Verona Council Wraps Year-End Business

It was the last Council meeting of 2011 during this week before the Christmas holiday and much of the activity involved tying up loose ends for the year.

During the Township Manager’s report, Joseph Martin announced receiving a notice alerting the Township of another $122,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to pay for the next phase of the Bloomfield Avenue streetscape.

Mayor Frank Sapienza reminded everyone of the importance of remembering The Verona Children’s Fund, if people are inclined to make year-end donations to charity. The fund, whose goal is to provide assistance to families in need, is a part of the Verona Health and Welfare Department. For more than 20 years, students in Verona schools whose families have faced economic or other difficulties have been provided with free or discounted school lunches by The Children's Fund, a grass-roots Verona-based non-profit started and funded by concerned local residents, officials and organizations.

With the economy still crawling its way back after the downturn, donations to the Fund have slowed, forcing it to reduce its offerings to local families in need, and putting the free lunch program at risk.

For more information on how to help, call Connie Pifer, Verona's Health and Social Services Coordinator, at 973-857-4824.

Deputy Mayor Bob Manley called attention to the completion of the reconstruction to Church Street. Manley thanked Township Engineer, Jim Helb for his attention to apply for the funding and spearhead the construction efforts to get the project completed in a matter of two weeks.

During a report from Councilman Jay Sniatkowski, a discussion came up regarding the Chamber of Commerce and Township’s decision not to allow free parking at metered spaces during the holidays this year. Sniatkowski remarked, “It is not a money-maker by any means, but it had to be done to prevent the abuse by Manhattan-bound commuters or local employees who would park in these spaces all day long, taking away parking spaces from potential customers for our local businesses.”

Township Manager Martin emphasized, “The purpose of the parking meter is not to generate revenue for the Municipality. In an entire year, we bring in approximately $28,000 in revenue from parking meters. It is not a major source [of income]. The purpose of a meter is to make sure spaces are available so that the customer can go to a local merchant.”

Councilman Kevin Ryan reported he attended the meeting of the Shade Tree Commission where Chairman Bob Dickison noted that all streets have been cleaned up from the damage caused by the October snowstorm. Scheduled next on the list is the removal of “hangers” which are the broken limbs still stuck in the canopy of treetops along the Township’s streets and properties.

As Council liaison to the Verona Landmarks Preservation Commission, Councilman Michael Nochimson outlined the activity of the Commission and their works in progress, including pursuing the designation of the United Methodist Church as a historical landmark.

There were fourteen resolutions up for approval. The most significant concerned authorizing the issuance of a temporary note in the amount of $532,000 as an emergency appropriation to fund the clean up from tropical storm Irene and the October snowstorm. This will be repaid when reimbursement is received from FEMA funding in 2012. All fourteen resolutions were approved.

Residents are to note that the Council meeting scheduled for January 2nd is now rescheduled to Tuesday, January 3rd, because January 2nd is a holiday.