HOW A NEW SEWER LINE WILL DETERMINE THE POST OFFICE PROJECT

Although the sale of the former Maplewood Village Post Office site is expected to be completed today and the Planning Board is essentially done with its formal approval of the housing/retail project slated to go into the space, one roadblock still remains.

A new sewer line. And it's not necessarily a done deal.

Township officials have determined that the three-story, 20-unit, five-shop project being built on the post office site by JMF Properties should include a new sewer bypass to accommodate the extra sanitary needs of the new building instead of linking it to the existing Maplewood Avenue sewer.

"It's not what anybody wants," Planning Board Chair Tom Carlson said about linking it to the existing sewer line. "They describe it as a maintenance issue on the part of DPW. It's not that it can't handle it, but as a maintenance issue it is preferable to get this additional line."

The additional sewer line, at this point, would go through the Village Coffee parking lot next to the post office and back behind the buildings that front Maplewood Avenue from Village Coffee to Arturo's and into Baker Street.

In order for a new sewer line to be built, an easement must be granted be the parking lot's owners. The lot that is between the post office site and Village Coffee is owned by the Township, so that easement is easily granted. But it's the parking lot behind the buildings -- from Village Coffee to Arturo's -- that is at issue.

That rear lot is owned by the individual building owners that house the shops from Village Coffee to Arturo's. Under a 20-year lease agreement, the Township leases that lot from the building owners in exchange for maintenance and snow plowing.

That lease ends in March 2016.

The Township is currently in negotiations with the building owners to allow the new sewer line to be built, a move that would require trenches to be dug and disruption of parking. With the lease coming to an end in March, talks will likely include a change or extension of that lease.

"If we're going to dig a new sewer line through there, we need permission of the property owners," Carlson said.

The largest property owner in that string of buildings is Saul Fischer, a longtime landlord in town who owns the buildings at 166, 178 and 180 Maplewood Avenue, as well as sites across the street that include 175 and 177 Maplewood Avenue.

"They're having discussions with my attorney so whatever it turns out to be I'm all for the town and the progress that we're making and I'm happy to work with the town anyway I can," Fischer told Maplewoodian.com. "We're trying to work together to work it out. It's in their ballpark, we're waiting to hear from them."

Fischer also said he is supportive of the planned post office redevelopment.

"I think it will probably be an improvement," he said. "It's certainly not going to hurt the Village. I think it will bring more people to it. I'm sure they will do a nice job in putting the building up. Most of the objections I hear are that it doesn't fit into the Village properly design-wise. But I think anything they do will be an improvement and I have a lot of confidence in (Mayor) Vic Deluca."

Find out more about the land sale at tonight's Township Committee meeting where it will be discussed and the sale announced. Agenda HERE.