Politics & Government

Boro Council OKs $250K for Electric System Upgrades

More talk of topsoil at meeting of governing body.

The good news at this week’s Borough Council meeting?

“Madison retains its AAA credit rating,” Mayor Mary-Anna Holden said.

No small feat, in the face of multiple downgrades of U.S.’s debt rating that helped send markets tumbling this week.

But it didn’t take long for the meeting at Hartley Dodge Memorial Monday night to lose its jovial mood, when Councilman Sam Cerciello, as he did at the most recent meeting, asked why the borough can’t reuse topsoil being excavated at the site of the Madison Recreation Complex.

Holden explained—again—that any use of the soil beyond the limits of the turf field project would require thousands of dollars worth of testing, in line with state Dept. of Environmental Protection regulations.

“We would have to test every thousand cubic yards of soil,” Holden said. “As it is, we don’t have to pay what would be considerable trucking fees to have it taken away, as part of what we negotiated.”

Cerciello suggested that MRC topsoil could be used to remediate the playing fields at the former Bayley Ellard school. But Borough Assistant Business Administrator Jim Burnet, at Holden’s suggestion, explained that no definitive plan on how to remediate Bayley Ellard has been formulated. One plan could expand parking as one way to remediate the site. “But capping the entire site with two feet of soil would only account for one-tenth of what we need to do,” Burnet told the meeting.

In fact, Burnet said developer Rockefeller Group has “preliminarily” offered free to the borough topsoil from its development of the former BASF site—closer to Bayley Ellard than the MRC—and that the borough is in process of developing a plan.

Councilman Robert Catalanello also reminded businesses and residents that once-a-week garbage collection will commence Sept. 1 and continue through April 30. If pick-up is scheduled for a holiday, it will occur the next day, even on Saturday.

Catalanello said the Passive Recreation Committee had its third meeting, and divided its plans into short- and long-term goals. An acre-sized site of the proposed community gardens on the 49 Acres was mowed by the Department of Public Works, so the site could be assessed.

In the interest of public safety, Fire Chief Lou DeRosa gave a presentation detailing the scope of the Madison Fire Department’s services. Besides emergency calls, the MFD replaces smoke detector batteries free for seniors; clears streets of downed trees and is part of a mutual-aid agreement with surrounding communities to answer calls from Morristown Airport, among its myriad duties.

DeRosa also discussed the July house fire at 25 Wayne Boulevard, noting that department personnel were on-site three minutes after the 911 call came in. He noted that firefighters continue to receive plaudits, on Monday from Sen. Tom Kean, for the rescue of the family cat from the blaze.

In other business, borough Police Chief John Trevena asked the governing body to make changes to an ordinance covering peddlers, and increase the licensing fee to $150 per month. Borough attorney Joseph Mezzacca Jr. in response to a question said that the changes would not affect door-to-door politicking.

An ordinance appropriating $250,000 from the Electric Capital Improvement Fund will pay for the replacement of 26-year-old underground switches around 124 Madison Avenue. Electric Utility Superintendent Michael Piano said that the switches are in a severe state of deterioration and in some cases are unsafe to be worked near, and the original manufacturer is no longer available.

Councilwoman Jeannie Tsukamoto, the borough’s new technology liaison, said that she intends to push for technology upgrades, to improve efficiency and automate labor-intensive processes in borough business. Chief among these is a proposal under development to upgrade the municipal communications infrastructure from copper wire to fiber optic cable. It would provide for wireless communications, which she called a “major and necessary upgrade.” She plans to present a proposal at the next council meeting.

Another proposed ordinance would limit politicial donations at $300 per calendar year per candidate or party for businesses that wish to win borough contracts.

The three ordinances each passed by unanimous vote.

Republican State Senate candidate Bill Ames made a brief appearance to welcome the borough to the newly-configured 27th District. Ames will challenge longtime Essex County pol Richard Codey in the November elections.

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