TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—The Township Council has advertised a special public meeting for Thursday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. to introduce a pair of bond ordinances authorizing the acquisition and financing of two parcels.
Which parcels the town is taking up are not specified in the public notice, which was published in the Bergen Record and Ridgewood News on Saturday, Jan. 8 and njpublicnotices.com, a public website of the New Jersey Press Association.
Formal action may or may not be taken at this meeting, states the notice, which adds that “due to the Covid-19 virus, this meeting will be virtual and the public will not be allowed to attend in person.” The public may join the meeting via Zoom. Access information is available at twpofwashington.us and at the town clerk’s office.
There is no agenda posted.
We reached out to Mayor Peter Calamari, Council President Desserie Morgan, and Township Attorney Kenneth Poller on Jan. 8, seeking clarification. They have not replied.
The township has been working toward acquiring:
- The 6.4-acre Washington Township Swim and Recreation Club, for which it offered $1 million in July 2021 and was rejected, and
- The 3.2-acre mostly wooded tract at 450 Pascack Road, for which the township offered $430,000 last summer and has since been involved in negotiations.
On Jan. 6, following our reporting that a club trustees’ email to bonded members on New Year’s Eve said their sale to a summer camp had fallen through, and that the board was back in talks with town administration, Calamari posted a video on Facebook saying any talks on this topic would be hashed out in closed session before coming before the council and the public.
(For more, see “New talks on a WT swim club,” Pascack Press, Jan. 10, 2022.)
Poller has repeatedly advised council members refrain from discussing 450 Pascack Road in public. He also has said the town would employ eminent domain to take the land at fair market value if negotiations did not pan out.
If those two properties were to be acquired, the bonding ordinances might weigh in at a conservatively estimated $1.4 million to $1.8 million.
Charlie Brown’s site available
We’re also watching to see what happens with the 1.5 acre former Charlie Brown’s Fresh Grill and Steakhouse property, at 95 Linwood Ave., which some in town have suggested could work as a new DPW site after the former public works headquarters, at the municipal complex, was demolished last year, and its toxic soil remediated under the direction of a licensed site remediation professional.
Remediation was required by NJDEP in 2021, following contamination that occurred in the 1970s due to leaking gasoline and oil storage tanks.
In a stopgap measure in 2021, the township rented 35 spaces for DPW heavy equipment on a two-year lease at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, across from the high school on Ridgewood Road, for $60,400.
At the council’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 3, Calamari said, “We will continue to be on the lookout for properties that the town should acquire for strategic purposes including 450 Pascack Road.”
Proposed activity at former bank?
Separately, a Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing is set for Tuesday, Jan. 18 over Zoom to take up 590 Pascack Road, the former TD Bank property next to the assisted living facility taking shape next to Seasons Catering.
Applicant/owner KBE Building Corp. proposes to use the bank space as temporary office space and construction parking. It says application documents are posted online but as of this writing there is nothing related to this on the township website under ZB applications.
The ZBA reorganization meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m. over Zoom.