Rumors have been circulating for many months concerning a new Middletown municipal complex to replace the township's current place of residence. Township officials in the past had been very coy and guarded when answering questions about the possibility of a new complex, they would neither confirm nor deny such plans. That has now changed.During public comments of the April 20th Township Committee meeting, a resident asked about the rewiring of Town Hall after a major power outage the previous week fried much of the wiring in the building. When asked if the building was going to be needing a total rewiring, Township Administrator Tony Mercantante stated that it was unlike. When asked about plans for redesigning or refurbishing of the building, Mercantante mentioned that there weren't plans for a refurbishment but plans for a new building.
The conversation starts at the 1:26:11 mark of the video and continues 1:27:40
At the April 30th special budget adoption meeting, a resident asked if there were funds dedicated in this budget to the construction of the new municipal building. She was told by the CFO that there wasn't, but money was included as part of the capital improvements in the previous year's 2014 budget. That conversation can be viewed starting at the 11:10 - 11:45 marks of the video.
So, at this point it now seems pretty clear that Middletown will be spending a few $ million on a new Town Hall, which I must say is needed. I'm just curious where it's going to be built and at what cost.
Are they planing on knocking down the current Town Hall and rebuilding in its current footprint or relocating and starting fresh? Originally it was going to be part of the Town Center project but that is unlikely considering the bad blood that litigation creates.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
10 comments:
I agree that a new municipal complex is needed but I wouldn't hold my breath on it happening anytime soon. They've been talking about doing it for the last 20 years. It's just a bunch of talk - nothing more.
Why the heck is a new municipal complex "needed"? There are tons of unoccupied office buildings in the area that could be utilized for expansion.
Would not want the current bunch on the TC in charge of a project like that !
Maybe it will become as much of fiasco as the Arts Center was and is and as costly.
The township hired an architect last year to design such a facility. Plans have been drafted already.
Our law enforcement staff deserves a decent facility that is not full of mold and circuits not overloaded. With a mold free HQ, there will be less absences by patrolmen.
The woman police officers should have their own area to change, besides the ladies room.
It is needed, I think the current TC will not make a lavish or larger than needed, saving us taxpayers money!
Guess we will have to wait and see, can't wait!
Let me guess, it's going to be a builder connected to the Cartons or Massells....
There is no reason not to rent an office building somewhere in or near Middletown for extra space. Waste of dollars.
Why rent? i'm sure the town could buy one of the large 1/2 empty office bldgs. on #35 and build a public safety facility on kings highway. You will save by buying a already built office bldg and do some minor renovations and alterations to make it usable. Its not that easy with the public safety facility because there are a lot of special requirements for the police that i'm sure they don't have and really do need. And i'm willing to bet that there are some sort of HSA and DOJ grant money out there for public safety use.
This approach needs to be explored
Agreed = no need to build a new building. Only money for republican construction businesses...
Middletown should be looking to build a facility to be able to have other towns utilize our personel and facilities. Sharing services will be the way of the future - courts, animal control, dispatching services, building depts.
Home rule has become too expensive and new avenues need to be explored. Middletown could become the leader to be of northern Monmouth!
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