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Health & Fitness

BOT Meeting re-cap 10-22-12

brief re-cap of the October 22, 2012 Board of Trustees meeting

The following is a brief unofficial recap of many items that occurred or were discussed at the October 22, 2012 BOT Meeting.  Official minutes will be posted online at www.southorange.org when they are available or the video can be viewed on-demand at southorange.org/videoViewer.asp

 

Presentations

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  • Adam Loerner shared an update on upcoming activities at Seton Hall
  • SOPAC had a consultant, the Nonprofit Finance Fund, provide a presentation.  SOPAC had applied to the New Jersey Cultural Trust a for financial stabilization grant.  With that grant, they felt they would be able to better understand the needs of the organization.  (see presentation attached to this blog post).   SOPAC also retained a consulting firm to conduct the search for new Executive Director. Job description has been formulated and posted with a goal to have the new Director in place for Feb or March 2013.

 

Assemblyman McKeon, Assemblywoman Jasey and Governor Codey joined us to share some updates:

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  • Update on legislation that would permit the moving of Bd of Education elections to November: Senate has re-passed the bill; This bill is expected to to be on the agenda in the Assembly in December and signed into law by January.
  • Update on A-2586 that would exempt private universities from Zoning approval - have received a commitment from the Speaker to not move process forward until compromises are made.
  • NJ Transit schedule changes - had conference call with NJ Transit; working to get express service back for South Orange

 

Paul Wyckoff - Chief of Government and External affairs  for NJ Transit shared an update on the recent schedule changes.  He stated:

  • NJ transit faces a constant dance to balance demand and service
  • Traditionally, NJ Transit changes schedules 2x per year
  • NJ Transit is having people ride trains to do passenger counts
  • NJ Transit will evaluate over next month and will let people know
  • NJ Transit apologizes for not communicating changes with Village, in advance
  • If NJ Transit determines they will make any changes, it would not occur before January
  • NJ Transit is aware of the public outcry and continuing to send emails and signing the petition is helpful

 

Public Comments

  • George Matios - disturbed by schedule changes by NJ Transit
  • Scott Greenstone - Spearheaded petition drive; Requesting that NJT bring back level of service that we had
  • Robert Sandow - Suggesting adding a stop to the 6:21 Summit train
  • David Solomon - Speaking on behalf of Hoboken riders and requested that the Hoboken schedule also be re-examined
  • Lee Pollock - Chose South Orange for the short commute and schedule changes negatively impact quality of life; implored NJT to do something sooner
  • Steve Kitzinger - encouraged people to attend next NJ Transit Board meeting
  • Joseph Cary - moved to South Orange 2 years ago because of commute; new schedule is abysmal
  • Alyssa Aronson - suggested contacting Livingston & WO government to help deal with NJT
  • Bob Adler - Post Office is a mess; Flowers in town are dismal; Water is undrinkable
  • Terry Richardson - Inquired if there is a policy about joggers/walkers in Grove Park;  Launched non-profit to target at-risk youth boys (Young Lions Rights of Passage Youth Boys); About to submit a new application to the Bd of Adjustment to support the growth of First Baptist Church

 

Ordinance on Second Reading

Ordinance 2012-08: Ordinance to restate definitions of impervious surface, passed 4-0.  Allows residents to expand homes without running afoul of lot coverage and parses types of material that are used.

 

Ordinance on First Reading

Ordinance 2012-20:  Approving the application and financial agreement for tax exemption for a site within the redevelopment area, Tabled 4-0.  (This is the property formerly known as the Beifus Site and for an initial PILOT payment of $200k/year.)

 

Consent Agenda

9 resolutions approved, 4-0

Resolution 2012-239 - awarding a no-cost contract to Redflex for an automated photo enforcement system,  passed 3-1 (Trustee Rosner voted no)

Resolution 2012-249 - accepting the corrective action plan for the 2011 Audit report, passed 4-0

 

Reports

  • Village Hall - anticipating asbestos assessment to be completed shortly; finalized floor plan for trailers
  • 3rd St property acquisition - need to contact previous members of Open Space Committee to see if they are interested in still serving

 

Planning & Zoning

  • Village Engineer is following up with the County to discuss alternatives for traffic light at Scotland/Raymond
  • Chairman of Board of Adjustment shared proposed ordinance changes based on cases heard in 2011

 

Public Safety

  • Discussed resident request for a gate on Finaly Pl, but determined that is not possible since it is prohibited to place a gate on a street that continues in to another town.
  • Discussed the status of the ICMA report - the BOT is still awaiting the updated version of the draft report we received in July.
  • Discussed quality of life issues by Meadowbrook Place and proposed resident parking on Meadowbrook Place
  • New Aerial Ladder Truck scheduled for delivery in January

 

Recreation 

  • Met last week about Summer baseball

 

Discussion

Board Work Session for Codification Project - There is an ongoing project to update the Village code to incorporate all new ordinances.  After all changes are made, the new code needs to be adopted by Ordinance; Village Counsel proposes having a work session of the BOT to review the changes.

 

 

For any questions or comments, please post below or email me at mgoldberg@southorange.org

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