Valley YMCA considering new location for its home

By: John Tredrea – Staff Writer
The Hopewell Township Committee is expected to vote soon on a resolution that could help the Hopewell Valley YMCA build a community center on a site off Route 31 North, where, until last year, a building supply company was doing business.
The site is located south and east of Route 31’s intersection with Route 654 (Pennington-Hopewell Road).
A vote on the resolution was on the agenda of Monday night’s meeting, but officials decided to hold off on voting after township Administrator/Engineer Paul Pogorzelski said the YMCA had requested the delay.
The YMCA is under contract to purchase the 18-acre tract, but is still doing its due diligence (performing a formal appraisal of the site and looking into access and sewer options, etc.) on the possible purchase, Mr. Pogorzelski said.
Under the resolution, which the committee is expected to vote on next month, the township would ask the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to allow up to 21,000 gallons of wastewater discharge at the site per day if the Y decides to build its community center there.
State law requires that any site generating more than 2,000 gallons per day be designated on a municipality’s Wastewater Management Plan. Such a designation requires DEP approval. It was at the Y’s request that the township seek that approval, officials said.
The resolution states that preliminary studies indicate that the site "will support the future wastewater flows" of up to 21,000 gallons and that alternative technologies for wastewater disposal are being considered.
Mr. Pogorzelski said Monday that the issue of traffic egress from the site is still to be resolved.
He said allowing left turns out of the site is not an option, since the volume of traffic on Route 31 would make that unsafe. That means the Y could either build a driveway from the site south to Titus Mill Road or north to Route 654. The intersections of both roads with Route 31 have traffic signals.
In October 2009, YMCA leaders picked the Ewing-based architectural firm of Clarke Caton Hintz to design a Hopewell Valley YMCA community center, which they had plans to build on 13 acres, belonging to Capital Health System, in northwest Pennington – off Route 31 near the West Franklin Avenue intersection.
At that time, YMCA CEO Doug Pszczolkowski said: "We have just about two years to raise the money required to purchase and close on the land . . . Engaging the design team will enable us to prepare the necessary plans and documents to complete the next phase . . ."
Now, speaking in an e-mail message about a possible change in plans for the Y center site, Mr. Pszczolkowski said Tuesday: "We have discussed several options for the Capital Health site in the event that we succeed in acquiring" the building supply company site, "but are not in a position to comment on specifics at this time.
"Capital Health continues to partner with the Y to help bring a community center to the community. Because we are currently involved in negotiations, we cannot provide further details at this time."