CHESTERFIELD: Board offers old school to township

The property of the old Chesterfield Elementary School, located on Bordentown Chesterfield Road, is caught between the township and the school board, both of which are looking for the most economically sou

by David Kilby, Special Writer
CHESTERFIELD — The property of the old Chesterfield Elementary School, located on Bordentown Chesterfield Road, is caught between the township and the school board, both of which are looking for the most economically sound deal for everyone as the board looks to sell the property.
   As a result of a joint meeting between the township and board Nov. 22, Brian Meincke, president of the board, sent a letter to the Township Committee proposing a shared agreement between the township and the board. The agreement would convey the school and its land to the township.
   In the letter, the board proposed that the township pay several ongoing annual expenses for the property, such as electricity for $13,896.87, property and liability insurance for $11,000, landscaping for $7,795, the fire alarm for $816.06 and the burglar alarm for $300, for a total of $33,807.93 in annual expenses.
   The board further proposed that these expenses be paid by the township starting Dec. 1, and until the township can “sell or convey the title of the old school to a third party, thus eliminating the township’s need to pay these expenses,” reads the letter.
   The Chesterfield Township School District currently pays $4,630 annually in landscaping expenses for the new Chesterfield Elementary School, an expense the district wants to include in the shared service agreement.
   In the new agreement, the township would pay the new school’s landscaping expenses beyond the sale of the old school by the township, the letter proposes.
   The shared service agreement proposal also proposes the “elimination of any property taxes being assessed against the old school while it has been titled to the Board of Education.”
   In exchange for the title of the old school, the board also asked for $400,000, which would be placed towards the school district’s 2015-16 fiscal year budget.
   The board asked for this commitment from the township because the 2015-16 fiscal year will be the first in which the district will be required to budget the entire amount of principal and interest for payment on the bonds that financed the new school.
   The letter also proposed that the $400,000 represent a “gross” amount and not a “net” amount that would be reduced by costs incurred by the township in the sale of the old school.
   The board expects the township to make its decision on the proposal by Dec. 31, or prior to the board’s reorganization meeting in January.
   At the Chesterfield Township Committee meeting Dec. 12, Mayor Rich LoCascio said the committee, the board and taxpayers, all want to work together in finding the best agreement for everyone.
   ”I think it’s got to make sense,” Mayor LoCascio said regarding the shared service proposal. “This is something the township has to evaluate. Just like anything, things may not always be what they appear.”
   He said the township has to consider who really is in the best position to have the title to the old school property, adding, “I think we all want to move forward with this.”