The Grover Farm issue will be front and center of West Windsor Council again on Monday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m. The Council and Grover Farmstead committee members agreed to have a question-and-answer session, and Council is then expected to vote on the proposal to preserve the 19th-century structure at the Council meeting on Monday, June 10.
The April 29 meeting also revisited another long-simmering issue: The solar farm being developed by Mercer County Community College. Residents Theresa Lourenco and Marilyn Stoddard, whose homes border the solar farm, spoke about the issue once again.
They advised the Council of their concerns, including the sun glare on Old Trenton and South Post roads; light pollution from Mercer County Park stadium lights, which now shine into homes because of the removal of 130 trees and destruction of a hedgerow; drainage of wetlands; and adverse effects on wildlife, homes, and Lake Mercer.
Township business administrator Marlena Schmid provided the residents with an update. “The college will be sharing a landscaping plan with the Township that we will share with you,” Schmid said. “I don’t have a date for that yet. They advised us that they will be planting 200 trees and constructing fencing. Then we can see if the sun glare is addressed to some extent.The Township landscape architect will review the plans and then we will arrange a meeting with you [the residents]. Some of the issues you have raised are new, so we will pass those along to the college as well.”
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh also offered to be involved. “But please remember the Township has no jurisdiction here to limit their lighting; even the park lighting. We can suggest it but ultimately we have no control. But once we get the landscape plans, I will go with you to the meetings, and will reach out personally to the college on your behalf.”
Council President George Borek concurred: “We are well aware of and share your frustrations. But at the end of the day, if they don’t want to accommodate us, they don’t have to. We are trying to work with them so that they will cooperate with us.”
Township attorney Mike Herbert had a suggestion. “As for the stadium lighting, perhaps the park can put shields on them. It will help cut down on the light pollution and is easy to do.”
Council member Bryan Maher also suggested that the residents once again attend a county freeholders’ meeting to enlist their support, a suggestion that the council and Mayor Hsueh agreed with. “When we went to the freeholders’ meeting, we found them to be somewhat sympathetic to our issues. Perhaps they can get involved,” the mayor said.
Said Borek: “We will go with you and support you there. Just let us know when.”
Police and EMT Concerns. Resident Pete Weale once again expressed his displeasure with the proposed lease between the Township and the Policemen’s Benevolent Association for the property at 367 North Post Road, arguing that the land had not been maintained by the PBA and that two unregistered vehicles had been parked there for some time, in violation of law.
He also expressed concern over the lease amount of $10, or $1 a year. Weale removed a $20 bill from his pocket, and asked, “Can I bid on the property? I’ll pay you $20 for it, and have now doubled your revenue.”
Former PBA President Frank Bal explained that “we hire a landscaper who comes through and maintains the property, and we also have two clean-ups, in spring and autumn, by the union. This union is an anomaly — we are lucky to only pay $1 for the property, but we pay for a lot of events in town, and we always have. We couldn’t do that if we had to pay a lot of rent.” Council voted 5 to 0 to approve the lease.
Council also unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Township’s division of fire and emergency services and the Twin W First Aid Squad. This MOU provides, among other things, that Twin W staff are subject to oversight by the manager of the division of fire and emergency services; that Twin W shall maintain proper insurance coverage; that the entities will work in cooperation with one another; that no alcohol or controlled substances shall be allowed on Twin W property; that the Township will maintain all of the emergency vehicles used by both parties; and that Twin W as a charitable organization will submit its record for a tax audit as required by federal tax law.
This MOU is one of a series of agreements being formalized by the Township. When resident John Church asked whether this MOU related to the events at the Twin W last summer, (referring to the Fur-BQ debacle, WW-P News, July 6, 2012), Borek responded affirmatively, saying that “it took us this long to get an agreement. I would have thought we would have had an agreement with them one month after the event, but it took them this long to agree to everything.”
Twin W President Jan Sun, who served as the chief negotiator for the MOU once she assumed the presidency in January, explained “the most difficult part of completing the MOU was because both sides had their lawyers involved. The atmosphere was terrible, and it was very hard to negotiate anything. I thank Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh for facilitating the agreement.”
Sun, who is also busy directing a membership drive in conjunction with National EMS Week (see sidebar, page 12) continued: “Both sides made considerable concessions. We had a relationship based on mistrust on both sides, which actually predated the Fur-BQ incident. But Twin W wants to have a good relationship with the paid emergency staff, as well as the fire departments. So it was important to get this MOU finalized.”
Utility Poles. Township engineer Francis Guzik gave a follow-up presentation on the need to move utility poles near the new resident parking lot off of Alexander Road. Said Guzik: “After speaking with PSE&G representatives, it seems that we will only need to move a maximum of three poles, at a cost of $50,000 to $70,000 per pole. It is possible that they will pay some of the cost, but they need updated construction plans to assess how much.”
Maher noted that the Parking Authority had sent a letter to the Council indicating that they would not be paying for the pole relocation, even though, according to Guzik, at least one pole needs to be moved to service the parking lot. Guzik also confirmed that “the costs of moving the poles will come out of the transit improvement development fund, a developer fund, not through taxpayer dollars.”
At the end of the discussion, the Council voted unanimously to approve a professional services agreement with ACT Engineers for the Alexander Road improvements and the Old Bear Brook Road closure at a cost of $30,200.
Another discussion point was an amendment to the 2013 capital budget to include funding for the settlement of litigation relating to the former Castoro sandpit property cleanup, where soil from neighboring towns, corporations, and even Princeton University had been illegally dumped for years. Though the Township did not illegally dump on the site, under the spill act it is still required to pay a portion of the cleanup costs. The amount West Windsor will need to pay still needs to be determined by the arbitrator. Council unanimously approved the item.
Schmid also provided some of the details regarding the town’s recent dumpster day. “There were 504 participants who dropped off 30 tons of items, filling six 30-yard dumpsters; 40 yards of electronics; 30 yards of scrap metal; and more. The shredding truck processed 9,000 pounds of material. The Rescue Mission filled a truck-load with donated items. The next one will be held on Saturday, September 14.”
Council also unanimously approved the appointment of Alfred B. Vuocolo Jr. as an alternate III/substitute township prosecutor, through December 31; a professional services agreement with Nassau Animal Hospital for Veterinarian Services for $8,000; a professional services agreement with Weber’s Training School for boarding and care of stray animals for $10,000; and a professional services agreement with Remington & Vernick Engineers for a bicycle/pedestrian improvement project on Edinburg Road for $5,000.
Council also approved the introduction of two capital improvement ordinances, one relating to public land maintenance including, storm water basins, landscape islands, open space, several neighborhoods, and development and improvements to the West Windsor Waterworks Aquatic Complex, for $610,000; and numerous capital improvements, including roadway, drainage, and bicycle/pedestrian, traffic safety, municipal facilities and parks, and acquisition of emergency services and public works equipment; for a total of $3,609,900 and requiring the issuance of $3,438,000 in bonds and notes.
Public hearings on both ordinances will be held during the May 13 Council meeting.
