Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Township hopes to continue flood mitigation work.
Despite some complications at the end of last year, a nearly year-long cleanup project at Hatfield Creek is now complete. Township Administrator Victor Canning reported on the progress of the creek cleanup during the Montville Township Committee's April 2 meeting. "The Hatfield Creek stream-cleaning project is now complete," he said. "Hopefully, we'll continue with the DEP to do the next 500 feet, which will help in that area, hopefully, with some sort of waterflow." The township embarked on the creek cleanup beginning with the first phase of the project in the summer, which included desilting and removing debris near Parkway and Walnut Drives. However, Canning said in December that the silt buildup under two bridges on Parkway and Walnut …
Monday, April 8, 2013
Township officials take closer look at who is responsible for maintaining sidewalks even after major storms.
After discussion on the topic spanned two township committee meetings, the Montville Township administration is working with department heads and lawyers to look into amending the township's ordinance as it relates to sidewalk maintenance to be more clear. The township's sidewalk maintenance ordinance became a topic of discussion after committee members considered paying for repairs for about 50 property owners whose sidewalks were damaged by Superstorm Sandy. Ultimately, the township committee members decided they felt that property owners should be responsible for the maintenance, but the committee members also agreed that the ordinance that states who is responsible is not entirely clear on the topic. At the April 2 township committee …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Employees had a combined 64 years of service to Montville.
Two longtime township employees who are retiring were recognized at Tuesday’s Montville Township Committee meeting. Honored were Robert Peer, who is retiring after 43 years with the Department of Public Works, and Shelly Lawrence, who is retiring after 21 years with the police department. Peer had previously been honored by the fire department and the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Tim Braden said. “It was a good road that I traveled,” Peer said. Police Chief Richard Cook praised Lawrence, who served as an administrative assistant under three chiefs. “I don’t know what I will do without her,” Cook said. Cook said Lawrence was a “dedicated employee.” “When I gave her an assignment, I knew it would get done,” he said. The chief also said that …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Health insurance, sick pay and tax appeals are primary budget drivers.
The municipal tax bill on an average Montville home assessed at $528,000 will increase by $95 under the terms of the 2013 budget reviewed by the Township Committee on Tuesday evening. The total property tax bill-which includes the levies for the school district, Morris County, open space and library–is estimated to increase $216 on the average house. The overall tax rate is projected to rise from $2.12 per $100 of assessed value to $2.16, an increase of 1.8 percent. Township spending, which includes the library budget, will increase 3.79 percent from $18.439 million to $19.139 million. Township Administrator Victor Canning explained that there are several expenses not covered by the state-mandated 2 percent cap. For example, the “800-pound…
Monday, April 1, 2013
Proposed budget includes 3.7 percent tax levy increase.
The Montville Township Committee will vote on introducing its $4,054,994 municipal budget during Tuesday's meeting. The budget up for introduction includes a total general appropriation increase of $487,021, an increase of 1.7 percent over the 2012 municipal budget's general appropriations. The total 2012 municipal budget was $3,883,660. To maintain a tax levy within the state-mandated 2 percent cap, of which the township administration is proposing a 3.7 percent increase, $1,436,000 of fund balance; $549,603 of money from capital funded ordinances and $346,760 of library surplus would be utilized. At last month's township committee meeting, committee members considered and mostly rejected the idea to use Water Utility fund balance to …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Township Committee agreed more vetting needs to be done before municipality can apply for funding for cleanup work along MacCulloch Drive.
While they seemed to agree that work needs to be done to clean up a portion of the Morris Canal along MacCulloch Drive, Montville Township Committee members decided not to move ahead with a grant application for a study of the property as the first phase of a cleanup project. The firm favored to do the study by the Montville Township Historical Society (the Morris Canal is a historic site) estimated the study itself to cost about $30,000. The land that would be included in the project has not been properly maintained for a number of years, according to residents and also admitted by township committee members. "We didn't uphold our end of the bargain to clean it, maintain it via DPW," Committeeman Scott Gallopo said. But Gallopo was one …
Saturday, March 23, 2013
One incumbent files petition to run while a previous challenger announces her campaign online.
With the deadline to file petitions to run in June's primary election approaching, just one Montville Township Committee candidate has formally filed a petition to run so far, according to Montville Township Clerk Trudy Atkinson. Incumbent Scott Gallopo will be seeking another term on the committee and is the only candidate who has turned in a petition, although the deadline for submitting petitions is April 1 at 4 p.m. In addition to Gallopo's own seat, Mayor Tim Braden's seat will also be up for election. Braden told Montville Patch in January that he does not plan to seek re-election this year. "Six years, for me, is the right number. Other people have their right numbers, but that is... 15 percent of my life," the 53-year-old mayor of …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Officials say policy must be streamlined to more clearly state who is responsible for repairs after emergency situations.
Township officials voted last week against appropriating $55,000 for a bond to repair sidewalks damaged by Superstorm Sandy. Typically, a property owner is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk in front of his or her home. However, the discussion arose at the Montville Township Committee's Feb. 26 meeting as the township has previously funded similar repairs following destructive storms such as Sandy. Ultimately, the ordinance was rejected with Committeeman Scott Gallopo, Committeeman Don Kostka and Mayor Tim Braden voting against the bond ordinance. Since the money to repay the township debt incurred by the bond would be paid with taxpayer dollars, some expressed that they did not believe it was fair to fund repair projects that would…
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Township hoping to build follower base on Facebook, Twitter.
Montville Township is hoping to expand its communication reach by launching pages on social media sites to be used during emergency situations. The Montville Township Facebook page and Twitter page were presented to the township committee and public for the first time at Tuesday night's meeting. As Township Administrator Victor Canning explained, the sites will be used as another avenue to reach the public during an emergency situation. Expanded communication, including through social media, was one suggestion made by the public during a town meeting in the days following Superstorm Sandy. After committee members sought clarification on how the Facebook page would be used, officials explained that the page will only be used for the …
Friday, February 1, 2013
Township committee members unsure whether having a Technical Review Committee examine land use applications would shorten the process.
The installation of a new land use subcommittee is under consideration by Montville officials, but township committee members are unsure whether having a Technical Review Committee for land use applications would lengthen or shorten the development process. Discussion on the Technical Review Committee began earlier this month after Mayor Tim Braden brought the recommendation for its creation from the Land Use Advisory Committee, a group that includes members of the township's land use boards, before township committee members. Braden said that the Technical Review Committee was presented as potentially being able to shorten the application process for developers looking to build in Montville. But at the Jan. 15 meeting, when township …
G. Laird
8:15 pm on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Let the home owner remove the trees the town planted and have the town pay for some of the sidewalk repairs. The town wants you to get permits to remove the trees but wants nothing to do with paying for their mistakes. The trees in this town are all over grown and JCP&L cuts them so they look horrible once the leaves fall off. more ›