School construction plan
has town’s OK to proceed
By kathy baratta
Staff Writer
HOWELL — The mayor has signed the sewer endorsements for the Howell Board of Education’s sewer extensions for new schools under construction on Ramtown-Greenville Road and on Route 524.
An elementary school is being built on Ramtown-Greenville Road in south Howell and an elementary school and a middle school are being built at one site on Route 524 in north Howell.
Mayor Timothy J. Konopka said that following the school board’s presentation to the Planning Board last week the board found that "everything was in order. Konopka sits on the Planning Board.
The mayor said the school board is a sovereign body and appears before municipal officials as a "courtesy (when undertaking a construction project), but will listen and defer to Planning Board concerns."
Konopka said he and other members of the Township Council wanted Howell’s professionals to review the school board’s plans as they pertained to the new buildings’ "footprints," as well as drainage and parking plans before signing off on them at a recent council meeting.
Konopka said representatives of Howell’s K-8 school district were very forthcoming about finding concentrations of soil contamination from the pesticide Dieldrin at the Route 524 site. The mayor said that because the 77-acre Route 524 property between Ardmore Estates and the former school board offices was a working farm at one time, it was expected that some levels of historical pesticides would be found.
Konopka said that in accordance with state mandates and a Howell ordinance that requires testing for Dieldrin and other historical pesticides, the school board tested the soil on the planned school site to a level of 12 inches and found that "Dieldrin came up."
He said approximately 17 of the total 77 acres showed varying degrees of Dieldrin.
"Some were at acceptable levels and some were just above," the mayor said. "The school board realized there was a problem and adhered to the ordinance."
Howell Superintendent of Schools Dr. Enid Golden confirmed that Dieldrin had been detected at the site which will house a 550-pupil elementary school and a 750-pupil middle school. She said soil remediation is being performed according to the directives of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
"We are working very closely with the DEP and expect a no further action letter once the process is completed," Golden said.
The superintendent said an idea had been proffered that called for putting the least contaminated soil under the site’s detention basin, but that idea was ultimately rejected. She said the remediated soil will be placed on a remote part of the site where it will not be incorporated into any fields marked for school use.
A $46.6 million school construction referendum was approved by voters in December. According to the referendum approved by voters, state aid totaling $14.2 million will help to pay for the project. Updated figures indicate that Howell residents will have an obligation of $31.53 million, instead of the $32.4 million approved in the referendum.
At present, Howell has eight elementary schools and two middle schools.