Hopewell seeks ways to cut Masonic project costs

Bids received exceeded amount Borough Council planned to spend on the new Borough Hall conversion

By Aleen Crispino, Special Writer
   HOPEWELL BOROUGH — Hopewell Borough officials are going back to the drawing board on the plan to convert the Masonic Hall into the new Borough Hall because six bids they received last month exceeded the amount they’d planned to spend on the project.
   On Sept. 4, Borough Council adopted a resolution rejecting those bids. The lowest was $1,654,887. “The borough has a bonding capacity of $1.3 million for the project, an amount intended to satisfy construction and related relocation needs,” an official said Wednesday.
   The Building Committee, consisting of Mayor Paul Anzano, Council President David Knights and Councilman David Mackie, will consider a list of eight options for reducing the cost of the project. The list was drafted by the committee and distributed to council at its Sept. 4 meeting. Mayor Anzano charged the Building Committee to look at all options except spending more money on renovations, doing nothing or selling the building.
   A total of approximately $1.3 million has been allocated to renovate the two-story building at 88 E. Broad St. to make it functional for both borough offices and the Municipal Court and compliant with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), said borough Administrator/Clerk Michele Hovan.
   The Building Committee plans to meet with the state Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to discuss possible cost reductions. A public meeting will follow to solicit the opinions of borough residents before council makes a final decision, prior to asking the architect, Russell DiNardo of HACBM Architects, Engineers and Planners of Lawrence, to redesign the project and putting it out for a second bid, said Mayor Anzano.
   ”The Building Committee’s target is $800,000 to $1.1 million” for the cost of the project, said Mr. Knights. Although “$1.3 (million) is what we’ve bonded for, we’re looking for a threshold lower than that because there are always contingencies,” said Mr. Mackie.
   At the meeting, council began a discussion of which alterations are essential and possible low-cost alternatives.
   The proposed 500-square-foot, two-story addition to the rear of the building, containing an elevator and staircases, would cost an estimated $600,000 and “serves a lot of functions, but creates no usable space,” said Mr. Knights. The size of the addition is driven by the stairs, but HACBM is investigating the possibility of purchasing a less expensive elevator, he added.
   Councilman Robert Lewis asked if an elevator is necessary to provide accessibility to people in wheelchairs or whether stair glides or wheelchair lifts were possible options.
   ”Because this is a public building, you have to provide, by code, vertical accessibility,” said Mr. DiNardo. “The New Jersey Barrier-Free Code doesn’t define whether it’s an elevator or a lift.”
   In the present configuration, a stair glide would block people from entering or leaving the building, said Mr. DiNardo. The stairs would have to be widened to accommodate a stair glide, he added.
   A wheelchair lift would be acceptable under the ADA, said Mr. DiNardo. “We called vendors and there are smaller chair lifts available,” he said. He added that widening the stairs to accommodate a stair glide or finding a smaller wheelchair lift were two options to explore.
   ”Lifts are not the answer,” said Councilman Mark Samse, calling them “maintenance headaches.” The distance between floors is too great for the use of a wheelchair lift, he said. “Keep the elevator — that’s why we’re doing this,” said Mr. Samse, referring to the goal of having an ADA-compliant municipal building. The existing Borough Hall at 4 Columbia Ave., where council holds meetings in the second floor courtroom, does not have an elevator.
   ”It’s the reason we’ve embarked on this,” said Mr. Knights, “It’s not a non-starter, but we’ve been down this road.”
   Mayor Anzano said the Building Committee should consider if a chair lift would be worthwhile. “The project still has to be of value at the end of the day to the residents,” he said.
   Another option being considered is reducing the number of bathrooms from five to two. The original plan calls for two men’s restrooms, two ladies’ restrooms and a fifth bathroom for the municipal court judge. This could be reduced to one men’s and one ladies’ restroom on the upper floor, saving $13,000 alone by eliminating a proposed sewer pipe from the judge’s bathroom on the northwest corner of the building, said Mr. Knights.
   ”What the Building Committee has concluded in the grand scheme of things is that the project was too rich for our budget,” said Mayor Anzano. The result is that both municipal functions and court functions will have to be trimmed, said the mayor.
   IN OTHER BUSINESS, council introduced an ordinance to raise the affordable housing fees charged to developers of new, non-residential construction from 1 to 2.5 percent to comply with the Statewide Non-residential Fee Act, enacted by the state on July 18, 2008. The ordinance, which is set for a public hearing and vote on Oct. 6, eliminates the 6 percent bonus fee formerly charged to developers receiving certain variances, in conformance with state law.
   Council also adopted a resolution naming Sept. 11 “Recognition Day” to honor first-call responders such as firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMS personnel and citizen volunteers.