COLTS NECK – The township is preparing to relocate municipal offices from town hall to Bucks Mill Park, where the site of a vacant department of public works (DPW) storage facility and an adjacent plot of land has been gated off and prepared for infrastructure upgrades.
According to township officials, once this underutilized Bucks Mill Park facility is demolished and reconstructed with necessary hardware and technology, it will be used to temporarily house the Colts Neck Police Department and eventually will serve as the permanent residence of the recreation department’s administrative staff.
During the police department’s stay at the park facility, the plan is to give a full remodel to the department headquarters located at town hall, though officials could not comment on where detained individuals would be held during the remodel.
Township administrator Kathleen Capristo and Mayor Thomas Orgo told The Two River Times that site work on the 10,000 square feet of park grounds is already underway and plans for the reconstructed facility are being developed.
The new proposed facility would include a lobby, two interior restrooms, two exterior restrooms, a large active recreation room and a 5,000-square-foot maintenance pole barn to replace the demolished DPW facility.
“The budget for the project is being developed and will be funded via a bond ordinance,” Orgo said in an email. “We hope to go out to bid soon.”
Capristo added that plans are also being developed for the construction of the new police department facility and courtroom, but a start date for the project has not yet been determined.
“The recreation department would likely not move into the Bucks Mill facility for at least two or three years,” Capristo said.
The township’s community center is also located at Bucks Mills Park and, according to Capristo, once the recreation department moves into the new facility, the structure will provide residents with additional indoor recreational space for fitness classes and other passive activities.
No other recreational developments are planned for the Bucks Mill Park site.
Orgo also dismissed the idea of future additions to the new construction, stating that there are no plans for additional floors, wings or expansion of any kind.
Orgo and Capristo did not comment on what will happen to the current recreation department located in the former municipal library at 14 Heyers Mill Rd. behind the Colts Neck Inn.
A public hearing on the project will be held May 8 at 6 p.m.
On May 29, the committee could take formal action to approve the project.
