The next Common Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 4 at 7:30PM. Members of Common Council, Mayor Radest, and city staff will be participating electronically in this meeting. For this and all future electronic meetings, members of the public will be able to comment by video or audio conference. Comments will also be accepted by email or by mail to cityclerk@cityofsummit.org. Comments must be received by noon on November 4. The access codes for the Zoom platform and instructions for public comment are posted on the city website.
Every Common Council meeting is broadcast live on HTTV Verizon channel 30 and Comcast channel 36 and 34. The meeting will also be broadcast live on the City of Summit YouTube Channel.
At this meeting, we will have two presentations. Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions of each of our presenters via Zoom. First, Carol Bianchi, Regional External Affairs Consultant from JCP&L, will present on the JCP&L Tropical Storm Isaias response. Second, Rita McNany, Parking Services Agency Manager, will demonstrate the registration process for the new vehicle permitting system.
Although there is an ordinance for hearing scheduled on revisions to the Development Regulations Ordinance, the Planning Board has identified additional revisions that are needed. Accordingly, council will be voting to table the hearing at the November 4 meeting. The revised ordinance will be introduced at the November 16 Common Council meeting and the public hearing will be held at the December 1 meeting.
The Finance Committee will introduce a single resolution to authorize the transfer of appropriations. This is a bookkeeping measure that allows the transfer of unused funds in 2020 operating accounts to operating accounts with insufficient funds. These transfers are allowed only in the last two months of the fiscal year and the first three months of the succeeding year and do not have any effect on the total expenditures in the 2020 budget.
The Capital Projects and Community Services Committee will introduce seven resolutions. The first resolution authorizes a two-year contract extension for professional landscaping services through December 31, 2022. The 2019 contract with D’Onofrio & Son provided an option for a two-year extension at the same contract amount of $158,050. The contractor has provided services in an effective and cost-efficient manner and the Department of Community Services is recommending extending the contract. Council will also vote on a resolution to authorize the execution of an easement agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb for the landscaping of a city right of way along Madison and Lincoln Avenues. The agreement will allow Bristol-Myers Squibb to landscape the property and add screening to the area. The landscaping plan has been approved by the city’s Zoning Officer and Forester.
Next, council will hear a resolution to award a bid for sanitary sewer cleaning and video inspection services in the amount of $44.262.20 to be paid from the Sewer Utility budget. This contract is part of an ongoing multi-year maintenance project to clean and visually inspect the sanitary sewer lines in Summit. This project is an important cost-saving measure to find leaks and sources of water infiltration so that preventative maintenance can be performed. The fourth Capital Projects resolution will authorize the continuation of the parklet program indefinitely through the current pandemic to allow restaurants to continue outdoor dining services weather permitting. The prior parklet approvals were scheduled to expire on November 30. Sidewalk café permit expansions were granted at a prior Common Council meeting and these two actions together will allow outdoor dining to continue as long as the weather permits.
Fifth, council will consider a resolution authorizing the execution of the 2020 Greening Union County grant agreement for $10,000 in funds to plant 52 trees in 2021. The grant requires a 50% match, which will be authorized in the 2021 operating budget. The sixth resolution is to declare a vacancy for a part-time assistant position in the Department of Community Services to replace an employee who has taken another position with the city. Finally, council will consider a resolution to appoint a new member to the Zoning Board and to reassign positions based on a resignation.
Council will hear one Safety and Health Committee resolution to authorize the submission of a grant application for New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Year End Holiday Crackdown Grant. This grant in the amount of $6,000 would fund DWI overtime enforcement details for roving enforcement and checkpoints to stop intoxicated drivers from December 4, 2020 through January 1, 2021.
To view the complete Common Council agenda, go to https://www.cityofsummit.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/496?fileID=24879
Printable agenda preview: https://www.cityofsummit.org/DocumentCenter/View/5013/Fox-Council-President-Preview-110420
Next Common Council Meeting: Tuesday, November 16, 2020.