Township Council Taxes

A host of contracts for the year for services and supplies were approved by the Township Council at the Jan. 28 meeting. Many of the awards were for state and shared purchase contracts.

A proposed ordinance that would give to the Township Council  all meaningful power over the renovation of the Hamilton Street business district – and relegate business owners to an advisory board – is being opposed by a group of those business owners. The ordinance was introduced at the Jan. 28 council meeting, but not before Councilman Carl R. A. Wright …

They’re just temporary fixes, but crews from the township and Somerset County have been traveling township roads over the past week filling in potholes that seem to appear about this time of year. The mixture of lots of moisture, then cold and warm temperatures, as we’ve had over the last several weeks, makes the perfect recipe for bone-rattling potholes, township …

Township Council members didn’t have much to critique when they were shown the township’s newly redesigned Web site at the Jan. 7 meeting. The council was taken through the site’s new features by Justin Heyman, the township’s Information Technology director.

Contracts for goods and services worth $289,723 were approved at the Jan. 7 Township Council meeting. The council approved the $39,918 purchase of a pick-up truck with snow plow from Beyer Brothers Corp. of Fairview. The money comes from the 2013 capital spending plan.

Agreeing that commissioners should appear at a meeting and explain why they feel they need a more than $100 a year raise, the Township Council Jan. 7 tabled approval for the proposed 2014 salaries for Fire District 3’s five commissioners. The council did, however, approve proposed raises for commissioners in fire districts 1, 2 and 4.

There’s a new portrait hanging among the presidents in the Township Council chambers, that of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sparks flew at the Township Council reorganization meeting Jan. 1 when the all-Democrat Council refused to place Republican Mayor Brian Levine on a key township committee. The refusal sparked a rare show of public anger from Levine, who accused teh council members of playing politics.

It’s not uncommon to have special guess show up at municipal reorganization meetings. But it is a bit unusual to have a sitting U.S. Senator and Congressman appear at the sessions.

Resolutions to buy nine RADAR units for township police cars and a dump truck with a plow were approved at the Dec. 11 Township Council meeting. The council also voted to award bids for HVAC maintenance and repairs for township buildings, extend its current snow plowing contract and increases in two attorneys’ retainers at the meeting.