PETERSBURG – Municipal Solicitor Dan Young informed Upper Township Committee at their Feb. 28 meeting that the sale of the B.L. England property is now finalized and dismantling the mothballed power plant in the Beesley’s Point bay area of the municipality can get underway by the buyers.
Engineer Paul Dietrich said dismantling the long-idled plant will take up to three and a half years. The hopes for the site are that the Danish offshore wind company, Orsted, will connect power arrays to the grid there and that the new buyers will develop the area into a tourism magnet for visitors.
Committee member Jay Newman, also Marmora’s fire chief, suggested that the vacant property in the meantime be used for training emergency medical services (EMS) personnel.
The municipality will approach the new owners, although “there is no guarantee and there might be insurance concerns even if just the possibility exists it is worth trying,” said Mayor Curtis Corson.
Committee members were unanimous in expressing their goal in working with the new developers of the site for the “best possible outcome for residents,” noting “they’ve been easy to work with.”
During public comment, a resident urged the committee to take advantage of “so many opportunities with this sale, including revenue generation, especially with the township’s current budget issues.”
Corson responded, “We have lots of time before total demolition to get this right.”
