Downtown parking changes on the way

By Vic Monaco, Managing Editor
   HIGHTSTOWN — Responding to complaints from some businesspeople, the borough plans to double the permitted parking time for patrons in two downtown lots from two to four hours and increase the number of permit spaces for business owners and employees.
   But on-street two-hour limits will remain the same.
   Those recommendations from a parking committee were announced at Monday’s Borough Council meeting by committee member and former Mayor Scott Caster.
   The council agreed with the recommendations with one exception. Councilman Dave Schneider said he’s not sure the borough also should hire a person to work five or six hours a week to enforce parking restrictions. He suggested the borough wait to see if that hiring is needed. None of his colleagues responded to his comment.
   Councilman Jeff Bond, who also sat on the parking committee, said the changes in the permitted times and addition of 23 permit spaces, to the current 52, will have to be approved by the state Department of Transportation.
   Mayor Bob Patten previously said that some business owners had sought the time change because their services often require more than two hours for patrons, and that they didn’t want to lose customers because of parking tickets.
   In other business at Tuesday’s council meeting, Borough Engineer Carmela Roberts said the borough is looking into possibly buying a piece of equipment to remove water from sludge created at the sewer plant as a means to reduce the cost of transporting and disposing of the sludge.
   The council, meanwhile, took the following action:
   • OK’d spending $8,946 in developer funds to improve a section of Maple Avenue where water has been ponding and causing drainage problems;
   • authorized the use of state grant money in the amount of $7,868 to pay for testing and disposal of soil that was contaminated when a borough contractor punctured an underground storage tank in front of the municipal building in November;
   • introduced an ordinance to use $3,500 from the capital budget for police radar and radio equipment; and
   • approved an interlocal agreement under which a Robbinsville employee will perform services related to Council on Affordable Housing requirements at $30 an hour, not to exceed $5,000 this year.