Tuesday, February 12, 2013
There are more delays regarding where to place Hightstown's municipal departments.
The Hightstown Borough Council has postponed making a decision on what to do about Borough Hall, according to centraljersey.com. According to centraljersey.com, Hightstown had received one bid to provide a temporary modular facility to be used as a new Borough Hall. However, rather than accept or reject the bid, the council tabled a decision. The council has been considering leasing land owned by the Rug Mill, but a lease for the property has not been worked out yet, said Centraljersey.com. The bid came in from MobileaseModular Space Inc, the centraljersey.com article said, bidding in at $159,200 for an administrative temporary facility; and $275,100 for a module police unit. Mobilease is based in West Deptford. Hightstown Borough Hall and…
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The borough council is considering options for where borough employees, who currently conduct municipal business in the Public Works building, will be situated while Borough Hall is rebuilt
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the trailer sizes as indicated in the borough engineer's report. After working for more than a year out of the Hightstown Public Works building on Bank Street, Hightstown borough administrative personnel will have a new temporary home, thanks to recent concessions made by the borough’s insurance company. During the Nov. 19 Hightstown Borough Council meeting, the council, as well as other borough employees, discussed possible options to house seven offices, as well as space for meetings, the borough’s computer server, and borough files, for a three-year period, which would be covered by the borough’s policy with Lexington Insurance Co. Office space would be provided for the borough …
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The Hightstown Borough Council passed a resolution Monday night as a formal response to the borough planning board's objection to rebuilding Borough Hall on its existing site
In responce to the Hightstown Planning Board’s recommendations to not rebuild Borough Hall on its existing site, Councilman Robert Thibault drafted a resoltution for the Nov. 5 Hightstown Borough Council Meeting in which the council rebuts the planning board’s objections with several justifications for doing so. That draft has since become Resolution 2012-276, as it was adopted with a 3-0 vote with abstentions from Councilwoman Selena Bibens, Councilwoman Susan Bluth, and Councilman Larry Quattrone during the Nov. 19 council meeting. A resolution, while not necessary according to Borough Attorney Fred Rafetto, was recommended to officially explain why the council intends to go ahead with a plan that is contrary to what the planning board …
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Hightstown mayor, council members, borough employees, and members of the public made their cases for or against rebuilding Borough Hall in its existing location
For many, the Hightstown Borough Hall has been a point of contention for more than a year now, and Wednesday night’s special workshop meeting showcased the various viewpoints and forces at work in the borough. Councilman Robert Thibault illustrated with a PowerPoint presentation the flooding that occurred due to Hurricane Irene last year, as well as the many options council considered for the location of the new Borough Hall building. He highlighted that the council has done a thorough job in researching the borough’s options. “Council did a great job of due diligence,” Thibault said. “We worked very hard, we fought for information, and I think we uncovered it.” According to Thibault’s presentation, the administrative building took on …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The Hightstown Borough Council discussed several items concerning Borough Hall Monday, which will be elaborated on during a special meeting Wednesday night
During Monday's Hightstown Borough Council Meeting, the borough council briefly revisited the Borough Hall discussion during its Hurricane Irene Update. Council members brought up several talking points, which will be discussed further at a special workshop meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Hightstown First Aid Building. During the Hurricane Irene update, Borough Administrator Mike Theokas said so far Hightstown has received $848,957.21 total from the borough’s insurance company, Lexington Insurance Co., and FEMA. The borough spent just over $1.4 million for emergency appropriations last year. He said the borough anticipates receiving more funding from FEMA in the near future, which will be discussed at length during the special …
Friday, September 21, 2012
Residents could see a new Borough Hall on North Main Street in three years
Hightstown’s Borough Hall could be reconstructed on the North Main Street municipal-owned property within three years, funded for the most part by the borough’s insurance company. During the Hightstown Borough Council Meeting Tuesday, the council passed a resolution with a 5-1 vote stating they believe it is in the best interests of the borough to undertake a municipal capital project to re-use the property for some or all of the municipal operations of the borough. Borough Hall has yet to reopen after Hurricane Irene hit last August, which forced administrative offices to relocate to the Public Works building on Bank Street and the Police Department to move to the Lucas Electric building on Mercer Street. The resolution states that the …
Friday, August 10, 2012
The future of Hightstown Borough Hall, police department remains unknown.
An art studio, reception hall and retail shops were some of the options two council members proposed Wednesday for the vacant rug mill on Bank Street, while incorporating the future Borough Hall location into the plan. Council members Lynne Woods and Selena Bibens said they see an opportunity to do something about the large vacant property in the downtown, and presented what they called an “outside the box” option for Borough Hall and the police department, which were flooded during Hurricane Irene last August. The presentation had four phases, which included purchasing the rug mill, moving the police department in a modular building and eventually moving borough hall into the front portion of the rug mill building and using the back …
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Two council members plan to present another idea to the community.
A new option for the future of Hightstown’s Borough Hall and police department will be presented at the special meeting to be held Wednesday night. Following up on an idea suggested by a community member, council members Lynne Woods and Selena Bibens came up with a plan that includes incorporating the existing rug mill property with retail and residential options. A full presentation will be given at the meeting. “It is our belief that most residents have a common goal for that area which would be a mixture of retail and residential,” Woods told Patch. Woods and Bibens said their idea ties into the revitalization and historic preservation efforts discussed in Downtown Hightstown’s presentation by Donna Ann Harris of Heritage Consulting …
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The process will take six months to one year.
Nine months after devastating Hurricane Irene hit Hightstown, poured several feet of water inside Borough Hall and sent papers floating down the creek to Cranbury, a company has been called in to begin the process of restoring the borough’s records. The state-approved company, Belfor USA, will come in starting June 11 and begin removing records, restoring whatever is possible and microfilming the documents, according to Borough Clerk Debra Sopronyi. The process is anticipated to take anywhere from six months to a year. “To determine what actually still exists and what [doesn’t] is going to be a long process,” Sopronyi said. With the police department being the lowest elevation of the building, they lost the most in the storm. Papers on …
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Several ideas were proposed Wednesday, including moving Borough Hall to Lucas Electric and rebuilding it in the current location.
Residents voiced opinions on the ultimate location of Hightstown’s borough hall and police department at Wednesday’s special council meeting. Local organizations, including Downtown Hightstown, Greater Hightstown East Windsor Improvement Project (GHEWIP) and the Historic Preservation Committee, along with several residents, urged the council to move forward with relocating borough hall from its current location. “The time is now and the opportunity is now,” said Jay Zimmer, GHEWIP chairperson and executive director at Meadow Lakes. Zimmer said GHEWIP did a study, weighing the strengths and weaknesses of moving borough hall verse keeping it in the current location. The strengths included aligning it with the Route 33 Corridor study, …
Great Potential
4:46 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
And thankfully, we have the great leadership of the mayor and adminstrator to boot. Just kidding. We should have known better than to elect someone who has never done anything positive or served the Borough in any capacity, who protects a freeloading Administrator on the taxpayers dime. more ›