Next stage of municipal building project

By Mandy Coriston
The Byram Township Council met on Monday, June 3, and voted unanimously to pass Resolution 129-2019, authorizing the Nader Group, LLC to proceed with Phase 1A of the project to ultimately build a new municipal complex. The architectural design firm was retained in December to explore site options, analyze the existing buildings, and return their findings to the Municipal Building Subcommittee and the council. They presented a full report in March.
On April 16, the subcommittee offered a formal recommendation to the council to ask the Nader Group to begin providing more detailed analysis on a plan which would rehab the current mortar building, replace the shed structure, and build a new, separate police station, which would be constructed according to new ‘essential building’ codes. The subcommittee worked together for a year before assembling their official recommendation.
With the passage of the resolution, the Nader Group has the approval to do more extensive testing and design, which will include inspecting all infrastructure of the existing buildings, reviewing the space and square footage program, and drafting interior layouts and full site renderings for the new complex. The council also feels the subcommittee should continue to be a part of the process moving forward.
The subcommittee is made up of community members in a variety of fields, but many have architecture and construction backgrounds. Councilman Harvey Roseff feels the entire subcommittee’s expertise will be invaluable as the project progresses.
“The subcommittee should stay together,” Roseff said, “I think we need timely coordination to allow them to actively participate the rest of the way. We need their feedback, and a lot of them have experience that’s relevant to the project.”
The remainder of the council agreed with Roseff, and a joint council and subcommittee meeting will be scheduled to charge the committee with new tasks and allow them to formalize by choosing a chair and assistant chair. The group will be privy to all information from the Nader Group and will continue to dissect the data and offer their opinions to the governing body.
Comprehensive information on the project can be found on the township’s website at www.byramtwp.org in the News & Noteworthy column, under the headings ‘New Municipal Building Project Information 2016-2019’ and ‘Municipal Building Subcommittee Meeting Minutes/Agendas 2018-2019’.