LAKEWOOD — Construction of the controversial muster zone in the Lakewood Industrial Park is underway and town officials are hopeful that its creation will alleviate the downtown congestion where day laborers await work.
More than an acre of land has been cleared and footings for a structure have been laid along Swarthmore Avenue, Mayor Meir Lichtenstein said yesterday.
"It is moving along very well; it should be up and ready pretty quickly," he said.
The structure, which Lichtenstein described as a shelter at last night's Township Committee meeting, comes with a $37,500 price tag that will be partially offset by funds from the Urban Enterprise Zone.
Lichtenstein said the controversial plan is a necessity and is being welcomed by those who would use it.
"It seems that people on Clifton Avenue are very ready and willing and they want a place like this," he said.
Lichtenstein also said that the township's Job Link bus service, which provides 50 cent rides to workers, will not be transporting people directly to the structure. He did however, say that the bus goes to the industrial park and can be used by day laborers in need of transportation.
"Some will walk, some will take the bus; they'll be getting there however they get there now," he said.
A public unveiling of the plan had been scheduled for last night's meeting, but was canceled when Committeeman Robert Singer, who Lichtenstein said was instrumental in the site's creation, could not attend the meeting.
News of the site, dubbed an "employment center" by Lichtenstein, was met with criticism from some residents who have questioned the legality of creating a town-sanctioned location for undocumented workers to gather.
"I don't think what they're doing is right at all," said Diane Reaves, a resident who has been vocal about the issue.
Reaves, along with several others opposed to the muster zone, spends time each Saturday writing down the names of contractors who employee the undocumented workers. She said the township's willingness to provide a designated gathering area is a violation of federal law.
"I think there is a double standard," she said. "How many laws am I allowed to break?"
Reaves said it was her complaint to the state's Attorney General office earlier this year that resulted in the freezing of UEZ funds. Those funds have since been released after state officials in Trenton declared the township's use of second generation funds for the site to be within UEZ regulations.
She now plans to file a federal lawsuit based on the Constitution's "supremacy clause" which states that federal law supersedes any decision made by state of local officials.
"Unless someone speaks up, it's not enforceable," she said of the need for the lawsuit.
Pat DeFilippis, who owns a building on Fifth Street downtown, questioned Lichtenstein at last night's meeting about the specifics of the plan. Among her concerns was the possibility that the township could be held liable should a laborer become injured on a job site run by an unlicensed contractor.
Lichtenstein and Township Attorney Steven Secare assured residents that the creation of the site would not in any way place the township in jeopardy of a lawsuit.
"We don't govern contractor's licenses," Lichtenstein said.
The previously scheduled presentation will now take place at the July 6 meeting.