HILLSDALE—The Borough Council voted unanimously in August to table a resolution to hire Colliers Engineering and Design to design Magnolia Avenue improvements due to uncertainty about what future road work may be required by renovations to George White Middle School.
Council decided Aug. 8 to delay a vote until at least its next meeting, Sept. 12, on hiring Colliers for nearly $59,000 to handle required engineering services on the Magnolia Avenue project.
The planned road improvement project will include repaving of Magnolia Avenue from Piermont Avenue to Washington Avenue.
Council members, including councilwoman Abby Lundy, questioned paving a road that may be torn up within a couple years should renovations at George White Middle School require Magnolia Avenue to be dug up to upgrade various utilities serving the school.
Councilman Anthony DeRosa, council’s school board liaison, said a referendum on renovations at the school was tentatively planned for September 2024, but that he doubted school officials could provide information on what work might be required on Magnolia Avenue.
Lundy said she had concerns about spending nearly $220,000 from the capital budget on the project, plus a state transportation department grant of $208,000, if the road was going to be torn up within a couple years for school-related construction.
Other councilors suggested that they only pave certain areas of Magnolia, leaving areas near the school unpaved. Another suggestion was to move forward with the repaving and require the school district to pay for future road work should contractors working on George White need to tear up the newly paved road.
The council agreed the road needed to have repairs made, but was concerned about having a nearly half-million dollar road project impacted by future middle school upgrades.
Borough Administrator Michael Ghassali said the “shelf life” on road improvements was 10 to 15 years, and some council members also wondered about the impacts of heavy equipment traffic on a newly paved road, should such vehicles be required for future school construction.
Ghassali speculated construction may not start until a year or so after a referendum is approved to undertake school renovations. He said he would check on when the state DOT grant had to be used and whether it could be used for other projects.
Beechwood Park plans
Also, council approved hiring Colliers Engineering for $51,200 to perform survey services, ecological services, design and bidding as well as grant administration for the Beechwood Park Nature Trail Improvements Project, which earlier received an $85,000 state matching grant.
Lundy said though she was an advocate of the Beechwood Nature Trail project, she felt the Colliers engineering services proposal “seems like a lot of money.”
Ghassali said the project involved wetlands, and moving the trail through the wetlands, and told her that “wetlands always become expensive” when a project includes them.
He said the project requires moving the nature trail and needs NJDEP permits.
Ghassali said there was money in the grant for engineering services. Council voted, 5-1, to approve hiring Colliers; Councilman Zoltan Horvath voted no.
Sustainability and resilience
Lundy told council that the Sustainability and Resilience Committee, appointed last year by Mayor John Ruocco, will be moving forward with some initiatives this year. These include forming a local Green Team, and working with the administrator on short-term efforts such as seeking grants.
Also, Lundy said the Environmental Commission had applied for and received a grant from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions to put up signage to help identify trees in the Beechwood Park Nature Trail, possibly by the Sept. 23 Fall Festival in the park.