July Council Meeting Had a Full Agenda

Borough officials had a big agenda to work through on Monday night, the only meeting this month of the governing body. 

First on the council’s agenda was a discussion regarding the passage of a proposed resolution that would allot $2,500 for borough engineers to do a full assessment of the structure of Fire Company No. 2’s building.

Mayor Ann Subrizi asked for any questions or oppositions from council members, after none were raised the resolution passed without objection.

Second on the council’s agenda was a request from Holy Name Hospital to increase the borough’s stipend of $8,800 to help cover non-insured residents who require ambulance assistance.

As of now, the borough budgets $26,000 to their volunteer ambulance corps yearly, Subrizi said. However, as the amount of volunteers dropped the corps amended “the way they do business” and contracted Holy Name Hospital to cover their daily ambulance needs should the ambulance corps not be able to send a car out.

To pay for this, Subrizi said the borough budgets a stipend of approximately $8,800 that came from an estimate in 2006.

Holy Name Hospital asked the council to increase this stipend to “just under $11,000” Subrizi said.

Councilman Diego Robalino questioned whether the borough would be able to take the stipend out of the yearly budgeted amount given to the ambulance corps, which was considered “a possibility” by Subrizi.

“The New Milford/Oradell ambulance corps has a long history of providing service to New Milford going back to the days of the yellow Cadillac ambulance in 1944,” Subrizi said. “I think it is something we want to try and continue to provide to our residents. However, the availability of volunteers and cost involved with maintaining everything has to be reevaluated.”

Subrizi and Borough Administrator/Borough Clerk Christine Demiris said the borough was unable to increase the stipend because the town’s budget has already been finalized and any decision to increase their stipend would be made going forward.

Subrizi said she hopes Ambulance Corps liaison Councilman Peter Rebsch, who was not present at the meeting, would meet with Holy Name Hospital and receive future contract ideas from them as the time to create next year’s budget comes closer.

Next on the council’s agenda was the discussion of a sign ordinance law that “has gone largely unenforced,” Subrizi said.

“As an attempt to enforce the good works we tried to envision in that ordinance we are sending out a letter to our store owners,” Subrizi said.

Enclosed in the letter will be a copy of the sign ordinance and would require “compliance that has not been forthcoming” regarding the amount of signage allowed, the lighting and signs allowed above the first floor of a building, Subrizi said.

Councilwoman Randi Duffie only added one change to the letter, extending the date of compliance from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1.

Item six on the agenda was the possible elimination of permit fees associated with borough-owned trees uprooting sidewalks throughout the town.

Subrizi said the council has received many complaints from New Milford residents regarding the $45 fee charged homeowners for inspections the town requires after new slabs of sidewalks are placed down due to damage done by trees.

Permit fees are set at a minimum of $45 dollars and increase $5 for every slab that goes over seven per inspection.

Three residents have suggested waiving the permit fee in this month alone, Subrizi said.

“Even if you had one slab that needed to be fixed, you’d have to pay $45,” Subrizi said.  “In checking with the building department, I did not feel it would be an excessive burden on their costs.”

Duffie suggested instead of waiving the fee – which is required for inspections both before and after a sidewalk instillation, possibly restructuring and setting a different standard for sidewalk inspection permits.

“We have costs,” Duffie said. “Now we are expecting not one, but two, inspections for nothing.”

No decision was met, however Subrizi said if the town were to waive the fee it would require a future resolution but a reduced fee would require a new ordinance. After further debate the issue was pushed back to be revisited during the August meeting.

Demiris continued the meeting by giving an overview of the liquor license fee in New Milford and her plan to increase them, which she said would bring further revenue into the borough. 

“We are far from the maximum [fee] that is allowed by law,” Demiris said. “Last meeting we discussed what a proposal of what the increase could be.”

According to Demiris, the last time liquor license fees were increased in New Milford was 2006 and the borough is permitted to increase their fees by 20 percent each year.

Demiris’ proposal would increase the fees from $1400 to $1600 in 2012 for a preliminary retail consumption license that would slowly rise yearly to $2400 in 2015 – just under the $2500 maximum.

The plan also includes a four-year phase in plan to increase preliminary retail distribution licenses and club licenses. 

No objections were raised by the council and Demiris’ proposal will be introduced as a resolution in a later meeting.

The final item on the council’s agenda was a discussion led by Robalino and Subrizi regarding State Sen. Mike Doherty’s school funding resolution.

Robalino said he hoped New Milford would support Doherty’s resolution that asks the state legislature to distribute state aid for education in “a fair manner.”

Robalino said New Milford receives approximately nine cents for every dollar they give, where other school districts receive more returns.

“It’s a quest in Trenton to equalize funding to each school board,” Subrizi said. “It wouldn’t happen overnight, but this resolution would be in support of the beginning of this process.”

With no objections to the support of the resolution, the council added it to their August 22 agenda.

Finally, New Milford resident Kevin Wasp was nominated to Fire Co. No. 2 and Ordinance No. 2011:15, which amends subsection 7-3.3 of the ‘Traffic’ section of New Milford ordinance, was passed allowing no parking signs to be placed on the Oxford Lane Easement.