By Heather Niccoli, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — A lot happened in the township in 2011, from the long-debated transit village to getting rid of an animal control officer who worked for the township for 17 years.
InterCap
InterCap, the redevelopment plan for a transit village by the Princeton Junction train station was finally approved in September.
InterCap CEO Steve Goldin now will go to the Planning Board in 2012 and plans to break ground in 2013.
The plan is for 702 condos and 70,000 square feet of retail space around the train station. The project has an assessed value of $345.3 million, which could generate more than $1.11 million in property taxes and $4.31 million to the school district.
The condos are expected to have an average market value of $400,000, according to the updated fiscal analysis released last week. The project would also include 80 affordable rental units and 18 affordable sale units. The rental units will be valued at $87,504 and the sale units will be valued at $107,884, according to the revised fiscal impact analysis.
New council president
In January at the reorganization meeting Kamal Khanna was voted to be the Township Council president. Mr. Khanna swapped seats with former council president Diane Ciccone, who was selected by the council as vice president. It was Ms. Ciccone’s last year on council, she has been a council member for two in half years.
Lawsuit
Councilman Charles Morgan has been filing lawsuits against Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh in the year 2011.
The Appellate Division of the state Superior Court dismissed an appeal filed by Mr. Morgan on Dec. 2. The three-judge panel reviewed Mr. Morgan’s appeal of an earlier court decision and dismissed the suit.
He filed the litigation against the mayor for not responding directly to his requests for written responses to questions about township business and financial matters.
Taxpayers are paying for the mayor’s legal fees. Mayor Hsueh said it has cost the taxpayers so far about $ 25,000 to $30,000.
Parking spaces
The proposed 650 commuter parking spaces at the New South Lot on Alexander Road by the Princeton Junction train station was approved in September. After that, the West Windsor Parking Authority went to the Planing Board in December to discuss their concept plan.
The lot will be built on a former composting and a landfill site which, due to having a low level of contamination, will be capped.
By having the parking lot, the waiting list for the West Windsor residents would be no more than a one-year wait list.
Elections
It took a while to get the results in the Township Council race on Nov. 8, due to provisional votes that were not counted.
The new council members who will take the seat for four years on the Township Council will be incumbent George Borek, Bryan Maher and Kristina Samonte.
Animal control officer
At the beginning of the year Plainsboro got out of a long-time animal control shared service agreement with the township, due to the high cost of Princeton Animal Hospital.
West Windsor Council decided to go with a shared services with East Windsor and terminate Bettina Roed, who was the animal control officer for 17 years.
Ms. Roed was let go in March and is still jobless.
Ms. Roed’s attorney, Walter Bliss, filed a complaint against the township on April 11, claiming the Township Council’s actions preceding her termination violated the Open Public Meetings Act.
