Midland Park March 9, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Office spaces in the Midland Park town hall will be reconfigured without any new construction. Work will begin as soon as the Department of Public Works staff is finished with snow removal tasks, according to Borough Administrator Addie Hanna. Plans call for moving the building department offices on the second floor of the 19th century building to the first-floor conference room and the office formerly occupied by the borough clerk. The move will allow the public more convenient access to the zoning/planning board administrator and the construction code official and provide counter space for reviewing building plans and files and other large documents. A large component of the new offices will be the filing cabinets used for the copious zoning and planning boards’ records. They will line the new offices’ walls and serve as the base for the new counter. Their weight had been compromising the Renovations will help building department, court building’s structural integrity and was the reason for the governing body’s efforts to relocate the offices to the lower level. The new office space will also afford the board administrator and the code officials privacy and secure space in their respective offices, which will now be accessible only from the other side of the counter. At present, members of the public can walk right into the offices and have access to the open desks and whatever is on them. The other beneficiaries of the renovation project will be municipal court officials, since the restructuring will provide them with a private meeting area adjacent to the court room. One of the two second floor offices will be turned into a conference room, and the entire space will now be available for use by the borough prosecutor and public defender. At present, these officials are forced to meet with defendants in the building department’s office, where building records might not be secure. Defendants are forced to meet with their attorneys in the narrow hallway often lined with other defendants waiting for their case to be called up. Another component not finalized is whether to convert an existing fire-proof space into a vault and shelving for permanent records. The existing vault, located in the basement, is inadequate for modernday needs and inconvenient for everyday access. The borough has $210,000 in its capital improvement fund earmarked for the project and hired an architect in 2007, but the project did not go forward. Those plans included converting part of a garage and two adjacent small storage rooms into offices for the building/zoning department. A new more prominent common entrance at the rear of the building would have provided unified access to all departments. The new project will provide a canopy for the entrance to police headquarters at the rear of the building. The last renovations to town hall were done in 2002, when the first floor and the basement on the easterly side of the building were totally refurbished for the police department. The building’s front foyer was converted into an office for the court administrator, who needed to be on the first floor. ORGANIC LAWN & SHRUB CARE “Improving the Environment, One Lawn at a Time” Featuring The Natural Green Solution 201-447-3910 ������������ ���������� Beautiful, Environmentally Responsible, Affordable, Organic Lawn & Garden Care FREE ESTIMATES • 100% Organic and tested for 20 years • Safe for kids, pets, and family • Nearly eliminates phosphates and nitrates • Reduces carbon footprint • Not connected to petroleum costs • Less water needed improving drought tolerance • Greatly improves root development • Natural weed suppression • Natural insect suppression including grubs • Natural fungus and disease suppression • Address the ecology of the entire lawn of pH Adjustment with Each Visit with Seasonal Contract 4 FREE APPLICATIONS 10% Off 10% Off Not to be combined with any other offers. Exp. 4/30/11 Pesticide License #98008A ������ ������ Seasonal Lawn Care Not to be combined with any other offers. Exp. 4/30/11 NJHIC License #13VHO3311000 Tree & Shrub Care