Jitney to Provide New Transportation Link in Madison

A midsummer night’s Borough Council meeting Monday night brought a flurry of agenda items for the Rose City at Hartley Dodge Memorial Municipal Building.

Madison will soon have a jitney to ferry passengers to and from downtown and the nearby college campuses.

Mayor Mary-Anna Holden on Monday night told the meeting that NJ Transit has approved Madison for a $223,000 transportation grant at the end of August. The jitney will be operated in a multi-year deal in cooperation with Drew University, the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Holden also announced that the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts will receive a historical grant of $38,000 from the state, “which will help it close a budget gap.” The council also voted to approve a special marker for the museum, a landmark built in 1900 as the borough library that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In other business, Councilmember Jeannie Tsukamoto reminded residents that property taxes are due Aug. 1. Residents can still pay online, as taxes are not affected by the software upgrade that has temporarily suspended online utility payments.
 
Tsukamoto also noted that National Night Out is scheduled for Aug. 2, and that the Madison Police Department has invited residents to take part in the annual event.

Water use restrictions remain in place, according to Council President Vincent Esposito. Residents are urged to conserve water and adhere to the odd-even restriction for watering lawns.

Councilmember Don Links said employees in the Health Department would begin testing tablets as part of a digital technology upgrade meant to increase efficiency and cut down on paperwork.

Borough Assistant Administrator Jim Burnet said tablets are already in use by municipal employees, as well as by the Construction Department, and that Borough Clerk Elizabeth Osborne is looking into various technologies used by other municipalities.