By Audrey Blumberg
RARITAN, NJ - The Raritan Borough Council has given authorization for town professionals to look into the potential of taking ownership of the recently closed PNC Bank, on Main Street, for borough use. Council president Nicolas Carra brought up the business for a property investigation authorization. “It has been closed for a few months,” he said. “I am looking to get council approval to investigate to see if the building would be good for the town.”
Carra said the property could potentially be used to expand parking on Main Street, or to expand office space for the municipal building. “I would like to look into it, see if it is something that is viable for the borough,” he said. Carra first requested authorization from the council to allow the borough attorney up to 15 hours to reach out to the realtor or the property owner to see what the costs are and if it is even up for sale. In addition, Carra said, he would like authorization to obtain data from the architect, authorization to speak with a bond counsel and formation of a working group with the borough CFO and tax assessor. The council gave authorization for the investigation into the property.