Two meetings scheduled on $1.5 million COAH boon

Paramus residents can soon apply to use a piece of $1.5 million to bring their houses up to code.

The money is available for residents who meet certain income limits for work on things like roofs, boilers or insulation. Homeowners can learn more at one of two meetings at the Life Safety Complex Oct. 28 at 4pm and 7pm.

It's the second time Paramus is offering the program, and Mayor James Tedesco said that with new income limits for the program, those whose applications weren't approved last time might have more success now.

One of the benefits of the program, said Councilman Alan Brundage, is that the work has to be done by local contractors.

"It's a win-win all the way around," he said at Tuesday's mayor and council work session.

Tedesco said he has a half-dozen letters from residents who took advantage of the program the first time around.

"The program is an outstanding success," he said at last week's council meeting, when he first announced the borough had the money. "We have people all over Paramus that took advantage of having $20,000 of work done to their house at no cost to them and no cost to the taxpayers."

Under the state Fair Housing Act, municipalities have to provide a certain amount of affordable housing. They can meet part of that obligation through rehabilitation programs like the one currently being implemented in Paramus. And they can fund those programs by collecting development fees.

Gov. Chris Christie went on record earlier this year on his desire to abolish the state Council on Affordable housing, which administers the program, and as a result, Tedesco said he wants to spend the available money in the borough as quickly as possible, in case the state decides to take it away.

"I would guess that Paramus wouldn't be the beneficiary of much of that money," he said.

In other news from the work session, borough administrator Joseph D'Arco said residents living near Paramus High School had expressed concerns about parking during football games. Iona Place and Hoover Court are packed with cars on both sides of the streets during games, leaving little room for through traffic.

Tedesco suggested they could cone off one side of the streets and push people to park farther away from the school. However, he did point out that there are only two home football games left, including the Thanksgiving morning rivalry game against Ridgewood.

He said the council would have to decide whether to change the existing ordinance governing parking on those streets.