Dormers add new layer of controversy to club roof
Resident: Design changes more costly than rectifying mistake
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

The roof of the Little Silver Woman's Club is under construction.

LITTLE SILVER - - Controversy continues over renovations to the Little Silver Woman's Club as three dormers and a gable roof across the entrance are added to the roof that some residents say is already too high.

Robert Oswandel, Church Street, who is upset about the way the renovation of the borough-owned building is proceeding, said at last week's Borough Council meeting that he believes the roof's excessive height could have been corrected when the mistake was first recognized for the same amount that is being spent on dormers to visually decrease the perception of height.

The original plan for the new roof was that it would be built on top of the old one, and should have been six feet higher.

In January, after the work began, Oswandel and his neighbors noticed that the roof was higher than discussed, about twice as high as planned.

Mayor Suzanne Castleman admits that the mistake was made during the construction of the roof, but said that she believed it would not make sense to tear all of the work down and start over.

Oswandel, whose house is adjacent to the Woman's Club building, said that he met with Borough Attorney John Bennett and Castleman after the borough realized that the new roof was built 12 feet higher than the existing roof, and was told that it would cost between $40,000 and $45,000 to fix the problem.

"You said that was more than the borough could spend," he said, "when we first brought the problem to the attention of the mayor and council."

At last week's meeting, the borough passed a resolution awarding a contract to Shorelands Construction Inc. in the amount of $28,995 for three dormers and a gable roof for the entrance of the building, which are meant to make the large roof seem smaller.

Castleman said that an option exists to also add dormers to the rear of the building, if the neighbors in the surrounding area wish the borough to do so.

Oswandel said that if the borough does proceed to add dormers to the rear of the building as well, it would have

spent approximately $40,000, which officials had previously said would have been too much to spend to fix the original problem.

"Money is money," he said.

Councilman David Gilmour said that no decision had been made about additional dormers on the rear of the building.

"We've only spent $30,000 here," he said. "We haven't spent $40,000."

The construction of the dormers began before the council passed the resolution by authority of Borough Administrator Michael Biehl, the borough's purchasing agent, which is permitted by state statute.

Oswandel said that his disappointment has more to do with how the borough has gone about dealing with the renovations and the subsequent problems, and noted how a neighboring community did things differently.

"There was a story in The Hub last week about the new Rumson Borough Hall," he said. "That council did it right. They gave everyone in town a chance to see how the new borough hall would look, and there was a considerable discussion between the council and the residents. They are doing something that impacts the residents, and they recognized it."

Oswandel also said that the borough's newsletter contained an "incomplete" version of events by Castleman.

"You only told half the story," he said to Castleman.

Castleman, who has met several times with residents who neighbor the Woman's Club, said that she has done her best to keep the public informed, and that she did not wish to rehash old arguments.

"The reason why Rumson held that meeting," she said, "was because they were talking about spending millions of dollars."

Castleman said that the idea of dormers for the building was discussed from the beginning.

"We were not told what the final configuration would be," said Oswandel. "My concern is that if you add the dormers, it will only add mass to the already large roof."

Councilman Declan O'Scanlon said that he thought it was unfair to say that the council did not communicate with the public about the changes to the Woman's Club.

"We have done our best to let you know what is happening," he said. "Is there something every now and then that slips through the cracks that we might think is minor but someone else thinks is a major problem? Sure, but it's not a habitual lack of communication. We're always trying to improve on our communication with the public, and I think the mayor has been extremely responsive to the concerns of the neighbors, both before and after we found out about the mistake. The next time we do something like this, we'll do some things differently."

Castleman said that she has brought architects by the Woman's Club, and that they have told her it will look better with the new roof and the dormers and "less like a 7-11."

"More people have told me that it's going to look great, than have complained," she said.