JACKSON — A tentative agreement between a local religious organization and the municipality could bring new life to the historic Harmony Church.
An ordinance authorizing the execution of a lease agreement between Jackson and the Cornerstone Presbyterian Church (CPC) was introduced during the April 22 Township Council meeting.
The ordinance will be the subject of a public hearing at a future meeting. The council could then vote to adopt the measure.
“The only thing that has not been finished is the final lease agreement,” said Bruce Thompson, president of the CPC board of trustees.
Representatives of the church and the township have for several months been negotiating an agreement that would allow the congregation to move into the approximately 170-year-old house of worship on Harmony Road.
CPC currently holds services at the Christa McAuliffe Middle School.
Under the proposed agreement, CPC would pay Jackson $10,000 rent on an annual basis for an initial 15-year term, with two additional 10-year renewals.
Rather than paying the township directly, the agreement would allow CPC to provide proof of annual renovation costs paid in the previous year as a credit against rent due.
CPC has said significant internal and external renovations would be needed before services could be held for the congregation’s 200-plus members.
Harmony Church, which was constructed in 1844, does not have running water, indoor plumbing or a furnace.
Thompson said only “hard costs” such as the installation of a heating furnace, a septic system and wells, in addition to labor costs, will count toward the rent payment. If renovation costs exceed $10,000 in one year, the extra money will be put toward the following year’s rent.
As part of the agreement, the CPC will make $150,000 worth of renovations within the first two years, covering rent for the first 15 years of the lease agreement.
According to the CPC, the renovations will include the installation of a 24-footlong access ramp; the installation of a unisex bathroom; the installation of a second entrance; the installation of a new heating and air conditioning system; the creation of two handicapped parking spaces and a minimum of 25 parking spaces on a gravel lot; the installation of a septic system and drilling a well; renovating windows, window frames and doors; renovating or replacing the front doors; renovating the exterior of the church steeple; renovating and refurbishing interior walls and floors; installing exterior lighting; and removing the existing outhouse.
“Over the initial lease, we will put in a total of $350,000 in renovations, spanning 35 years,” Thompson said.
Thompson said he is hoping the agreement can be finalized by June.
In other news, the council authorized a two-year contract with Wolfington Body Company Inc. to purchase two senior citizen passenger buses with added wheelchair capabilities at a cost of $59,949 each.
According to the resolution, the Mount Holly company was one of two businesses to respond to a public request for proposals for the two vehicles.
While the Alliance Bus Corporation submitted a lower bid at $59,332 per vehicle, officials said the company “took critical exceptions to the bid specifications” one week after the township received the bids, resulting in its rejection.
In the first year of the contract, the township agreed to purchase the first bus at the aforementioned price, with the option to purchase a second bus at a price that will not exceed the cost of the first vehicle.
The official bid specifications show the first bus will be a 2014 Ford E-450 GCII, to be delivered within 90 to 120 days.