Wednesday, March 14, 2001

By MARILYN TRUMPER-SAMRA
NEWS SPECIAL WRITER

SALEM TOWNSHIP - Supervisor Fred Roperti announced Tuesday that Johnson Controls faces an April 2 deadline to buy 360 acres at Napier and Joy roads, tapped as a possible site for the company's new automotive division headquarters - and it wants the township to get behind the plan by Friday.

At issue are funding to connect to the township water system and construction of sanitary sewers.

"Johnson Controls is looking for an ironclad agreement from the township which would alleviate some of these issues," Roperti said. "There is no sewer capacity, they want the township to help with the costs - two- to three-quarters of a million dollars. I don't have a clue about what's going on with the system. (Area sewer authorities) have not said if there is capacity. We're trying to discover that. We did not create (the company's) timeline.

"I personally, I like Johnson Controls. I think it is a good company, first-class, and would be good for the township, although others might argue against it. But to make these kinds of commitments and to not know what we are getting into ..."

The Johnson Controls spokesperson could not be reached for comment on the deadlines.

The topic came up at a Salem Township Board meeting Tuesday when about a dozen residents of neighboring Plymouth Township's Country Club Village - on the east side of Napier Road, with homes that sell in the $550,000 range - questioned whether the township supported Johnson Controls' plan to build in the backyard line-of-sight of the Napier Road lots.

The township's Planning Commission is holding a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at 9600 Six Mile Road to discuss zoning in the area, land earmarked by the previous township administration for possible sewer lines. Sewers traditionally fuel dense growth.

Johnson Controls says it is looking at other sites for its new headquarters, but approached Salem officials in mid-Feburary with a plan to build on acreage once tapped for a 310-home subdivision. The $17 billion company has outgrown its 10-year-old automotive headquarters in Plymouth Township, company officials said, adding the 1,700 employees there would be moved to the Salem site.