At the Common Council meeting on May 1, three public hearings will be held on ordinances to restrict parking on the north side of Lowell Avenue, declare a strip of city property as not needed and authorize its private sale, and establish salaries of union and non-union employees. Resolutions will be acted on by council to cancel the $300,000 contract for the Beechwood Road decorative paving project, authorize salaries for city employees, amend insurance requirements for individual contractors, musicians and artists who participate in Summit Downtown Inc. (SDI) and Department of Community Programs (DCP) events, award a contract for athletic field maintenance, and declare vacancies in the Division of Public Works and Parking Services Agency.
To view the complete Common Council agenda, go to: https://www.cityofsummit.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04172018-549?html=true
Ordinances for Hearing
There are three ordinances for hearing:
Lowell Avenue Parking: The first ordinance for hearing would prohibit on-street parking on the north side of Lowell Avenue (between Morris Avenue and Madison Avenue) from 3PM to 10PM. Lowell Avenue already has a two-hour parking restriction from 7AM to 10:30AM. However, residents have complained about excessive parking resulting in unsafe driving conditions and difficulty in use of driveways. The police investigated and conducted a survey of neighbors prior to making the recommendation to further restrict parking.
Declaration of City Land as Not Needed: The second ordinance for hearing is to declare a strip of land owned by the city adjacent to the First Aid Squad building as not needed and to authorize its private sale. The sale would be to Manny and Adriana Costeira who are involved in the construction of two, two-family homes on the corner of Morris Avenue and Sayre Street. A condition of Zoning Board approval for the Costeira building project was the acquisition of the city-owned property.
City Employees 2018 Salaries and Compensation: The third ordinance for hearing is on establishing the salaries and compensation for union and non-union employees for 2018.
Resolutions for Consideration
There are four resolutions of interest:
Beechwood Road Decorative Paving Contract Cancellation: In 2016, Council approved spending $300,000 on decorative paving for Beechwood Road by authorizing the city to enter into a contract with Cifelli & Sons. This resolution will cancel that contract and terminate the Beechwood Road decorative paving project.
Amendment of Insurance Requirements: This resolution would allow individual vendors, artists and musicians to provide a hold harmless agreement to SDI or DCP, as applicable, in lieu of an insurance certificate. The idea is to encourage such individuals to participate in sanctioned events while protecting the city from liability. The city’s Risk Manager has approved this change.
Athletic Field Maintenance: This resolution is to authorize a two-year project for aeration and seeding of the grass athletic fields at schools, Memorial Field, Wilson Park and Walter Long Field.
Declaration of Vacancies: Requests have been made to council to declare job vacancies at the Parking Services Agency and Division of Public Works. As with all employment issues, council will first consider these requests in closed session and, based on that deliberation, a discussion will be held in open session.
Next Council Meeting: Tuesday, May 15 at 7:30PM.