District
sells school expansion plans
Warren Hills superintendent details projects
to mainly supportive crowd.
Friday, September 10, 2004 • By BILL BRAY •
The Express-Times
WASHINGTON -- A majority of the crowd that attended a
public forum Thursday on the upcoming Warren Hills Regional
bond referendum supported the $42.8 million plan to expand
and renovate the district's two overcrowded schools.
Superintendent Peter Merluzzi spent about an hour
explaining the project that would add 48,000 square feet to
Warren Hills Regional High School and 7,400 square feet to
Warren Hills Regional Middle School.
"I'll take what I can get. I wish it was bigger,"
Merluzzi said of the attendance at the second public forum
held about the referendum scheduled for Sept. 28.
Merluzzi said between 30 to 40 people attended the first
forum Wednesday night at Franklin Township Elementary
School. Many of the people at Wednesday's forum also
supported the referendum, Merluzzi said.
If approved, the project would add a new auxiliary gym,
cafeteria, aerobics/wrestling room, weight room, trainer's
and athletic director's offices and additional parking at
the high school. Existing space at the high school would be
renovated to provide for a larger library, four new art
rooms, two agricultural/science labs with greenhouses, 13
classrooms, two small group instruction areas and an
expanded guidance office.
At the middle school, four new classrooms would be added
to the rear of the building in a two-story addition that
would also include an elevator to make the school completely
handicap accessible. Renovations would provide the middle
school with a larger health office, a new main office near
the front entrance for better security, seven additional
classrooms and a new driveway for school buses to ease
congestion in the surrounding residential neighborhood.
The plan also includes $6 million for a new athletic
facility on a 15-acre lot across from the high school. The
facility would include a new football field with a soft
artificial turf, a new track and four tennis courts.
The state has committed to give $13 million toward the
project, leaving approximately $29 million to be funded by
local property taxes. Merluzzi said the district would repay
the debt over 22 years. The school estimates it would
receive an interest rate of 4.6 percent on the bonds.
The impact on the average homeowner will vary between
the four member municipalities in the regional district.
Homeowners in Oxford would pay a portion of the interest
through the tuition they pay to send students to the high
school.
In Washington, the average homeowner with a house valued
at $141,000, would pay an extra $100 annually in property
taxes if the referendum passes.
In Washington Township, the average homeowner with a
house valued at $232,000, would pay an additional $157 in
property taxes.
In Mansfield Township, the average homeowner with a
house valued at $235,000, would pay an extra $158 in
property taxes.
In Franklin Township the average homeowner with a home
valued at $301,000 would pay an extra $149 in property taxes
in the referendum passes.
Vicki McCormick of Washington Township wasn't sold on
the referendum after hearing Merluzzi's presentation.
"I think it might be easier to pass it if it's just
classrooms," McCormick said.
Merluzzi said the current football field, located behind
the middle school, is in need of extensive repair including
electrical work, new bleachers and new sod. Merluzzi said
the school can't use the existing track, located behind the
high school, and the tennis team has no place to practice
and must play all of its home meets at Delaware Valley
Regional High School in Hunterdon County.
The turf field will cost $300,000 more than a
traditional grass field. The school will save about $24,000
annually in maintenance costs with the turf field and it
should last at least 10 years, Merluzzi said. The turf field
can also be used much more extensively than a grass field
and in poor weather conditions, Merluzzi said.
"You can play the death out of it," Merluzzi said. The
district plans to use the turf field for more than football.
Soccer, field hockey and midget football could be played on
the field, Merluzzi said. Warren Hills would be the fourth
school in its athletic conference to install a turf field,
the superintendent said.
Scott Anderson of Mansfield Township supports the
referendum. Anderson, who coaches the high school boys'
soccer team, said the new field would give the district more
room for its programs.
"We don't have enough fields to practice," Anderson
said.
Additional public forums are scheduled for: 7 p.m. Sept.
13 at Warren Hills Regional High School; 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14
at Washington Borough Memorial School; 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at
Washington Township's Brass Castle Elementary School; 7 p.m.
Sept 16 at Warren Hills Regional Middle School; 7 p.m. Sept.
20 at Warren Hills High School; and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at
Mansfield Township Elementary School.
Polls will be open from 2 to 9 p.m. Sept. 28 in their
regular locations, Merluzzi said.
Reporter Bill Bray can be reached at 908-475-1596 or by
e-mail at wbray@express-times.com.
Copyright 2004
The Express-Times. Used with permission.
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