Referencing public comments, including those by Councilman Charles Morgan, that were critical of the mayor both before and after his State of the Township speech to council earlier this month, members of the Township Council want to move the annual address to its own special session.
A discussion on the matter is expected to be on the agenda for Monday, May 3.
Before the mayor’s annual address on March 1, a group of residents who were opposed to a cell phone tower ordinance that was to be addressed later criticized the mayor and the Planning Board chairman during public comment for their role in the process. Former council candidate Andrew Hersh also criticized the mayor for ignoring residents and called for his resignation.
The mayor delivered his 20-minute speech following public comment. Then, after he was finished, Morgan gave what appeared to be a rebuttal to Hsueh, accusing the mayor of portraying township business in an optimistic manner, with which he disagreed.
Councilwoman Diane Ciccone, who avoided pointing to comments specifically from Morgan, said she wanted to make it a special session in order to “give it the respect that is due.”
“It’s a special session and we listen to the mayor’s report, and that’s it,” she proposed.
Councilman Kamal Khanna supported the idea of creating a special session, but Councilwoman Linda Geevers took it a step further. “We need a rule that limits the number of minutes council members speak.”
Geevers said she thought the limit should be three minutes, but she said she talked to Council President George Borek, who was absent, and that he recommended a five-minute limit. “That way it cuts off the grandstanding,” she said.
Ciccone said a time limit on council members’ comments should be an issue discussed separately and that a separate session for the mayor’s address would work better. “I don’t think people are going to mind coming out one more time,” for the state of the township address, she said.
Sign Ordinance. In other business during the March 15 meeting, former councilman Franc Gambatese, who owns the Grovers Mill Coffee Company approached council to ask that it revisit the township sign ordinance to make it more business-friendly.
He said “we have to do something real in town to help the business owners,” who face obstacles and restrictions in the township’s current ordinance when trying to advertise their businesses.
Gambatese said it was funny that the township can tolerate signs for vacant office space, but “it won’t tolerate the signs for businesses that support the community.” He also referenced signs he saw for an Italian-American event and a festival in Cranbury that are able to be advertised in the township.
Businesses in the township make bigger tax payments to help offset the burden to residents and should be encouraged — and the township should help them by allowing them to advertise on signs, he said.
Council members seemed to be on board with the idea. Geevers told Gambatese to get the business owners together to recommend specific changes to the ordinance for council’s review. “We certainly want to support West Windsor businesses, and we want you to be successful,” she said.
Khanna agreed, saying a coordinated effort between the township and business owners is needed. It should extend to broader issues as well. “It should evolve into some kind of economic development committee,” he said.
ADA Compliance. An update on the township’s ADA compliance with ADA issues is planned for the council’s meeting on Monday, May 3.
The update will be given in response to a report submitted by a group of residents last month, who detailed what they say is a lack of ADA compliance on the township’s part. Resident Michael Ogg approached the Township Council to present the findings of a partial audit conducted by a group of residents to determine which items in the township’s ADA Transition Plan — adopted in 1992 — had yet to be rectified.
According to Ogg, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, the township was supposed to rectify all of the issues by January, 1995. Now, 15 years later, some issues are still unresolved. The group looked at the interior and exterior of the municipal building, the Ron Rogers Arboretum, Van Nest, Community, Hendrickson, and Zaitz parks, and the Conover Road Athletic Complex.
In response, township officials said they would look into the claims. At the March 15 meeting, Hary said because the report is “lengthy in nature,” he hadn’t been able to “qualify or quantify” the group’s claims.
He did say, though, that there was still some funding available in 2010 for bicycle and pedestrian improvements that could be used to fund some of the ADA compliant projects. He also said that in the spring, officials plan to fix the sidewalk outside of the municipal building that buckled as a result of underlying tree roots.
Hary said the process involves first identifying which claims are legitimate. “I know there are some items off the top of my head that I know we can do,” he said. “There are some items I think are priority items.”When pressed for more details on the process by Ciccone, Hary said he “wouldn’t agree that we aren’t ADA compliant.”
Responded Ciccone: “We’re certainly not 100 percent; is that a fair statement?” Hary agreed.
Truck Purchase. In other business during the March 15 meeting, the council approved the purchase of a new Chevrolet Tahoe for its canine unit. The truck will be purchased at a cost of $31,837 from Day Automotive of Egg Harbor.
