Snowstorm Forces Virtual Council Meeting; Affordable Housing Hearings Pushed to March 9
Listen
A record snowstorm forced the council to hold this meeting virtually, and members opened by praising the Department of Public Works crew, who worked roughly 28 hours straight with 11 workers and nine trucks to clear roads. Because certified-mail notices for three pending affordable-housing ordinances (1831, 1832 and 1833) were delayed in delivery, the mayor announced their public hearings and final votes were being postponed from this meeting to the council's next regular meeting on March 9 at Borough Hall; no further certified mailings would be sent, with updates instead posted online and on social media.
The council also voted to readopt the borough's affordable-housing element and fair-share plan, as recommended by the planning board, and approved routine resolutions: payment of bills including a sizable fire-suppression-contract line item; an amendment adding a $1-per-$1,000-of-construction-value fee to online permit reviews; a tree-pruning contract with Du Jean's Tree Experts at a low bid of $34,200 (about $5,000 below the next-lowest bidder); and a field-aeration contract with Double D Turf LLC. A large chunk of the meeting was devoted to public questions about the pending housing overlay -- residents including Deanna and Tim Pagano, Maria Lord, and Julie Smith asked about unit counts, historic-district protections, and effects on their neighborhoods, which planning consultant Eric DeLine and council member Moody answered in detail.
The most striking public comment came from a longtime High Street resident near the Board of Education building, who described 45 years of struggling to back out of a driveway squeezed between two four-foot cement retaining walls, having twice hit the wall with her car because of parking congestion on the narrow one-way street. She recounted that during a recent storm, an ambulance responding to the Congregational Church on Clark Street could not get through because of parked cars and had to back out onto Ridgewood Avenue. Police Chief Quinn agreed to send Sergeant Perigo to evaluate the area and develop a plan. Councilor Meyer abstained, without stated reason, from the routine vote adopting the February 9 minutes.
What to watch
- Public hearings and final votes on affordable housing ordinances 1831, 1832 and 1833, rescheduled to the council's March 9 meeting at Borough Hall.
- Police Department review of High Street parking and driveway-access safety issues near the Board of Education building.
- A greenway trail cleanup and outreach event with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on March 21.
Watch key moments
- 26:39 — High Street parking safety