Chuck Urban is negotiating to become the area's designated redeveloper.
MILFORD -- Wayne Miller has passed, but his vision for revitalizing the borough's riverfront grist mill and surrounding area is continuing.
Chuck Urban, who owns the land in question, is negotiating with the borough to become the designated redeveloper of the site.
"I intend to put Wayne's plans into reality, if the town will permit that," Urban said Friday.
If Urban can get the necessary approvals from the borough and the state Department of Environmental Protection, he would create four lots.
Lot 1 would contain the old mill; Lot 2 would contain the mill annex, which he would replace with a three-story commercial building containing shops and a restaurant with rooftop dining; Lot 3 could be used for parking; and long, narrow Lot 4, would be the site of a riverwalk. All the properties total 5.65 acres.
Demolition next step at former paper mill
Urban said he was ready to move on to other projects when Miller convinced him the mill area was worth his time. "Wayne was the motivating factor behind all this," Urban said.
Urban owns the property, but the borough declared the site an area in need of redevelopment, and has some say in how that will happen. It has the right to name the redeveloper, and Urban is going through the application process now.
"There's a redevelopment plan for the general area," said Mayor Ron Rehl on Thursday. The plan dates back to 2008. What Urban proposes "has to fit the plan, or he can modify it and we agree," Rehl said.
At one time Urban had thought of donating the mill to the VFW, and a more recent plan was to donate it to the borough historical society, but neither of those organizations is ready to take it on, Rehl said.
Urban said he'll keep an open mind about how to proceed. For the moment, he's pursuing the redeveloper status, and doing preliminary work with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Milford has three entrances, and all of them need some beautification, Rehl said on Thursday. Urban's plan addresses the riverfront entrance. While the former Curtis Paper mill, a Superfund site, sits at the south entrance to town, and the federal EPA is getting closer to tearing down the dilapidated buildings, Rehl said.
That leaves the north entrance to town, where a former gas station sits on the banks of the Quequacommisacong Creek.
Rehl knows it as the old Cooley's gas station, and "it's been vacant since the mid-80s," he said. Groundwater and soil was contaminated from tanks that were removed in the mid-80s, he said, adding that since that time the only thing that's happened with the site is monitoring of the contamination. Bills for that monitoring run to $351,929, Rehl said.
Although digging at the site might be prohibited, the shack-like building sitting there is a poor welcome to the borough, Rehl said. "I want to get that eyesore out of there," he said, "even if we replace it with just a bench and a sign."
Sallie Graziano may be reached at sgraziano@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SallieGraziano. Find The Hunterdon County Democrat on Facebook.