Township to Develop Plan for Private Roads

The Township Committee agreed to work on developing a uniform code for the standards and conditions of the township taking over maintenance of a private road at its meeting last week.

The decision was a result of a discussion between the township  committee and resident Russ Pisano. Pisano, a 27-year resident, owns Coppola Court, a private road. Pisano appeared before the committee asking for the road's maintenance to be the responsibly of the township.

Township Administrator Frank Bastone said that, after speaking with members of the planning board, his recommendation was for the road to remain private and, as a result, under the care of Pisano.

"I understand the position of not wanting to take on an addition road for expense, but I've spent over $400,000 [in taxes] in my time living here," Pisano said. "There are 12 other private roads that are maintained by the town. I wish you would take this a step further."

Pisano said that he had allowed the township to install municipal sewer systems on his property and that he had given six acres of conservation area to the township and he thought he was entitled to a reward for "what I've done for the town."

Committeewoman Deborah Nielson pointed out that there were between 12 and 15 private streets in the township that were maintained to some degree by the township, and that a standard as to what streets could be cared for should be developed.

"This question goes beyond this particular street," she said. "There are 12 to 15 private streets and they all have different standards as to whether they are plowed, mowed, salted, swept. It may be that each street has unique characteristics, maybe one size doesn't fit all, but the committee needs to take a look and determine if  want a policy of taking maintenance of this street or other streets." 

Bastone agreed with Nielson that the private streets under town care did not have a uniform guideline for how their maintenance was shifted to the township.

"There are different streets that have different things that are being done to them," he said. "I've always maintained the status quo."

Mayor Sandham said that the township committee needed more information and that further discussion on the issue was required.

"No one, I think, is prepared to move forward without doing some homework," he said. "It sounds like we want to have further discussion on this from two perspectives: a broad policy of, if we want to do with anybody, what are the standards that we're going to adhere to and how that would apply to this particular situation. We should be giving taxpayers the benefit of the doubt."

The committee planned to schedule the issue as an agenda item for a coming meeting. Its next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 12.