Shortly after township officials publicly put the Hillsborough Township Board of Education on notice for allegedly not proceeding with negotiations surrounding financial talks that could potentially cause the district to pay rent for its offices in the municipal building, the township committee voted to remove the board from an adjacent conference room.
During a township committee meeting May 8, officials unanimously voted in favor of a resolution to oust the school board from an approximately 750-square-foot room adjacent to its existing offices.
“That is a dedicated conference room that we had an agreement on for a while now and it’s just with some of the negotiations that have been going on, we had to go through a formality of having an agreement that would indicate that we were taking [that room] back for common purposes,” Committeeman Frank DelCore said.
According to DelCore, the decision to retake the conference room stemmed in part from the ongoing issue between the governing body and the school board.
“We haven’t really had anything further [as far as discussions] since a couple months ago now,” DelCore said. “We’re hoping to get a meeting scheduled with [the school board]. They’ve indicated that they would like to meet, but thus far we’ve had little success in getting them to agree to meet with us.”
Since the Hillsborough Township Municipal Complex opened its doors in 1991, the Hillsborough Township Board of Education has operated its central offices within the municipal building on a rent-free basis. School officials claim that the deal was made at the request of then Mayor Peter J. Biondi.
According to the approved resolution removing the school board from the conference room, the township and the board “entered into a lease agreement for the occupancy by the BOE of 6,700 square feet in the northeasterly section” of the municipal building back on July 31, 1991 that ended on the same date in 2001.
After renewing for another 10 years, ending on July 31, 2011, the board has continued to operate in the municipal building without a new lease agreement, according to the township.
“We think it’s only reasonable and fair that they pick up their share of the amenities for the building they utilize,” DelCore said. “We hope to sit down with them and hash though that.”
Along with the school board, the municipal building also houses the Hillsborough Township Police Department, the township fire district, various senior activities and the Hillsborough branch of the Somerset County Library System.
While most of those uses are township-run, like the police department, Somerset County contributes funding to cover operating costs for the library, which takes up a large portion of the building.
Officials said the township’s total annual expenditures to run the municipal building in an average year costs approximately $1.15 million. That figure includes building repair and maintenance, insurance and utility costs.
Under the newly approved resolution, Township Administrator Anthony Ferrera and the township attorney are both able to “take any and all actions deemed necessary for the removal of the [school board]” from the adjacent conference room.
According to a statement provided by the district’s Community Outreach Coordinator Kia Bergman, district officials said the school board and the township offices “have a long history of working cooperatively for the betterment of our children.”
“Keeping the local taxpayers in mind, township activities such as summer camps and recreation sports leagues are not charged any building rental fees when they are held at Hillsborough schools,” the district’s statement reads. “The Board of Education will meet in the near future to further discuss its options.”
DelCore said he was still hopeful that things will eventually get worked out between the township and the school board.
“There are certainly things we could do [if the school board doesn’t cooperate],” he said. “Ultimately what we decide to do will really be dependent upon how the ongoing negotiations and hopefully some amicable discussions transpire.”
