By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
A temporary fix will have Heartstone at Hillsborough residents enjoying a new pool as the township works toward a more permanent solution to eliminate mosquitoes at a nearby detention basin.
Residents of the Weston Road development spoke before the Township Committee on Tuesday to discuss a Board of Health determination that the association pool could not be opened because of mosquitoes at a nearby detention basin.
According to Township Clerk Kevin Davis, the detention basin does not drain properly, and it could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes, some of which could carry West Nile virus. For this reason, he said, the Board of Health would not allow the pool to be opened to residents.
Howard Freeman, of Steele Place, led a crowd of about 20 residents at the meeting, saying that they have not been able to open the pool in the three years many of them have lived on the property, and they would like to have access to it.
However, Mr. Freeman said, prior to the meeting he received word that there might be a temporary solution.
”We were told it would be OK to open it if the developer sprays to get rid of any mosquitoes,” he said.
Mr. Davis said the temporary issue was resolved Wednesday morning when Heartstone builder Ryan Homes met with the township Board of Health to come to an agreement to spray the detention basin for mosquitoes. Once that is done, he said, the pool can open.
Still, according to one resident at the meeting Tuesday, simply spraying the basin will only serve as a “Band-Aid” to address the immediate problem. To prevent them in the future, he said, the detention basin must be fixed to improve the draining.
According to Mr. Davis, the township’s Engineering Department will be putting pressure on the builder to fix the basin, while spraying it periodically for now until the work is complete. He said the spraying solution is not ideal for the long term, and the township is determined to make sure the basin is fixed.
As is a policy of the township, Mr. Davis said, it will hold performance bonds from the builder until all the criteria are met.
Heartstone at Hillsborough, with more than 200 homes, began building about three to four years ago. Mr. Davis said there was some “fine print” in the contracts concerning the pool, which has also kept it from being opened.
The builder, Mr. Davis said, had initially maintained that it would not open the pool until all the units had been sold. As of now, he said, there are still some units for sale, but many people have been living there without the use of the pool for about three years.
For this reason, it was agreed that it could be opened, until the Board of Health inspection determined otherwise.
