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The next Common Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 10. There will be a Mayoral Proclamation recognizing March as American Red Cross Month. In honor of Women’s History Month, Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi and Summit High School student Diana Burrows will present to council on the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Jersey. Finally, Megan Avallone, Director of the Summit Health Department, will report on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and will answer questions from members of the public.
Council will hold a hearing and vote on an ordinance to create and set fees for a non-resident senior membership category for the Summit Family Aquatic Center and to set fees for corporate and business memberships at the Municipal Golf Course.
Council will be introducing an ordinance to authorize the city to increase its final budget appropriations by the statutorily permitted 3.5 % and to allow the city to bank any unused amounts for the next two years. This “cost of living cap adjustment" ordinance is not an expenditure of funds and does not affect the tax levy; rather this is a budgeting technique that allows Common Council to plan for unexpected expenditures in future years. The hearing for this ordinance will be on March 24.
Council will vote on the appointment of one probationary firefighter to fill a vacancy caused by retirement.
The Finance Committee will introduce three resolutions to authorize execution of annual lease agreements for sidewalk cafes in the downtown. These lease agreements also allow for the sale of alcoholic beverages in the outdoor cafes. Finally, the Summit Free Public Library is seeking authorization to submit a grant for $100,000 to purchase and install a natural gas generator, which will allow the library to operate in the event of a power outage.
The Capital Projects and Community Services Committee will introduce a resolution to authorize the execution of an agreement with Union County to change the phasing of traffic lights at the intersection of Morris Avenue and Orchard Street. This should address some of the congestion at that traffic signal caused by cars turning left on Orchard during peak periods and dissuade drivers from using other local streets to avoid this intersection. A second agreement with Union County for the placement of a rectangular rapid flashing beacon at the crosswalk at Union Place and Summit Avenue will also be voted on. Council will next consider a resolution to authorize the city to seek approval for the use of JCP&L poles to display banners for Hometown Heroes at additional locations on Springfield Avenue between Morris and Passaic Avenues and on Morris Avenue between Kent Place Boulevard and Broad Street. This program expansion will allow the Hometown Heroes program, which displays banners honoring Summit’s veterans and active duty service members, to offer banners to all applicants who have currently met program requirements. Council will consider two resolutions – one to award a contract to clean and video inspect one portion of the city’s sanitary sewer system in 2020 and one to authorize a change order for the 2019 Sanitary Sewer Clean and TV project to increase the original contract by $1,248.96 to include the addition of 520 linear feet of sewer line that was added to the project. The Sanitary Sewer Clean and TV program is a multi-year preventative maintenance effort to clean and repair our aging sanitary sewer lines.
There are two other resolutions for consideration governing contracts for infrastructure projects: (1) to reject bids and authorize a new bid advertisement for the Huntley Road Area Improvement project because the lowest responsive bid exceeds the city’s cost estimate of the project; (2) authorize a change order to decrease the contract price of the Department of Public Works roof replacement by $6,645.92 based on actual quantities used.
To view the complete Common Council agenda, go to (insert link from Rosie here)
Next Council Meeting: Tuesday, March 24 at 7:30PM.