Donation of land means plans for light will advance

Donation of
land means
plans for light
will advance

MARLBORO — The Board of Education will donate a piece of land at the corner of Union Hill and Tennent roads to Monmouth County, allowing a traffic light to be built at the busy intersection.

Board of Education officials told members of the Township Council last week they are willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the light can go up.

"The school board is going to be doing whatever the (Monmouth County) Department of Transportation asks them to do," council President Steven Gustman said. "They’re being extremely cooperative and the council is very pleased about that. It represents a renewed spirit of cooperation between the various governing groups."

At a Township Council workshop meeting two weeks ago, Township Engi-neer Bill Schultz said the school board had been trying to negotiate the donation of the land in exchange for approval of an application for a traffic light it had filed with the Monmouth County Planning Board.

That application is for a traffic light at the intersection of Tennent and Harbor roads.

But school board President Dr. Terry Spilken said Schultz hadn’t been in contact with the board when he made those statements and that the implications were not true.

Spilken said it was "disappointing" that the council and its engineer did not make an attempt to speak to him or other board members before speaking on the issue in public.

The board decided on Sept. 19 to donate the land it owns at Union Hill and Tennent roads. Spilken said he heard of Schultz’s statement on Sept. 20.

"I promptly called council President Gustman and spoke to him about this kind of miscommunication," Spilken said. "I want to see that this kind of unfortunate incident, this breakdown in communication, does not happen again."

He said the board will donate the land "unconditionally."

"No one in this township wants a light more vehemently than the board. We have two schools near that intersection," he said. "It will add tremendously to the safety of our children."

Spilken said the board first received notice that Monmouth County was interested in the land on Aug. 29. The decision to donate the land came three weeks later.

"That really is an incredibly short time to make a decision and I’m proud of that," Spilken said. "There’s a lot of bureaucratic things that have to be done when you’re deciding on land, and rightfully so. You have to consider how this will impact your investment, the safety and convenience of the children, as well as other future plans you might have. I think we really moved this through rather quickly."

The property to be donated at the corner of Union Hill and Tennent roads is about 3,225 square feet. Monmouth County administrators began advertising for bids for construction of the traffic light last week.

— Louis C. Hochman