LAMBERTVILLE: Generator purchase is approved

By John Tredrea, Special Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — City Council adopted an enabling ordinance Tuesday night that allows officials to purchase two emergency service generators.
   The generators will provide electricity to City Hall and either the Justice Center or library in the event of another major power outage.
   ”Given Hurricane Sandy and other the events of the past few years, we have to be prepared for running out of power again. We’d be wrong not to prepare,” said Mayor David Del Vecchio recently.
   The ordinance amends a previously adopted $30,000 bond ordinance for the generators by adding another $150,000 to the measure, bringing the total amount the city can spend on the two generators to $180,000.
   The city consulted with an electrical engineering firm in developing plans for the generators, the mayor said.
   One of the generators will be installed permanently at City Hall. The other generator will be portable and will be used at either the Justice Center (courthouse) or library.
   ”The generator at City Hall will be able to power whole building, including the elevator,” the mayor said.
   ”That will enable us, if necessary, to have the office of emergency management (OEM) on the top floor and have the bottom floor for public use. We’d only have to do that if for some reason we couldn’t use the portable generator at the Justice Center or library.
   ”If the portable generator is running, we’ll have the OEM on the first floor at City Hall and the public will be able to use electricity at either the library or Justice Center to charge their cell phones and computers.
   ”Having the permanent generator at City Hall ensures us we’ll be able to operate the OEM,” said the mayor.
   The city’s police, fire-fighting and first aid stations already have back-up generators, the mayor said.