TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—The Township Council introduced an ordinance to lease 1.25 acres at Bethany Community Center for temporary DPW vehicle and equipment storage — an 18-month arrangement projected to cost $104,400.
Ordinance 25-23 was introduced unanimously and without comment on Oct. 20, with a public hearing on Nov. 10. Administrator Mark DiCarlo said the lease cost — $5,800 per month — will be drawn from the township budget.
[Editor’s note: Our print edition of this story, publication date Oct. 27, reported the lease hearing was likely Nov. 3, which was the most current information given to us at the time; officials have since moved the agenda item to Nov. 10.]
DiCarlo told Pascack Press Oct. 22 that the entire DPW fleet will be stored at Bethany but “nothing that would be considered hazardous material.” He said the site will operate roughly 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., except during emergencies or special events, and he does not anticipate “any type of excessive or disturbing noise” from normal DPW activity.
Officials have said that even after a new facility is built, there will not be enough space to accommodate all municipal vehicles and equipment in-house. Mayor Peter Calamari has sought a long-term solution for years. Proposals to store vehicles around town have met pushback from nearby residents, and nearby town partnerships have not panned out.
On Oct. 6, the council voted unanimously to approve the 18-month lease with Bethany Community Center. DiCarlo confirmed the lease terms to us in an Oct. 7 email.
No cost estimates have been made public for a planned driveway entrance from Woodfield Road or a gated, fenced-in area behind the center. DiCarlo said he had spoken with nearby residents and found no objections. Certified letters notifying 37 households of the site’s intended use were mailed Sept. 29.
‘Least impact to residents’
The ordinance states that the Bethany property, at 605 Pascack Road, owned by Bethany Church of the Assemblies of God, is “well suited for the temporary operations of the DPW with the least impact to residents.”
While the ordinance refers to an attached lease agreement, the document was not included. A public records request for it was denied, as the clerk’s office said it did not yet have a “fully executed lease agreement.”
Pascack Press will report on the lease details once they’re made available. Some Pascack Valley towns release draft agreements before votes on spending items, while others withhold them, citing OPRA exemptions for “advisory, consultative, or deliberative” records.
Pascack Press first reported online Oct. 3 on the Bethany lease — discussed privately for months — after details surfaced through the certified letters. In his Sept. 29 letter to residents, DiCarlo wrote that the administration had reviewed several other storage options, including municipal and private sites, but found them unworkable due to deed restrictions or distance.
“We intend to keep inconvenience to a minimum and safety to a high regard,” DiCarlo wrote. “Please feel confident that the administration has vetted other options for storage and operations of the DPW equipment and vehicles.”
The lease has also become a campaign issue. Over recent weeks, former council member Desserie Morgan, now a council candidate, and Mayor Peter Calamari have sparred over the deal in the Pascack Press letters section. Morgan has criticized the plan as “another temporary solution that is rarely, if ever, temporary.”
When Pascack Press sought comment Sept. 30, only Morgan responded. She said the township should pursue a permanent, centralized DPW site to avoid scattering storage throughout neighborhoods and suggested exploring leasing equipment to reduce the need for space.
“Most importantly,” she said, “the community should be part of the conversation from the very beginning — not after negotiations are already underway.”
Calamari did not respond to those questions but later wrote a letter to the editor defending the plan. He said that during Morgan’s three years on the council, she had “every opportunity to suggest locations for the DPW that meet those criteria. None were suitable then, and none are available now.”
He also noted that Morgan had supported an earlier plan “nearly identical” to the current one — a DPW rebuild at Town Hall — and cited prior storage leases, including the Our Lady of Good Counsel Church arrangement approved in 2021 for $2,500 per month.
That agreement, covering 35 spaces, was approved by then-Council President Stacey Feeney, Vice President Desserie Morgan, and Councilman Tom Sears; councilmembers Michael DeSena and Steve Cascio were absent.