$1.7M contract tabled due to absence of plan E.B. council votes 3-2 to put off action on community arts center EAST BRUNSWICK - A concrete infrastructure must have concrete plans. That was the message of the Township Council majority Monday night as it tabled a $1.7 million contract to fund site work for a community arts center proposed at Heavenly Farms. Councilwoman Christi Calvano, the lone Republican on the governing body, offered a spirited argument against the measure, and voted with Catherine Diem and David Stahl to have it tabled. Council President Nancy Pinkin and Councilman Donald Klemp voted against the motion to table, siding with Mayor William Neary that the contract should be awarded. The resolution would have given a $1,697,639 contract to Star of the Sea Concrete Corp., of Old Bridge, for building what Neary described as the infrastructure of the long-discussed facility in the township park at Dunhams Corner and Cranbury roads. The project would include putting in the slab for the building, creating detention basins, installing street lights, and establishing a parking lot and a roadway. Calvano argued that the public has not had an opportunity to review plans for the building because the administration has not presented any. Neary said the building's architectural plans are not yet complete, but that it is important to award the bid to enable the project to move forward. He said the community center has been discussed enough and that there is no need to delay the work. The 20,000-square-foot facility must have its footprint established first, he said, noting that the facility itself is "a prefabricated type of steel building." Stahl and Diem did not offer an explanation for their votes, but they did not argue against Calvano's points. Neary noted that the council had already approved funding for the project and that the current resolution was only to award the contract. But Calvano was not moved by his remarks, saying the price of the infrastructure would be more than $1.6 million and the cost of the building itself at least another $1.2 million. She said that is more than she was told the project would cost. But even without the facility, the infrastructure is needed, Neary said, prompting Calvano to ask what the slab is for. Neary said Heavenly Farms needs a detention basin, parking lot and a road even if the multiuse community center is not built. "This is part of a park," he said. The township, he noted, would not accept any bid for the building in excess of $1.2 million. But Calvano said she has been asking to see tangible plans for months. "This isn't a new request I have," she said, adding that it is important for the public to see the plans before a contract is awarded. Democratic Councilman Donald Klemp said there has been a lot of public input and that the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board has reviewed the matter. "You make it sound like no one has heard about this," he told Calvano. Klemp said that for years, township groups such as the Historical Society and Arts Commission have clamored for more space, something the facility is intended to provide. Neary said in an address last winter that the facility will include a 195-seat auditorium to be used by groups such as the East Brunswick Community Players, the township and the Arts Commission. It will also include 4,000 square feet for meeting rooms and an outdoor amphitheater. He has said the township will use the $1.2 million it made from selling the former Playhouse 22 property on Dunhams Corner Road to fund the building. Also, $5 million from the township's sale of the Golden Triangle site on Route 18 to Toll Brothers is being dedicated to the community center project, which may be expanded in the future. Township Attorney Michael Baker said Monday that the community center plan was discussed publicly at a Planning Board meeting last summer. However, Calvano said that hardly anyone attends the board meetings, which she feels should be televised. She said that while the project may have approval from certain groups, the public at large has not seen plans or given input. - Vincent Todaro