Montgomery now awaits signatures of state officials in $5.95 million deal
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY After years of painstaking and often contentious negotiations, the Township Committee on Thursday gave final approval to the $5.95 million purchase of the 256.5-acre former North Princeton Developmental Center, as well as its sewage treatment plant, from the state.
In addition, the committee approved the environmental cleanup contract and environmental liability transfer agreement with Weston Solutions Inc.
"As benchmark meetings go, this is a really big one," said Mayor Louise Wilson. "It’s almost hard to believe we’re here but, on the other hand, it is also hard to believe it took this long. There has been a staggering amount of work that has gone into this."
Mayor Wilson said there is still more work to be done before the township can close on the property, now called Skillman Village, and finally take ownership.
Now that the township has formally approved the purchase and sale agreement, the contract for the transfer will be sent to Trenton to get the requisite signatures from the state treasurer and state attorney general’s office needed to complete the transfer.
On July 21, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill passed by both houses of the Legislature authorizing the sale of the NPDC property to the township.
When the township closes on the property, it will transfer the environmental liability to Weston, which will be insured by insurance company ACE INA.
Another $9.71 million has been authorized for cleanup of the Skillman Village site, the restoration of the 7-acre Sylvan Lake on the southwest part of the property, the repair of the dam on the lake and the environmental insurance.
Though the funding has been authorized, it has not yet been appropriated.
"I expect that we will appropriate those funds as they are needed," Mayor Wilson said.
Mayor Wilson said the township had hoped to close on the property by Dec. 22, but a more realistic date for the closing is in January.
Moving forward, Mayor Wilson said the township is finalizing the demolition specifications for buildings on the property. Those specifications ought to be put out to bid by next week and the work will cover the demolition of about 90 buildings. About 23 buildings from the powerhouse to Smalley Theater will be saved in the hope that they may potentially be redeveloped.
Mayor Wilson said the township would be working with the prospective demolition company on a detailed and flexible schedule regarding the safety of the Village Elementary School, located within Skillman Village.
"The demolition company has to prepare a health and safety plan," Mayor Wilson said. "That will be done with a great deal of input from school officials and the public."
As far as remediation of the site, Weston will be cleaning up everything that is on the ground or below the ground, the mayor explained, including the small landfill near the powerhouse and the asbestos remediation of underground pipes.
In addition, Weston will be dredging Sylvan Lake and removing sediment that has built up, and will be cleaning up geese waste, which carry the risk of E. coli and salmonella.
Over the past couple of months, township officials have been looking at concept plans and qualifications of prospective redevelopers, evaluating the responses the township has received.
Mayor Wilson said there will be a special executive session on Dec. 19 for the Township Committee to reduce the number of firms on the redeveloper list and discuss qualifications.
"We will be charting out a process that will include a lot of public participation," she said.
The committee on Thursday also awarded contracts for project oversight regarding Skillman Village. The township retained the services of JM Sorge to assist the township and provide oversight of the environmental remediation activities that Weston will conduct, as well as oversight of the demolition and asbestos abatement to be performed by a company yet to be hired.

