'Good intentions' based upon political motivation

The Upper Freehold community needs to understand the political intentions of the members of the Board of Education (BOE). As we can all agree, BOE members who volunteer their time have good intentions, but their intentions are based upon political motivation.

I write this article after attending last week's BOE meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about a budget and plan for the proposed middle school.

I know that we need a middle school as soon as possible that can provide a thorough and efficient education while supporting the school's curriculum. However, there are a few items of concern to me. To date, I still have not seen the proposed curriculum. But, Hill International expects the board to select "value-added engineering" components to remove from the budget to reduce costs. One example is an auditorium without permanent seating. Other examples can include other facilities and technologies needed to support labs and other academic and athletic activities.

The budget presented by Hill did not reflect the true costs for land acquisition for the Breza property, or the litigation costs to cancel the contract (potential lawsuit) for the Ellisdale Road site with Princeton Nurseries. The amount of land to be acquired from the Breza Road site would only accommodate enough usable acreage to construct one school, not a campus environment for future schools to be constructed.

Hill's budget is dependent upon an on-time completion (best case) for the project and material costs staying within a relevant range. We keep hearing that Millstone's middle school was completed on time and on budget by Hill International. However, we learned that the Millstone school budget had a 5 percent contingency built in that was used to deliver the school building.

So after having said this, why the rush to have the referendum pushed through with so many open variables? Why the appearance of some BOE members to abandon the Ellisdale Road site? What is the politics behind this? One popular theory that I have heard is that Mayor [Stephen] Fleischaker has been working on the township master plan for two years - a plan that has been long overdue.

At the Township Committee reorganization meeting, when questioned by the public as to why Steve Alexander was not voted in as mayor, Fleischacker responded that he needed to complete his work on the master plan (The mayor serves as chair of the Planning Board and solely appoints the board members). Fleischacker and the township planner are in favor of transfer density for housing (i.e., some type of town center). Could the Breza Road site be so attractive for a middle school as it would be the perfect epicenter for a town center?

Getting back to the political motivations: If the middle school can be delivered for less cost (as projected by Hill) and sooner than the Breza Road site (as projected by Hill). And, the Breza Road site would not provide for a campus environment (with the proposed land acquisition). And, we all agree that we need a school sooner or later. Seems to me, only political agenda or political support can enter the equation.

Some will tell you that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will not approve the Ellisdale site for wastewater management. In fact, excerpts from the letter by the DEP was read at the BOE meeting. My understanding (I cannot confirm or deny) is that this letter was written by one member of the DEP after a lobby-type effort of coaching from some members of our township. I would like to see a meeting with the public present between the Township Committee, the BOE and the DEP. After all, if the Ellisdale site doesn't get a school, it is targeted as a town-type center location. Surely, if the latter happens, someone from this town would have gotten the wastewater situation resolved. Can't we get this wastewater issue resolved now? Then, allow for well-informed, fiscally conservative and academically motivated decision for the site selection, funding and delivery of a much-needed middle school.

Ken Caitano

Upper Freehold Township