West Windsor officials are applying for $200,000 in grants through the state Department of Environmental Protection for the third phase of remediation investigation at the township’s former compost station on Alexander Road.
The township had previously been awarded two brownfield grants under the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund (HDSRF) from the DEP to fund the first two phases of investigation into the remediation of the township compost site.
During the Township Council’s meeting on December 20, Business Administrator Robert Hary said the funding would be used toward the third stage of remediation efforts, which involves coming up with a remediation plan at the compost site.
The grant would cover “more detailed testing of the site that will result in development of a remedial action work plan,” he said.
The township wants to turn the site into a parking lot for as many as 500 West Windsor residents who commute via the Princeton Junction train station.
According to officials, the township could receive the funding within the next three months and may even be able to move ahead with creating the parking lot on the site in six months.
Hary also said that township officials are currently in discussions with the West Windsor Parking Authority to bring an agreement in front of the Township Council in January to manage the parking on site for West Windsor residents.
“The plan is to coordinate the Phase 3 and Phase 4 remediation work in connection with a proposed agreement we’d like to undertake with the Parking Authority to turn that facility into a parking lot for West Windsor residents,” said Hary. “We hope to offer up to 500 additional parking spaces there.”
Officials must first sure they do the Phase 3 assessment, which examines how to remediate the site and how to incorporate remediation work into development of the actual parking lot, said Hary. “That’s still to be negotiated with the Parking Authority — the payment for that and other details,” said Hary.
West Windsor officials began remediation investigations in 2008, when Windsor Compost, which had operated the facility until December 31, 2008, moved its operations to Cranbury and Hamilton.
Officials from the state Office of Smart Growth Brownfields Program made a presentation to the township at the time to explain the process for site remediation, which comes in four phases — preliminary assessment, site investigation, remediation investigation, and remediation action, the last of which involves the actual cleanup of the contamination and is usually the most costly.
West Windsor was eligible for state funding, which covers 100 percent of the funding of the first three phases of the process. It may be eligible for some portion of the cleanup, which is determined based on the end use of the site.
@lt:WW Enters Arbitration. Business Administrator Robert Hary also told the Township Council during the December 20 meeting that he was unable to reach contract agreements with three unions that represent the township’s uniformed employees — the Policemen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), Superior Officers Association (SOA), and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).
“All three have filed for arbitration,” said Hary.
Governor Chris Christie recently signed legislation that puts into place a 2 percent cap on salary increases for police and firefighters if their unions cannot come to an agreement during contract negotiations. The cap goes into affect on all contracts that expire after January 1, 2011.
However, Hary said that because the local unions’ arbitration motions were filed before the new year, the former arbitration rules — and not the 2 percent cap — would apply.
