Monday, May 21, 2012
Mayor says creating a committee charged with developing borough business is in the works.
Hopatcong Mayor Sylvia Petillo said Saturday she's planning organizing an economic development and revitalization committee to help grow business in the borough. The committee would be comprised of council members and residents, Petillo said. Councilmen Howard Baker and Michael Francis are expected to be on the committee, she said. "It would be business owners, residents—we would take ideas from all those interested in the town and in the county," Petillo said. Petillo said the committee would focus on short-term and long-term economic planning. Jumpstarting the borough's business climate won't happen overnight, though, she said. "It's going to take time," Petillo said. "It's not something we're looking at for only now, but as how you're …
Friday, May 18, 2012
Board of Health chairman hopes for good-faith negotiations while mayor says they should have happened before the lawsuit.
Hopatcong's board of health withdrew its lawsuit against the mayor and council Thursday, ending more than a month of public sparring between the parties. But it was a bittersweet victory for Mayor Sylvia Petillo, who said while she was glad the suit—alleging she and the council broke state laws—was dropped, it shouldn't have existed. "You knew the lawsuit was frivolous to begin with, and you knew it was going to fail," Petillo said. In a letter to Superior Court Judge Thomas Weisenbeck, attorney Phillip George of Eric M. Bernstein & Associates, representing the board of health, said both sides would "make a good faith effort to negotiate any issues between them." Click the PDF on the right to read the letter. George didn't return a phone …
Former Freeholder takes over for recently-resigned Tom Borden.
Former Morris County Freeholder Margaret Nordstrom is now the Highlands Council’s deputy director, after the body appointed her to the position on Thursday in Chester. Nordstrom, who was forced to vacate her seat on the Freeholder board after an appellate court ruled her election in November was invalid, said she didn’t consider working on the Highlands Council initially. “I wasn’t thinking about (working on the Highlands Council) at the time,” Nordstrom said. “I always thought it would be something I might like to do, but I didn’t consider it until the Borden resignation.” The resignation of deputy director Tom Borden came in protest, shortly after the firing of director Eileen Swan earlier this year. In April, former Morris County …
But whether to allow fencing in front yards still an issue for council.
Hopatcong moved a step closer to allowing deer fencing Wednesday night. The borough council voted, 5-1, during a meeting at the municipal building to pass the second reading of a law that would legalize temporary deer fencing in rear and side yards. Councilman John Young was the only "no" vote. The law would let homeowners install mesh fencing no taller than 8 feet to keep out deer, which have exploded in population in Hopatcong in recent years, Councilman Michael Francis said. Deer caused 114 motor vehicle accidents in 2011 compared to 53 in 2010 and 114 in 2011, Francis has said. "Over the last number of years, our deer problem has been significant," resident Louise Bagby said during public comment. Residents would have to follow several…
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Hopatcong Borough Municipal Building
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As Hopatcong readies to allow deer fencing in rear and side yards, should it also let homeowners place the mesh fencing in their front yards?
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Friday, May 18
Hopatcong passed the second reading of a law that would allow deer fencing in the rear and side yards of homes at a meeting at the municipal building Wednesday night. The bulk of the half-hour conversation of the ordinance, which would allow for the 8-foot mesh fencing, mostly centered around whether it should be permitted in front yards, too. Proponents say front-yard deer fencing wouldn't look that bad and, more importantly, could help homeowners save money. Plus, it would have to receive the approval of the borough's zoning officer, they say. Detractors say the fencing could offend neighbors and possibly drop property values, especially if the fences aren't well maintained. So, what do you think? Should Hopatcong allow front-yard deer …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
In a letter, the council's attorney says his clients want an unconditional withdrawal of the lawsuit, which alleges the council broke state laws.
Hopatcong's council has rejected an offer from the borough's board of health to end its lawsuit in exchange for a pair of demands. In a letter dated Monday, board attorney Phillip George of Eric M. Bernstein & Associates said his client would withdraw the lawsuit if the council agreed to keep the seven-member board public-run, with four residents and three council members, and to pay the board's legal fees regarding the lawsuit. Borough attorney John Ursin of Courter Kobert & Cohen shot back in a letter to George Tuesday, saying the council would only consider an unconditional withdrawal. "I believe the Mayor and Council will view it as an act of good faith," Ursin wrote in the letter. The board of health sued the council in March, …
Resigns from real estate committee post a month after backing lawsuit against the council.
Councilwoman Estelle Klein has put herself further at odds with the rest of Hopatcong's council. Klein resigned as chairman of the council's real estate committee, tasked with managing borough property, at Wednesday night's council meeting at the municipal building. The councilwoman said she objected to the addition of borough administrator Robert Elia to the committee. Klein, a Republican who replaced Democrat Madeline McManus on the council this year, said she took issue with committee members Richard Bunce and Marie Galate—both council members—sending letters to "various people who might want to buy some borough-owned property." Bunce, however, isn't even a member of the committee. Mayor Sylvia Petillo said Thursday the borough—not …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Christie also addresses video parody with Newark mayor during his East Hanover meeting.
The focus Wednesday of Gov. Chris Christie's 79th Town Hall meeting was the governor's proposed 10 percent, across-the-board tax cuts. Christie, speaking at the East Hanover Fire Department, said he's determined to deliver the tax break New Jersey residents have been waiting for. “The people of New Jersey haven’t had a tax cut in over a decade," he said. "You’ve made the sacrifices that were necessary to step up and help me balance this budget, and I want to give you some of your money back to spend on your family, not to spend in Trenton." Christie looks to accomplish this despite some opposition across county lines. According to Christie, two of those opposing the proposal in particular—Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) …
Mayor and governor have fun with their images
Just because they're the state's two most prominent politicians doesn't mean they don't have a sense of humor. The office of Gov. Chris Christie yesterday released a lighthearted video co-starring Newark Mayor Cory Booker as a peripatetic go-to guy, riffing off his now national-scale image as a man of action following his rescue of a neighbor from a burning building several weeks ago. As the Democratic mayor of the state's largest city is depicted doing everything from coming up with a spare guitar for Bruce Springsteen to catching a falling baby, a faux-frustrated Christie hisses "Booker!" The video was produced for the New Jersey Press Association's Legislative Correspondent's Club show. Click on the video above to see the Cory and Chris…
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
State reduces outflow Tuesday to catch rain expected to continue through Wednesday.
The state isn't letting the rain over Lake Hopatcong go to waste. The Division of Fish and Wildlife reduced the outflow from Lake Hopatcong into the Musconetcong River from 8.2 to 6.8 cubic-feet per second at noon Tuesday. It expects to resume regular outflow at about the same time Wednesday. The move was made to "capture more water in the lake," Lake Hopatcong Commission Administrator Donna MaCalle-Holly said. "So far the storm isn't quite as much as they were predicting [Monday], but every little bit helps." Lake Hopatcong's water level has been a sore spot for the state this spring. The lake was 2 feet below its average depth of 9 feet in April, which caused the state to reduce the outflow. As of Tuesday morning, the lake was still well…
Roll Back Our Tax
1:00 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
Amen Michele. Now we're down to "No rating" on our recent bond issues. http://www.bondview.com/pricecheck/issuer/439340DX5 We are becoming the welfare community of NJ. LOL! more ›