Board targets north, south properties for new schools

Board targets north, south
properties for new schools

HOWELL — Members of the Howell Board of Education paid a courtesy call to the Planning Board last week to apprise board members of their plan to seek voter approval for the construction of three new schools.

At an estimated cost of $50 million, plans that will be outlined in a proposed Dec. 11 public referendum include, for the Adelphia section of the township, a K-5 school with a projected student enrollment of 550 children and a grades 6-8 middle school with a projected student enrollment of 750 youngsters. The land the board is considering for purchase for the construction of these two schools in northern Howell is owned by farmer Warren Schuch.

According to board President Ron Sanasac, the property being looked at by the board is between Ardmore Estates and the old Board of Education administration building on Route 524.

He said the land under consideration for the two schools is not part of the Schuch-Hascup parcel between Howell and Havens Bridge roads that is the subject of a lawsuit filed by developer U.S. Home against Howell following the Planning Board’s denial of a 135-home application.

The third school to be built under the board’s plan will be a K-5 school with a projected enrollment of 550 pupils on property off Ramtown-Greenville Road near Howell Middle School South in the southern end of the municipality.

Sanasac told Planning Board members at their Oct. 18 meeting that the Adelphia and Ramtown properties are the likely choices because they are "the most beneficial with the least downside."

He said both locations will allow for the new schools to tie into existing water and sewer lines.

School board members said the plan is for all three new schools to be finished and open to students by September 2003.

Mayor Timothy J. Konopka was brusque with Sanasac and told him the community had been misled by the school board as to its intended construction plans.

Sanasac said the planned construction of three new schools at the same time — rather than the construction of two new schools and an addition to the Griebling School as was initially spoken about — was "the will of the people." He said a series of meetings held over the past eight weeks had taught the school board that, "The community is emphatic that we not be shortsighted."

Sanasac said building three new schools now would more adequately handle present and projected student enrollment in township schools.

In reply to Konopka, Sanasac said that following the December referendum, the school board would be locked into the proposed properties or face months of being tied up in court.

He said the Adelphia site is about 77 acres and added that the school district would probably only use about 55 acres. He suggested that the township could develop the remaining 22 acres into a passive recreation site which could include walking trails.

Planning Board members Pauline Smith and William Trethewey spoke of their concerns for the environment with regard to the Manasquan River, which they said could be adversely affected by work at the northern and southern construction sites.

Smith also voiced concern about lighting at the Adelphia location and whether it could adversely affect homeowners in neighboring Ardmore Estates.

Sanasac said a middle school is not like a high school in that there would not be night games that would require high-intensity lighting at the school. He said the parking lot lights at the school would not affect nearby homes.

Regarding Ardmore Estates, Sanasac said, "Somebody was thinking ahead when they built the development," noting there was a provision for an emergency access road that could be constructed from Ardmore Estates onto the school property for use by emergency service vehicles.

Smith and fellow board member Stanley Marciniak were concerned about the impact the schools would have on traffic, saying it was now "already almost impossible to get on and off that road (Route 524) at certain times."

Sanasac said no traffic studies have yet been done. However, he observed that there are no sites in Howell that could sustain the projects where traffic would not be impacted.

Regarding the design of the new schools, project architect Scott Prisco said that in the interest of equity throughout the district, the three new schools would stay consistent with the present designs of the town’s other schools with the exception of a redesign of the new middle school’s upper stairwell, which Prisco said would be adjusted to improve traffic flow.

Before the referendum can be held, the school board’s plans for the three new facilities must be approved by the state Department of Education.