to keep students safe
Boro extends hours trucks can enter site
to keep students safe
By Sherry conohan
Staff Writer
SHREWSBURY — A group of neighbors complained to the Borough Council about construction starting earlier in the day than allowed at the Shrewsbury School site, but saw a compromise on the hours of operation.
Georgia Blair, a resident of Obre Place, said at Monday night’s meeting that residents had received a letter from the Board of Education stating that it was asking for a temporary amendment to a borough ordinance which prohibits the operation of construction equipment in a residential zone before 8 a.m. The board wanted the construction to begin at 7 a.m.
The amendment would allow operation of equipment from 7 a.m. until dusk, she noted.
"Was not the ordinance written to confine nuisance, noise and disruption to normal working hours?" she asked. "Changing it would show indifference to the rights and needs of the homeowners. It would be arbitrary and unreasonable for the council to allow this to be amended."
Blair, the daughter of late Mayor Dorothy Blair Manson, presented the council with a petition signed by several residents who live near the school site who are asking for relief. She said the ordinance on the allowable hours of operation and delivery has been consistently violated since construction began in August, leading to many complaints made to the police.
"Why not enforce the ordinance instead of legitimizing these infractions by amending it?" Blair asked. She particularly objected to the "piercing noise" of trucks driving in reverse.
"The school site is within 40 feet of most of our homes," she said.
Jim Halpern, a member of the Board of Education overseeing the project who was in the audience, said the board’s biggest concern was the safety of the children. He said the intention of the waiver was to allow trucks to drive into the construction area between 7 and 8 a.m. and be in place to start work in the 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. window, but not to work before then.
The board was unaware of the "piercing noise" of trucks backing up, he said.
"It’s our intention not to disturb the residents," he assured Blair.
Halpern said that in addition to the trucks used in construction, the waiver would allow the workers to drive their pickup trucks onto the grounds earlier. He said the deliveries of materials needed for construction are usually made in the afternoon for the needs of the next day.
As for the evening end time, "we are not going to work in the dark and put lights up," he said.
Blair proposed, as a compromise, that the construction crew be allowed to continue arriving at 7 a.m. but to have them restricted from operating loud tools or equipment, especially the "piercing noise" of trucks driving in reverse, until 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
Halpern said he could live with that. He said the school board would give its construction manager such an order.
Halpern said erection of the steel beams begins Jan. 15 and is supposed to be completed by Jan. 30. In February and March, he said, masonry work will be done — block and brick. He said the noisiest things, like scooping out dirt for the foundation and putting in steel for it, are over.
The board’s construction manager is from Fierrera Construction Co., he said.
"We are very sympathetic toward the issue," he told Blair.
With that understanding, the council voted unanimously to temporarily amend the ordinance to allow trucks to move onto the school property between 7 and 8 a.m., but not to begin work, and to allow work to continue until dusk, but no later than 8 p.m. when the days grow longer.
In other action, the council authorized the purchase of a 4-x-4 vehicle for the police department.
The council was told it had a request from the police department to purchase more vehicles, but the money available was from a bond of the Monmouth County Improvement Authority, which does not allow it to be used for buying patrol cars. There will be a request from the Police Committee to the Finance Committee next year to purchase patrol vehicles out of the budget.
The police department has been hampered by having vehicles continuously out of service.
In the public comment portion of the meeting, Kevin Tracy of Monroe Avenue asked for help in resolving a problem with flooding at the new house he and his wife recently moved into.
He said the water comes from a wooded, vacant lot behind his property and that last weekend the water came close to seeping into his house. He said the water has ruined the lawn around his house, which he said he purchased while under construction, washing away the seeding and fertilizer.
Tracy said he approached the owner of the property behind him about the problem, but was told to have his attorney contact the neighbor’s attorney. He said he didn’t have the money to pursue litigation. He asked if the borough engineer could look at the property and recommend a remedy.
Borough Attorney Martin M. Barger told Tracy that since it was private property that was involved, it was a matter between him and the other property owner. He asked Tracy if he had a house inspection done, and Tracy said he did, including an elevation study.
Mayor Emilia Siciliano recalled that children used to ice skate on the property in years past.
She told Tracy that when anyone asks the borough to do something for them, they are asking for the borough to spend the taxpayers’ money. If it isn’t good for the community as a whole, she added, the borough can’t do what is requested. Tracy said his taxes just tripled.
Barger said Tracy could ask the code enforcement officer to inspect the adjoining property to see if there is garbage on it, something Tracy also complained about, which might be contributing to the problem, in which case the owner could be ordered to clean up the lot and maybe improve the situation.