By: Rebecca Weltmann
UPPER FREEHOLD The environmental consulting firm hired to conduct soil testing on Breza Road site where the district wants to build its new middle school said Friday that 28 samples came back clean and below the NJDEP’s "most stringent standards."
The district was waiting for results of tests to check for levels of soil contamination to come back before the $13.2 million referendum appeared on the April 17 ballot.
The tests that EcolSciences Inc. performed looked for contaminants such as arsenic and dieldrin, both of which were present in the soil samples from the middle school’s original projected site on Ellisdale Road.
If the middle school referendum passes, the Board of Education can authorize EcolSciences to work with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to file the necessary paperwork for a "no further action" letter and move forward with construction at the Breza Road site, said board President Joe Stampe in a news release.
Mr. Stampe said the board signed a nonbinding letter of intent with the owner of the Breza Road site to purchase the 117.9-acre site for $5.1 million. At $43,257 an acre, Mr. Stampe said, he was pleased that the price tag was nearly $10,000 less than the board spent in the negotiation on the Ellisdale Road property.
"What was truly holding us up at Ellisdale Road site was that we did not have a waste water management plan amendment," Mr. Stampe added. "Once it’s approved, that’s our clearing house for other permits we need through NJDEP, so we couldn’t even get those approved to start work. Now we won’t have to do any remediation and the fact that property is already in sewer service area, if referendum passes, we can go to construction much more quickly. We’re hoping to break ground within this calendar year."
The final contract for the land purchase on Breza Road is dependent on the referendum result. If it is approved by voters, the board will draw up its final contract to purchase the land.
"I was relieved when we got the soil testing results back," Mr. Stampe said. "This was the last major hurtle we had to overcome before the referendum. To remediate the property on Ellisdale could have cost us as much as $1 million, and I know as a parent in the district, I would much rather pay for additional wetlands that surround the site on Breza Road as a nice buffer than pay to remediate for historic pesticides."
