Berkeley Heights Township : Township Council Mtg Preview For April 6, 2021

Press release from the Berkeley Heights Township:

April 6, 2021

By Council President Jeanne Kingsley

Want to know what is being discussed by the Town Council at its next meeting?

The next Township Council meeting will be held on Tuesday April 6 at 7:00PM. Member of Council, Mayor Devanney, and Administration staff will be participating electronically via ZOOM in this meeting. For this and all future electronic meetings, members of the public will be able to comment by video and comments will also be accepted by email to aminkoff@bhtwp.com or by writer letter to Township Clerk, 29 Park Ave, Berkeley Heights NJ 07922. Comments must be received by the Township Clerk by 4:00 PM on the date of the ZOOM meeting. The meeting ID for the Zoom meeting is http://zoom.us/s/3575747364.   

The first item on the agenda is a conference session on the 2021 Municipal Budget and will be presented by the Townships CFO Eugenia Poulos and the Townships Administrator Liza Viana. They will present a summary of the Municipal Budget that is being introduced during the meeting and establish May 4, 2021 as the date of the public hearing and final adoption.

Council will hold a hearing and vote on an ordinance to authorize the Township to increase its final budget appropriations by the statutorily permitted 3.5% and to allow the Township to bank any unused amounts for the next two years. This ordinance is not an expenditure of funds and does not affect the tax levy; rather, this is a budgeting technique that allows Council to plan for unexpected expenditures in future years.   

Council will hold a hearing and vote on an ordinance amending section 17.11.6 (Additional Fees) of the Municipal Code of the Township to modify the tax map revision fees to cover the cost of tax map revisions. The Township has a multi-year project to update the tax maps; the fee structure has not been updated to adequately cover the additional expense incurred.  

Council will hold a hearing and vote on an ordinance to extend Ordinance 25-2020, which authorizes restaurants to establish and operate approved temporary dining areas during the COVID-19 pandemic to December 1, 2021.

The Council will vote on the following resolutions:

• Approve Bill List dated April 6, 2021 in the amount of $691,493.97 for vouchers that have been properly approved for processing and payment.
• Authorize the submission of a Treatment Works Approval (TWA) applications to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for Berkeley Crossing Urban Renewal, LLC  (former Berkeley Florist) and Berkeley Heights Developers, LLC ( Stratton House), which is required because both project’s estimated sewage generation is in excess of 8,000 gallons per day and therefore requires a TWA from the NJDEP.
• Authorize $12,657,631 to the current temporary operating budget to meet expenses that must be paid prior to the final adoption of the 2021 budget.
• Authorize a contract with Regional Industries, LLC for the provision of Residential Clean-Up (Bulk Pick-Up) in the amount not to exceed $135,000.
• Authorize a contract with Cifelli & Son General Contracting Inc, for the Provision of Walk, Don’t Drive to the Berkeley Heights Train Station! Project in the amount not to exceed $767,029.50, subject to NJDOT.  This project is the Plainfield Ave sidewalk improvement project that the township received a $410,000 Safe Streets to Transit grant award for in 2019.   The difference between the total project cost and the grant award will be funded with existing capital ordinance funds.
• Authorize the waving of the $100 annual fee assessed to Food Service Establishments to maintain a “FOG control license” for the 2021 calendar year due to difficulties surrounding COVID-19. 

Click here to view the complete Council agenda.

Click here to view the budget presentation.

This press release was produced by the Berkeley Heights Township. The views expressed here are the author’s own.