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DPW building finally nearing completion
(by Maggie Fazeli Fard - June 24, 2008)
The end is near for River Vale’s new DPW building, or so said Township Engineer Dennis Harrington Monday night, assuring the council that the ongoing project was nearing completion.
“We are getting very close,” said Harrington at the June 23 meeting, enumerating the progress that had been made in the two weeks since his last report: utilities are now connected and operational, and an inspection has been scheduled. More importantly, he said, DPW Superintendent Rich Campanelli can expect to use his office by the end of this week or early next week. Campanelli has been working out of Town Hall.
The DPW garage, said Harrington, will require additional time before it is functional. The lift that is used to repair trucks and police vehicles still needs to be installed.
Also on the DPW building to-do list is landscaping. While not part of the contract, council members expressed interest in using plantings to shield the building from view.
“Nobody’s happy with how it came out,” said Council President Glen Jasionowski of the building’s aesthetic qualities, or lack thereof. “Nobody’s thrilled. There’s nothing we can do.”
Harrington said that decorative evergreen shrubs and pine trees could be planted as cover for the lower areas. There are currently older evergreen trees on the property that Harrington believes sufficiently cover the upper portion of the building.
Landscaping is not included in the contract – Campanelli has taken charge of sprucing up the property in recent weeks – but Gallione said it is likely that money will be available for additional landscaping work to be done through the fall.
Jasionowski defended the structure as a necessity for the township.
“We needed the garage and that is how it fit into that footprint,” said Jasionowski. “That place has been an eyesore for the past 15 years without the garage. I think it’s a better eyesore now.”
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