As part of the negotiations, the GSA would set up a multi-million-dollar escrow account for the cleanup of the property.
By: Charlie Olsen
Hillsborough and Somerset County are negotiating the purchase of the 438-acre General Services Administration (GSA) Belle Mead supply depot on Mountainview Road, and the Township Committee is set to commit to the purchase at next week’s meeting.
The depot, which lies in the township’s proposed Research and Development (RD) zone, is a federal property that must be offered first to government agencies before being auctioned in a public sale.
In an executive session at the special Green Acres hearing Tuesday, the Township Committee agreed to put the depot on the agenda for the Sept. 12 meeting with option to purchase the property, according to Mayor Carl Suraci.
"By approving the option, the town and county will keep it from going up for auction," Mayor Carl Suraci said.
If it becomes the RD zone, the property could be used for research and recreation, said Township Administrator Kevin Davis. The purchase would be one of the largest land acquisitions ever made by the township, partnering with the county to make the purchase.
The total cost of purchasing the property for both the county and the township, yet to be determined by negotiations, would be discounted by money from the GSA for the cost of cleanup.
The township is considering several options to pay for the property, including using funds from the open space fund, brown field grants for turning contaminated sites into parks and recreation, or Green Acres money, once it’s clean, Mr. Davis said.
As part of the negotiations, the GSA would set up a multi-million-dollar escrow account for the cleanup of the property. The exact cost of the cleanup hasn’t been determined by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) yet, according to Christopher Daggett of J.M. Sorge Inc., an environmental consulting firm working for Somerset County. Mr. Daggett is a former DEP commissioner.
"The cleanup is not overwhelming and is clearly achievable," Mr. Daggett said. "This site can be cleaned up and used for parks and recreation."
The GSA has spent more than $4 million in cleanup efforts since 1989, and issued a report in 2004 detailing 18 "areas of concern" needing cleanup. Most of the areas included contamination from petrochemicals, but others included piles of iron ore, scrap metals and other materials.
But officials say the cleanup is not enough of a concern to outweigh the advantages of the site Freeholder Rick Fontana said that acquiring the property is a part of the Somerset County Park and Open Space Master Plan.
"This property is not only contiguous to the county’s 3,000-acre Sourland Park, but it is also in the vicinity of Ann Van Middlesworth Park," Mr. Fontana said.
If the township and the county don’t purchase the depot, then the property can be auctioned for private development, as was the case with an adjoining 335-acre piece of the GSA depot purchased in 2003 by Bhrugesh Patel through Hillsborough Properties for $2.5 million
Since the federal government sold the Hillsborough Properties parcel in November 1986, it was transferred to Kaplan Associates for development as an economic development zone. In the early 1990s, the property was foreclosed on by Chemical Bank, then sold to owned by Belle Mead Land Holding.
Vacant since 1991, it was purchased by Mr. Patel at a deep discount in December 2003.
Hillsborough Properties has since filed a lawsuit against the township to allow a 700-home development on its property, which is not zoned for residential development.
"We have two goals: one, to prevent the property from being auctioned; and two, to act as a cleanup fund so the parks can be used for recreation," Mr. Suraci said.
The option will be on the agenda for the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 12.

