Byram voters asked to OK $9.7M bonds for town hall, police station

BYRAM - A $9.7 million bond issue is on the ballots on Tuesday for township voters with funds going toward a new administrative center and police station, the third time in a decade the governing body has bought a building plan in a decade.

Currently, the police are working out of a small group of office trailers while town administrative offices are located in a building that is about 70 years old.

This latest proposal includes two new buildings, one of 5,237 square feet for the police and an administrative center building that will contain meeting facilities for civilian groups. It includes a small kitchen, as well as offices for town functions.

The police building will contain a secure area, known as a sallyport, so patrol cars can enter with prisoners who can then be taken inside headquarters under secure conditions. Currently, prisoners must be taken into the station directly from an outdoor parking area.

The new suite of offices contains secure storage areas for firearms, evidence and records and secure, soundproof rooms where officers can process arrestees and question them without being overheard. The trailers have been in use since the early 1970s and do not meet building codes.

The Township Council has already spent about $500,000 in architect and engineering studies of a solution to the space problem. Twice over the past decade, voters have turned down bond issues for partial solutions to the space issue.

However, Councilman Harvey Roseff, who cast the lone vote against presenting the bond issue to the public, said he views the project as too costly for "office space."

Roseff said the police center is too expensive for a building which doesn't have a jail, 911 center or courtroom.

He said $9.7 million is too much for 17,000 square feet of "office space" and added there is a small number of Byram employees, with a majority of them part time and most of the police department when on-duty are on the road.

Byram uses Andover Township court system, which also handles court activities for several other Sussex County municipalities. The town's 911 emergency calls and dispatching goes through Hopatcong, which provides the same services for other small police departments in the eastern side of the county.

Township Manager Joseph Sabatini said the police department has 17 employees and there are about 20 people who would work in the administration building, which measures just over 8,000 square feet.

But more than 20% of that space will be dedicated to public use since it will have an assembly/meeting room, an attached small kitchen and storage.

He also noted that the public space could house future programs, such as senior citizen exercise classes, or youth groups.

Sabatini said the latest cost estimate for the two buildings is below $9.7 million, but the council has included more than $700,000 to cover unknown and unexpected costs as well as any additional professional service fees for those unexpected issues.

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He noted that the new buildings will conform to requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act, something which the current out-of-date building cannot meet.

Township officials estimate an average increase of $169 on tax bills over the decade life of the bonds.

Sabatini said he expected the "public rooms" to be well used since the only public meeting space in town currently are at the elementary school or fire station.

He said the timeline if the voters approve the bond issue would be for the town to go immediately out for bids by mid-December and returned from prospective contractors by early spring.

Then would come demolition of the existing building to use that footprint for the administrative center with the police building going up about the same time.

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Byram NJ bond question asks for $9.7M for municipal buildings