Family and friends watched on as a new Council assembled January 1. Linda Geevers was nominated Council president while newly elected Hemant Marathe, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy last June, became vice president.
Ayesha Hamilton and Alison Miller also took their oaths of offices and assumed their seats on the left and right of the dais.
Council member Peter Mendonez was nominated to the Planning Board, replacing Geevers, while Miller will remain an affordable housing committee member. Hamilton and Geevers are also on the Cable TV Advisory Board.
Liaison positions: Hamilton to the Emergency Management Council; Mendonez to the Environmental Commission; Miller to the Parking Authority; and Marathe, a former School Board presdent, to both the School Board and Zoning Board.
Board reappointments: Patrick Boyle to the Parking Authority, Curtis Hoberman, Henry Jacobsohn, and Daniel Marks to the Zoning Board.
Dan Fabrizio replaced Miller on the Parking Authority.
The new Council also convened January 4 for a quick meeting to approve a temporary municipal budget for 2016. Council then went into closed session with township labor attorney Mark Ruderman to discuss contract negotiations.
The three-year contracts of all five unions representing township employees concluded at the end of 2015, though the contracts will hold over until both sides reach new agreements.
The five bargaining units exclude department heads and include 153 municipal employees: 75 from Communications Workers of America Local 1032; 40 from Policeman’s Benevolent Association Local 271; 20 from American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 3242; 14 from International Association of Firefighters Local 3610; and four from West Windsor Township Superior Officers Association.
#b#Year-End Business#/b#
Actions speak louder than words, and Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh vetoed a parking ordinance passed by last year’s Council. In its last meeting December 21, Council president Bryan Maher and Council member George Borek were thanked and recognized for their service. Council later unanimously passed an ordinance giving township police the authority to fine homeowners with parked vehicles in their yards, but the mayor veto the ordinance on December 31.
Before the vote, Berrien City residents Jianping Wang and John Gin voiced concern about the ordinance’s intrusiveness and how it would affect older neighborhoods with smaller driveways.
Explaining the intent behind the ordinance, Maher said there were “a couple of serial offenders” with vehicles on their lawns despite plenty of driveway space.
The ordinance “is to give police a tool,” Maher said. “You shouldn’t be parking your car on your front grass.”
Multiple Council members said chief Joe Pica requested a stronger enordinance to enforce yard parking, and police would respond after a neighborhood complaint, as opposed to cruising around looking for violators.
Under the vetoed ordinance, cars parked on lawns for more than 24 hours could be subject to a warning. If not remedied within 24 hours, the police could then issue a $100 fine, followed by $250 for further inaction.
While the mayor did not weigh in during the meeting, it appears he heard the concerns voiced during the public hearing.
In his December 31 veto statement, Shing wrote that the issues of “for sale” signs and parking on grass are “not a widespread problem” and that the ordinance passed by Council is “too broad with too much room for abuse.” The issue could be better addressed “at a later time with more data and a better ordinance to deal with the problem.”
#b#Affordable housing update.#/b# Council approved a transfer of funds to cover $30,700 in over-budget expenses relating to the additional paid EMTs hired by the township and affordable housing litigation.
Council also approved a separate resolution for the township to split the payment for the services of planner Elizabeth McKenzie with Avalon Watch LLC. In 2013 Council passed an ordinance that extended the affordable housing period of 103 Avalon Princeton Junction rental units, due to expire in 2018, to 2048.
Avalon Watch is litigating the extension ordinance. The township is also currently seeking affordable housing approval through Mercer County Superior Court, and business administrator Marlena Schmid said the 103 affordable units currently contested by Avalon Watch are part of the township’s fair share plan.
#b#Taxi resolution pulled.#/b# Council pulled a resolution that supports proposed state legislation covering mobile application-based taxi companies such as Uber.
“I do not think it would be right for this Council to vote on the resolution this evening without receiving the back up information that the resolution refers to,” Maher said. “It would be disingenuous and voting on something that we just haven’t read up on because it wasn’t provided to us.”
Members of the West Windsor Taxi Association were in attendance, and they have sought assistance from Council the past couple of months to control Uber drivers. Currently in New Jersey only limousine-licensed cars can pick up fares across the state, while taxis can only pick up fares in accordance with municipal taxi licenses.
#b#Contract dispute over, sewer project unfinished.#/b# Under an arbitration agreement, the township will pay Montana Construction $339,368. Montana originally sought $481,000, having already received payment of $450,000 from the township. The company was awarded a $1.21 million bid in 2012 to install gravity sewer pipes, which would replace the Duck Pond Run Pump Station.
However, the company was unable to dig under the railroad tracks and the project remains uncompleted. The township has retained an engineering consultant to explore a cost effective method to tunnel under the railroad.
