Hightstown Votes Down Study of Lucas Electric for Borough Hall

The Hightstown Borough Council voted down a resolution authorizing Borough officials to investigate the feasibility of permanently relocating the Borough office at their Council meeting Tuesday night.

At the moment, the Hightstown Borough Hall offices have been relocated to the public works building at 156 Bank Street since the offices were flooded by Hurricane Irene in August 2011.

This resolution proposed conducting a feasibility study for relocating the offices to the Lucas Electric property at 415 Mercer Street, but was voted down in a 4-2, NJ.com reported. The Hightstown Borough Police Department has also been relocated to the Lucas Electric building since the flood waters from Irene rendered the building unusable.

The Borough Council discussed the possibility of using the Lucas Electric facility at a Borough Hall Workshop meeting in October 2012 among other locations, including the vacant rug mill on Bank Street.

In November 2012, the Council approved a resolution stating a plan to rebuild the Borough Hall at it's current location and rebutting the Planning Board’s recommendation to not build the offices within a flood zone.

The resolution presented Tuesday night presented the option of further exploring the possibility of using the Lucas Electric facility without repealing any previously adopted resolutions, stipulating that a feasibility study would not undo the Council's previous decision.

Council President Larry Quattrone and Councilwoman Susan Bluth voted ‘yes’ to the resolution, NJ.com reported, in an effort to further explore alternatives.