Council Awards Road Paving Contract, Advances Historic District Ordinance Amid Pushback

Council awarded a road-paving contract for Glen Ridge Avenue, Sherman Avenue and Argyle Street improvements to the lowest of three bidders, American Asphalt & Trucking LLC, at $508,685.89 (compared with $679,711.30 from DLS Contracting and $728,226.67 from John Garcia Construction), funded through NJDOT Municipal Aid and CDBG reprogramming grants.

Council gave first reading to two ordinances affecting the Historic District and property regulation: Ordinance No. 1797, amending Chapter 15.32 governing alterations and construction within the borough's Historic District, and Ordinance No. 1798, amending the Chapter 15.12 zoning compliance certificate rules. During public comment, resident Dan Kaplan spoke in opposition to the proposed HPC ordinance changes, while Historic Preservation Commission Chair Geoffrey Darby urged the council to approve them; later in the meeting Darby acknowledged the HPC still has several revisions in mind and that the full ordinance "needs to be cleaned up and revised," with resident Phil Johnson separately asking for clarification of the proposed changes.

Council appointed Karin Robinson as a member of the Planning Board (term expiring December 31, 2023) and Katherine Bojsza as first alternate member (term expiring December 31, 2024), and Councilor Lefkovits and Councilor Morrow both noted the Mayor's Gala had been a well-attended, successful fundraiser for the Gas Lamp Players. Administrator Zichelli thanked outgoing Planning Board member Rick Mason for his service.

All votes passed unanimously among the five councilors present; Hughes was absent for the entire meeting.

What to watch

• Ordinance 1797 (Historic District alterations/construction) up for second reading, with the HPC still planning further revisions before final adoption
• Ordinance 1798 (zoning compliance certificate amendment) up for second reading and public hearing