By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — The Township Council is continuing to work through possible modifications of its draft plan for the redevelopment of the train station area with the hope of getting a new version from its planning consultant by early December.
Council members met in a work session Friday morning to discuss possible modifications to the plan, based on community input. Though no decisions were made, council members went through the document page by page, hashing out possible changes during a three-hour session.
All members of council were present for at least part of the session, with the exception of Councilman William Anklowitz.
Topics discussed included traffic congestion, parking, housing, population impact on schools, building heights, and public space. Many aesthetic details about the appearance of the Main Street area were also discussed Friday, including lights, canopies, public benches, trashcans and planters.
Any of the suggestions could be changed or eliminated if they are found to be unworkable, Council President Charles Morgan said.
Mr. Morgan and Vice President Heidi Kleinman stayed an additional hour after the session officially ended to hammer out more details.
It was the second session last week; a five-hour meeting was held Tuesday.
Councilwoman Linda Geevers said the sessions had resulted in “tremendous progress.”
She added, “I think our residents are going to be very pleased when they see the progress we’ve made.”
Though open to the public, attendance to the meeting was very sparse. Jim Waltman, executive director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, attended, and urged the council to consider environmental issues and preserve as much open space as possible.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh also sat in for part of the meeting, and urged council to continue to move forward with the plan.
Mr. Morgan compiled the suggestions from the two sessions, and they were given to firm RMJM Hillier, which drafted the most recent plan.
Brian Menechin, a senior associate for RMJM Hillier, attended the work session and was invited by council members to sit with them at the table. The firm was scheduled to discuss the suggestions at a staff meeting Monday.Council members will meet for another work session 9:30 a.m. Friday. They will be joined by township consultants, including planner John Madden and attorney Mike Herbert, at 11 a.m.
The next session was scheduled “in order to move the process forward quickly,” Mr. Morgan said. It will give the council members a chance to hear all the suggestions and to receive input from the consultants, he said.”This is an effort at making it tighter and better for Hillier,” he added.
The final list of suggestions will be given to RMJM Hillier the following Monday, Nov. 10, Mr. Morgan said. The firm is then expected to produce another draft of the plan in early December.

