August 20 Town Council meeting

Town council approved awarding a five-year $8.9 million contract to the town’s garbage and recycling collector, establishing a municipal energy-aggregation program designed to lower resident electricity bills, and settling regulatory violations with the operator of the town’s recycling center at the August 20, 2013, town council meeting.

The meeting agendas and related materials are here. Video of the meeting, indexed to make it easier to find specific parts of interest, is here.

Council also gave final approval to an ordinance shifting $276,523 to the purchase of jitney buses. These funds were previously approved to build a new concession stand at the high school. The transfer leaves $10,843 to cover expenses incurred for the project before the town determined it would cost well in excess of its initial $350,000 estimate. I was the only council member to oppose the concession stand project, on the grounds that we couldn’t afford it in these difficult economic times.

Council also approved amending the Harvard Press redevelopment plan to allow for rental units rather than condominiums. The developer, Joseph Alpert, said he hoped to begin construction in December or January on the property between Central Avenue and Mitchell Street just west of the raised New Jersey Transit train tracks. The property will create 100 apartments that, because of state funding conditions, will rent to families with annual incomes of $35,000 to $60,000.

Council also approved:

- Amending the proposed 2013 municipal budget, which increases general appropriations nearly $475,000 to $73.4 million. This doesn’t change the administration’s proposal to raise property taxes nearly 2 percent this year. The budget adds $16,388 for the rest of the year to cover the July creation of a new jitney bus route serving western Northfield Avenue (annualized cost nearly $40,000). The administration said it’s looking to ask council approval of the final budget at the September 17 council meeting.

- Confirming payments to fund another $62,209 in successful property tax appeals.

- Helping form a joint health insurance fund with other municipalities to potentially lower the multi-million-dollar cost of coverage for town employees and retirees,

- Renewing the contract for a third-party biller for the town’s ambulance service after a competitive-bidding process,

- Confirming a need for housing in favor of the proposed Harvard Press redevelopment, a finding which was required to qualify for state funding,

- Funding nearly $350,000 in additional infrastructure improvements in Llewellyn Park (to be repaid by residents there),

- Authorizing an additional $30,225 for road improvements on Garfield Avenue, and

- Extending the contract with town’s consultant for commercial tax appeals, Blau & Blau, to the end of this year at the current $5,000 monthly fee.

Three ordinances were approved on first reading to change the council’s rules on its meetings, lower the cost of copying requested documents to comply with state law, and establish licensing for the “Shop Local” rewards program.

The proposal to change the council meeting’s order of business includes eliminating General Matters Pending near the start of the meeting and replacing it with a more restrictive version at the end, as well as requiring council people to limit their responses to Public Comment to five minutes. Several residents spoke against the ordinance during Public Comment. I urged my colleagues to vote against the ordinance on first reading, but it passed 4-1. It is on the agenda for second and final reading, when the public can comment, at the September 17 council meeting.

Also in my response to Public Comment, I noted that Prism Capital Partners, the designated redeveloper for the Edison Battery Factory site downtown, was again delinquent in its property taxes. It has missed the last two quarters’ payment on several of its properties in the redevelopment area, now owing more than $450,000. I asked the administration if it planned to send a default notice to Prism as it did last year to prompt payment. I also asked the administration to forward my questions for Prism, which I submitted in March, to the town’s redevelopment professionals. I asked my council colleagues to support my request. I received no response from the administration, which included the mayor, or my colleagues.

Also at Public Comment, the president of the West Orange First Aid Squad spoke in opposition to what he said was a plan by the administration to seek competitive bids to provide emergency transport in the town – something the squad is doing. Jim Troisi opposed the move, which he said the administration decided not to place on the meeting agenda. No one from the administration responded to my request for comment.

Council approved the garbage and recycling contract to Suburban Disposal, the current vendor, which was one of two bidders. The administration says the new contract will provide at least $1,095,005 in savings compared to the current contract. Starting next month, residents will be able to put out all recycling weekly without separating it in what is called a “single-stream” process. The administration said this should result in significantly more recycling – resulting in less garbage and lower “tipping fees” (which are priced by weight) when Suburban disposes of the waste.

Council approved the administration’s proposal to settle regulatory violations with Reliable Wood Products of Jersey City, which operates the town recycling center. The violations relate to failure for more than a year to comply with limits on the amount of vegetative material allowed on the site. The company will pay $5,000 to the town.

The administration’s proposal to create a municipal energy-aggregation program received council approval of an enabling ordinance. The program assembles the town’s residential electricity customers – except anyone who opts out – and offers the supply contract at auction with the expectation that this will result in a lower cost than what each resident could obtain on his or her own with third-party suppliers. I pointed out that it appeared uncertainties still existed for the impact on “level-billing” customers and how the savings would be calculated against multiple-rate pricing tiers on PSE&G electric supply bills.

The program is quite new statewide and has prompted many questions and some opposition from residents, as demonstrated at last week’s informational meeting at Edison Central school. The program cannot launch unless it saves residents money on their electric bills.

I’m a West Orange Township councilman since 2010, reachable at jkrakoviak@westorange.org. I'm a business communications consultant in my spare time.