Renovation of former Masonic Lodge could take six months
By Aleen Crispino, Special Writer
Hopewell Borough Council voted 5-0 to adopt an ordinance authorizing an additional $500,000 for the renovation of the new Borough Hall, formerly Hopewell Masonic Lodge, at 88 E. Broad St.
Councilmen Paul Anzano, Robert Lewis, David Mackie, Schuyler Morehouse and Mark Samse voted in favor of the ordinance at the Sept. 6 meeting. Council President David Knights was not present.
The ordinance stipulates a downpayment of $25,000 to come from previous budgets, and a bond to be issued to cover the remaining $475,000.
Council appropriated $1.5 million in August 2006 for the purchase and retrofitting of the vacant two-story building. The borough purchased the building from Hopewell Lodge LLC in October 2006 for $1.2 million, leaving approximately $300,000 in the capital budget for renovations. Together with the latest appropriation, the borough has “roughly $800,000 – slightly less,” to spend on renovating the building for use as the new Borough Hall and municipal courtroom, said Borough Administrator/Clerk Michele Hovan.
Russell DiNardo, of HACBM Architects, Engineers and Planners of Lawrence, presented a site plan for renovating the new facility to council in March 2007. The main feature of this plan is a 500-square-foot, two-story addition to the rear of the building, which would contain staircases to the upper and lower levels, as well as an elevator. The addition, along with changes to the existing front staircase, would make the building accessible to persons with physical disabilities and enable the borough to comply with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
The existing Borough Hall at 4 Columbia Ave., where council holds meetings in the second floor courtroom, does not have an elevator.
Borough administrative offices will occupy the upper level of the new Borough Hall while the lower level will include an 80-seat municipal courtroom, court offices and a police substation.
”We have the original architect’s estimate that you all got copies of about two months ago,” Ms. Hovan told council. “The full estimate that was received for ‘soup-to-nuts’ renovation was $1.2 million,” she said, adding that, with just under $800,000 to spend, renovations of lesser priority will have to wait for future budgets.
The borough is in the process of obtaining a third-party cost estimate, which is customary, said Ms. Hovan on Tuesday.
The site plan drafted by HACBM has been under review for the past six months by the state Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), Ms. Hovan said Tuesday, with the borough making amendments to the plan suggested by the AOC.
Now that council has adopted an ordinance appropriating the additional funds, the borough is only awaiting AOC approval before putting the project out to bid, said Ms. Hovan
When asked by Councilman Samse at the meeting for an estimate of how long the building renovation project would take, once begun, Mayor David Nettles said, “I would think six months would be safe.”
IN OTHER BUSINESS, council adopted an ordinance setting the zoning permit application fee at $50. Council increased the fee from $35 to $75 in 2003, but no one changed the application and the prior increase never took effect, said Ms. Hovan. Thus, the ordinance creates a de facto increase from $35 to $50.
Council also introduced an ordinance allowing the borough engineer to require Belgian block as an alternative to concrete curb for new development, as recommended in the borough’s 2007 Master Plan. Borough Engineer Dennis O’Neal told council that concrete curbs installed in the borough in recent years have been prone to cracking, necessitating the removal of a 10-foot section for repair, as opposed to one Belgian block.
Council awarded a contract for the Hopewell Railroad Station Mini Park Basketball Court project to Jonico, Inc. of Hopewell Township in an amount not to exceed $45,133. Council has appropriated a total of $48,420 for improvements to the park, which, in addition to the construction of a half court for basketball, will include landscaping, benches, curbs and a wheelchair ramp. Mercer County has awarded the borough a grant for $16,710 to help defray the cost of the project.