Roof leaks? Plumbing’s old? Floors are shot? Whatever. This is what you do if you are the government entity responsible for maintaining a building for public use.
This is what the Council should do about our Borough Hall. Fix it. If they put a second story on it they can have plenty of space and a brand new roof and without all the disruptions that building a new building would cause. This is what a normal town would do in this situation. Instead our Council is only “pausing” their crazy plan despite all the opposition they know they will face. And they are wasting time in planning needed Borough Hall renovations and improvements.
Maybe the Council should at least look into the cost of doing something like this:
Schneck rendering
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I have a theory: Colleen reached out to various developers (my guess is that Brandywine does not go from town to town with this outrageous proposal in the off change that one of them actually accepts it) in the hopes of getting a brand new, albeit totally unnecessary, municipal building. This would also keep with the current and former administration’s mantra about keeping taxes flat. Colleen is most likely still working for Matt and therefore this flat tax narrative is of the upmost importance (Even though it’s based on absolute nonsense and the selling out of Belmars future but that’s a whole other issue)
As for Brian’s unrestrained enthusiasm- I believe that he believes (or more likely, was told) that the shiny new gym will bear his name. For a guy like Brian, that’s a big deal. It’s enough to make him blind to the jaw dropping absurdity of such a project. All he sees is the big sign that says “Brian McGovern Gymnasium” and nothing else matters. Including the fact that he appears to have very little understanding of the project. During a meeting when the project was shelved until after the election (smart move), Brain lamented (out loud) ‘ok, but I’m gonna miss those ratables’. Which leads all of us to believe that he doesn’t understand the deal that was struck.
As for Jen and Tom- I guess they’re just trying to stay with the crowd? You’d think that they would be against the entire current municipal building being dumped into a landfill but I guess being in with the Matt pool party crowd is easier than doing the right thing. It’s a bummer
Ai Ai Captain….And keeping taxes flat will cause the school (our school that we all pay for) to request a referendum in order to fix the nearly 110 year old building. Brandywine doesn’t want to build us a new school (unless of course Scientology is taught). In a market like this, Main St. would naturally attract commercial developers and we’d actually get tax ratables. Mr. St. Rose McGovern doesn’t care about this.
Just an average school for average students.
I actually like the Schneck rendering much better!
The gym is already named after former recreation director Tom Hope.
Kind of like the 10th Ave. Public Safety building is named after Howard Rowland if the ever get the sign back up. Both were great men!
The Schneck design is much more logical. You get the additional space with the second floor and resolve the new roof issue all at once. Good thinking.
Take down the McInervy and put up a McGovernor sign
Whatever kind of roof replacment as long as the new roof has peaks with South facing Solar Panels and in addition add a Solar Generating roof capability over Municipal Parking lot just like Neptune did with collaboration between JCP&L and available State grant monies.
Remove bicycle and butt bucket from second floor please.
SMART PEOPLE KNOW, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, as long as you have an IMAGINATION!
L street beach closed. After an above average rainfall the raw sewage went into the river from a broken pipe. Maybe after years of this happening the town should fix the damn thing
L street doesn’t have the right “cache” for the Busibody Administrator to call in Marine engineers.
What Belmar needed after Sandy was major infrastructure work. That hasn’t changed. What we got instead was an overdeveloped Marina restaurant/bar, a pavilion that is not paid for and not accessible to the public, lakes that are still overflowing even after millions spent. Not to mention a lifeguard crisis.
All so our former Mayor and his political cronies could get photo ops and media coverage. It all looks shiny until you lift the veil. Oops! Am I supposed to say that?! Or will I be branded as “against recovery “.
#8 …. Solar is a great idea and can extend the life of a roof ….
the Belmar Elementary School is another prime candidate for a large scale solar array and the need for renewable energy is growing
BES wishes it could go solar but believe it or not there’s no room on that roof for panels. Lot’s of systems up there, and if/when the kids get air conditioning, they’ll have to add more. They tried to go Geo-thermal a long time ago but that project was way too expensive.
Aileen: Has JCP&L performed an energy audit? Perfect time for that to determine what can be done, donated, debated and/or granted. Beta site program would work as well. Kathy Ellis Pringle would be a great Consultant, maybe.
#15 …. the BES southern exposure roof has great alignment for solar panel installation.
Ms. Hill has been tracking solar for years and there are some unique issues like the condition of existing roof and cooperative power purchase agreements. But, Gov Murphy set a NJ goal of 50% renewable energy by 2030 and solar power plays a big role.
btw-
solar on the school roof could help restore some Belmar civic pride.
JCP&L won’t lease unless roof is within 3 (or maybe 5) years old.
Our roof is in good shape but much older than that. Even then I’m told the number of panels that would fit (due to the utility systems up there) would only service a very small amount of the energy needed. I’m up for looking into it more, as we’re getting hotter spring days, the 3rd floor is a heat box, and I’d love to give them AC. Unknown operating costs due to the age of the building has kept us from spending on that. We try not to use our 2% increase unless it’s absolutely necessary. (You can imagine how I felt hearing Colleen state that the municipal bldg is held together with duct tape and ceiling tile, as if the only option was to tear down and let a private developer take control. Sigh…)
Avenues to be explored. There are other Energy providers out there as well. Maybe the 15 – 20 year old rule about roof age has evolved. RFP a bid. BEST has the form.
#1 Captain right on target. The Hopes have done more for kids in town than Brian ever could dream to
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