The July 27, 2009 Township Committee meeting agenda

[Guest]

The July 27, 2009 Township Committee meeting agenda has been posted.

http://www.cranburytownship.org/TC_Agenda_072709.pdf

[Regulation Baseball Field]

Work Session

a). History Narrative on the Regulation Baseball Field
Mayor Stave will present a history narrative on the
regulation baseball field on the former Wright-South property


Let us all gather and watch history be re-written

[Guest]

People, if you are upset about the waste of money on the ballfield then please show up tonight.

[The Barn]

40,500 being spent on a barn?

[Guest]

[Guest]

TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE MEETING
April 27, 2009

Reports and Communications
--Mayor
Mayor Stave reported that a meeting will be held next week with members of the Historical Society concerning the Updike Barn, also known as the Parsonage Barn which was acquired by the Township in 2005, to follow up on discussions held during the budget meetings about the ongoing costs of housing the barn in storage. Discussions will be centered on how the Committee and the Historical Society can partner together to get the barn erected and out of storage.


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From the Cranbury Historical and Prservation society Newsletter:


Barn Project
The circa 1770 barn that was on the Updike property, is cur-rently in storage with the New Jersey Barn Company. CHPS is working with Cranbury Township to get the barn out of storage and have it repaired and rebuilt on township property off Cranbury Neck Road, where two other barns now stand.


http://www.cranburyhistory.org/newsletter/assets/chps0609.pdf

[Book 'em, Dan-o!]

Maybe we can hire some tour guides for the historic site. If they dress up as lords and ladies, we can call it...

Barns & Nobles

[Guest]

I believe the purchase price from the Howarth's was 30 or 60K - can't remember. The total price of the barn is not just 40K, it should include:

Purchase price from Howarth's
Disassembly price
Storage price
Reassembly price

Wonder what all those costs are...

[Dan Mulligan]

By the way this was me. Sorry for not being logged in at the time.

[Guest]

I've seen the couple barns they currently have off of Cranbury Neck and was never impressed that they were supposed to be significant or preserved. I've never seen the Township organize any activities or educations sessions around them. At least one of them looks like its just barely holding together. What exactly is the purpose of spending money to preserve and maintain them if they are outside the original contexts of the properties they were part of? And why do it for more than one?

I've heard that some people like to buy historic barns to re-build on their proerties and renovate for new purposes. Etc. I would wonder if it would make more sense to see if anyone wants to buy this barn and we could make some oney off it rather than spending money.

Again, I am all for historic preservation in context, but unless this is on the original site, is being restored to the original site or is being specifically used for some purpose that has meaning and value to the community, I am not for spending money just to put it up in some randrom spot littered with other structures that carries no special significance.

[Homer]

Maybe we could put the barn in left-center field with a scoreboard on the outside and a library on the inside? We could put bleachers on the roof, like Wrigley!

[Guest]

[Guest]

Any news on what happened at the meeting?

[Guest]

Last night, the mayor reported...

The decisions to preserve the land, convert it to recreational space and build a ballfield were made over several years, supported by members of both parties, on the recommendations of the recreation committee and the school, with a series of open meetings for community input.

The ballfield construction has cost the Township $25,000, so far.

There will be additional construction costs to complete the project- dugouts, scoreboard, watering system, etc. The Township will look for grant money to cover the costs of completion.

Problems with the contractor have delayed completion of the grass field. The current contractor, or bond company, is responsible for ensuring completion of the contract.

The costs of preserving the land and converting it to recreational space were roughly $500,000 higher than expected ($1.2 MM total) due to unanticipated environmental remediation costs. These costs would have been incurred with or without the ballfield.

No one at the meeting refuted the Mayor's report. The public asked the TC for improved oversight of the project, ongoing communication and to keep a lid on future costs.

[Jay T.]

A few items to add on to the post above.

Dan Mulligan and I specifically asked that they not spend additional municipal money and that they look for grants. When I pressed them on the issue of town money being used the response by Tom Panconi was we agreed to do build regulation field and we will do a regulation field including all of the items such as dugouts, bleachers, scoreboard, etc... When I said no matter the cost, they agreed (minus Win) that they would proceed and re-stated they would look at grants. I further asked that they not rush to do the work since 128,000 of expense raises our rate by 1 cent and again that they not spend money from our town taxes or take on debt.

Overall there was a good history provided, but the history did not cover the present time and missed some points. There were a few numbers absent. For example, there are legal fees being paid in order to seek remuneration. No disclosure of engineering fees incurred in the soil remediation, etc...My understanding is that legal fees incurred cannot be paid by the insurer so that is an expense for us. Also, according to the township office the grant already received was to cover dugouts, signage, bleachers, etc...So I am not sure if a new grant would be available to cover the cost over runs.

I also voiced my concern that the engineer and others involved had not been looking at the soil conditions to ensure they met spec and were appropriate for use.

Further, Pari spoke about the PNC bank and that the bank is not inclined to donate the building. So from a TC perspective, there is no more they can do since they were charged with only a dialogue to see if PNC would donate the building.

[wcody]