Fanwood Council Continues to Seek Improvements to Borough Hall

The Fanwood Borough Council spent much of its meeting Tuesday night discussing ways to improve its facilities.

Councilwoman Joan Wheeler began the conversation by asking Joe Pryor, the borough's engineer, to submit a bid to assess the police department's facilities and the general systems of the building.

"Plumbing, HVAC, it all needs to be looked at," she said.

Wheeler mentioned that there were several problems with borough hall that have recently been brought to her attention. Problems with drainage have caused several rooms to become damp and musty, and some air conditioners and heaters need to be replaced.

Concerns with the building were also raised at council meetings in 2009. At a meeting in June, Wheeler expressed similar concerns about water seeping into the basement near an electrical panel. in July, Mayor Colleen Mahr called for a facilities report to be completed would fully examine what upgrades need to be made to all borough buildings. 

New Councilman Mike Szuch suggested Tuesday night that the council replace the old system with something that is environmentally friendly.

"This might be a good time to go green with the building," he said.

Former Councilwoman Donna Dolce also spoke to the council about green ventures during the public session. She offered some information about a $500,000 Union County grant for municipalities to pursue environmentally friendly improvements – specifically solar panels.

If Fanwood applies for the grant, they will be entered into a pool to receive the money, but will also be immediately informed if they do not meet the proposed criteria. The current guidelines for the initiative call for the projected building's roof to be less than ten years old, with adequate space and sunlight to generate solar energy.

Although the council listened intently and discussed the application process, none were optimistic about Fanwood's chances of winning the funding. Dolce mentioned that the amount of tree cover in the town as well as the age of the borough's available buildings would not be conducive to the county's strategy. The council is looking further into the application process before proceeding.

In other news, Elite Properties recently contacted the mayor to notify the council that demolition of the Sovereign Bank site will occur within the next week or so.

A representative from Elite Properties told Patch on Wednesday that a specific date has not been set.

Elite Properties purchased the Sovereign Bank site a few months ago, and in December was officially appointed by the borough as the conditional redeveloper of the property.