COLTS NECK – Municipal officials are contemplating the future home of the Colts Neck Police Department and municipal court, which are currently operating in a building the mayor has called “obsolete.”
Colts Neck’s police department and municipal court share a building next to town hall on Cedar Drive.
During the July 12 meeting of the Township Committee, officials provided an update about possible renovations to the police department/courthouse building and/or the construction of a new building to house those operations.
“Our police station is obsolete,” Mayor Russell Macnow said. “It is an old New Jersey State Police barracks built in 1962 that was not designed for what it is currently being used for and it is not consistent with code requirements in terms of jail cells and other matters.”
Officials said their initial plan was to construct a new police station/courthouse in 2019 when Colts Neck is scheduled to retire a significant amount of debt. A new building could be constructed next to the Colts Neck Library, across from the current police station/courthouse.
Another possibility is to bring the portion of the police station/courthouse that houses the police station up to current standards and to leave the portion of the building that houses the courtroom as is.
During an investigation of the facility, officials determined the roof on the police station/courthouse was not constructed properly and needs to be renovated. Committee members said the estimated cost to address the issue is about $500,000.
“Being the cynic I am and having been involved in construction defect litigation for a number of years, those numbers tend to run on the higher side rather than the lower side,” Macnow said.
At this time, members of the governing body are considering a plan to demolish the police station/courthouse and build a new facility in the same area.
“The reason we are looking into it so early is because the land we would like to use is Green Acres land,” Macnow said. “If we want to build on that property, the state has to approve it and we have to do a land swap with them and that process will take about a year.
“We will see what the state allows us to do and what is ultimately the most cost-effective thing to do,” the mayor said. “Sometimes these things have a way of snowballing and getting out of hand and this seems to be one of those cases. The problem with the courthouse roof was an unforeseen problem and it is a matter of deciding whether to repair it or to do something different.”
In other business, the committee hired Joseph Zoppi as the police department’s 21st officer. Zoppi is a 2016 graduate of the Atlantic County Police Academy and is now enrolled in the Monmouth County Police Academy, Freehold Township.
“It is not something we do very often due to Colts Neck being a small town and having a relatively small police department, however, we have been fortunate enough over the last couple of months to appoint a second police officer,” Macnow said.
Police Chief Kevin Sauter said that with the hiring of the new officer, the police department will be able to re-establish the position of traffic enforcement officer.
“I would like to commend our officers who not only keep this community safe, but who keep the state and nation safe in a time where law enforcement is on and off under attack,” Sauter said.
