authorizing the "purchase or condemnation" of waterfront property along Sinatra Drive between 10th and 11th streets, currently occupied by Union Dry Dock and Repair Company.

Union Dry Dock, a working shipyard, is the last vestige of Hoboken's heyday as a commercial shipping port. But with the character of the city having shifted to a residential community also known for its nightlife and tourism, Mayor Dawn Zimmer and the City Council want Union Drydock's three acres of land to develop another Hudson River waterfront park in addition to those farther south, and as an additional stretch of the city's nearly uninterrupted waterfront walkway.

City officials say Union Dry has refused to negotiate with the Zimmer administration for the purchase of the property, and Monday night's action authorized the city to begin the process of condemning the property and taking possession of it, against the property owner's will if necessary, in return for a court-approved appraised value.

Union Drydock did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The city has not appraised the drydock property, and the company has not said publicly what it thinks its lot is worth. For taxaction purposes, the entire 8.35-acre drydock property is valued at $3.34 million, according to city records, though that includes about 5 acres of water.

In a second action, the council voted to give its final approval to a resolution accepting a new appraisal on a .8-acre parcel at Harrison Street and Observer Highway owned by Academy Bus, which the city is seeking in order to double the size of the existing Southwest Park.

The same resolution also authorized the city to make Academy an offer on the lot in the amount of the appraisal, which was $5.3 million. The new figure is $1.3 million higher than the city's previous offer of $3.975 million, which was rejected by Academy.

City officials say a second appraisal is a requirement of a low-interest loan from the state for parkland acquisition.

Academy, meanwhile, has accused the Zimmer administration of negotiating in bad faith.

A lawyer for Academy, Kevin Coakley, said Zimmer and other city officials had met with him and other company representatives on Aug. 4, when the two sides agreed that Academy would conduct its own appraisal for the purpose of countering the city's original $3.975 million offer. Coakley said the parties agreed that the Academy appraisal was to have been done by Oct. 20.

So the company was taken aback two weeks prior to that deadline upon hearing from Hoboken's new appraiser, Federal Apraisal and Consulting, that it had been retained by the city to conduct a second appraisal.

Coakley said word of a new appraisal, with the anticipation of a new offer, forced the company to halt its own appraisal process and wait for the city's new offer, undercutting the agreed-upon time-frame and the orderly negotiating process.

Zimmer will leave officer on Jan. 1, after deciding not to seek a third 4-year term. She and some of her council allies had also hoped to approve a resolution Monday making the Academy resolution effective immediately, rather than after the standard 20 days following its passage. That would have allowed the city to make its offer this week, rather than waiting until December.

However, the council voted 5-4 against the measure, with opponents arguing that a vote to accelerate the acquisition process unnecessarily could have given Academy on more legal argument in the event of a court battle over the property.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.