Delivered to 15,000 Plainfield "doorsteps" Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

Monday, October 7, 2019

Some interesting items in Monday's Plainfield City Council agenda-setting session


The Police Department is proposing to used unspent
monies from previous bonds to buy three 2018 Ford
police interceptor SUVs (shown above as used by the NYPD).



Plainfield City Council meets Monday (October 7) for its agenda-setting session.

There are several items of interest after scanning the agenda --


(1) There is a reminder that representatives from the PMUA will be at next week's Council business session (Tuesday, October 15 -- Monday is a holiday).



(2) Bond Ordinance 1268 is up for final passage next week. It provides for reapplying unused monies from previous bonds toward several projects for the Police Department: renovations to the bathrooms at HQ; cleaning and upgrading portions of the antiquated HVAC system; and the purchase of three (3) new SUVs. It seems notable that there are now so many SUVs in the police fleet -- quite a bit different from the days when sedans were the principal purchases. With all the noise about being more environmentally conscious, I am curious as to the rationale for these gas-guzzlers.



(3) Certification of review of the annual audit and the group certification signed by the full Council (item A). There was only ONE item to be addressed with a corrective action plan: someone, somewhere is still not getting cash deposits to the bank on time. Remarkable progress under Mayor Mapp (as I recently noted here)!



(4) An emergency appropriation for salaries and wages (item G). The backup material states that four (4) employees -- either through job reinstatements, court action, or contractual obligations -- must be compensated but had not been provided for in the current CY2019 budget. Since the total amount is less than 3% of the city's budget, this can be done with a simple resolution. It requires, however, a super majority (5 votes) for passage. The money will be raised in the 2020 budget. (You can see where this is going.)



(5) The Division of Recreation (item Q) is applying for a grant for recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities (ROID) to provide swimming lessons for individuals on the autism spectrum. This will supplement the Division's existing swimming programs. It was interesting to note in the proposal that outreach would be done via "the City's Division of Recreation website and Facebook page" in addition to the school system and other organizations. While there are Facebook pages maintained by the City as a whole and at least one city agency (the Fire Department), I am unaware of a Facebook page for Recreation -- though it seems it would be a good idea.

One other brief note -- in glancing at the Pennoni proposal for a Route 28 traffic study, it notes ten APR (traffic measuring devices) are to be placed at locations between Hamilton Avenue and West Front Street in the west to Berckman Street and East 5th Street in the east. I believe the next to last location in the list of ten should read "5th Street between Watchung Avenue and Richmond Street" and not "Plainfield Avenue" as stated.

All in all, looks to be a rather quiet evening -- but I have been wrong before.


City Council meets in an agenda-setting session at 7:00 PM Monday, October 7, in the Council Chambers / Courthouse at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street and in the lot across from Police Headquarters.




  -- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS W here. Not getting yoThur own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.



About Cookies: This blog is operated by Google, which uses cookies to improve the user's experience. By continuing to read this blog you agree to their use.




0 comments: