Proposals to award a five-year $8.9 million contract to the town’s garbage and recycling collector, settle regulatory violations with the operator of the town’s recycling center, and establish a municipal energy-aggregation program designed to lower resident electricity bills head the agenda for the August 20, 2013, town council meeting.
The meeting agendas and related materials are here.
Ordinances up for second and final reading include shifting $276,523 approved to fund a new concession stand at the high school to the purchase of jitney buses, as well as amending the Harvard Press redevelopment plan to allow for rental units rather than condominiums.
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Other agenda items include proposals to:
- Amend the proposed 2013 municipal budget, which would now reflect general appropriations of $73.4 million. The document doesn’t specifically address the impact on the current proposed property tax increase of nearly 2 percent.
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- Confirm another $62,209 in successful property tax appeals.
- Help form a joint health insurance fund with other municipalities to potentially lower the multi-million-dollar cost of coverage for town employees and retirees,
- Renew the contract for a third-party biller for the town’s ambulance service after a competitive-bidding process,
- Confirm a finding of need for housing in favor of the proposed Harvard Press redevelopment,
- Fund nearly $350,000 in additional infrastructure improvements in Llewellyn Park,
- Authorize an additional $30,225 for road improvements on Garfield Avenue, and
- Extend 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 are on first reading to change the council’s rules on the meeting and posting of agenda items on the town website, lower the cost of copying requested documents to comply with state law, and establish licensing for the “Shop Local” rewards program.
The administration is proposing to award the garbage and recycling contract to Suburban Disposal, the current vendor, who 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, but it provided no comparative analysis.
The administration is proposing 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 would pay $5,000 to the town and an unspecified amount to the town’s contractor environmental compliance officer.
The administration’s proposal to create a municipal energy-aggregation program requires an enabling ordinance that is on the agenda for second and final reading. 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.
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.
