The sale of a liquor license to MarketFair for $1.25 million last year (WW-P News, August 12) will provide funds for work on the municipal complex, as will a $25,000 grant from Sustainable Jersey for energy-related improvements to public facilities. Mayor Hsueh says with that money West Windsor must abide by state statutes that permit the township “to improve our green design and use the money we save in the future to pay for all the costs.”
“We have money that we need to use for investment. We have high energy bills at the complex, it was built almost 40 years ago and never has had any improvements or renovations. We will save money down the road, and we have the money to make it happen sooner rather than later,” the mayor said.
The mayor referenced an idea that former Councilman Charles Morgan had put forward about installing solar panels on the municipal building, and Hsueh says Morgan never listened to him when he explained that the township had investigated that possibility with engineering analysis. Solar panels simply wouldn’t work.
“The structure of the building will not be strong enough to hold panels. Instead we need to make this a more efficient facility inside, not only by installing better insulation but better partitions too. We need to look into how to make the building more energy efficient and, at the same time, look into new technology.”
Hsueh says the trailer attached to the building is also nearly 40 years old and the shelf life of such a structure is 20 years. Employees now need to bring in fans during the warm summer months, and the mayor says “that’s not cost-efficient.”
Hsueh says the physical arrangements of the complex need to be more accessible and customer-friendly. One addition may be a new window open in the front for people to pay taxes, or different locations for certain divisions.
As for the parking lot, which is in poor condition, the mayor has looked into one possibility so far — the Atlantic County Utility Authority which uses a “solar shelter” for its parking lot to protect the ground from sunlight, rain or snow while producing solar energy. He’s not sure whether the township can do that, but Hsueh says the investment is worth exploring.
