March 9th Meeting Summary

On March 9th we had a jammed packed agenda. Here is a summary of major action that was taken by the Verona Township Council.

We had several ordinances that related to commitments that were required to change our zoning to ensure that Verona builds affordable housing. The state deadline to complete action on these changes was March 15th.

All the ordinances and resolutions passed, but Councilwoman Holland and I did not vote in favor for a few items. We both voted against the Redevelopment Plan for 885 Bloomfield Avenue, which will be 28 townhomes across from the Community Center. It is my opinion this is not a suitable site for development and it should not have been included in our affordable housing plan. We both abstained from votes associated with re-affirming the Planning Board's First Amendment to the Fourth Round Housing Plan Element and Fair Share Plan, as we did not vote in favor of this plan back in June. We also both abstained from naming the redeveloper for the 885 Bloomfield Avenue redevelopment.

The other plans and ordinances that were affirmed with a 5-0 vote on Monday were as follows:

• Redevelopment plans for 320 Bloomfield Avenue/11 Church Street, 176-200 Bloomfield Avenue, 420 Bloomfield Avenue (aka Richfield Regency)

• Updated zoning for Verona's Town Center zone and Town Center Mixed Use Zone

• Replacing the entire Chapter of our code for Affordable Housing and Development Fees.

• Spending plan and marketing plan for our Affordable Housing Plan.

The redevelopment plan for 251 1/2 Grove was delayed due to the snow storm and will be on our next meeting for adoption.

Residents can see documents for all of these developments here: https://www.veronanj.org/departments/planningboard/planningboarddocuments. Expect more action taken at upcoming meetings, including naming redevelopers for these projects. In the future, the Planning Board will review site plans for each of these projects, where I encourage the public to go and make public comment on their concerns.

The second major part of our meeting was the second half of our budget review (this started 90 minutes into our meeting). We went through the departments of Recreation, Building and Grounds, Street and Highway, Public Works, Police, Construction, Fire Prevention, Fire Department, and Rescue Squad, We also covered our utilities: Water and Sewer, and Pool.

Some highlights of significant changes and capital requests:

• The Rescue Squad requested a new ambulance and the Fire Department requested a new fire truck. Both are big ticket capital items.

• Police budget expenses increased by $43,000 due to increases in education and training, trailer costs, new patrol and office equipment and supplies.

• The Recreation expenses increased by $27,000 due to increased expenses due to program trips, required background checks, and a new line item for maintenance for the Community Center.

• Public Works capital requests include new lawn equipment ($236K), a new mason dump truck ($100K) and building a police garage on their property to store vehicle evidence ($100K).

At our next meeting, we will introduce the budget. If you have any feedback for the Council on any of our budget line items, I suggest you email all of us here: https://www.veronanj.org/councilcontactform.

Other highlights actions taken at this meeting

• We tabled our ordinance on changing our zoning code on administration and enforcement.

• Two ordinances were introduced. The first modifies our pest control ordinance and the second changes our zoning code as it relates to the construction of pools. These will have a hearing and will be voted on at the next meeting.

• Updates to our fee ordinance passed with a vote of 4-1. I voted against this ordinance. While I recognize how expensive it is for Verona to fulfill OPRA requests for body worn camera footage, I am concerned we may have not analyzed fully the exceptions we want to provide to charging the fee. I am in agreement with the other fees that were changed as part of this ordinance.

• We passed resolutions to amend the PILOT agreement to the Verona Flats development, as the owner of the property is changing.

• The Council authorized a contract for the reconstruction of Afterglow Way, Dodd Terrance, and Summit Road. This project will start construction this year.

• We authorized the township to apply for a LEAP grant for shared services with Cedar Grove, Little Falls, and Woodland Park for equipment for Peckman River maintenance.

If you have any comments on what was discussed at this meeting or any matter, you can send it to the entire Council here: https://www.veronanj.org/councilcontactform