By VASHTI HARRIS
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — The Township Committee discussed its current plans for beginning the process of constructing a new town hall building at its Feb. 21 meeting.
The committee has put in a request for proposals for architectural services to begin the early stages of getting a new municipal complex built, according to an official document.
Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante explained that the committee has been working on drawings of the new town hall building for a few years.
“We have been working for a couple of years now on conceptual drawings [and currently] we have come close to a final conceptual design; now we are in the process of seeking architectural services, however, it will be a couple of months until we begin hiring people,” Mercantante said.
Space issues, various repairs and simplicity are a few reasons why the committee has been working for two to three years on the plans to build a new municipal complex, according to Mercantante.
“The biggest expense that takes up people’s taxes is the school budget by the Board of Education. Getting this [new] town hall built is an expense we have to find a way to budget [and] currently financial plans have not been set. It comes down to this: we either continue to keep putting Band-Aids on our current building that is inadequate to the police department or build a new one,” Mercantante said.
Currently, Middletown Police Department and the municipal complex are located in the same building on 1 Kings Highway. Due to the fact that the building was built in 1961, it is out of date in terms of properly accommodating the current police staff, according to Mercantante.
The township currently does not have a singular location where residents can visit every municipal department. Presently, the township’s various municipal departments are located in different parts of town, which is insufficient for the public, according to Mercantante.
After the committee explained their future preparations to get a new municipal complex built, citizens during the public comment portion of the meeting voiced their concerns that the eventual construction of the new building will raise their taxes.
Before updating residents on their current plans for a new municipal complex, Mayor Gerald Sharfenberger and the committee accepted a $500 donation from Dennis Beauregard and Thomas Garretson, members of the Friends of the Veterans Affairs Committee, to fund the restoration of the Doughboy monument in the township.
The committee along with the mayor also took time to honor Patrolman Nicholas Manochio and Corporal Ryan Riffert who assisted a woman who went into labor in her car.
Officials from the Middletown Police Department (MPD) gave both Manochio and Riffert the Stork Award for their noble efforts in assisting the woman to deliver a healthy baby boy. The department also presented the woman’s family with a $200 gift card to Toy R Us.
Drawing attention to the MPD K9 unit, Sharfenberger and the committee recognized fellow residents Kylie Reid and Shannon McCully for donating over $5,500 for vests for the police department’s K9 unit.
For more information about the plans for a new town hall building, visit www.middletownnj.org/227/Public-Information-Office.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].