By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Voorhees Sun
It’s official. The Voorhees Township municipal hall will be moving to the Voorhees Town Center, as the members of the township committee unanimously approved a bond of $6.1 million for the project.
More than 50 residents attended the meeting, but only a handful took the opportunity to speak to the committee members.
Township representatives assured members of the community that the project will be tax neutral. The possible sale of the current facility and historically low interest rates and construction costs lend themselves to the timing of the move, Township Administrator Larry Spellman said.
The current police facilities will not be moving to the Town Center, according to Spellman. This significantly lowered the price of the project and made the move possible this year, he said.
The police facilities are about 10 years old, he said, and are in nowhere near the ramshackle conditions of the current township facilities.
The total cost of the project will likely be $6.1 million, he said. The administrative portion of the existing complex has been appraised at $2.5 million. He went on and reported that the completed Town Center will generate approximately $438,000 in additional local tax revenue annually. The proceeds of the sale of the existing property combined with the new tax revenue generated will cover the cost of the project with no local tax increase for the project, he said.
Six months ago, Spellman said, the project was much too expensive because it included the police station being moved to the Town Center as well.
An architect was brought in to determine how much it would cost to improve the municipal building for its employees, he said, and a price was quoted at $6 million.
“I know the committee reviewed all of the different facets of this move,” Spellman said. “We are well prepared and have spent so much time reviewing every aspect of this to make sure it will be flawless.”
An informational movie about the move has been posted on the township’s Web site at voorheesnj.com.
In other township news:
The committee entered into a shared services agreement with the University of Rutgers for the preparation of a conceptual design plan for the 37-acre Buzby landfill site.
Environmental students under the care of their professors will formulate an extensive report for the township on what can possibly be built or be done to the landfill.
The former landfill was a once contaminated site that has undergone several cleanup efforts in the past several years.
Spellman said they would also work in cooperation with the Voorhees Environmental and Cultural Education Foundation.
The township has already designated plans that may work at the site, Spellman said, including passive recreation space and maybe even a solar panel system.
The report will detail specifically what the site can support, he said.
