A public hearing on an ordinance that could change the way sewer bills are calculated is set for Township Council’s regular meeting next week.
By: Lea Kahn
Township Council will meet at 8 p.m. Tuesday to take final action on the sewer fee ordinance, plus several other ordinances and resolutions. The meeting will be held in the courtroom at the municipal building.
The sewer fee ordinance calls for property owners to be billed for sewer service based on the amount of water they use. Currently, property owners are billed a flat fee annually for sewer service. If adopted, the new ordinance would take effect Jan. 1, 2002.
The new sewer fee would be based on actual water usage for properties that use public water, and on an estimated basis for properties that are served by private wells.
Hotels and motels without water or sewerage meters will pay on estimated annual water consumption. Commercial properties, such as restaurants, would be charged a flat fee for the first 10 plumbing fixtures (sinks, toilets, bathtubs and showers), and a fee for each additional fixture.
Also, the ordinance includes a $42 fee for debt service, billing and administration. The fee will be assessed against each single-family house, each apartment, each hotel or motel room and each plumbing fixture in a commercial property.
The council also plans to hold public hearings on several other ordinances, including ones that set the salary range for the township fire official and one that authorizes the sale of a township-owned parcel to an adjacent property owner.
The township plans to offer for sale a small piece of municipally-owned property, located on the corner of Eldridge and Rossa avenues, to the parcel’s next-door neighbor. Under state law, the parcel must be offered for sale to the adjacent property owner.
In other business, Township Council plans to introduce an ordinance to reduce the fee for the Recreation Department’s Summer Teen Basketball program from $25 to $15. The focus of the program has changed from a competitive to an instructional format, so there is no need to hire a referee, according to Superintendent of Recreation Steven Groeger.
The council expects to award a bid to Renda Roads Inc. of Whitehouse to repave streets in the Berwyn Place neighborhood. Renda Roads, one of two companies vying for the job, submitted the low bid of $349,704.30.
And, in a final matter, Township Council will make appointments to the newly formed Route 1 Business District Redevelopment Committee. The committee consists of eight at-large members who are residents of the township.
The remaining members will include one each from the Growth and Redevelopment Committee, the Planning Board, a Township Council liaison and someone designated by the mayor. The municipal manager or his designee also will sit on the committee.
