The Zombie Property (aka "The Pit Stop"), Part II!

Hey Everyone!

On April 10, 2019 I started this blog with an article on the Pit Stop.  To refresh your memory, you may read the article again now.  I will wait...…...

Alrighty then... After 3 years of diligent work involving engineers, NJDEP staff, environmental consultants, grant applications, title searches, research, negotiations... you name it... it happened, we received a check in the amount of $239,524 from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Municipal Grant Program.  This grant money is purposed for us to continue with the environmental assessment of the property which includes the razing of the long vacant building (to study the ground soil underneath it).  We do have our environmental company on the ready, and we hope to have this work started in the next couple of months.  I will make sure to inform you all when the building is scheduled to come down.  Maybe a little party with some refreshments are in order as we watch?

To follow up on my April 10, 2019 article, the end-game for the Township is to get the property cleaned through grant funding, acquire title to the property after clearing title, and then create a passive park area for the community to enjoy and be proud of.  For far too long, this site (so prominently situated in our Town) has languished because of its complicated title history.  Millions of dollars of liens against it, and an owner that is a now defunct LLC with it's only member deceased.  To say this was quite a... errr.. "situation" is an understatement!

But I do want to publicly thank the governing body (Mayor and Council Members) who pushed for and supported the work that it took to make this happen.  I also want to publicly thank our Municipal Engineer James Parvesse and Brenda Kraemer (Engineer and Grant Wizard!) for their focused work to bring us to this point.  In addition, the staff at the NJ DEP have been excellent to work with.  They agreed with us very early on that this is exactly the type of project that the grant money is designed for...and they helped us greatly to make it happen.

The work, however, is nowhere near done.  We have much to do to get us to the end line!  There was a lot of work happening out of sight of the public...now you all get to see the work that will be done at the site as proof that progress is being made.  Stay tuned!