F ifty thousand dollars isn't enough to deal with the problems that a controversial Hoboken development project named Gateway I can potentially pose to Jersey City, Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham said in a release last week.

Attorneys representing the site's owners, Gateway I LLC and Harrison Street Apartments, offered that amount to Jersey City in hopes that it would pull out of a multi-plaintiff lawsuit against construction of the two 17-story towers rising at 101 Marshall St. in Hoboken, near the Jersey City border.

The buildings - which will feature 326 rental units, two restaurants, a health club, retail space and an enclosed seven-story garage - are nearly complete. The suit filed against the two aforementioned property owners also names the Hoboken Zoning Board and the North Hudson Sewerage Authority as defendants. The Hoboken City Council and a community group named Hudson County Alliance are co-plaintiffs along with Jersey City.

Members of the Hudson County Alliance have stated in previous reports that the organization's resistance to the project is due to both improprieties in securing variances and permits and also the traffic and flooding problems the complex may cause. Jersey City officials say their issue with the project is that the city wasn't given notice about the development, which is a requirement because it lies within 200 feet of the Jersey City-Hoboken border.

Property values are also at stake, as the 158-foot towers would obscure sight lines to Manhattan and New York Harbor from the Heights neighborhood at the edge of the Palisades.

"With the number of apparent shortcuts that were taken in the project, and the impact the project will have, I believe a settlement offer to the city has to be more realistic and capable of having a like impact upon our residents," Cunningham said.

A t Wednesday's Hoboken City Council meeting, several professional services contracts were approved. Legal services contracts were given to Scarinci & Hollenbeck ($75,000) and Sarkisian, Florio & Kenny ($75,000). Both firms held similar contracts for last year.

Scarinci & Hollenbeck is a 13-year-old firm is well known for its political connections. One of its partners is Donald Scarinci, a close personal friend and political ally of Rep. Robert Menendez (D-13th Dist.) Menendez is also a close political ally of Roberts and State Sen. Bernard Kenny.

Sen. Kenny is a partner at Sarkisian, Florio & Kenny. Members of both firms have heavily contributed to Mayor David Roberts' campaigns.

A legal services contract for the firm of Pojanowski & Trawinski was tabled over concerns of a possible conflict of interest on the council. The firm represented Hoboken United, Mayor David Roberts' political organization, in a suit against 3rd Ward Councilman Anthony Russo over disputed ballots in the last election. A judge ruled in favor of Russo and threw the case out.

Because five of the members on the council are part of Hoboken United and Russo was the person the action was against, city attorney Joseph Sherman said that he would need more time investigate whether or not these council members can vote on the contract.

Also, the firm of Ernest and Young was given a $69,000 contract for financial services.

I t's been two and half years since a judge ruled that 45 city employees had to return $355,228 in improperly received longevity payments that the city had granted to them - and there are still some people that may not have started making payments, according to city officials.

This has the employees that are paying the money back upset.

"It's not fair, not at all," said recently retired city employee Beverley Altomare. She is currently paying over $200 a month, she said, even though she is living on a city pension. She said the monthly payments are a real hardship on her family.

"There has been selective enforcement," she complained. "Some people are force to pay it back, while others haven't paid a cent."

City Councilman Michael Cricco said that Altomare and the other angry employees and former employees have a good argument.

City Attorney Joseph Sherman said Wednesday that he will compile a list of who has not paid and will investigate which legal actions that can be made against those in violation of the court order.

Altomare was also upset over the fact that Tim Calligy, a former city employee who now works for the Board of Education recently, reached a settlement with the city to start payments with interest in 2006.

"I'm just little potatoes, but I want the same consideration that everyone else gets," she said.

Sherman said Calligy is special exception because he currently has two debts to the city - one for longevity and one for vacation and termination pay that he was improperly given.

In last week's briefs it was reported that the police department's "Operation Youth Week 2003" was for children between the ages of 9 and 12 years of age, when it is actually for children between the ages 12 and 15.

T he Hoboken Police Department's Community Service Bureau will be conducting a one-week simulated law enforcement training program entitled "Operation Youth Week 2003" from Aug. 11 to Aug. 15.

The camp will held from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Hayden Hall at Stevens Institute of Technology. The week is free, but only the first 40 applicants will be taken. Applications were available starting July 7 at Hoboken's Police Headquarters Monday through Friday, from the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, contact the Community Service Bureau at (201) 420-2211.

On August 17, 2003 Hoboken Firefighter Baron Ballester will be competing in New Hampshire's Timberman Half Ironman Triathlon to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He is participating in the event for teenager and local resident Darisa Mae Lyons who was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.

According to Ballester, Darisa is like another teen, an energetic 14-yer-old who loves school, dancing, modeling, going to the movies and simply hanging out. But she has the dreaded blood disease.

His goal is to raise $5,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

All contributions made will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which supports nearly every major breakthrough in the field, and also provides patient and family education. Seventy five percent of all donations go directly towards research; the other 25 percent is used to provide services for patients and their families. For information on how to donate contact Ballester at 201-792-4443.