READER'S WRITE

Dear Editor,

Isn’t it the time of year for the National Park Service to grant its eighth deadline extension to the proposed developer to get his funding for the supposed commercial reuse of 36 buildings at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook? When the developer, James Wassell, applied to rehabilitate the buildings in August, 1999 under the park’s dubious privatization and commercialization plan, he had to provide proof of his ability to finance the project. He didn’t, but the NPS picked “this prestigious organization,” as it referred to him, nonetheless.

Since then, Wassel and his organization, renamed Sandy Hook Partners, has failed to meet seven financial deadlines, the latest June 30th, as he blames everything but sunspots for his inability to raise the cash. His failure has led a number of people, including Rep. Frank Pallone, to urge the NPS to toss the whole plan out the window. Instead, the NPS mumbles through grim smiles and clenched teeth, “We’re confident he’ll get the money.”

There has been a lot of confusion over this funding issue. Initially, Mr. Wassel predicted it would cost about $90 million to rehab the buildings. Then at one of several public meetings forced on the NPS by citizens outraged at the commercialization plan, Mr. Wassel asked in frustration where this number -- $90 million – came from.

I could understand his confusion. The number was, after all, buried on Page 1 of the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment that he and the NPS co-authored. Easy to miss. Since then, the number has varied from $72 million to $60 million to who knows, a buck sixty-eight?

In a related event, beachgoers this year may have noticed that Sandy Hook has been closing on weekends as early as June because of overcrowding. It’s not surprising, since the NPS has closed down several acres of its North Beach parking area, claiming it wants the grassy area to revert to natural habitat. Any increase in natural habitat is a good thing. However, although Sandy Hook is home to more than 300 species of wildlife, some endangered, the NPS has refused to do an environmental impact study of its commercialization plan. Nor has it convincingly explained why these extra few acres are so important in a 1,665-acre park that it must reduce summertime recreational use.

If I were a suspicious person, I’d guess the excluded acreage is a major part of the 837 parking spaces -- about 16 percent of the park’s total spaces –the NPS says it needs for its moribund commercialization plan. By closing the beach parking area now, the NPS hopes to avoid having it linked to its commercial plans, thus muting any public outcries.

Personally, I think the NPS should admit its foolish and ill-planned venture into entrepreneurship is a bungled mess and get back on its original track – attracting non-profit and community based organizations to use the Fort. Two educational consortia are coming to Sandy Hook with their own grant money. But they still have to deal through Wassel, even though he had nothing to do with initiating their projects.

It’s time the NPS re-focused on conservation and recreation.

George Moffatt
Oceanport, NJ

Mr. Moffatt is a local conservationist