By: Purvi Desai
WASHINGTON The Township is mulling three alternatives about what to do with the mold-infested and water-damaged municipal building on Route 130.
At the Jan. 11 Township Council meeting, Township Engineer Jack West presented three options: renovate the current building and build additions to both that structure and the police station; build an entirely new police station and court and continue to rent the municipal offices in Town Center; and build a complete new municipal complex.
Vacated in October 2005 when black mold and a deeper problem of perpetual and seemingly uncontrollable water seepage was discovered, the municipal building has since remained empty. Court facilities moved to two combined trailers on the same grounds, which cost the township approximately $400,000.
According to a report released Nov. 10, 2005, there are "massive" levels of black mold in the administrator’s office following an October 2005 flood. The testing company also discovered high humidity levels, suggesting problems with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, which town officials already suspected. The municipal offices were relocated to the Sharbell Development Corp.’s building at Washington Boulevard for a yearly rent of $70,000.
"The early estimates on repairing the municipal building are between $1 million and $2 million plus dollars," Mayor Dave Fried said Monday. "We’re tightening that down as we speak. One of the things we want to do is complete "needs analysis" to get the costs calculated for each department."
Mr. West said Friday that he has budgeted for an architect to do a needs analysis for the township during this year, which will outline the specific requirements of each department within the township. This study will determine how much square footage is needed and provide the township with real construction numbers, he said. Mr. West said the analysis would probably span over the majority of year and any real construction would start maybe a year after that.
Mr. West told the council Jan. 11 that the first and second options would cost about the same amount of money, between $4.5 million and $5 million, while the third option would be almost double.
The second option of building new police and court facilities would allow the township to sell the land that those facilities currently occupy on Route 130, along with the municipal building, and provide the township with a ratable piece of land, he said. The only setback to selling that land is that it is adjacent to Green Acres land and the township would have to apply to the state to be able to transfer that Green Acres land to another region within the township.
The township would require the Green Acres land as part of the parcel on Route 130 if they were to sell it, as without that chunk, the land would measure up to only approximately 1 acre, which would not have an appeal for developers, Mr. West said. The township would have to swap the Green Acres land by a two-to-one ratio onto another region of the township, if allowed by the state, he said.
"I think at this point in the game, we have two challenges facing us the first being that the police department is too small, combined with court," Mayor Fried said. "Should we expand and add the court into it or do we build a new police station or court? The costs are pretty similar. If we sell the land where the police station and court are currently located on, it would pay almost a third of the cost of building the new station and court, and add in the tax ratable of that property and you have another million in hand.
"The municipal building is a second challenge," Mayor Fried said. "Do we spend $1 million to $2 million, with 100,000 in bonds per year or do we continue to rent for $70,000 a year? The cheaper option is continuing to rent." He said that to construct an entirely new municipal building would cost the township between $5 million and $7 million.
"We know that, at a minimum, the municipal building needs a completely new HVAC system, the drainage fixed and the mold remediated," Mayor Fried said. "If we can’t fix the drainage problem, the mold will come back."
He said all the money spent by the last administration to fix the mold was wasted when they repainted and recarpeted over the mold, which came back eventually.
"Unless we fix the drainage problem, the mold is not going to go away," Mayor Fried said. "We had more than one employee feeling ill. Had we stayed in that in the building, according to our attorney, Mr. Mark Roselli, we would have been subject to lawsuits."
He added that the lawsuits would have cost the township more than the cost of building new police headquarters, a new court facility or even a municipal building.
"I just think now is the time to be cautious," Mayor Fried said. "We, as the previous government, including myself, neglected that building for a long time. Now is that time to be careful so that we don’t leave the same for the next administration."
He said if the township spends $2 million or more on a building that is already over 80 years old, it would be costly for the taxpayers. "Taxes are rampant in our times," Mayor Fried said. "We have the fastest growing tax rate in Mercer County. It’s more prudent to move more slowly, understand our options, and probably use our ability to turn the municipal complex into a ratable, fix the court and police headquarters."
He said if new police station and court facilities are built, they would be constructed on land that the township already owns. As for getting permanent municipal offices, he said the township will "figure out over the next five years what to do."
