By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
CRANBURY — Just when everyone thought the potential purchase of the PNC Bank building had been put to bed, here it is again, alive and well.
Although there are a few twists to a prospective purchase this time around.
While previous discussions centered around the township buying the property to use as a library with little information on what would be more cost effective — renovating the 32 N. Main St. building or constructing a free-standing one — this time library representatives could be taking a different approach.
Library Director Marilynn Mullen said the library Board of Trustees will discuss whether renovating the building for use as a library is feasible and cost effective. The objective of the study, she said, would more-or-less be a “fact finding” mission.
”It will be out in the open (at the meeting) that we’re looking at this,” she said. “But we’re just looking at this point.”
With the board’s OK, library representatives would begin to hire professionals or seek volunteers to survey what electrical, environmental, structural or mechanical changes, if any, would be needed in order to convert the building into a library, Ms. Mullen said.
If the facts suggest that renovating the building would be a more fiscally sound option than building a new one, the library would look to contribute to the purchase of the PNC Bank with its surplus funds, at present totaling around $500,000, she said.
”We figured it’s worth looking into to see if the price has gone down or to see if anything has changed,” Ms. Mullen said. “But by New Jersey library law, the library cannot own the building.”
The municipality would have to agree to take possession of the property.
PNC Bank media relations representative Frank Soloman said the property is still on the market.
Recent conversations with real estate agents have revealed that all bids on the property thus far have been rejected as they were under $1 million and included contingencies, Ms. Mullen said.
The approximately 8,700-square-foot building sits on a little more than an acre and has been on the market since early April 2008.
It is appraised at about $1.8 million, although PNC Bank has it listed for $1.395 million, according to the Web site loopnet.com.
About 200 residents attended a town forum in April 2008 on the possible purchase. The idea lost an informal straw poll among Township Committee members by a 2-3 vote.
Still another controversy stirred the pot late last year when the Board of Education looked to limit the library’s daytime hours in order to more efficiently use the facility for its students and their educational needs.
The library is presently housed on school property and the facility is owned by the school board and jointly shared between students and public patrons.
Although a compromise was reached, with the public library offering to pay on a lease and dividing the facility essentially in half to limit patrons’ contact with students, Ms. Mullen said now is the time to start planning for the future.
”We are working on a lease agreement and there’s been nothing signed,” she said. “But it’s a short-term lease agreement.”
At that time, the previous mayor, David Stout, said the vote showed the Township Committee didn’t have the supermajority, four out of five votes, needed to approve a bond for the purchase.
Former committeeman Wayne Wittman and current Committeeman Tom Panconi both said they felt the timing for such a purchase was bad, considering the looming prospects of the state mandated affordable housing costs that could hit the township.
As for some current committee members’ feelings on the purchase, there seems to be one shared opinion.
”I would be happy to go along with the cheapest of the two options,” said Committeeman Richard Stannard, discussing either renovating or building a freestanding library.
Committeeman Win Cody said if there are studies conducted on the costs associated with a renovation, he hopes that it is being done by volunteers from the township’s pool of professionals.
”I like the idea of planning but I don’t like the idea of spending money to do this,” he said.
If the township were to take on any significant costs in such a purchase, Mr. Cody said, he would like to see the decision made by the public in an informal referendum.
”Let’s see what the people think about it,” he said. “Whether it’s the library buying it or the township buying it, it’s still coming from the taxpayers.”
