HOPEWELL COUNCIL UPDATE
By Aleen Crispino, Special Writer
Anticipating the end of an interlocal agreement it has had with Hopewell Township since 2003, Hopewell Borough Council introduced an ordinance that would clarify the responsibilities of the borough parks and recreation committees.
The ordinance, which will come before council for a vote on Dec. 3, abolishes the borough Parks and Recreation Commission, replacing it with a parks committee and a recreation committee, each consisting of three borough residents.
Under the interlocal agreement signed in 2003, the borough shares recreation services with Hopewell Township, Pennington Borough and the Hopewell Valley Regional School District as provided by the Hopewell Valley Recreation Commission, which is administered by township recreation Director Judy Niederer. However, this agreement may not be renewed in 2008, said Councilman Robert Lewis, who also serves on the commission.
”Of late the interlocal agreement is no more,” said Councilman Lewis. “The township is sort of reorganizing,” he added. “We’re leaning toward not entering into another interlocal agreement with regard to recreation.”
”The demise of the interlocal agreement was when the school board pulled out,” said Hopewell Borough Mayor David Nettles, adding that the district contributes 10 times the amount paid by the borough. (The boroughs of Hopewell and Pennington each agreed to pay $3,000 to the township in 2007.) The mayor said he is involved in discussions with the township on dissolving the agreement.
The ordinance charges the borough recreation committee to “coordinate and participate in meetings with other Hopewell Valley communities” to maximize and promote recreational activities for the Hopewell Borough community.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, council voted 6-0 to increase the minimum water use rate by approximately 23 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2008.
The ordinance, adopted by a vote of 6-0, raises the current minimum water use rate from $27.25 to $33.55 for the first 5,000 gallons used or less. Thereafter, customers will pay $10.27 for each additional 1,000 gallons of water used, up to a limit of 25,000 gallons, an increase of approximately 46 percent over the 2007 rate of $7.02.
For water use in excess of 25,000 gallons and up to 35,000 gallons, the new rate will be $11.04 per 1,000 gallons, an approximately 46 percent increase, and the rate for water used in excess of 35,000 gallons would increase approximately 47 percent to $11.81 per 1,000 gallons.
The last water rate increase took effect in January 2005. The new rates will also be in effect for a three-year period.
The borough provides 57 percent of the water used by residents and businesses from a well on Louellen Street. It purchases the remaining 43 percent of its water supply, about 60,000 gallons per day, from New Jersey American Water Company, according to statistics provided in the Hopewell Borough 2007 Master Plan.
IN ADDITION to the parks and recreation ordinance, council introduced three other measures at its Nov. 1 meeting.
— One would change the zoning map in accordance with recommendations made in the Master Plan. The ordinance would abolish the M-R (Industrial), R-R (Railroad Station) and TH (Townhouse) zones. Areas formerly designated M-R would now be in the S or Service zone. Two new categories would be added – FP for Farm Preservation and P for Public. The new classifications will give a “more specific” picture of land use in the borough, said Councilman Mark Samse.
— Another ordinance would increase dog license fees to $13.80 per dog plus $1.20 for a registration tag, and would raise cat license fees to $10. An additional fee of $3.00 would be charged for each dog or cat of reproductive age that has not been neutered.
— A third ordinance would appropriate an additional $600,000 for the borough’s contribution to the purchase of the former St. Michael’s Orphanage property for open space preservation and related uses, which, along with $800,000 appropriated in October 2006, adds up to a total contribution of $1,400,000. The borough expects to receive a Green Acres Grant of $300,000 from the state Department of Environmental Protection. It would finance the remaining $300,000 by issuing bonds or notes.
There will be public hearings on all four ordinances, followed by votes by council, at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 3.