Our Residents Deserve Better !

OUR RESIDENTS DESERVE BETTER !
New Milford needs a new Police Headquarters, there is no question about it. It was a hot topic 10 years ago when I was Council President.Our Borough has not undertaken a public project of this magnitude since the old Borough Hall burned down. We have no experience in constructing a new headquarters,  so it is imperative we take our time and do this properly,  5 million dollars of taxpayer money is riding on this.
Council President Duffie and Councilwoman Grant called and asked to meet with me to answer some questions regarding the proposed plans; I agreed. When I had a chance to review the plans I was surprised to see how preliminary the plans were. The plans were without any dimensions, there were no notations or verbiage on the plans, the plans and elevations did not match. My first thought was the presentation by the architect to the M & C was sophomoric, more like a first year design student's homework and certainly not complete to the point to present to the council. Regardless of the design, which is subjective, I have great concern that the architect was not qualified to undertake this endeavor. The most troubling document , however, was the proposed site plan.  NMPD's new home was located BEHIND Borough Hall squarely in the middle of the parking lot. This is New Milford's first new building in some 75 years and we are planning on building behind Borough Hall? How can that be? Councilwomen Duffie and Grant stated that the architect needed a secure connection to the council chambers and this was the only way to do so.  The architect said the only solution is to construct the building behind the council chambers and have an access corridor connection. I found it hard to believe that this was such a poor solution to the design problem.Our Borough Hall is a recognizable structure that represents our town, our government and sits predominately on River Road . Shouldn't our new NMPD Headquarters deserve the same prominence? Shouldn't this building be located in a visible location that residents can see and point to where their tax money went. Doesn't this building represent our "Law and Order" in this town?   Then why hide the building out of site. We are not building a snack bar for the Little League here.The NMPD Headquarters needs to be fronting on the street, visible, clearly identifiable. Are we trying to hide the building ? Maybe if you saw the design you would say yes.
The proposed NMPD Headquarters will be something that our residents must take pride in.  Our PD must practically live there, 24/7; it never closes. Yet the architect placed it behind Borough Hall just because he needs a secure connection to the council chambers.  That is how the architect solved the design problem before him,  in the most simplistic way. There seems to be no concern that the PD behind Borough Hall will block light and air to the building, block the windows in the basement offices below and create a dark and dreary dead end place behind the building for kids to hang out.   Not to mention the reduction to the size of the parking lot and lost parking spaces.
The proposed building seems to be constructed of concrete block and vinyl siding, not exactly in the Federal Style that Collucci mentions he has been working on for the past 15 months. I say "seems"  because the drawings have no language to describe the materials on the exterior.The building is proposed to be level with the parking lot and not even raised to match the first floor of Borough Hall . It is very difficult to keep water out of a building at ground level. The parking lot is full to capacity most nights and weekends during the warm weather with ball games. So, we are adding a building AND reducing parking, brilliant!  Colucci was quoted in the paper saying that design changes will cost taxpayers 30% more;  that's not even an educated guess. The architect's cost estimate presented to the board simply states $200 per square foot, no material breakdown, a "ball park estimate " at best.  Despite construction of the building in the parking lot, there is no cost estimate for reconstruction or reconfiguration of the parking lot, already a $200,000 extra. There are two large parcels at both the north and south end of Borough Hall large enough to accommodate the building and provide the street presence the building requires, without disturbing the parking lot. For the architect to pass this documents off as 15 months of work is absurd. For the architect to throw up his hands and say he can't make changes unless he is paid an additional $20,000 is totally unprofessional. The plans are preliminary and  no engineering has commenced. The architect's role during preliminary design should be to work to create the best plan he can and address the program requirements presented to him using the tools of his profession. Preliminary design is where all the "bugs" get worked out, all the questions and what-ifs. For the architect to request additional money is unwarranted and a disservice to the Borough. If the council majority is not pleased with the design, then he has contractual obligation to revise his drawings until the council is satisfied.
The Mayor has retained an architect with no apparent experience in this type of project and is more than 100 miles away.  Aren't there plenty of architects in Bergen County that could handle a project like this?  It is quite foolish to rush a design as the Mayor , Colucci and Robalino continually try to do.  Hasn't the Mayor, Collucci and Robalino learned this lesson when they quickly tried to re-zone the United Water Property and failed?
Haste make waste, it aways does.My offer to councilwomen Duffie and Grant to act as an unpaid consultant to the Council still stands. To paraphrase the great JFK, " ask NOT what New Milford can do for me, but what can I do for New Milford". 
Respectfully,
Michael J. Gadaleta AIA