EPA shells out $350,000 for Ford Avenue project

EPA shells out $350,000
for Ford Avenue project

MILLTOWN — Before the borough can begin redeveloping a 20-acre industrial site on Ford Avenue, it must determine the extent of environmental contamination there and figure out what needs to be done to clean it up.

That is why local officials were pleased to learn that the project has been selected to receive $350,000 in federal aid to help pay for an environmental assessment. The funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is being channeled through the Middlesex County Improvement Authority.

It will be used to help pay for site investigation and remedial assessment work, expected to take place this summer, according to David B. Crabiel, director of the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

"The funds will allow Milltown to move forward with its revitalization efforts and bring new business opportunities to Middlesex County," said Crabiel, a resident and former mayor of Milltown.

Anthony Zarillo, chairman of the Ford Avenue Redevelopment Agency, said the grant will be used for the next phase of investigative work on the site. A preliminary environmental assessment was already completed due to a previous EPA brownfields grant.

"This next phase is when we’ll really start to get into a real assessment of how much environmental degradation exists on the site, and what remedial action is required to bring it up to DEP and EPA standards," Zarillo said. He noted that it was "quite an accomplishment" to receive such a grant.

Officials believe that many of the Ford Avenue buildings, once used by the Michelin Tire Co., will have to be demolished in order for the property to be redeveloped.

The agency is continuing to review four development proposals that were chosen from a field of nine submitted for the project. To varying degrees, those proposals call for a mix of housing, and retail and office space to replace the light industrial uses and vacant buildings between Ford Avenue and the Mill Pond.

The proposals under consideration are from American Properties, of Iselin; Matzel & Mumford, Hazlet; Kaplan Cos., Highland Park; and Boraie Development, New Brunswick.

A selection committee was expected to meet this week and decide whether it is ready to recommend a developer who will then partner with the borough in redeveloping the privately owned site. If so, that recommendation could be issued at the redevelopment agency’s July 8 meeting.

"If the selection committee is in a position to make a recommendation, then we’ll likely act on it in July," Zarillo said Friday.

Zarillo sits on the selection committee with agency engineer John Stefani, borough Chief Financial Officer James Phillips, who is also the Middlesex County treasurer, Borough Auditor Andrew Hodulik, Borough Attorney Patrick Diegnan and Borough Business Administrator Richard Rydstrom.

The Milltown Borough Council was expected to hold a special meeting last night to appoint resident Herb Berg to the redevelopment agency, filling a vacancy created when Anthony J. Scelsa III resigned in May. Berg joins Zarillo, Mayor Gloria Bradford, Council President Gerard Cappella and residents Mary Crabiel and Anne B. Perlin on the agency.