Mahwah January 9, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Single bidder buys subdivided township lots by Frank J. McMahon A single bidder showed up at the Richard J. Martel Municipal Building on Dec. 19 for the auction of a 1.6-acre, two lot township-owned property on Mahwah Road and made the lone bid of $500,000, which was the minimum bid permitted to buy the parcel. Joseph E. Gassib, owner of the Laurjo Construction Company in Hackensack, made the bid for the Mahwah property located near Orchid Drive and Sunnyside Road and about 1,000 feet from Airmount Road. Gassib, who said his construction company has been building in Bergen County for 45 years, offered the minimum bid. When no one responded to a call by Mahwah Township Administrator Brian Campion’s call for a higher bid, he closed the auction and awarded the sale to Gassib. The property previously contained the township’s East Mahwah Tank Field. A water tower has been removed from the site, as was an in-ground water tank that was previously demolished. In July 2008, the Mahwah Council paid $72,000 to demolish the concrete reservoir with a steel and wooden roof which was almost a century old. The in-ground tank with a roof was removed, as were most of the pipes that supported that tank. According to Campion, a small stone cabin type structure on the site will also be removed from the site before the final contract of sale is signed. The township’s planning board approved a subdivision of the property into two buildable lots in August 2012. Each of the lots consists of about 34,141 square feet. The board also granted the township variances for the lot width and lot frontage deficiencies of both lots. However, the new owner will have to apply to the planning board for site plan and soil moving approvals before any construction on the two lots can begin. Prior to the auction, Campion made a public announcement that the two lots are currently vacant. He advised that $500,000 was the minimum and that the successful (continued on page 23) Mahwah Boy Scout Troop 50 recently enjoyed a festive outing to Rockefeller Center in New York City that included an early morning skate. Scouts take in the sights