Committee passes resolution declaring interest in purchasing property.
By: Roger Alvarado
Township Committee members unanimously adopted a resolution declaring the township’s interest in purchasing the Belle Mead General Services Administration Depot on Mountain View Road for possible recreational use.
"The GSA property is viewed by both the township and Somerset County as an important parks and recreation site," Mayor Bob Wagner said before the vote at the Feb. 8 meeting. "We want to make sure that the GSA knows that the township and county are interested in it.
"This resolution makes it crystal clear that this is something that the county and township are interested in," he added.
Late last year, the GSA, which owns the 400-acre property, asked acting Gov. Richard Codey to consider allowing it to find a buyer for the property before it finishes its cleanup of the site.
The site was a distribution point for the military during World War II, before the GSA took over the site. It was used until the 1960s for warehousing a variety of material and servicing vehicles for the federal government.
The process, known as early transfer, would place the responsibility of the environmental cleanup on either the GSA or the new owner.
Gov. Codey has not yet made any determination on the request, which the township and county adamantly oppose, according to Township Administrator Kevin Davis.
Federal guidelines dictate that the property be offered to the state, county and municipality before it can be sold to private bidders.
A November report prepared by the GSA said that the GSA completed remediation on the property up to a certain point, but doesn’t say what that point is.
The report, which is known as the Finding of Suitability for Early Transfer (FOSET) and was approved by the GSA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Barbara Shelton, lists 18 areas of concern on the site and problems on it, but does not delineate what the GSA plans to do to address them.
Among the areas of concern are locations with varying levels of mercury, arsenic, and pesticides.
The fact that cleanup on the site still needs to be done has been a major bone of contention in the township.
During last week’s meeting, Committeeman Anthony Ferrera said that the GSA is now saying it will have a property appraisal performed at the site within the next four months and he expects that it will expedite the determination of the cost of the environmental cleanup.
"We are looking forward to getting some hard numbers on the value of the property," Mr. Ferrera said. "Then we can take the next step in negotiations."
In addition, county officials have hired an environmental consulting firm to try and determine the exact level of cleanup necessary at the site, so that the both the township and county have a "ballpark" to negotiate in, Mr. Davis said.
Earlier this year, Mayor Wagner predicted that a Parks and Recreation Master Plan would be the "signature issue" of this year’s committee, and he said he feels strongly that sites such as the Belle Mead GSA depot could prove to be a tremendous opportunity for the township.
"There’s a lot of opportunity there for the township from a recreational standpoint," he said. "It would really fill a need in Hillsborough. Where else are you going to find that type of acreage and have it be centrally located?"
Mayor Wagner says that if the township is successful in its quest to acquire the property Hillsborough’s recreational facilities would double in size.
He also said that acquisition of the site would most likely mean that the township would no longer need to consider land along East Mountain Road near the Sourland Mountain Preserve for soccer fields.
Mayor Wagner also said that the township will likely "reach out" to the owner of approximately 300 acres of property to the north, which was part of the depot before falling into private hands, to try and see if it too can be acquired.
However, for now the focus is on the nearly 400 acres to the south.
Mayor Wagner encourages Hillsborough residents to write the governor letters objecting to the early transfer process (send to Acting Gov. Richard Codey, PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625, or go to www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail).
Copies of the recently passed resolution stating the township’s interest in acquiring the GSA Depot have been forwarded to the GSA, Gov. Codey, the state Department of the Environmental Protection, U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg, Rep. Mike Ferguson, state Sen. Walter Kavanaugh and state Assemblymen Peter Biondi and Kip Bateman.