Nearly $5 million would be largely directed toward road and facility improvments.
By: Jill Matthews
WEST WINDSOR The township’s capital improvement program with a focus on road and facilities improvements was unveiled last week by the administration.
The $4.95 million recommended 2005 capital improvement program includes $2.98 million in bonded projects and $1.97 million in projects funded by nontownship resources.
"In terms of this year’s budget, our focus will be transportation-related issues, the senior center and recreational opportunities," Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said.
The capital improvement program was developed based on talks with township departments and with the desire to stay under a certain level of debt service, he said.
Listed as facilities improvements are:
$500,000 for the senior center building expansion;
$50,000 for renovations to transform the former Princeton Junction firehouse into an arts center;
$75,000 for renovations to the Schenck Barn;
$850,000 for various park improvements, including improvements to Duck Pond Park, Community Park, which includes the building of a skateboard park, Conover Road Athletic Complex and Hendrickson Drive tennis complex parking lot; and
$20,000 for the demolition of structures on township properties.
Several Township Council members raised questions about the amount of funding allocated for the renovation of the Princeton Junction firehouse for use as an arts center.
"It’s something we have to be very specific and very careful about how we put plans together with that, especially in light of conversations regarding the schoolhouse on the Schenck Farmstead," Councilwoman Kristin Appleget said.
The council allocated funds for the restoration of the schoolhouse a few years ago but those funds were never used. As a result, in the approximately three years the funds were not used, the condition of the schoolhouse deteriorated to the point where the township land-use director, based on the advice of a consultant, told the council the building could not be saved. The council acted to winterize the building before making a decision about its fate.
"The concern I have with that is when you leave a building … alone, unused and unoccupied for years on end, there is likely to be further deterioration," Councilwoman Jacqueline Alberts said of the firehouse renovations.
Ms. Alberts said the township needs to take some concrete steps to move forward with the project. "Inaction is a decision in and of itself. We saw that with the schoolhouse," she said.
Mayor Hsueh said work has already been done on the building to make sure there are no environmental problems and work has been completed on the streetscape outside the firehouse through county funds.
"What is really important here is public safety and making sure the structure will be there," said Mayor Hsueh. He said the building will be usable by the public by the end of this year.
Mayor Hsueh also said he wants to make sure the building does not deteriorate and also said the township and arts council will need to work together to raise funds for the center.
Among the various road projects included in the 2005 program are:
$1.5 million for Meadow Road improvements;
$500,000 for the annual road improvement program;
$250,000 for Millstone Road improvements; and
$250,000 for various bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the township.
Some council members also said they had questions about the priorities of the administration in its capital improvement program, particularly in the criteria used to complete road improvements, as well as how priorities are determined in recreation improvements.
Mayor Hsueh said road improvement priorities are based on an engineer’s report and recreation improvement priorities are based on funding sources and a survey of residents’ priorities, among other things.
The $4.95 million recommended by the township administration is about $1.57 million less than the $6.5 million requested by township department heads.
The capital improvement program was released last week with the township’s proposed $28.99 million budget for 2005, which represents a 4-percent spending increase over last year’s $27.9 million budget.
The budget would result in a municipal tax rate of 59 cents per $100 of assessed property value, a 3-cent jump from last year’s 56 cents, or an increase of 5.4 percent. For the owner of an average home in West Windsor assessed in 2004 at $239,600, the tax for municipal purposes would be $1,414, a $72 increase over last year’s $1,342.
The first presentation of the budget and capital improvement program is expected at the next Township Council meeting, which is set for Monday.

