Town will get new impound
building, water storage tank
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — The township will get a new police impound building, as well as a new water storage tank to better prepare the township in case of an emergency such as a terrorist attack.
At its Aug. 6 meeting, the Planning Board approved applications for a 5,000-square-foot building to store impounded vehicles as well as a replacement storage tank for the Tices Lane pump station.
The prefabricated impound building will be located on a 4-acre Harts Lane property. Already existing on the property are a police vehicle storage area and the Public Works materials storage area.
The application calls for a new 100-by-50-foot steel building surrounded by areas of pavement. New storm drain inlets and piping will be constructed and tied into the existing system.
Also, a new 8-foot-high, chain-link fence will be built in the area and connected to an already existing fence on the north side of the police impound area. The new additional fencing is meant to restrict access to the property and also to provide greater security for both the impound building and public works storage area, according to documents on file with the township’s Planning and Engineering Department.
To further bolster security, there will be a 100-foot-long gated area around the access drive to the site, and gates on the east and north sides to restrict entry.
The building will be about 20 feet tall and will include several bay doors on its south side. There will also be a bay door on the building’s west side. The building will be used to store impounded vehicles, supplies and offices.
The replacement water storage tank will be located at 177 Tices Lane, the site of the township’s water utility pump station.
According to the township, the existing water tank will be removed and replaced with a new, slightly larger structure. Besides grading and clearing work, no other improvements are proposed.
The site currently has a 4,000-square-foot pump station with a 150-foot-diameter water tank behind it. Also in the pump station facility are offices and other equipment needed for the water utility.
The property is also home to a small parking lot and a large electric transformer.
The new tank will hold up to 10 million gallons of water. That equates to up to three days of backup water supply for the township.
In his State of the Township address earlier this year, Mayor William Neary said the township needed the bigger tank in case of an emergency such as an attack. The town wants to have a three-day backup supply of water in case its usual supplies are jeopardized by some type of terrorist attack.