Move of department could be delayed
By: Cynthia Williamson
LAMBERTVILLE – The ceiling height at the city’s new police headquarters satisfies state Department of Labor standards.
But can it hold water?
A contractor on the job discovered a leak in the metal roof, City Clerk Mary Elizabeth Sheppard said this week. As of press time Tuesday, the city still was waiting to hear from J. Strober & Son’s Roofing in West Amwell about the extent of the problem.
"We don’t know if it can be repaired or if the roof needs to be replaced," Miss Sheppard said. "We’re still waiting to find out."
The city had planned to move police into the renovated site by Thanksgiving weekend in late November but there could be delays, depending on the roof situation, she said.
Meanwhile, the state has threatened to impose daily $100 fines each day police remain in their basement-level headquarters at City Hall. The city was cited by the state several years for a low ceiling, which is a safety violation. They were told to either fix the problem or find a new location for police.
State spokesman Kevin Smith said Tuesday the "clock was to start ticking Sept. 15." But the state has agreed to suspend the daily fine as long as the city is showing a "good faith effort" to finish the renovations.
In lieu of imposing the monetary penalty, the state also is allowing the city to apply the daily $100 fines against construction costs.
State representatives made an inspection of the site last week to take photographs and monitor the progress, and they were satisfied, Mr. Smith said.
"The whole thing here is that we want to make sure they’re accountable and moving forward," he said.
Miss Sheppard said Monday the project still is "progressing nicely" despite the potential setback.
In May, the city approved a $156,900 construction bid from Procomm Systems Inc. of Hope, N.J., to renovate Chuck’s Collision Service to a police facility. The former auto body repair shop is located on Route 29 south of the Holcombe-Jimison Farm Museum.
The bid includes everything except furniture, carpeting and communications such as wiring for computer terminals and telephones. The city anticipates spending between $6,000 and $7,000 on carpeting but doesn’t have cost estimates yet on the remaining items, Miss Sheppard said.
The city purchased the property last year for $350,000 and budgeted about $200,000 for construction, which includes renovating the 3,000-square-foot, single-story cinder block and metal structure to a police station with offices, evidence room, locker rooms and an area to detain prisoners.