New middle school plans move along

BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE — The township’s Planning Board helped move along the new middle school project last week.

The board approved a three-lot subdivision on the property bounded by Baird and Roberts roads for the future middle school and suggested buffering for Roberts Road homeowners, whose properties will abut the proposed athletic fields.

Voters passed a $39 million referendum for the construction of a new middle school on land that once housed Waters Nursery, in December. The project should reach completion by 2007.

Board members called the subdivision approval a formality, as the state Department of Education (DOE) has jurisdiction over public school properties in New Jersey.

Because the land belongs to the municipality, board members Elias Abilheira and Nancy Grbelja, the township’s mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, stepped down for the hearing.

Township Attorney Duane Davidson and Township Engineer Chris Rosati appeared before the board on behalf of the township.

Rosati asked the board for several variances, most of which involved the scales of maps and topographical maps for the site. He said while mapping is relatively simple, it takes time and adds costs to the taxpayer.

Rosati also requested a variance for soil tests because the former property owner, Orleans Developers, did soil testing. He said the board reviewed the results of the tests last August when the company applied to build houses on the tract.

James Nichols, the school’s architect, said approximately 24 soil borings were taken. None of the test results revealed actionable levels of lead, arsenic or pesticides, he said.

Davidson said although the township purchased the parcel and deeded it to the Board of Education, officials wanted to go through the formality of a subdivision before the Planning Board. The Board of Education needed the deed by a specific time, and there had not been adequate time to subdivide before then, he said.

Under the subdivision plan, the Board of Education would get a 56.2-acre lot for the school and a 17-acre lot for athletic fields.

The township would eventually receive a 40.5-acre lot, which consists heavily of wetlands and a JCP&L [Jersey Central Power & Light] easement with restrictions that it could only use the land for open space or recreation. Of the portion that the township will receive, about 12 acres are suitable for possible recreational use.

Davidson said the Board of Education would revert the property back to the township because there is a prospect of grant funding. If grants were received and the work completed, the property would go back to the Board of Education. He said this was a way to save taxpayers money.

Dennis Haag lives on Roberts Road,

directly across from the proposed athletic fields. He said that due to the topography, the fields would be higher than his property. He proposed buffering and an earthen berm to shield his view of the fields.

Haag said the Hampshire Hill development was built behind his house 18 years ago. He called the development “a sore subject” because although it should have berms, it does not.

Davidson said the Board of Education had jurisdiction over buffering the school project.

Board of Education attorney Frank Campbell said board members want to be good neighbors to people surrounding the school site. He said they would hold meetings and wanted people affected by the new school to attend.

Haag, a 20-year-resident, said, “I simply want to protect my little piece of Millstone.” He also inquired about lighting.

Campbell said middle school fields would not have lights. If a high school were ever approved for the site, such a project could entail lighted fields, he said. Nichols added that there would be no small structures on the athletic fields.

Board member George Zanetakos said the Planning Board always required buffering on commercial applications, and asked the board to request buffering on the school site to ensure the neighbors’ privacy.

“[Dennis Haag’s] quality of life will be diminished, and we have the ability to prevent that,” Zanetakos said.

Board member William Kastning, who was sworn in that night to replace former board member Mark Cascella, said there would be a substantial cost to the township to buffer all along the fields.

In the resolution, which passed unanimously, it was recommended to further explore the need for buffering.