$40,500 for Barn Restoration Project

[Barney]

This proposed resolution was just posted on the web, introduced at the last township meeting and will be voted on at the next meeting in August.

NOTICE OF PENDING ORDINANCE
Cranbury Township Ordinance 07-09-14

A CAPITAL ORDINANCE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF CRANBURY AUTHORIZING THE RESTORATION OF THE UPDIKE PARSONAGE BARN (HOWARTH BARN) BY THE TOWNSHIP OF CRANBURY, IN THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY, APPROPRIATING $40,500 FROM CRANBURY TOWNSHIP’S CAPITAL SURPLUS TO COVER THE COST THEREOF.

BE IT ORDAINED by the Township Committee of the Township of Cranbury as follows:

SECTION 1: There is hereby approved as a capital project within the Township of Cranbury not to exceed the costs noted below:

Project/Purpose - Restoration of the Updike Parsonage Barn

Cost - $40,500

SECTION 2: There is hereby appropriated from the Cranbury Township’s Capital Surplus Fund the sum of $40,500 to cover the cost of the capital projects as described in Section 1 hereof.

SECTION 3: This Ordinance shall take effect upon final adoption and publication according to law.

SECTION 4: The capital budget of the Township of Cranbury is hereby amended to conform with the provisions of this ordinance to the extent of any inconsistency herewith. The resolution in the form promulgated by the Local Finance Board showing full detail of the amended capital budget and capital program as approved by the Director of Local Government Services is on file with the clerk and is available there for public inspection.

The ordinance published herewith was originally introduced and passed upon first reading at a meeting of the Township Committee of the Township of Cranbury, in the County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, held on July 27, 2009. The ordinance will be further considered for final passage, after public hearing thereon, at a meeting of the Township Committee to be held in the meeting room of Town Hall, 23A North Main Street, in the Township of Cranbury, on August 24, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., and during the week prior and up to and including the date of such meeting copies of said ordinance will be made available at the Clerk’s Office to the members of the general public who shall request the same.
_______________________________
Kathleen R. Cunningham, RMC, Clerk

[wondering]

I wonder, has our TC said what the Parsonage Barn will be used for?

I wonder, is this just another muesam for our Town?

I wonder, what other costs are related to this?

I wonder, where will people park in our Barn Park if we ever put the barns to a purpose?

I wonder, whats the point of this barn park?

The other barns at the barn park are in very sorry shape. our school board is spending money on a new outbuilding for storeage. how about we re use the barns for a real purpose?? I see the TC3 hard at work here trying to build a legacy for themselves-a new library, unused barns...in the end more tax money being spent with no plan.

In the end, I wonder how Cranbury will look in the rear view mirror as folks (including our Mayor) exit this Town looking for lower taxes and more sensible local government?

[Guest]

I'd like to clarify to clarify the situation on the barn because I too did not have the full picture and thought what a waste of money. I am not involved other than to say this seems like a collassal screw up.

The issue of the 40,500 is as follows:

When VW/Audi applied to the PB for approval on 130 there was an existing house called the Holland House. The Historical Society was concerned about losing the home and barn. The dealer in turn agreed to donate the home to the society so that they could sell it to someone who may have interest and then use the funds to move and restore the barn. A simple transaction and the money never would be in discussion today.

There was an error in the transfer by VW and they transfered the deed to the town rather than the society. Our NJ laws (to prevent corruption- love that) do not allow the town to transfer property to organizations such as the Historical Society unless the property is preserved. Since the home was to be sold there was no way the town could make the transfer to the society.

To rectify the issue and maintain the original intent the town sold the home on behalf of the Historical Society and kept the money with the intent to transfer it back to the Society when they had sufficient funds to replace the barn. There was an ordinance passed to that effect. Everyone was on the same page, everyone agreed, Society, TC and residents. My question is why didn't they just transfer the money from the start?

So now we have a TC mistake occur in 2008 (sounds liek a regular theme). The funds in 2008 are transfered into general surplus by a new ordinance. In essence the funds which did not belong to the town, which the TC had agreed were only being held, suddenly became town funds. It is akin to one over paying in taxes and then the town saying even though we should not have the money we've decided to keep it so come before us and we'll decide if you get it back or not.

I have yet to hear otherwise, but as far as I can tell the Society is only asking for the 40,500 that was originally intended to go to them. Their not asking for the town to place additional funds into the project nor are they asking for true tax payer money. So from my view there is a moral obligation to pay the 40,500, but no reason to pay beyond that amount.

[still wondering]

the above explaination was clear and understandable. who authored it? not to pry, but that would give it credability.

I have never heard this explaination from the TC--I guess plain talk in our local government is hard to come by.

[Guest]

If this is the case, there should be public records documenting these actions.

[Scott]

I wrote this, but don't want to use my last name since I know TC and society members. I am not involved with either.

Also, there are records- ordinances actually and I understand they were read last Monday evening for the record detailing the situation.

[Guest]

Are you sure this is the Holland House barn? I thought this barn was the one removed from the Howarth property on Cranbury Neck Road?

[Guest]

any photo's of it??

[Audrey Smith]

The barn, c1770, was the Howarth barn. It was the barn for the first church parsonage on what is now Symmes Court and is thought to be the oldest barn in Cranbury. The township would be taking the $40,500 from surplus that was realized from the sale of the Holland House and not from Cranbury taxpayers. It is a worthwhile project and should be considered a gift to Cranbury.

[Guest]

Did the township pay the original price of the barn to the Howarths?

[Guest]

[Scott]

After I posted, I was corrected in discussions that it is the Howarth barn. The money from the Holland house sale was to go to the historical society as per the ordinance. The Society was going to use the money from the sale to renovate the Howarth barn. I messed up in listening. I assumed the Howarth and Holland were on the same property and that is my error, I did not realize they were on separate areas of land.

The above explanation I laid out though is still accurate, just that they were going to use money from the sale to repair the barn. It's still an ethics question and a technical question. Ethics being does the town uphold their agreement and technical because the town put it into surplus and thus it became tax payer money does that mean we should as a town keep it.

Honestly, I don't see a value (sorry), but I do see an ethical committment to be upheld and if the society wants to repair the barn with their money then I am not opposed since it does not affect me one way or the other.

I believe when Audrey states a gift to Cranbury she is not talking the money, but the barn itself as being a gift to Cranbury.

[Guest]

[Guest]

Honestly, with the exception of Audrey did everyone on this forum move to Cranbury in the last two weeks? The decision to purchase and restore the barn was made five or so years ago. It wasn't done under the cover of darkness. It was in the paper. There were lengthy discussions about it. There were long public discussions on where to put it. Various organizations in Cranbury were consulted,(i.e. the Lions club, the historical society). The time to have raised your voice against this and or suggest alternatives was then. I really don't care one way or another, I just can't believe the complete lack of any knowledge of decisions made more than 6 months ago.

[Guest]

[Guest]