By Joanne Degnan
The Robbinsville Township Council will hold its annual reorganization meeting at 10 a.m. Friday, July 1 at Robbinsville High School.
The three council members elected in the May 10 nonpartisan election to serve four-year terms will take the oath of office at the special meeting: incumbents Christine Ciaccio, Rich Levesque, and newcomer Ronald Witt.
Mr. Witt will take the seat currently held by Councilman David Boyne, who lost his re-election bid by 28 votes.
The council will choose a council president and vice president to serve for one-year terms, make appointments to the planning and zoning boards and authorize various professional service agreements for the next 12 months.
Funds OK’d
for demolition
The Robbinsville Township Council voted 4-0 on June 23 to appropriate $103,000 from the township’s capital improvement fund to demolish the former municipal building at 1117 Route 130.
Township Administrator Tim McGough said Monday the municipality would go out to bid for the demolition work and that he expects the building to be torn down sometime this fall.
The 88-year-old brick building, which formerly housed township offices and the municipal court, was damaged by a flood in 2005 and never reopened due to water damage and a subsequent mold infestation.
”The mold infestation that prompted Mayor Fried to close the building has grown to the point that you should wear respiratory protection just to enter the building,” Mr. McGough said. “We looked at the feasibility of renovating the building, and the costs are far above what it would take to start over.”
Once the building is taken down, the township will either auction the property or look into using the land to build a permanent court facility, perhaps in conjunction with a law enforcement complex, Mr. McGough said. Currently, the court facilities are in a trailer parked near the closed municipal building.
All other township offices, except for police, fire, and public works, are now located in 8,000-square feet of leased office space at 1 Washington Blvd. The lease will cost a total $481,931 over the next three years.
Extension granted
for taxes
The Robbinsville Township Council voted 4-0 on June 23 to provide a 25-day grace period for the payment of third-quarter property taxes.
The grace period is being provided in case the mailing of third-quarter tax bills, normally due Aug. 1, is delayed. Homeowners who pay their property taxes directly to the township, instead of through their mortgage company, will be given 25 days from the date property tax bills are mailed to pay their third-quarter taxes.
The township cannot print and mail property tax bills until the Mercer County Board of Taxation officially strikes the tax rate after the state budget is adopted.
RHS scholars,
athletes lauded
Robbinsville High School’s scholar students and champion athletes were honored with special proclamations at the June 23 Township Council meeting.
The sixteen students in the Class of 2011 who graduated with highest honors were recognized for their “impressive academic achievement” with a proclamation read by Council President Sheree McGowan. The students named in the proclamation included: Namrata Barbhaiya, Alice Cheng, Christine Chun, Melissa Consiglio, Gina Hoffman, Jared Icenhower, Nikita Janodia, Tara Kennette, Kimberly Louie, Stephen May, Ryan Mayer, Vagisha Pandey, Reem Rayef, Isabella Slaby, Lindsay Stewart and Nicole Yap.
The council also paid special tribute to the members and coaches of the RHS girls softball team, the first in the school’s history to win the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II State Championship.
The other RHS athletic teams honored by the council included the boys baseball team, which won the 2011 Mercer County Tournament of Champions; the girls track and field team, which won the Central Jersey Group 1 Sectional Championship; and the boys spring track team, which set 14 school records and won the Central Jersey Group 1 Sectional Championship this year.

