Proposals to fund another $252,700 in successful property tax appeals, approve a $990,425 bid for various street improvements, accept a bid of as much as $352,000 to construct a police traffic bureau substation on Valley Road, and approve a $15,350 change order adding to a remediation project head the agenda for the July 22, 2014, town council meeting.
The meeting agendas and related materials are here.
Council is asked to approve rebating $183,836 in successful property-tax appeals and applying another $68,864 toward future tax bills. This brings the total loss of revenue to the town from tax appeals this year to $1,467,532. The administration is projecting $3.5 million this year, similar to 2013. Successful appeals included the retail building at 457 Mount Pleasant Avenue ($152.938 over four years), Llewellyn-Edison Savings Bank/478 Prospect Avenue ($48,579 over four years) and Green Hill Retirement Community/107 Pleasant Valley Way ($31,105 for 2011).
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Also on the agenda is a request to approve a competitive low bid award for $990,425 to A&J Contractors Group of Monroe Township for street improvements. The streets are:
- Oak Crest Road (Hickory Road to deadend)
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- Hickory Road and Beech Road
- Amos Street
- Ashland Avenue (White Street to Park Avenue)
- Wellington Avenue (Hillside Avenue to Gregory Avenue)
- Hillside Avenue (Wellington Avenue to Forest Hill Road)
- Oak Ridge Road (Mitchell Street to Wellington Avenue)
- Pine Street (Hazel Avenue to Wellington Avenue)
- Birch Street (Hazel Avenue to Wellington Avenue)
Council is also asked to approve a competitive low bid to Shauger Property Services of East Orange of as much as $352,000 for renovation of the former Fred’s Exxon service station at 549 Valley Road into a police substation/traffic bureau. The traffic bureau is now located next door at 555 Valley Road. The bid includes $12,000 for signage and $15,315 for paving. The cost is 56% more than the town engineer estimated in October 2013.
This award would bring the cost of the project to at least $384,000, including $26,880 for design and approximately $6,000 in cancelled 2013 property taxes when the town acquired the property. This amount does not include the cost of environmental remediation, for which the town has paid $38,486 and may incur more for water contamination.
Environmental remediation is also the source of a request for a $15,350 change order (a 7% increase) to a $226,850 contract to clean up and monitor two contaminated sites, Firehouse 4 at 280 Pleasant Valley Way and the old public works garage at 6-8 Lindsley Avenue. T&M Associates of Middletown has requested to add a well and sampling at each site, as well as $3,200 to provide notice to property owners and tenants within 200 feet of the Lindsley Avenue site.
Proposed ordinances include:
- Amendments to the ordinance setting pay rates for various town positions, including a new top salary of $151,812 for the municipal engineer/director of public works, on second and final reading
- Amendments to the ordinance setting pay rates for positions in the health department, including a new top salary of $119,294 for the town health officer, on first reading
- Amendments to the traffic ordinance adding stop signs at the intersections of Marshall Street and Holmes Street with Phyllis Road, on first reading
- Amendments to the ordinance setting pay rates for 911 communications operators, on first reading
- Amendments to the traffic ordinance restricting parking on Glenview Drive between Northfield Avenue and Beacon Place to residents of the street and their visitors, on first reading
Other proposals of potential interest on the agenda include:
- Paying $4,500 for an employee assistance program through the state Civil Service Commission
- A contract settlement with Teamster Local 560 Communications Operators and Public Safety Telecommunications Operators, which calls for no salary increases in 2010 and 2011 and 2% increases in 2012 and 2013 (identical to other town labor contracts
- A contract to put Verizon Wireless antennas on the town hall roof for $12,000 in the first year, including $1,200 annually for electricity, with 2% increases in each of the 25 years of the contract. (I’ve asked for more detail on the planned appearance of the equipment from the ground.)
- The county-wide fire mutual aid plan, which requires participating municipalities to provide assistance when needed to each other
- An agreement to allocate funds raised from the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition Downtown Classic 5K run scheduled for September 14 among the charity, town and Downtown West Orange Alliance.
- Participating in the Essex County Urban County Community Development (Block Grant) program for 2015-2017
If you’d like to contact the council with your thoughts on any of these issues, please send an e-mail to council@westorange.org or call 973.325.4155 to leave a message.
I’m a West Orange Township councilman since 2010, reachable at jkrakoviak@westorange.org. I'm a business communications consultant in my spare time.
