PRINCETON: AvalonBay holds community meeting

PRINCETON: AvalonBay holds community meeting

DATE POSTED: Thursday, September 4, 2014 5:01 PM EDT

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Four dust monitors would be set to half the federal Environmental Protection Agency recommended standard and sound an alarm when levels exceed that threshold. AvalonBays demolition company also plans to use a misting machine to shot out an ionized water mist that would control "quite a bit of the dust," saidJohn Mucha, a project manager with Yannuzzi Wrecking & Recycling Corp. Other steps include training fire hoses on the buildings that are being demolished.

His comments came at a public meeting that AvalonBay had to review the upcoming demolition at the site of its planned residential development. The meeting, lasting for a little more than 90 minutes, drew residents, Mayor Liz Lempert and other public officials to the Witherspoon Hall municipal building. The demolition company plans to use heavy equipment to raze the hospital buildings during a project that could take up to six months to complete.

"I think getting information out about whats happening is critical," Mayor Lempert said afterward. "The staff is here to make sure that AvalonBay does what theyve promised theyre going to do and takes all the precautions that theyve said they would take."

Dust was a concern of residents. Municipal health officer Jeffrey Grosser, who attended the meeting, said the four air monitors are set up that way to cover each wind direction. He said there would be a weather station on site, so that if the wind changes direction, the monitors can be adjusted accordingly.

"I think there might be a misconception of how much truck traffic is leaving this site," said Princeton police Sgt. Thomas Murray during the meeting. "I think the misconception is that youre going to see a lot more truck traffic then youre actually going to see in reality."

Steel will be recycled, while masonry will be crushed on site and reused. Four noise monitors will be installed during the project.

By municipal ordinance, demolition is allowed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. No demolition is permitted Sundays, municipal engineer Robert V. Kiser said.

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PRINCETON: AvalonBay holds community meeting