By Amy Batista, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — The Borough Council introduced a bond ordinance providing supplemental appropriations in the amount of $331,000 for the Peddie Lake Dam Pedestrian Bridge project during its meeting on July 20.
“This (ordinance) is for the $331,000 we are going to bond and that’s on top of the $210,000,” Councilman Steven Misiura said, adding that the $331,000 matches the grant amount for the project.
Chief Executive Officer George Lang explained that the council is authorizing debt. He said the $331,000 should be covered by the grant and the council “would not have to bond it.”
“We really have no intention and we hope not to have to issue anything,” Mr. Lang said.
He said the council has to “put this money out” due to the grant.
“If we run into a cash situation, we might have to issue a temporary note,” he said. “It gives us the ability to do that without having to go back on that ordinance.”
On March 6, the borough announced that it had been awarded a Transportation Alternatives grant in the amount of $331,000 for the Peddie Lake Dam Pedestrian Bridge project. The grant was awarded by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
The original walking bridge was a central part of Hightstown landscape history for almost 100 years but as it aged it presented a safety hazard. The bridge was removed several years ago. The current pedestrian path is in close proximity to traffic on a heavily traveled section of Main Street (Route 33).
Rebuilding the Peddie Lake Dam Pedestrian Bridge is expected to facilitate pedestrian traffic in downtown Hightstown by connecting downtown businesses and shopping areas, the library and Memorial Park with residential areas.
The total set aside for the project is $541,000 including the $210,000 appropriated by the original bond ordinance 2013-07.
“That’s far in excess of what we anticipate spending, correct,” Councilman Misiura asked.
“Oh yeah,” Mr. Lang said. “I would trust that when everything is all said and done with the grant we will be canceling part of that appropriation.”
Councilwoman Susan Bluth asked why the council could not just issue a bond ordinance for $210,000.
“Then why aren’t we just issuing a bond ordinance for the $210,000 that was previously authorized rather than the $331,000,” said Councilwoman Bluth.
Mr. Lang said the amount “just gives us flexibility.”
“We’ve done this a lot in the past on a lot of the road projects,” he said. “We authorize debt for the amount of the grant. When the grant comes in, it goes directly to the debt amount.”
Councilwoman Bluth said that the council is authorizing debt “well in excess of the grant.”
“True, but there are other costs associated with this as well,” Mr. Lang said. “Not everybody is covered by the grant. The grant is just for really hard costs.”
Mayor Larry Quattrone said that there are certain things the federal grant does not cover.
“So we needed a supply of money to pay for any of those catches that are in that grant,” said Mayor Quattrone. “That was the money, the $210,000, we put aside. We want to authorize that debt, not spend it, and the expenditure will still come to council.”
“We also expect to cancel a lot of that $210,000,” Councilman Misiura said. “We said we were going to include the (costs associated with the) lawsuit and that puts us somewhere in the neighborhood of $372,000.”
Councilman Misiura was referring to when Hightstown was sued by Gregory Lasky regarding Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance in Memorial Park. The lawsuit was settled, but there are ADA compliance revisions that were part of the settlement and the council is going to include their costs with the costs of the bridge project.
The idea for a new pedestrian bridge was first proposed Taylor Bell when she was 9 years old. The Greenway Walking Bridge Committee, which has ranged in the number of members from 6-12 during the past three years, started meeting in April 2010 to give careful attention to the aesthetics of the design due to the historic significance of the bridge, which is located at the very spot where John and Mary Hight founded Hightstown in the early 1700s.
The pedestrian bridge and dam also represent the original spot of the Gross Brothers Feed Mill, which used to be the first building travelers saw when arriving in Hightstown from the east until the mill burnt down in 1920.
The committee set up fundraisers for the bridge project but fell short of its goal. The committee raised approximately $75,000 and spent about $60,000 on the design and the permitting process.
Noting that residents wanted a new pedestrian bridge, the Borough Council got involved in the project but has faced multiple challenges including Hurricane Irene, which caused delays. Then, during an inspection of the dam, the borough found that the bridge was built too low in the 1920s. The borough would have to make changes to the original design as the bridge would have to be reestablished outside its original footings in order to get the height needed to meet ADA compliance.
The public hearing on the proposed bond ordinance will be on Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.
