Committees in both houses endorse sale to Montgomery
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY The bills authorizing the sale of former North Princeton Developmental Center land, a sewage treatment plant and various easements from the state to Montgomery Township were approved by committees in both the state Senate and Assembly on Monday.
The Assembly State Government Committee approved the bill unanimously, and the Senate State Government Committee voted to release the bill 3-1 with one abstention.
Sen. Leonard Connors (R-Forked River) cast the lone negative vote, citing issues with the overall operation and capacity of the sewage treatment plant, Montgomery Mayor Louise Wilson said.
Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden) abstained, citing questions about the details of the terms of the transfer, the mayor added.
The next step is consideration of the bills by both houses of the Legislature.
"I don’t know exactly when it will be posted," Mayor Wilson said, "but we will find that out in the next few days. I am optimistic about it clearing the Legislature and it being signed by the governor."
Last week, the memorandum of agreement on the sale of NPDC was unexpectedly tabled by the Senate State Government Committee.
Monday’s passing was "an important step," Mayor Wilson said. "We need to keep at it until we close. And even then, it’s just the beginning.
"The support of the bill sponsors also was essential to (Monday’s) good outcome," the mayor added. "Walter Kavanaugh (R-Somerville) has been an important advocate on the Senate side, and Assemblymen Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton Borough) and Kip Bateman (R-Somerville) appeared before the Assembly committee to speak on behalf of the bill. Their presence sent a strong signal, and no doubt was a factor in the unanimous approval of the Assembly State Government Committee."
Sen. Kavanaugh, who sponsored the bill, said of the rest of the sale process, "Everything should be fine."
In a related development, Mayor Wilson said the township is in the "final stages" of negotiating a contract with Weston Solutions Inc. for conducting the cleanup of the NPDC property, as well as obtaining the insurance that needs to be in place before the transfer can occur.
"Weston has completed their due diligence on behalf of the township," Mayor Wilson said. "So now we know more than we did before.
"We are preparing the bid specs for demolition for many of the buildings on site," she said. "We are not going to demolish historic structures at this time, and we are working on the (request for proposals for development) so that we can get that out quickly once we have a binding contract with the state in place."
She added, "We’re doing all of that so we can hit the ground running."
On Jan. 5, the State House Commission, which governs the sale and leasing of state-owned property, approved the sale of the 256.5-acre NPDC site to Montgomery Township for $5.95 million.