By Geoff Wertime, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY With one dissent, the Township Committee has approved a project to join Princeton Township and Mercer County in improving Cherry Valley Road.
Democratic Committeewoman Louise Wilson was the sole vote against the measure at the committee’s Thursday night meeting. She said she was displeased the ordinance to approve appropriating $276,000 for project was bundled with the approval of a $125,000 dump truck for public works she supported.
”I’m not voting against this because of the dump truck, I’m voting against it because I feel that the township absolutely should not be paying for a bridge project, and that we never do when Somerset County is doing them and I don’t understand the distinction that now this is hundreds of thousands of dollars toward one that Mercer County is doing,” she said.
Republican Mayor Mark Caliguire questioned the objection, saying Ms. Wilson could have altered the project when it was in the works while she was mayor, but Ms. Wilson insisted she has always been against the township contributing to the cost of the work.
Cherry Valley Road runs west to east connecting Montgomery and Princeton townships, and the 1,160 feet of the project is split evenly between the two municipalities.
Mercer County is paying for $423,895 of the $926,079 project, while the townships are each paying $251,092, according to Township Engineer Gail Smith. The work will include replacing the bridge, or culvert, that crosses the tributary to Beden’s Brook and realigning the roadway along an area known as “Jefferson’s Curve” for the Jefferson Plumbing business at the location of the sharp curve.
”What’s wrong with the road is that the existing culvert has deteriorated, and the alignment is dangerous,” Ms. Smith said Friday, calling the road “probably one of the most heavily traveled in the township.”
The bridge that is being replaced is located 1.4 miles east of Cherry Valley Road’s intersection with Great Road and about one mile west of its intersection with Route 206. The structure is deemed “functionally obsolete” due to safety concerns at Jefferson’s Curve. The existing 60” by 38” elliptical concrete culvert was constructed in 1971.
Over the last five years, officials have said there have been 18 accidents in the Montgomery area of the S-curve that is also the location of a dip in the roadway. The improvements have been delayed for years due to problems getting permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, Ms. Smith said.
Work has already begun on the road, which closed to traffic Aug. 16, and is slated for completion in mid-December. The official detour leads drivers to Route 601, Route 518 and then down onto Route 206.
The road improvements will also add a pedestrian path to the south side of the road, and Ms. Smith said it will eventually link up to other existing and planned paths in Princeton and Montgomery.
In other business, the committee unanimously approved a motion to recommend the landmarks commission add two properties that are on the National Register of Historic Places to its list of local landmarks.
The 1860 and Maplewood houses are on the township’s list of properties to sell, but their historical importance and problems with their conditions complicate any potential sales. Democratic Committeeman Brad Fay floated the idea of adding the houses to the list, saying it would be best for the township to avoid having to structure a complicated series of easements as it did to sell the historic Van Dyke-Beekman property.
”We all have plenty of interest in preserving the historic integrity of these structures,” he said. “That’s one reason the township owns them. We also recognize that they need to be in private hands, both for financial reasons for the township and to preserve them.”
If the commission lists the houses, owners will only need to seek approval for changes that are not in keeping with the style of the residences, whereas under easements the restrictions can be much more complicated.
A January tour of the 1860s House for potential buyers revealed a number of problems, including exposed rafters, missing ceilings, and the corrosion of some furniture. The former location of the Montgomery Center for the Arts, the house has stood vacant since December 2007.
The township evicted the non-profit organization in early 2008, citing failure to comply with the terms of the lease beyond Nov. 16, 2007. Specifically, the township said the group failed to provide insurance coverage for the property. The organization also was required to pay for the building’s maintenance and utilities, and provide the township with an annual report of its activities.
The 4,000-square foot house rests on a 16-acre parcel, and the structure is next to a barn containing the Van Harlingen Society’s Farm Museum. Planning Director Lori Savron said Friday the township has talked with the society about moving the barn, which is mostly new but has some historical features, but nothing has yet been decided.
Ms. Savron said the township would subdivide a portion of the property to sell the house and leave the rest for municipal use. Some of the land is in the township’s plan for affordable housing, she said, but again, nothing has been set it stone.
The Maplewood House was built in 1845, more than a half century before the establishment of the State Village for Epileptics on the site in 1898. That land is now home to the Skillman Village development, and a county-funded study on the house’s condition is expected to be completed in the coming months.
”If you looked at it, it looks in poor condition. If you walked in, it’s not in move-in condition,” Ms. Savron said of the historic house. “From what I’m told, the structural integrity is not in as bad shape as you’d think. That’s what the architect is telling me right now.”
When it goes up for sale, probably via auction, Ms. Savron said the township will subdivide a six-acre property off of the land. The house is accessible off of Burnt Hill Road.
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