BY LINDA SMITH HANCHARICK
WEST MILFORD — Board of Education President Dave Richards is frustrated. Last month, in his report to the school board, he said the township is in arrears for its rent on the Hillcrest Community Center for 2010, 2011, 2012 and, with the approximately $68,000 rent not included in the 2013 township budget, he anticipates the 2013 rent won't be paid either. That amounts to a debt of $276,454 Richards said, due to the school district.
"I don't know what we're going to do," said Richards. "We have options but I haven't discussed them with the board yet."
A longterm deal
The township has utilized space at the community center for decades. The deal had been a rent of $1 each year up until 2009. The previous lease had expired a couple years earlier and, after years of negotiations, the council agreed to pay $68,000 per year in rent to the school board for the use of the building. In addition, the township paid $500,000, $400,000 of which is in escrow for building improvements; the agreement also has the township paying the first $20,000 in maintenance costs each year. The jointly owned Wallisch estate would become the property of the township as well.
The township has its Community Services and Recreation Department offices at Hillcrest, as well as its preschool program and the P.R.I.D.E. program for disabled adults. It took about two years to finalize but Mayor Bettina Bieri signed the agreement in December 2011, at the direction of the council. Bieri has never been in favor of the agreement - she has said the residents of the township have already paid for the building and shouldn't have to pay rent on a building they already own. Former Councilman Bob Nolan, who voted in favor of the long-term lease agreement at the time, said last week it's a vote he wishes he could take back.
"The Hillcrest building is a pig in a poke," said Nolan to the mayor and council last Wednesday night. "Invoke the 15 months clause and get out."
Nolan was referring to a clause in the lease agreement that states the township can give 15 months notice in ending the agreement.
Good faith
Township Administrator Nancy Gage confirmed that the rent amount was not included in this year's municipal budget. Township attorney Fred Semrau said the $500,000 was to be transferred when the Wallisch property had closed, but it was sent earlier. The closing on Wallisch hasn't happened, he said, because there are unresolved environmental issues with the property. But the $500,000 can be used to bring the rent current and after the Wallisch estate is settled, the township and the board would address the capital issues at Hillcrest.
Richards isn't convinced that's how it will work. He said the school district can't access the money because the township hasn't signed off on the escrow attorney. Semrau said the money is in keeping with the spirit of the agreement and is a good faith effort by the township. As for the Wallisch property, Richards said that even though the district owns half of it, they didn't get any part of the money received from the Tennessee Gas Pipeline project for the right of way on the estate. He thinks the Wallisch property should be finalized, saying the environmental issues are minor, caused by skeet shooting years ago. What he suspects is that the township may not want the Wallisch property anymore. And he doesn't think they want to stay in Hillcrest either.
"Our attorney notifies them every year, repeatedly," he said. "Officially they're holdover tenants."
What he wants is for the township to budget for the rent and then pay it to the district.
"It's very frustrating," Richards said. "All I want is for them to honor the lease. That's it. We're the landlord and nobody's paying rent."
What are your thoughts? Should the township budget and pay the rent to the school district for Hillcrest or should the township move its programs out of the community center altogether? Go to westmilfordmessenger.com and start the conversation.