Monday, February 4, 2013
The Mahwah township council will be questioning the DPW, police department, municipal pool, senior center and other departments on their planned spending in 2013 at meetings that begin this Thursday
Mahwah’s town council will be spending at least five dedicated meetings – including one on a Saturday morning – questioning township departments’ planned spending in 2013. The township announced last week the council will host the following special meetings at town hall to discuss the proposed 2013 municipal budget: At a council meeting last month, members said they would be calling in the heads of most departments in town to question their budgeted spending, including the police department, DPW, fire department, recreation department, senior center, municipal pool, municipal court and others. The proposed budget, which must be introduced by March 15, calls for a 4.9% municipal tax increase for 2013, which officials say would amount to …
Friday, January 25, 2013
The mayor is again proposing to privatize the township's Recycling Department, but meetings with the DPW may land on an agreeable solution between the union and the township
In order to meet a 2% tax cap, Mayor Bill Laforet has suggested the township privatize its Recycling Department, which is currently operated by seven township employees. When Laforet first suggested the switch last summer, it prompted a huge backlash from the township’s DPW, and was eventually voted down by the town council. However, after a presentation Thursday night, DPW workers said they may be able to reach a compromise with the mayor during union negotiation talks, which are currently ongoing. During a budget presentation Thursday night, Business Administrator Brian Campion explained the mayor’s proposal, which asks the council to eliminate the DPW’s Recycling Department and replacing it with a contracted private company. The …
The 4.9% bump in taxes is still within the 2% tax levy cap, officials say
Mahwah’s municipal tax rate likely won’t be finalized until mid-March when the township council is required to introduce the 2013 budget. However, the initial township budget the mayor and administration presented to the council Thursday night calls for a 4.9% tax increase, which would translate into an about $59 per year increase for the average homeowner in the township. Mahwah Business Administrator Brian Campion and Chief Finance Officer Ken Sesholtz outlined the high points of the budget, which will set the municipal tax rate once its approved, at a town council meeting Thursday night. According to Campion, several uncontrollable factors have led to the increased tax rate. A $46 million decrease in the township’s overall assessed …
Monday, January 21, 2013
DPW workers started handing out fliers around town urging people to attend this week's presentation on the 2013 township budget
A debate last year over whether or not the township’s recycling department should be run by the town’s Department of Public Works or by a privatized company might replay itself this Thursday night. The Mahwah mayor and business administrator are expected to give a presentation on their proposed 2013 municipal budget at this Thursday’s township council meeting. The budget, which will dictate the year's municipal tax rate, must meet a state-mandated two-percent tax levy increase. Representatives from the DPW Union who say they will be on hand Thursday night to see if privatization is part of the plan, started handing fliers like the one attached to this article around the township this weekend urging residents to attend the meeting. “We just…
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The township is 'Bergen County's Parkland,' and according to a document planning for Mahwah's future, the town wants to continue growing areas of open space. But, residents questioned how open space should be balanced with future development.
The new Master Plan, which lays out the future planning and development goals for the township, is almost complete. The document outlines goals for the future of Mahwah – promoting designs that will ease traffic, improving the aesthetics of various areas of the township, encouraging business development in certain areas of town and discouraging it in others, and continuing to preserve open space - are all mentioned as future aspirations in the township. At a public hearing on the document Monday night, residents questioned just how much open space “Bergen County’s Parkland” would eventually have. The answer from the Planning Board, which has been overseeing the document’s creation, was that there is no end-goal amount of open space the …
Friday, January 11, 2013
Town Council will send letters to the Governor, President and other state and federal lawmakers urging the ban of guns like those used in recent school shootings
Mahwah lawmakers made clear Thursday night that they believe “military-style” weapons, like the ones used in the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting last month, should be illegal. The township council passed a resolution Thursday night instructing the township clerk to send a letter to President Barack Obama, Governor Chris Christie, and other state and federal lawmakers urging them to pass legislation that would ban the sale, possession and use of “military-style high-capacity automatic, and military-style semiautomatic” weapons. Township attorney Andy Fede said he drafted the resolution carefully after being asked by the township council to create a formal statement about its stance on control of high-capacity weapons. “There is a…
Friday, January 4, 2013
During a swearing in ceremony Thursday night, officials who won November's contentious election spoke of mending Mahwah's political atmosphere
The message from Mahwah government officials sworn into new roles at a reorganization meeting Thursday night was pretty unanimous – the election is over, and the winning politicians and residents need to work together in order to accomplish anything in 2013. The winners of November’s municipal election – incumbent mayor Bill Laforet, incumbent council members Lisa DiGiulio and John Roth, and newcomer Steve Sbarra – were officially sworn into their posts by Judge Anthony Gianni Thursday night. Laforet was sworn in for a four-year term after serving a one-year term he won in a special election last year to finish out the term started by late Mayor Richard Martel, who died in March 2011. Thursday night, Laforet said tensions that have risen …
Monday, December 17, 2012
The ongoing testimony in front of the township's Planning Board is not slated to discuss traffic concerns Monday night
The year’s final session of an ongoing public hearing on the Crossroads Town Center, a 600,000 square foot retail, restaurant and movie theater development proposed at the intersection of Routes 17 and 287, is Monday night. At the last session, the developer presented an updated plan for the traffic patterns surrounding the Crossroads land. Though the traffic testimony was not completed at the Dec. 3 meeting, a discussion on traffic is expected to be carried to 2013. Another aspect of the Crossroads proposal will be discussed, and subject to Planning Board and public questioning, at a meeting at town hall at 7 p.m. Monday.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Local officials recommended a partial road closure for a longer period of time over a complete closure of the busy overpass
The state is planning to overhaul a busy Route 17 overpass in 2013, and the impending roadwork has left local officials grappling with decisions on how to deal with potential traffic implications. The state Department of Transportation is planning roadwork at the Macarthur Boulevard – Route 17 overpass to start during the spring of 2013. Local officials say the DOT was initially planning work that would cause one lane of traffic to be completely closed for the duration of the construction, which was estimated to take about 14 months. According to Mahwah Township engineer Mike Kelly, discussions last month between officials from the DOT, Mahwah and Ramsey revealed a few different options for the construction – the complete lane closure …
Friday, December 7, 2012
The township engineer is ranking roadways to see which need repairs the most. Which do you think should make the 2013 pave list?
Mahwah is nearly finished with its 2012 roads program, township engineer Mike Kelly reported at a town council meeting Thursday night. It finished repaving about 20 roads this Fall, and just finished additional work this week repairing damage to Ridge Road that occurred during Hurricane Sandy. Thursday, Councilman Harry Williams called the over $1M road paving project this year, “really helpful,” and asked what the plan for next year’s program will be. The township’s administration has started meeting with Department of Public Works officials to create a list of problematic roadways in town, Business administrator Brian Campion said. And, Kelly said he is in the midst of reviewing the ratings he assigned streets last year. The engineer …
Jessica Mazzola
6:23 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Yes, they are. If you go, I'll see you there! more ›