Township OKs $2 million bond ordinance for improvements

By: Dick Brinster
   EAST WINDSOR — A $2.076 million bond ordinance for capital improvements including a garbage truck and dump truck is scheduled for a public hearing before the Township Council on April 10.
   The measure, which calls for an overall appropriation of $2.662 million, was introduced Tuesday night.
   "There’s no immediate requirement for us to do anything," Mayor Janice Mironov said. "This is solely an authorization, which by itself does not create debt or result in expenditures."
   She said purchases and the issuance of bonds or notes could not be made without additional public action by the council.
   "None of these items have a specific time line although the staff will prioritize moving them forward depending on the immediacy of need," Ms. Mironov said. "To be included, an item must have a useful life of at least five years.
   The township anticipates grants totaling $482,000 from the state and Mercer County, and will make down payments totaling $104,250 for the improvements. The ordinance said the down payments are available from unused funds from one or more previously adopted municipal budgets.
   A replacement garbage truck, with a period of usefulness set at five years, would cost about $220,000. Another item to be purchased as a replacement for the Department of Public Works is a single-axle dump truck with plow and sanders for about $135,000. Also to be bought will be a second large mower for $85,000.
   Included in the proposed capital ordinance is $400,000 for the township’s annual road work program, $232,000 for improvements to Abbington Drive in Twin Rivers, $312,000 for the Etra Lake Park pathway project and $250,000 for playing fields at a site off Disbrow Hill Road.
   The Disbrow Hill project anticipates a grant in the full amount of the expenditure from the county, and the Abbington Drive improvements are based on a full-amount award expected from the state Department of Transportation.
   The pathway authorization supplements a two-year-old ordinance for $389,610. Of that amount, $300,000 was from state grants, and the mayor said she was hopeful of receiving additional state funds for that project.
   The council on Tuesday also adopted an ordinance to control the removal of trees.
   Under terms of the ordinance, removal of three or more trees per acre on parcels over an acre would require a township permit. A permit also would be required for removal of three or more trees per year on parcels of less than an acre.
   Removal of trees would require replacement either at the site or on township property. An alternative would be payment to a township tree fund, with the size of each removed tree determining the amount to be contributed.
   Mayor Mironov has said the ordinance would not prohibit the average homeowner from tailoring property. But once the area being considered goes beyond an acre, the township wants jurisdiction.
   Among exempted properties would be nurseries, garden centers and working farms.
   The ordinance takes effect about April 1.
   In other business at Tuesday’s council meeting, the stepfather of a high school student who died last summer of tainted heroin made a presentation of a plan seeking to establish a teen center in the East Windsor-Hightstown area.
   Glenn Johnston, stepfather of Brian Landry, told the council that the Brian Foundation he helped form would like to establish an adult-supervised facility for 13- to 18-years-olds.
   "This is not just our community," Mr. Johnston said of drug abuse. "This is a statewide problem. This is a national problem."
   Mr. Johnston, who previously made similar presentations to the East Windsor Regional Board of Education and the Hightstown Borough Council, said he’s talking to the local leaders in hopes of winning their support and would like to target local businesses for financial backing.
   "We certainly appreciate the positive avenue you have chosen to channel your energies," Mayor Mironov told him. "It’s always great to get young people involved."
   The council also announced its business awards for 2006.
   It cited the Holiday Inn for improvements to the appearance of the former Ramada Inn on Monmouth Street; the Silver Decoy Winery on Windsor-Perrineville Road for special contributions including the manufacture of wine from grapes grown in the township; and digital imager Triangle Repro Center on Dutch Neck Road for what the mayor called "the consistency and breadth of their support of community organizations and events."