Footings are ready for the installation of a prefab restroom building at Eastside Park. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A bond to fund parking improvements and the swearing-in of a new police officer headlined a relatively quiet session of the Red Bank council Wednesday night.
Here’s a wrap-up of the highlights:
Mayor Pasquale Menna swears Taylor Doremus to duty as Doremus’ fiancée, Brooke Weir, and his brother, Patrolman TD Doremus, hold the Bible. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
• The council introduced a $3.22 million parking utility bond to cover the anticipated costs of new meters and kiosks, as well as parking lot improvements.
The debt is to be repaid from parking revenue, not local taxes.
The bond will pay for hundreds of new curbside “smart” parking meters and payment kiosks for all lots except the English Plaza lot.
It also covers anticipated costs from “the renovation, reconstruction and upgrade of White Street and East Side parking lots and the construction of a new parking lot at Marine Park,” according to the text of the ordinance.
English Plaza is excepted because separate funding paid for new kiosks that were installed there last week following the completion of streetscape makeover, said Business Administrator Ziad Shehady. redbankgreen plans to have a fuller story on this topic in coming days.
Here’s the ordinance.
• Borough native Taylor Doremus became the town’s newest patrolman at a swearing-in ceremony.
His hiring marks a return to the force Doremus served as a dispatcher before he was hired as an officer in Little Silver in 2014.
In the process, Doremus rejoins his brother, TD Doremus, and sister-in-law, Kristin Altimari, who both work in the patrol division.
• The council approved a change that will increase the cost of restrooms in Eastside Park by about $9,000.
The increase represents the cost of using a crane to install the prefabricated structure, Shehady told redbankgreen. The cost had not been included in earlier estimates, he said.
The restroom project was part of a $427,325 contract covering improvements at Eastside Park and Mohawk Pond that was awarded 13 months ago to G&R Masonry.
Because G&R was unable to obtain credit from Old Castle Prefab Inc., the manufacturer of the prefab building, the borough will buy the structure directly, at a cost of $199,475, under a resolution adopted at the meeting, Shehady said.
That change won’t affect the expected delivery of the building, he said. It’s now being assembled in a factory and will be ready for installation within the next 12 weeks, Shehady said.
• Without comment, the council amended the ordinance governing business licenses to remove a citizenship requirement.
As reported earlier this month by redbankgreen, borough Clerk Pam Borghi said the application form for a business license does not contain any reference to citizenship, and no license had ever been denied on the basis of non-citizenship. Menna had previously called the requirement “archaic.”
Here’s the amendment.
• An ordinance controlling the placement of 5G wireless telecommunications equipment on public property was adopted.
• The council cancelled its monthly workshop session scheduled for December 4, and will hold just one more regular session for the year December 11.
