Financing for the Broad Street sewer project completed in July is on the agenda. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Capital financing and tweaks to the name and purposes of a committee stand out on a light agenda when the Red Bank council meets for a regular semimonthly session Wednesday night.
The meeting is scheduled to follow a monthly workshop session slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. No agenda for the workshop was posted on the borough website. On the regular agenda are:
• A name change for the Human Relations Advisory Committee, to the Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee.
The ordinance amendment formalizing the change would also modify the description of the committee’s powers and duties in one existing section and add another (text additions shown below in italics):
A. “…the Committee shall recommend to the Mayor and Council programs of formal and informal education that will aid toward the elimination of all types of discrimination based on, but not limited to, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, social & economic status, physical & intellectual disabilities, political belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age. The Committee will advise on efforts to improve decision-making that represents everyone and is less likely to suffer from unintentional blind spots and biases.
D. The Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee will work to increase trust between community members by offering residents more opportunities to interact with one another. The Committee will explore additional options for residents to be seen and heard by local government to better understand local government initiatives.
• Refinancing of $2.95 million in debt related to road rebuilding projects on White Street in 2019 and Broad Street, completed in July.
Interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell told redbankgreen the actions would provide “very favorable” permanent financing for the projects, replacing a combination of bond anticipation notes and a three-year, temporary financing from the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank for White Street, and bond-anticipation notes for the Broad Street sewer and engineering costs.
• Here’s the full agenda. Both the workshop and regular sessions will be conducted in-person and via Zoom; remote access and participation details can be found here. A livestream, minus the ability for viewers to comment, will be carried on the borough’s Facebook page.
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