Parking Lot Expansion Still Pending at Chatham High

Board of Education President Tom Belding said Monday that the district has not yet received the necessary permits for the expansion of the Chatham High School parking lot.

In an email Monday evening, Belding said that he expected the permits to be approved "pending discussion of a few minor issues with the [Chatham] Township engineer on Wednesday."

Interim Superintendent Dennis Fyffe said Tuesday that the issues included a revised lighting plan for the parking lot, the wall height along a certain part of the lot, and, what Fyffe said is the biggest item for discussion, stormwater management.

"I think it's just different interpretations of what's required [in stormwater management," Fyffe said.

Fyffe said he believed the discussion on Wednesday between the architect, the township engineer and representatives from the school district would be "fairly straightforward and resolved quickly."

Belding and Fyffe said in separate interviews that they expected construction to begin as soon as these issues were resolved after the Wednesday meeting.

The necessary permits for the construction of four new classrooms at Chatham High School are in-hand, Belding and Fyffe said in separate interviews.

"The contractor is mobilizing equipment and construction will begin immediately," Fyffe said.

The entire project was awarded to Stone Creek, Inc., a Lodi, NJ-based company, for $1,622,160. The board unanimously approved the project at the .

Belding said that the expansion of the parking lot "will be expedited" so that it is completed before school starts on Sept. 6.

The parking lot expansion will add 82 spaces to the current 253 spaces. Of those spaces, 133 of those spaces are reserved for staff, 20 are visitor spaces and four are marked as handicapped parking for the forthcoming academic year.

According to Board Member Matthew Gilfillan's presentation, the expansion of the parking lot will also include some concessions to address residents' concerns. He said the board will install a pedestrian path along Longwood Avenue to make it easier for students coming from that direction to approach the school through the fields in the back, rather than walking around to the front approach along Lafayette Avenue.

Sidewalks on Lafayette Avenue are located on the opposite side of the street from Chatham High School and .

Chatham High will also have a teacher assigned to the lot each day between 7 and 8 a.m. who will only allow permitted parkers to enter the lot. Also, the fee for a parking space will increase $6 per semester to $50.