Eatontown officials outline steps toward a new municipal building after multiyear study

Eatontown officials spent the workshop meeting reviewing more than two years of site studies and design work on a proposed municipal complex and signaled a clear tilt toward building anew rather than renovating the borough’s 62‑year‑old municipal hall.

Architects and engineers presented the project timeline and technical findings, describing Phase 1 programming and follow‑on site investigations. Anthony Scalise, the borough’s architect, said the initial, non‑schematic work focused on departmental adjacencies and flow: "we were determining what was the scale of the building" and sizing spaces so departments such as police, clerk and finance could work adjacently rather than in tightly constrained rooms. The borough’s engineers performed a new topographic survey, ground‑penetrating radar, geotechnical borings and stormwater infiltration tests; the consultant described the stormwater and geotech results as favorable and said a final groundwater report is being cleared with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

The central operational question for council members was whether to spend the time and money on disruptive destructive testing and phased renovation or to build new. The architect said that bringing the old structure into current codes — including ADA, sprinkler systems, elevator size and modern mechanical/electrical systems — would require invasive investigation, substantial displacement of employees and unpredictable change orders. "You don't know what you don't know until you see it," the presiding official summarized in a policy framing for the public record. Council members asked for clearer cost comparisons and for the building committee to review a more detailed breakdown that reconciles the headline 60,000‑square‑foot gross figure the public has cited with the consultant’s estimate of roughly 25,614 square feet of net usable space in the proposed design.

Why it matters: The decision touches capital planning, employee disruption, downtown parking and whether the borough retains or disposes of the current municipal asset and library site. Council members pressed for more detail on usable versus gross area, escalation assumptions and the cost of temporary relocation options so they can weigh potential financing strategies — including layering state and county grants and pilot funds — before any demolition or final commitment.

What’s next: The architect and engineers will supply final technical reports (surveys, geotechnical and groundwater analyses) to the clerk and post them publicly; the building committee will reconvene to review the revised program and an itemized explanation showing how the gross 60,000 number relates to the 25,614 usable figure. The council did not take a final vote on demolition or final program at this meeting.