DRPA Nearly Out Of Economic Development Business

By David Madden

CAMDEN, NJ (CBS) - A committee within the Delaware River Port Authority meets this morning to approve a plan that would spend the last almost $30-million of funds that had been earmarked for economic development. Some of that money is still targeted to agencies that have little, if anything, to do with the agency's core mission.

$9.5-million is set to go to Urban Transit Hub projects in Camden and to fix a pier in Gloucester City. But $10-million will be used to finish the demolition of the closed state prison in Camden, fix up Cooper River Park and feed the poor through the Food Bank of South Jersey. The last over $10-million goes into DRPA's capital transportation budget. Finance Committee chair Jeffrey Nash.

"The compromise promotes job creation," says Finance Committee chair Jeffrey Nash. "It helps feed those who are in need and it also redirects funds to the core mission of the Port Authority for today and forever."

The agency decided to get out of economic development last year, but was limited in how proceeds from bonds issued more than a decade ago could be spent. The full board will vote on the compromise next week.