Bus Facility, Phone System Talks Move Forward

Talks with the Washington Township Board of Education are progressing regarding the construction of a , and continue to move toward making the project a reality.

The new facility, if built, would feature 3 to 4 bays for bus repair and maintenance, and would be constructed near the Department of Public Works facility on Rock Road. Under the current plan, the district would be paying the township to have the facility constructed, which would cost approximately $500,000 in total.

This figure, according to Mayor Ken Short, is significantly less than if the district were to hire an outside contractor to complete the project. Short stated that the construction of a non-township sanctioned facility would have been estimated to cost around $2.5 million.

If the new, local facility is completed, Short also estimated that the district could save approximately a quarter of a million dollars per year on the maintenance of its buses. Currently, the school district outsources all repairs and maintenance on its 56 school buses.

Washington Township Vice Mayor Jim Harmon was pleased to see that talks are progressing. Harmon noted that communication between the township and its educators has moved in a continually positive direction in recent memory.

“It really exhibits a turning of the tide in the past year of the K-8 district and the Township Committee, as well as the West Morris Regional Board of Education,” said Harmon.

Even Better Communication

Communication soon will become easier between numerous other township officials, as well. In a move that Harmon called “badly needed,” the Township Committee passed an ordinance at its regular meeting on Monday night to re-allocate about $60,000 of unutilized money from previous budgets to replace the much-maligned phone system that connects township offices with the Washington Township Police Department.

This is a victory for the Township Committee, who, as a collective, has tried unsuccessfully to find and budget money for this vital communications upgrade.

“From years past that we did not utilize all the money, we had some balances,” said Township Administrative Clerk Deborah Burd. “You can cancel those balances and relocate them to another account.”