As less dollars trickled in than expected following the River Edge Local PBA 201's April fundraiser concert for the First Responder's Memorial outside of Borough Hall, the design around the World Trade Center steel I-beam has been scaled back.

"A couple of things have changed since we were last here," Sgt. Curt Wilhelm said. "When we began looking at pricing to remove the wooden retaining wall and replacing it with pavers, the costs were adding up. The fundraiser brought in less than anticipated."

Now the footprint will be reduced to allow for less invasive changes to borough hall along with removing a pine tree in the center to make way for the steel I-beam.

Sgt. Curt Wilhelm and Officer Marc Abate had initially proposed three locations in January with design plans created by Let It Grow having the 16-foot long steel I-beam running vertically to display the cut out cross. The decision was later made to place the Memorial outside of borough hall.

The cross, which was not made for any religious significance, was created when workers at Ground Zero were removing the beams and cut out a cross for each victim's family.

"The beam will be attached to a piece of steel that is buried three feet down in concrete and bolted down," Wilhelm said. "Once we determined the costs for concrete and pavers, it was at a level we could not fund."

The initial proposal was estimated to cost $18,000 but by scaling back the design, the revised project has an $8,000 pricetag.

Before any construction work can begin, the PBA still needs the Shade Tree Commission to sign off on the removal of a pine tree on the property.

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