Architect will assess plan for fire, first aid building
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - The Township Committee has authorized the expenditure of $6,400 for architect Ronald M. Schneider and Associates to perform a feasibility study for the possible construction of a first aid building between town hall and the Manalapan-Englishtown post office.

In a letter to Township Administrator Tara Lovrich, Schneider outlined the parameters of the proposed design of the building as he understood them to be following a discussion of the proposal he had with Lovrich.

According to the letter, Schneider is developing a proposal for a building that will include a three-bay apparatus room for the Englishtown-Manalapan First Aid Squad. Six vehicles would be able to be housed in the building. A two-bay apparatus room would accommodate two fire vehicles.

The remainder of the building would be expected to consist of office space, meeting rooms, rest rooms and a kitchen. Preliminary estimates for the building have been given at 21,000 square feet, including a partial basement.

According to Schneider, a meeting to include first aid squad and fire company representatives and municipal officials will be convened to decide on the space requirements for each agency.

Schneider indicated that an initial evaluation of the space requirements indicate that the overall size of the building may be reduced.

He said an initial review of the requested number of rooms indicates that a number of needed rooms - such as locker rooms and showers - may be missing. He said these issues will be discussed with the individual agencies at a later time.

Also, according to Schneider, a number of specialty rooms were indicated in the list of required rooms, many of which will need further details in order to plan for their unique construction, such as an oxygen tank filling room and a decontamination room.

A commercial kitchen was requested in the design and Schneider said he needs a detailed list of equipment to be included in order to determine the minimum required size for the proposed kitchen.

The partial basement proposed for the building is to be used only for storage. There would not be any toilets, rooms or offices on the basement level.

It was agreed that because the project is in its initial concept stage it should be approached in phases, with the first phase being the programming phase which will attempt to minimize the size of the building based on the required space.

The initial phase will include the feasibility study that will propose an estimated cost of construction for the building as it is presently being proposed.

Schneider said he is proceeding under the assumption that no variances will be required for the construction project, but said he will review Manalapan's zoning requirements in order to determine the compliance of the proposed building.

The feasibility study will be presented to the township administration so that officials may determine if the proposed building is within budget or if it needs to be reduced in scope in order to reduce the cost.

For the past several years, municipal officials have been discussing the idea of providing the Englishtown-Manalapan First Aid Squad with a new building in a more central location in the township. The squad presently has its headquarters on Sanford Street near Englishtown.

The municipal complex that houses town hall, the Manalapan Police Department and the Manalapan-Englishtown post office is on Route 522 at the corner of Taylors Mills Road.