Administrators from the Howell K-8 School District will be seeking out lease and purchase proposals for the Southard School now that the Howell Township Council has pulled its interest in leasing the facility as a new town hall.
At a special meeting held Jan. 12, council members voted unanimously to drop the now-defunct school, which was closed by Howell school administrators in 2009 in the face of declining enrollment, from a list of town hall options.
Council members will instead pursue the renovation and remediation of the current municipal complex on Preventorium Road or consider purchasing the Global Corporate Center, an office complex on Route 9 north near the Southard Firehouse at New Friendship Road, Howell.
The estimated cost to purchase the Global Corporate Center, including moving costs, is $10 million.
But school district officials believed they had a “handshake agreement” with the township, and assumed the council would finalize the lease once approval was received from the New Jersey Department of Education commissioner, Lucille Davy. That letter of approval was sent on Nov. 13.
Howell Superintendent of Schools Enid Golden appeared before the council at the Jan. 12 meeting and expressed her disappointment on behalf of the Board of Education.
“We thought leasing [Southard School] to the council would be the right thing to do. The board made a decision on what was best for taxpayers, but not in the best interest of the board,” Golden said. “The board is very disappointed that the township was interested in other properties. We had no idea. We have done everything we could to anticipate the council’s move.”
Golden said the school board has been paying for the upkeep of the Southard School in the time it has been vacant in order to prepare for the building’s expected transition to the municipal offices. Now that municipal officials have abandoned the idea of leasing the school, the superintendent requested that the township reimburse the board for those utility and maintenance costs.
“We feel like we’re being penalized in our budget because we did this,” Golden said. “It may behoove us to sell the building now, based on expected budget cuts from the state.”
But Deputy Mayor Angela Dalton noted that maintenance and utility costs would ultimately be paid for with taxpayer dollars regardless of whether the township or the school board took responsibility for those expenses.
Mayor Robert Walsh agreed, and said that such costs would not have been incurred if the school board had received official approval from the state earlier.
“It’s not the governing body’s fault the building wasn’t official for us to move into until the middle of November. But we weren’t going to move ahead until there was permission from the state. And in the time that took to happen, we had a change in council and wanted their input,” Walsh said.
According to the mayor, the potential reimbursement of expenses will be discussed with the board at a later date.
Despite the council’s decision to reject a Southard School lease, school board members quickly rebounded the following night and voted 9-0 in favor of sending out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the shuttered school.
Acting Assistant Superintendent/board Secretary Ron Sanasac said that at the Jan. 13 meeting, the board agreed to send out notification detailing that the Kent Road facility is available for lease or for purchase. He noted that the school board would not need another vote to solicit interested parties.
School officials initially sent out an RFP in May 2009 and began to move forward with negotiations regarding the lease of the Southard School the following month. The Police Athletic League’s before- and aftercare programs, the Cheder School, the Cornerstone Calvary Church and the Acelero Head Start program, a federally funded preschool, were all contenders to rent space in the vacant school.
The Board of Education successfully moved forward with the Acelero Head Start program lease agreement in August, and the organization now uses four classrooms and shared common areas for $40,000 per year.
However, due to the Township Council’s professed interest in occupying the Southard School, district officials did not pursue negotiations with any other entity.
“We had tenants lined up, but we believed the township was taking the building, so we haven’t been in contact with the prior parties,” board President Patricia Blood said. “I regret that the council didn’t do this earlier, because we could have had tenants set up. But that happens, and now we just need to move on and take action.”
Sanasac said the board would like to expedite the proposal process but would need to take the appropriate steps to do so.
“Right now, timing is up in the air. We will move with all good haste, but we have to do things right,” he said.
Blood noted that due to the formal process, the board must stipulate that the building can be purchased, although that is not the route officials hope to take.
Despite perceived inconveniences, Blood said it was understandable that the township backed out of leasing the Southard School.
“If I were sitting on the dais, I wouldn’t be taking it either. I would personally try to renovate the municipal complex,” she said. “Right now, the township needs to do their due diligence.”
The Township Council is expected to decide between moving Howell’s operations to the Global Corporate Center or repairing the existing municipal office buildings. A decision may have been made by the council on Jan. 19, or a vote may have been postponed until Feb. 2. The Jan. 19 meeting was held after this edition went to press.