SECAUCUS -- The Secaucus Mayor and Town Council this week signed off on a developer’s agreement with Hartz Mountain Industries that provides approximately $1.1 million in impact fees that will be partially used to build a new middle school, and also provides two school buses for the district. Hartz is hoping to build a 500-unit residential development for 100 Park Place Drive. The proposed development will be constructed on a 13.64 acre tract of land located in Harmon Meadow across from Sam’s Club and Walmart. The current property is occupied by Oracle Rug, a commercial business.

Developers sometimes pay impact fees to a town because of the impact that the new development will have – for instance, adding new students to the school district, and requiring more public safety personnel. Hartz’s fees will be split between the town, schools, and county.

Local officials and school board trustees have been working to address the overall increase in school-age children that has led to classrooms that are at or near capacity in the elementary schools. A current extension and redesign of the Middle School is in progress to accommodate more children and potentially move the sixth grade over to the Middle School.

The four-phase Hartz Mountain project will include approximately 120 units per building, including a number of affordable housing units in compliance with the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) regulations.

For more on the proposed development and the agreement, see a future edition of the Reporter.