SOUTH BRUNSWICK – While snow played a small role this winter, its removal was recently the subject of grumblings from township officials.
The Township Council passed a resolution Tuesday night that would increase the fees charged to private property holders who do not plow their own roads. At the council’s March 6 meeting, township professionals and officials stated that some housing developments were letting their roads go unplowed after snowstorms. When this happens, the township, in the interests of safety, will plow for them and then bill the property owner for the work.
According to Councilman Joseph Camarota, however, a very small number of housing developments do not pay this fine, in addition to neglecting to plow their roads. This is because the fee is small enough that some get the impression it can be safely ignored. The solution, then, would be to increase the amount of money that would need to be paid. However, the current fine for failing to plow private roads is already at the maximum limit allowed by state law for ordinance violations.
To ameliorate this, the resolution increased the charge by setting minimum fees for work totaling hundreds of dollars. According to the document, the cost includes a two-hour minimum equipment fee at $175 an hour; a minimum of one ton of salt at $50; a minimum of one gallon of calcium at $1 a gallon; plus two hours of labor with an extra 33 percent overhead charge. Finally, a $500 ready charge is tacked on at the end.
The council looked to the resolution as a way to provide some extra incentive for housing developments to do the work they’re required to do.
“This puts a lot of teeth now to these developments that fail [to] and ignore taking care of their streets in South Brunswick … I think they’ll think twice now before ignoring it. It’s really well done,” said Councilman Joe Camarota.
– Chris Gaetano