Future of Township Hall a Feature of Marathon Meeting

A discussion of the utility of municipal buildings inspired a four-hour, at times heated discussion among Township Council members at their Tuesday night meeting.

Council members debated the feasibility of bringing most of the township's major departments under one roof as they discussed the future of five municipally owned buildings. After much discussion, the governing body agreed to explore moving operations to a facility off of Route 9.

Architect Wayne A. Neville of West Berlin, who had been hired by the township in January to conduct a feasibility study, presented his findings to the governing body. Neville had been charged with looking at options for housing various departments—administration, finance, engineering, planning and construction, parks and recreation and the fire bureau.

The study's mission statement says, "The desire of the township is to house all of these services in one contiguous building with the possibility of future expansion as much as is possible."

Township's Options

Neville presented three options: the first was renovations and additions to the administration building. Another option was knocking down the old building and putting up a new, much larger building. And the third was relocation to a new facility, identified as the Global Building off of Route 9. 

Neville presented a breakdown for what each option would cost the township. The first option presented included clearing hazardous materials and renovating the building to bring it up to code while adding an additional 35,896 square feet of building space. Adding the cost of new furniture and moving fees, the total bill for that project was estimated at $11,714,000.

This plan would also call for the demolition of the buildings for the fire bureau, the E.P.C. and the parks building, which would relocate to the new building. The additional work would bring the total of that plan to more than $12 million. "Option 1" as it was called, would have employees in their new building in just under a year.

According to Neville, this plan would keep the services at the complex, although there were several detractions. Neville's analysis said there was no room for future expansion, with various other issues relating to combining the new and old buildings.

By the end of the night, Neville's "Option 2," — to construct a new building — seemed to be too much for the town to pay and was largely pushed off to the side. That plan included building a new structure, just over 49,000 square feet, that would house the five buildings in one.

With a final price tag of more than $14 million and the demolition of a point of pride for the township, that plan never seemed to gain much traction. The pros listed for this plan included keeping everything at the same location, while having everything in newer, modern buildings. Problems with expansion room would still exist and infrastructure improvements were also a concern. 

The third option, which would reportedly come with the lowest price tag, is to move to an already existing structure, like the Global buildings. Neville's report estimated total construction costs at just over $1.5 million, with another $1.3 million in costs to demolish the older buildings. That plan could also have the new facility ready to be used in close to six months. 

By Neville's analysis, this plan had the most positives, with the only drawback being that the building would come off the township's tax rolls. Positives include the more modern facility, a lower price tag and the possibility of income from unused spaces leased by the township.

Council Discussion

When Neville was done with his presentation, council members on the dais and members of the public had plenty of questions that took a long time to answer. One of the most vocal opponents to the proposed move to the Global building was Councilwoman Pauline Smith.

Smith said during these "very difficult times," the township could not afford to spend the money to utilize the Route 9 facility. "The fact of having everybody under one roof is a luxury we cannot afford," she said of the plan. "If we're going to get through these times of austerity, we had better behave ourselves," she added.

One problem brought up about the renovation option during the discussion was that with a certain amount of work on the original building, the entire century-old structure would have to be brought up to code. However, it was shown that there were ways to build a new building nearby while still allowing the original structure to keep its grandfathered status. 

Leaving the current building for a newer one was not a chance Smith said the township should take at this juncture. "It's not right for the governing body to gamble with taxpayers' money," she said. 

Smith also said that another drawback to the proposed move to the Global building would be leaving the quiet and rural surroundings of the current building on Preventorium Road for the much busier Route 9 corridor. Smith also added that the Global building, "does not represent the character of Howell Township," like the current historic structure does. "I beg of you not to buy this building," she concluded.

Councilman Robert Nicastro said that after listening to points made by Smith and Deputy Mayor William Gotto on both sides of the issue, he was looking to do what he felt was best for the township. "At the end we all want to come to the right conclusion," he said. "I would not bond or raise taxpayer dollars to move. I'm committed to make something happen without bonding."

For as passionate as Smith was about staying put, Mayor Robert Walsh made his feelings known that he would like to see things change. "I want to get out of these buildings as soon as possible," he said. "This town would be much more efficient and much easier to run and manage if we were all under one roof.

For his part, Gotto said at the meeting that the decision to move or not move is not an easy one. "My choice would be to keep the municipal operations where they are," he said before adding, "We have had three rounds of professionals come here and no matter what we do we will have to incur additional debt to do that project. That's why I'm open to the option of the Global building. I don't want to see us do something today that would incur debt to do something I would like to do."

Gotto said if the changes could be made to the original building with the expansion, "by far that would be my option." Money to buy the Global Building would reportedly come from funds already bonded to buy other pieces of land known as the Pinnacle and Harms properties. Between those funds and money in other accounts available, the township reportedly has close to $6.9 million saved.

According to Walsh, that would likely be enough to cover the purchase price for the new building. "If we bought this building we do not need to go into further debt to buy this building," he said. 

During the public comment portion of the meeting, residents agreed with Smith about the building being an integral part of the township beyond the meeting rooms. The hill by town hall is a popular sledding tract for families in the winter and can trace its roots back to being a safe haven for children in the early 1900s when tuberculosis was a rampant problem.

When the discussion ended it appeared as though no further action would be taken. That changed at the end of the meeting when the council passed a motion to enter into negotiations with the owners of the Global Property. For more,.