Washington Township will construct facility to store snowplows and other road equipment.
By: Sarah Winkelman
WASHINGTON After more than four years of planning, the township will finally be getting a new building for its Public Works Department to hold snowplows and other road equipment.
At the Jan. 8 Township Committee meeting, a contract for constructing the facility was awarded to R. B. Reynolds Contracting, Inc. of Mercerville for $1.65 million. The work is expected to begin in the spring.
The new building will be built off Robbinsville-Allentown Road (Route 526) at the site of a former tree farm and nursery. The 10-acre parcel was picked because of its central location next to the municipal complex and behind the senior center.
According to township officials, the department outgrew its present Public Works facility more than two years ago. The current facility is located in Windsor and needs a larger building to house its growing inventory of equipment.
"There is a definite need for this building," Township Administrator Jack West said when he presented drawings of the building to the committee at its Jan. 8 meeting. "The existing facility is undersized and the yard is not sufficient to store the equipment. This should have happened two or three years ago. This is important enough to get a move on."
The money for the project has already been appropriated and bonded, said the township’s Chief Financial Officer Karen Baldino.
"This new building is a bare bones building," Mr. West said. "There is nothing fancy or out of the ordinary about this."
The new building will be constructed out of metal. It is planned to have four storage bays, one service bay and office space. There also will be a fenced-in gravel yard and the yard will contain covered bins to store equipment and supplies.
In an effort to make the building blend in with its surroundings, the township chose beige for the body of the building and green for the garage doors.
"We are trying to keep this as sheltered as much as possible, but it will still be a visible site since it’s adjacent to the roadway," Mr. West said.
In 2000, residents in the nearby Hillside and Arbor Walk developments voiced concerns about increased vehicle traffic from the proposed facility that they said would disrupt their quality of life as well as become an unsightly addition to Route 526.
The home closest to the building site is approximately 200 feet away, according to Mr. West.
"We have met with most of the residents so they know this is coming," he said. "We also planted a double row of trees as a buffer. They’ve known this was coming for two years."
At the Jan. 8 meeting, Public Works Supervisor George Field said he hopes the committee can understand the need for the new building.
"Our equipment is two years old and we don’t want to have to replace it anytime soon," he said. "The equipment cannot sit outside, but we don’t have anywhere to put it so it has to. As a result we’re put more money into repairing the equipment."
He also said that when snow is predicted it causes major hassles for the department.
"We have to store our salt in West Windsor, so when snow is coming we have to load the trucks prior to the storm," he said. "The only problem is that we don’t have enough room to store the trucks inside in case it rains before the snow. We also can’t put the plows on the trucks inside because of our limited space. My men are out there putting the plows on in the middle of the snowstorm."
Committeeman Doug Tindall told the committee the cost for the project would only increase in the future.
"We need to spend money to save money," he said. "The price for this project has escalated over the years. If we don’t build it soon we might not be able to afford to build it at all. In two years the cost has gone from $1 million to $1.65 million."
Committeeman Dave Fried said he doesn’t want the building to sit in Windsor and rot or become an eyesore. According to Mr. West, the Municipal Utilities Authority is interested in purchasing the old building.
Mayor Vince Calcagno said he wants to encourage the renovation of the space.
"Maybe the old building could be used for community groups, for night meetings," he said.
Mr. Fried asked what would happen to the project if the Robbinsville Bypass isn’t built. Mr. West said the driveway to the site would follow the existing driveway down to Route 526, instead of connecting to the bypass. He said he anticipates the construction of the Robbinsville Bypass, which would run from the east side of Route 526 to Route 130 between the municipal building and Sharon Road (where Route 33 East currently intersects with Route 130 South), will coincide with the building of the Public Works facility in the spring.