Overbrook Drive sidewalks get final OK from Princeton Township Committee

By: Kara Fitzpatrick
   The Princeton Township Committee approved an ordinance Monday authorizing the installation of a concrete sidewalk along the southern side of Overbrook Drive between Snowden Lane and Broadripple Drive.
   The vote to approve the project, and in turn appropriate $36,000 for the improvements, was 4-1 with Committeeman Bernard Miller dissenting. Mr. Miller said he believed the funds could be better used in other areas.
   "I think that there are many other, better uses of the funds we’re appropriating," Mr. Miller said. "This (location) is not within walking distance of stores, shops, places of worship."
   But others on the committee disagreed.
   "I’m convinced that this is the right time to do this," Committeewoman Victoria Bergman said.
   A similar ordinance that would have provided for the sidewalk to be made of a bituminous material was rejected after a previous tally among neighbors revealed that a concrete sidewalk was preferable.
   In other business, the Township Committee approved an ordinance establishing the 2006 annual sewer charge, which will increase 4.8 percent to $5.85 per 100 cubic feet of water.
   The increase will drive up the average sewer bill — which is estimated based on last year’s average usage of 8,700 cubic feet of water — to $508.25, Chief Financial Officer Kathy Shaddow said. The average bill last year was $463.14, which was based on the previous year’s average usage of 8,300 cubic feet of water.