Hillsdale
Perhaps the borough’s biggest 2024 news concerned voters’ approval of a $62.4 million bond referendum to upgrade the 100-plus-year-old George White Middle School. On Sept. 17 approximately 61% of voters approved both questions to upgrade the middle school and add a six-classroom addition for STEM studies.
Work is expected to begin in summer with temporary classrooms being installed. Over the 20-year bond term, an average homeowner pays $840.00 yearly. Voters had nixed an $82.7 million replacement bond question in early 2023.
Since then, school officials had held multiple meetings with stakeholders, parents, and taxpayers, plus hired a public relations firm to create a referendum website and record public meetings for later public viewing.
Moreover, long-delayed projects to upgrade recreational fields are underway at Centennial Field, and ongoing plans for a multi-purpose Memorial Field are being developed with a spring timeline for council review.
Local officials had been talking about Centennial upgrades for years, with nearly $1 million in engineering, architectural and construction costs — including the current renovation — tied up in improvements. Initial estimates for Memorial upgrades were in the $6.5 million range, and some residents opposed the high cost, saying more should be spent on other rec fields, too.
Also on our radar: Decorated police chief Sean Smith remains on administrative leave pending an unspecified county review.
Next, Montvale…