Transparency Plan Presented to Township Committee

A presentation focusing on increased transparency at committee meetings was made at the Tuesday night Montville Township Committee meeting.

The committee aims to soon make all supporting documents, except those that must be withheld for legal reasons, available to the public on the committee website prior to every meeting, as well as projecting supporting documents with two separate projectors during each meeting.

The project will also lead to an entirely paperless committee, and according to Committeeman Scott Gallopo, the goal is to go paperless by Sept. 1 and to have all documents embedded into the agenda on the committee website by June.

“The bottom line is that everyone will have access to everything we have up on the dais,” Gallopo said, adding that certain documents must sometimes be withheld for legal reasons.

With wireless internet available in committee chambers, members of the public can follow meetings with their laptops, tablets, and even smart phones. The documents will also be available prior to each meeting.

Gallopo has been pushing for increased transparency .

Also discussed at the meeting is what committeewoman Deborah Nielson called a “controversial” issue regarding traffic around a proposed Lowe’s site.

Kevin Boswell, the project engineer for Lowe’s said that the project had been presented to the Department of Transportation, and that the department’s recommendations differ from the township’s–leaving Lowe’s in the middle, he said, waiting for final approval before they can start the project.

The project could potentially lead to a dead-end cul-de-sac on the north end of Maple Avenue, as well as a sidewalk bump-out on Bloomfield Avenue. The bump-out, if constructed, would make that portion of Bloomfield Avenue a one-way street.

“We want you [Lowe’s] to be part of our community, but this was, as you know, a controversial issue,” said Nielson. “I don’t want to pre-judge the amount of public that will come out, but it could become contentious.”

The committee asked Boswell to conduct a new traffic study with regard to the bump-out on Bloomfield Avenue and the cul-de-sac on Maple Avenue. After reviewing the study, the committee and the public will have the chance to discuss the project at the June 28 committee meeting.

“We’ll get the traffic report to you right away,” Boswell said.

The goal for Boswell and Lowe’s is to start building by the end of this year, but the project needs Department of Transportation approval first because of the potential changes to traffic patterns. Approval, Boswell said, may take anywhere from 90 to 120 days.

At the beginning of the meeting, the mayor and council honored Saray Alonso, a ten-year-old who learned the Heimlich maneuver from her school nurse, Bonnie Lee DiCola at Cedar Hill Elementary, then one week later saved her older sister Maday from choking.

The mayor proclaimed May 21, 2011 to be Pathways Include Me! Day. The goal of the campaign, which works to end bullying and discrimination, is to take the Montville-based grassroots effort spearheaded by students and expand nationally. The will be held on May 21.