The Global office building is one step closer to becoming the new home of some of Howell’s municipal offices after an ordinance making $6.9 million available for its purchase was adopted by the Howell Township Council on June 14.
In a 4-1 vote, the council members chose to move forward with the potential purchase of the 119,000- square-foot Global building from its current owner. The office building is on Route 9 north at New Friendship Road, Howell.
Officials have said that if the township can acquire the building, municipal offices will be moved out of Howell’s Preventorium Road municipal complex and into the circa-1980s Global office building.
Officials have said there is asbestos, lead paint, mold and code violations in various buildings that currently house township employees. Reports prepared by professionals have indicated that repairing the existing municipal buildings and bringing them up to current standards would be more expensive than buying the Global building.
The goal of Howell officials is to house many of the township’s departments in one location, including administration, finance, engineering, planning and construction, parks and recreation, and the fire bureau.
The ordinance that was adopted by the council on June 14 does not purchase the Global building; it makes money the town has on hand available for use if municipal officials can reach an agreement with the current owner.
Another ordinance will have to be introduced and adopted in order for the council to actually purchase the office building.
Voting to adopt the ordinance on June 14 were Mayor Robert Walsh, Deputy Mayor William Gotto, Councilman Robert Nicastro and Councilwoman Susan Schroeder Clark.
Councilwoman Pauline Smith voted no on the motion to adopt the ordinance.
Smith once again tried to convince her fellow council members that buying the Global building will be a bad idea for the township.
“I have tried very hard to look at all sides, all reports, and I have been looking for a silver lining, something to make me feel better about the situation,” Smith said. “Actually, each thing that comes up makes me feel worse.”
Smith said she does not believe the $6.9 million Howell already has in hand will be enough for the project.
“Once we get in there [Global], maintenance is going to be a real killer,” she said, adding that there is no reason the township needs an indoor garage or other amenities the Global building provides.
Her other concerns include traffic on the Route 9 corridor and what she said is the inconvenience of the location, and what she called the danger of the entrance and exit zones at the Global building.
Smith said the Global building far exceeds the needs of the municipality.
“It’s not an investment, it’s a gamble,” she said of the potential purchase of the Route 9 building that at one time served as the headquarters of the Union Valley Corporation.
“I believe that buying this building will be the biggest mistake any governing body has ever made, and we are not going to survive it. It is going to be a burden,” Smith said. “I can’t see putting that on the backs of taxpayers.”
However, Nicastro said buying the Global office building might be just what Howell needs to change for the better.
“To improve is to change,” he said. “We talk about how bad things are, how taxes continue to go up, but yet we don’t want change.” Nicastro said he understands the emotion of where town hall is at the historic Preventorium Road location, but he said something needs to be done about the current situation of Howell’s substandard municipal facilities.
Clark thanked members of the public for their comments and input during the process and said the emotions and the feelings are important, but she said it comes down to dollars and cents.
“We have to be responsible,” she said. “We cant afford not to [move]. We can’t afford to stay here [at the current municipal complex] and keep things going the way they are, and to say it’s OK to not comply with [building] codes, that is not acceptable to me.”
Clark told the public she kept an open mind during the process as she had vowed to do.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this is the single most important decision we will make on council,” she said.
Gotto voiced his frustration with what he called the culture of the township and what he described as the negativity that has surrounded the council’s decision to pursue the purchase of the Global building, along with other decisions the council has had to make.
“I don’t like the fact that it could be a decision that could change the culture of the town, but maybe, just maybe, that culture will be a little bit different, it might be a little more organized, it might be a little bit better run, and it might be able to paint a better picture of what Howell could possibly be,” he said.
Walsh said he understood the emotion that has come from some residents and their opposition to the purchase of the Global building, but he said that doing nothing is not an option for the current situation in which the municipality finds itself.
“Things should have been done years ago,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do for Howell.”
The mayor said purchasing the Global building will give officials flexibility for the future and allow the township to run more efficiently.
During the public portion of the meeting, some residents stated their appreciation of and deep feelings for the current municipal buildings that are in use.
Clark noted that professionals were on hand to answer questions about the Global building and property, but not one speaker addressed those issues.
“I was hoping someone was going to ask questions I didn’t think of,” the councilwoman said.
Resident Barbara Dixel asked the council to place the question of buying the Global building on a public referendum.
During her comments to the council, Dixel alleged that the purchase of the Global building would somehow support Walsh’s attempts to further his political career at the county level.
Upon hearing that statement from Dixel, Gotto called for a recess.
Following the recess, Walsh directed Township Attorney McKenna Kingdon to read aloud a section of the Howell code book which states that, “Any persons making impertinent or slanderous remarks or who shall become boisterous when addressing the council shall be barred unless permission to continue or address the council be granted.”
“Those remarks [such as the one made by Dixel] are uncalled for,” Kingdon said, as she asked the members of the public to maintain a level of decorum.
“I am tired of the slanderous, venomous remarks coming from people. I am sick of it,” Walsh said. “This has to end in this town for the town’s sake.”
Residents continued to state why they do not believe buying the Global building is a good idea for Howell.
Resident Don Smith said people do not expect their governing body to gamble with taxpayer money.
“The economy, the times, they are just not right for a move like this,” he said.
Smith said his biggest concern is that the estimates on costs to address certain issues in the Global office building will end up being higher once a contractor starts with renovations.
Just before the vote to adopt the ordinance granting officials permission to use the $6.9 million for the purchase of the building was taken, Gotto addressed the residents’ concerns about the economy and how it has played a role in the process.
“The economy that everyone is blaming everything on, that’s the same economy that drove the price of that [Global] building down to the point to where it’s an option now,” Gotto said. “[It’s become] an option to a problem [substandard municipal buildings] that has plagued this town for 20 years.”
He also addressed the idea of placing the question on a public referendum.
“I do support the idea of a referendum, but not the referendum that many of you want,” Gotto said, noting that people want an up-or-down vote on the question of buying the Global building.
He said if residents wanted a real referendum, they would get options about the more expensive repairs or replacement of the current municipal buildings as well as the less expensive option to purchase the Global building.
“If we put [all the options] on a referendum, people would vote to spend $6.9 million,” Walsh said.
Resident Curtis Vislocky thanked the council members for the job they are doing. He was enthusiastic about the potential purchase of the Global building being the right choice economically for Howell.
“I know it is a tough decision you are facing,” he said. “Whether you agree or disagree, that is our right as citizens.”
Vislocky said bringing several municipal departments together under one roof makes economic sense.
Township officials indicated that among the renovations to be made in the Global building would be creating a space that would serve as a council meeting room.
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