At the Plainsboro Township Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 25, Mayor Peter Cantu announced that the township has been aggressively watching for progress at Plainsboro Plaza, which is still suffering from vacancies left by former tenants Ace hardware and Peebles department store, which closed in 2009. Cantu wants to see the problems addressed by management one way or another.
“The township has pressured ownership over the last three years to ‘step up to the plate’ on this issue,” Cantu said. “They’ve said they were going to do design changes there and put together a plan to revitalize the center. We told them we would appreciate them sharing a comprehensive plan for such improvements with the township, and also for them to be more aggressive in their leasing activities.”
The mayor says in fairness, the economic climate has crushed retail. Still, he expects more from Plainsboro Plaza’s management.
“Over three years they have failed to live up to at least three time commitments to come talk to us about their plans. When we met recently they promised to come back to us within 30 days with a decision on the direction they will go in,” Cantu says.
Other changes in Plainsboro are more finite at the moment. An item put on the township committee’s agenda for its next meeting — Wednesday, February 8 — includes an ordinance amending chapter 96 of township code regarding vehicles and traffic, in relation to the township’s control of Enterprise Drive. Business Administrator Robert O. Sheehan said basic “Title IX enforcement of the parking situation” is needed.
“The road now just fills up with parked cars. We will restrict parking on the residential side of Enterprise Drive. It does have striped spaces lining the Integra Life Sciences side while the other side doesn’t have that,” he said.
Sheehan, who will contact Integra to let its employees know of the change, added that a grace period would go into effect first with warnings issued to illegally parked cars. He believes that would eliminate the problem from the onset because people who park there “are going to be routine customers.”
Another ordinance on the agenda for February 8 would put a cap on the number of taxicab licenses issued by the township. Sheehan said that currently there are 17 registered cab companies operating in Plainsboro, and the ordinance would set a limit of 25. Sheehan and Mayor Cantu each commented on the expected increase in taxis coming through Plainsboro with the opening of the new hospital scheduled for May.
“We know we had 17 licensed cab companies now and there was a demand for more, whether it was about 25 or that number is not high enough, I don’t know. But one of the issues is that there are freelancers operating in town and they should be licensed to be identified,” Sheehan said.
A new state law requires the auctioning off of licenses, but Sheehan says that the process is not substantially profitable for the township. Also, similar to an ordinance introduced in West Windsor on January 17, taxis operating in Plainsboro will now need to mark the outside of the vehicle with visible cab numbers and a large placard as per a new state law.
A third ordinance will slightly amend the language of chapter 97 of the township code pertaining to Plainsboro’s towing and storage fee schedule.
A resolution awarding a contract for rock salt will be considered, with Atlantic Salt Company of Staten Island, New York, winning the bid. The committee noted that the price of salt is down from last year, falling to 1.5 pennies per pound, possibly due to the mild winter thus far.
Resolutions for partial releases of performance bonds for The Eden Institute Foundation and DSK Woods LLC are on the agenda as recommended by staff.
The refund of Community Gardens Security Deposits from 2011 will be voted on. Cantu said the township collects a fee on the front end and returns it when the area has been successfully maintained over the year.
The township is set to re-appoint Allen Associates as its employee healthcare benefits consultant. Sheehan said that contract amount will be approximately $35,000.
A resolution for Plainsboro to participate in the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission (MRESC) cooperative pricing system, which allows for the township to receive more services from vendors working with other municipalities or local school districts and reduce the number of contracts awarded, rejected or re-bid. Vendors benefit from the established pool of clients and savings on advertising and specified bids.
A contract for the construction of a passive landfill gas venting system will be voted on at the next committee meeting. Sheehan said that in working with the DEP, maintenance had detected some methane gas and DEP asked the township to re-install a venting system as a precaution should there be a buildup of methane gas underground.
Mayor Cantu said the previous system had been closed over 20 years ago, and because Plainsboro has no history of this being a problem, he would expect to see “a reasonable cost approach.”
Township Chief Financial Officer Greg Mayers reported that there will be some 2011 budget transfers to report at the February 8 meeting, including street lighting and approximately $100 from salary accounts.
Plainsboro will agree to a two-year extension of its janitorial services contract. Mayers said that when the two-year term is up the contract would have to be re-bid.
A resolution amending the membership and terms of the shade tree advisory committee will also be voted on. Mayor Cantu said that for years the shade tree committee has operated with six members but a seventh member had previously been delegated from within the planning board, nominated by recommendation.
“It is unusual to have six members on a committee and this resolution clarifies that we should have seven,” Cantu said.
Committeeman Michael Weaver then discussed moving ahead with an appointment to the Shade Tree Committee at the February 8 meeting. With the seventh seat agreed upon, there are technically two vacancies that need to be filled.
Meanwhile Narun Nabi said that there was no candidate ready to be selected for Human Relations Council just yet, though he expects one to be very soon. Committee member Ed Yates said the same applies to vacancies on the planning board and zoning board, but he has likely candidates in mind.
