School price tag $10.4M Allamuchy voters to decide Jan. 23 whether to provide $9.4M of the cost of Villa Madonna project. Tuesday, December 26, 2006 • BY LYNN OLANOFF • The Express-Times ALLAMUCHY TWP. | The local school district has the promise of about $1 million in state money to use toward a proposed $10.4 million new school. That leaves township taxpayers with a $9.4 million price tag to turn the Villa Madonna into a new school for three or four grade levels. Township voters will decide on the proposal in a Jan. 23 referendum. School district officials are calculating the referendum's tax impact, which should be available this week, Superintendent Timothy Frederiks said. Construction costs have increased about $300,000 over the original $10.1 million estimate mainly due to the land's location in the Highlands preservation area, Frederiks said. The school will have a stringent water use requirement and its plans will need approval from many state agencies, he said. The school project is part of resolution to a lawsuit Villa Madonna's owner has against the state over the Highlands region. The Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity sued the state last year after the 32 acres the congregation owns near the Interstate 80/Route 517 interchange was put in the Highlands preservation area, where development is severely restricted. A deal has been hatched where the school district would buy the Villa Madonna's buildings and 12 acres if the state purchased the other 20 acres. The congregation and school have agreed on a $2.2 million purchase price; the congregation is still negotiating with the state. The two parties have an agreement in principle, congregation attorney Kevin Coakley said Thursday. He said he expects a written contract by the first quarter next year. School district officials have called the three-party deal a solution to many problems, including their own with overcrowding. "We're very excited about the project," Frederiks said. "We think it's an example of smart growth." School officials plan to renovate the villa's three-story infirmary into a pre-kindergarten through first grade school with room to possibly house the second grade. They're looking to lease the villa's mansion to another educational institution. The school is needed, district officials say, because 150 to 200 new students are expected in the 370-student school district by September 2008. There also are 50 pupils in the district's pre-kindergarten program, which is housed in the current 362-student capacity school. Renovating the Villa Madonna is at least $2.3 million cheaper than building another addition, according to district officials. Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at lolanoff@express-times.com. © 2006 The Express-Times. Used by NJ.com with permission.