$1.5M Bond Ordinance For Lenola Project Under Consideration

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Council took the first step on a proposed bond ordinance that sets aside $1,500,000, including the borrowing of $500,000 in bonds or notes, for the Lenola Town Center Landscape Improvement Project on Monday night.

Council approved the proposal on introduction with a 4-0 vote (Mayor Lisa Petriello wasn’t in attendance), although the sentiment behind the vote didn’t appear to be unanimous.

The project costs are fully reimbursable from two grants received through the federal government and administered through the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT).

The township has already received a $971,500 Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) for construction costs.

The second grant is for design and engineering costs, and is still awaiting federal approval. Should the second grant be approved, the full cost of the project would be covered by the grants.

The project focuses on revitalizing a quarter mile of the Lenola Town Center Camden Avenue corridor. It is estimated to cost about $1 million.

When Councilman Mike Locatell asked why council was being asked to bond $1.5 million when the estimated cost is about $1 million, Chief Financial Officer Tom Merchel said extra money is being bonded so the township has some wiggle room. He said some project bids have been coming in at higher than expected costs recently.

Locatell and Councilwoman Victoria Napolitano also expressed concern about delays in the project. In January, the township had two contractors set to work on the project.

After two new council members were sworn in and the majority of council changed parties in January, council opted to pursue a second federal grant for about $360,000 to cover the cost of the development of plans, specifications and estimates for the plan.

In order to do so, though, the township had to appoint a professional from a pool of six engineering design consultants selected by the state. That professional was McCormick Taylor. Read more here: McCormick Taylor Named Lenola Project Design Consultant

“I was amenable to changing engineers, but now we don’t even know if we’re going to get the grant,” Napolitano said. “I’m seriously concerned that we don’t have an extension. We would have the extension if we already had shovels in the ground. We desperately need to get this done, and we could have moved forward with what we had in place.”

Locatell and Napolitano said they hoped that the approval would be in place by the public hearing and final vote on the proposal, which is set for Aug. 19. Deputy Mayor Nicole Gillespie told Patch she expects the approval will be in place soon. She said the delay is frustrating, but “there is very little chance of the grant not being approved.”

Council also approved two other pieces of legislation on introduction with 4-0 votes during Monday night’s meeting at town hall.

The first proposal would add Crider Avenue to the list of streets where heavy truck traffic is prohibited. The street is primarily residential and the police department advises that truck use is a danger to residents, officials said.

The other would amend the ordinance concerning street trees for clarification purposes. Current township code requires that plantings on certain approved developments comport with a list of trees and other plantings previously adopted as an appendix to the tree ordinance.

The ordinance that adopted the approved list as an appendix was not clear as to how the list of approved trees and plantings would be modified as the need arose. This ordinance would replace the old list with a new one that reflects a concern that one of the currently permitted tree plantings is the Ash Tree even though it has become subject to devastation by the Emerald Ash Borer.

This ordinance would update the current list of approved trees and plantings and would additionally allow for a future mechanism to more regularly update the list without resorting the process of changing an ordinance.