EAST BRUNSWICK — Though Councilwoman Denise Contrino put forth a motion that would allow for the construction of the Hatikvah International Charter School Academy, her fellow council members did not support the motion.
At a May 20 meeting of the Township Council, Contrino offered a resolution for construction of a new school on Lexington Avenue in East Brunswick.
“It is my opinion as a land use practitioner that it is in the township’s best interest to move forward with this settlement and to authorize me to sign the consent order for a variety of reasons,” Jeffrey Lehrer, township redevelopment attorney, said.
The attorney explained that the firm in charge of construction was willing to make a number of improvements on the site, including more fencing and fire hydrants. If the case would proceed to court, those improvements would no longer be guaranteed.
Additionally, Lehrer said there was a chance that the case could come back to the council on a “do-over” basis.
“Such a result will be time-consuming, costly and circular in its practical effect,” he said.
Lehrer’s advice was simply not enough for many members of the council, who were put off by the fact that the school’s proposed site would be sandwiched between two properties zoned for industrial use.
Contrino’s motion received no council support and died on the floor.
“It just doesn’t seem to me to be a safe environment,” council President James Wendell said. “I don’t see how any of these [improvements] seem to change that this building is still located in an industrial zone. I still think it’s an incredibly unsafe area.”
Wendell said the consent order that would authorize improvements on the site was overly embellished.
“This seems to be broken up… to make it look like more is being done. As far as the fencing, it just closes off a parking lot; it doesn’t protect anything,” he said.
Councilwoman Camille Ferraro agreed.
“I wouldn’t want my child going there,” she said. “I won’t be pushed. … [The school] shouldn’t be there.”
Still, many residents were in favor of opening another charter school in the township.
“We do appreciate that you are going through the plan to make sure that it is safe,” Laurie Newell, an East Brunswick resident, said.
Another resident, Daniel Schmeidler, has two children at Hatikvah on Cranbury Road.
“They’re very happy there,” Schmeidler said. “I look forward to opening [another] school in September and making it another part of a great educational system in town we can all be proud of.”
However, in the face of several parents and residents who supported opening the school, a handful sided with the council, citing safety concerns.
Resident Christine Rampolla said, “I was present at both zoning board hearings [regarding Hatikvah], and after reading this consent order, I’m dismayed. None of the [improvements] to this facility remediate the poor location of this building for a school, nor does it make up for the fact — as I pointed out to the zoning board at the hearing — that the school failed to follow federal guidelines for the safe citing of a school.”
Resident Deborah Kornivaka was of a similar opinion.
“This is about the location of a school sandwiched between two industrial buildings — one of which takes on 18-wheeler traffic and vending trucks on a daily basis, and another one which is for lease and could house an extreme number of trucks to conduct its business as it is zoned for. There is simply nothing in this consent order which addresses that concern,” she said.
According to a press release from Hatikvah International Academy Charter Schools, the council’s reluctance to vote through the consent order will cost taxpayers.
“Taxpayers will once again be forced to pick up the legal fees associated with a trial on this matter, which is now scheduled for July 8,” the press release said. “Every time East Brunswick public officials have forced a lawsuit related to Hatikvah, they have lost in court — forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for their incompetence time and time again.”
Contact Thomas Castles at [email protected].