Bank purchase set to close

Sussex County will close on its purchase of the former Provident Bank property in Newton on Wednesday, Jan. 29, the Board of County Commissioners was told at its meeting Wednesday, Jan. 22.

Officials have said they plan to use the building at 15 Trinity St. for the Board of Elections. The purchase price was $1 million.

County administrator Ron Tappan said a significant mold problem at the county building on Wheatsworth Road in Hardyston has been fixed.

The Transit/Skylands Ride Division is back operating there and the Division of Health offices will be there soon. In the spring, the side of the building where the leak occurred will be replaced, he said.

Chris Carney, director of the commissioners board, said county employees were presented with pins marking their years of service during a recent employee appreciation event. Two employees had worked for the county for 50 years.

He said the county is exploring the possibility of placing exercise equipment outdoors maybe on the Sussex County Community College (SCCC) campus.

A storm Jan. 19-20 brought an average of seven inches of snow to the county, and 67 plow trucks and eight yard loaders were used. Crews worked for about 24 hours straight starting at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 19 to clear the roads, he said.

Touring facilities

Commissioners Alan Henderson and Jack DeGroot have completed their visits to various county DPW garages.

“I can say it was very informative hearing the employees’ views and concerns,” said Henderson, who joined the board this month.

He and Carney also toured the former Keogh Dwyer Correctional Facility in Newton with SCCC officials.

County officials plan to sell the jail, which has been closed for about five years. Sussex County has a long-term agreement to house inmates in the Morris County Jail.

Jill Space, the board’s deputy director, said she and others toured Sussex Technical High School, where officials pointed out their capital projects.

”They’re putting on a new engineering department, and sports medicine is coming in September.”

Sussex Tech Superintendent Gus Modla is looking forward to working with Corey Homer, the new interim president of SCCC, Space said. ”They were very optimistic, so that’s exciting.”

She also met with the county’s website provider and county employees about possible changes. ”Now we have a direction on which way we’d like to go.”

The county plans to redesign the website after soliciting bids. The redesign is expected to take six to eight months after a firm is hired.