Mahwah December 5, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 7 Township schedules new date for property auction by Frank J. McMahon Mahwah officials have rescheduled the auction of a two lot, township-owned property on Mahwah Road for Dec. 19. Bids on the 1.6-acre parcel will be accepted at 11 a.m. in the council chambers of the Richard J. Martel Municipal Building on Corporate Drive. The auction was previously scheduled for Oct. 30, but the event was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy which struck the area on Oct. 29. The property the township intends to sell at auction is located on the northeast side of Mahwah Road near Orchid Drive and Sunnyside Road and about 1,000 feet from Airmount Road. According to a resolution recently passed by the township council, the property will be sold in “as is” condition subject to an accurate survey, easements, and restrictions of record. All zoning requirements and the auction will have a minimum price of $500,000 for the two subdivided lots, which will be sold as one parcel. Bidders will be required to submit their bids in cash or a certified cashier’s in the amount of not less than 10 percent of the minimum bid price. The resolution also points out that the township reserves the right to withdraw the offer of sale and reject any and all bids for any reason whatsoever. The successful bidder must pay the township’s cost of publication of the legal advertisements for the public sale, and an $800 fee for preparation of legal documents. The township’s planning board approved the subdivision of the property into two buildable lots in August. Each of the lots consists of about 34,141 square feet, and the board granted the township variances for lot width and lot frontage deficiencies for both lots. The property previously contained the township’s East Mahwah Tank Field and it contained a water tower that has been removed from the site and an in-ground water tank that has been demolished because township officials were concerned that children might go on the site to play, which could create a safety hazard. Mahwah Township Administrator Brian Campion also advised that a small stone cabin type structure on the site would be removed before the sale of the property. In July 2008, the township council paid $72,000 to demolish the concrete reservoir with a steel and wooden roof that was almost a century old. The in-ground tank has been removed, and all the pipes that supported the water tank will be removed from the site, according to Michael Kelly, the township’s professional engineer. Kelly told the planning board that, in order to keep (continued on page 18)