Board may start looking at alternative school sites
Beacon Hill wastewater plant could solve problem with current property
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

Interim Superintendent of Schools Robert Smith has recommended that the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education authorize the exploration of alternative sites for the new middle school.

Smith reported on the current status of the Ellisdale Road site at the Sept. 6 Board of Education meeting. He said that the main difficulty in constructing the school at the site is getting an approved wastewater management plan.

The Ellisdale Road site is located in what the State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) considers a Planning Area 4, which is a rural planning area that does not permit wastewater management facilities.

Smith said attempts had been made to reclassify the site as a Planning Area 2, which is an urban/suburban designation. However, according to Smith, although the change was approved by the Monmouth County Planning Board, it was denied by the county Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Board of Education President Joseph Stampe said the board is trying to find out why the freeholders denied the reclassification. He said the document pertaining to their decision is missing, but referenced by the board's professionals.

Smith said getting an extension of the village center designation of Allentown, which would also allow for the creation of a wastewater management system at the school site, is also not possible. He said Allentown Mayor Stuart Fierstein informed the board that the Borough Council would not approve the extension because the property is not contiguous to the borough.

According to Smith, the school could tap into the Beacon Hill sewage treatment plant at the Four Seasons active-adult community across the street from the site, but that would require a change in an Upper Freehold ordinance that prohibits expansion of the facility.

Stampe said that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has asked the board why the school could not tap into the Beacon Hill plant.

According to board member Stephen Murphy, the board's engineer, Paul Pogorzelski, has said that costs have changed and it would be more financially reasonable to tie into Beacon Hill. He said the board originally decided not to pursue the Beacon Hill option because of the negative political ramifications. Many members of the Four Seasons community oppose the Ellisdale Road site selection of the school.

Stampe said there were also questions about wastewater flow time and its possible effect on the Beacon Hill system, since schools operate Monday through Friday from September to June.

Smith said he is trying to schedule a meeting with DEP representatives to discuss a possible waiver of the Planning Area 4 prohibition on wastewater plants. All of Upper Freehold lies in either a Planning Area 4 or a Planning Area 5, which is an environmentally sensitive designation that also does not permit wastewater plants.

Neighboring Millstone Township, which is located in a Planning Area 4 and is building a new middle school, will be allowed to construct a wastewater plant for its new school because its Township Committee designated the area for a school before the Office of Smart Growth (OSG) came into existence, according to Stampe.

Board member William Borkowski, who was elected in April, asked why the board has waited since last December to get a wastewater plan approved. He said he was willing to meet every week to get the issue resolved.

Borkowski said it could take at least 29 months to get all the necessary permits and to have the school built, which is five months later than the current estimated opening in September 2008.

The initial plan was to have the school open by September of next year. Borkowski said now the proposed opening in 2008-09 is a problem.

"What are we going to do with these kids?" he asked. "Where are we going to put them in 2008-09?"

Smith said the board could ask its professionals for help in considering alternative sites while it waits to meet with the DEP. He said the question is how the school district will pay for such work, which will include soil tests on other properties.

Murphy said that if the Ellisdale Road site does not work out, the board needs to reach out and get support from Upper Freehold and Allentown and their planning boards.

One parcel often mentioned as an alternative school site is located on Breza Road. The Rockefeller Group, of New York City, is currently before the Upper Freehold Planning Board with a plan to build a 1.8 million-square-foot warehouse complex on the property.

The board has a contract with the owner of Crosswicks Farms to purchase the 46-acre Ellisdale Road site for $2.6 million.

A 45-acre property that is part of the Rockefeller Group proposal sold for $4 million in 2001. A 43.5-acre tract that is also part of the proposal sold for the same amount of money the same year.

A local Realtor familiar with the land estimated that each parcel is worth between $6 million to $8 million in today's market.