Continue to find out what was discussed at the latest council meeting
Borough Council passed several resolutions during its Monday, Nov. 6, meeting, including awarding a contract to Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC to lease space from the borough for $2,800 a month.
Palmyra, which owns a mono pole near one of the company’s cell towers, put out a bid for potential use of the pole to wireless communication companies. Cingular Wireless PCS, owned by AT&T, was the highest bidder, according to borough administrator John Gural, earning the company a contract to lease the platform for an initial five-year term.
The above-ground storage tank project intended for onsite fuel storage was approved for more than $350,000 in capital funds, but will not move forward due to unexpected costs. Gural advised instead that the funds be put toward future redevelopment efforts, since the amount will still be reflected in the annual debt statement.
“That funding could then be used for property acquisition, for instance, and one of the redevelopment areas is the PNC Bank. I think it would be best served reappropriated for development,” Gural added. “It is not a cash transfer, because we haven’t yet borrowed the money. It just gives the CFO the authority to borrow it at some point in the future when a project is authorized to move forward.”
Also approved was the purchase of a 2018 Chevy Tahoe for the police department. Gural confirmed the purchase was included in the capital budget.
Unfortunately for residents on Horace, Leconey, Berkeley and Maple avenues and Third, Fourth and Fifth streets, road improvements will be delayed for another winter. Gural said both PSE&G and New Jersey American Water Company agreed to make improvements to areas the utilities damaged, but declined to provide new paving and curbs.
“We have another meeting scheduled with [NJAW] to put on a little more pressure, but if it is not approved, then we have to go out to bid and the work will not get done until spring 2018,” Gural said.
Residents can expect notice regarding the project after council receives final word from NJAW.
In other news:
• Palmyra received a grant from the county freeholders for Grove Park and Band Shell area park improvements. The next step is securing an official award letter and a contract from the county. Funding for one metal arch has already been awarded.
• Street and welcome signs at Broad Street and Route 73 are scheduled to go up by Nov. 17.
• Three vacant properties in the process of being foreclosed on by the borough have federal liens. To make improvements to the properties prior to the lien expiration, they must be sold at sheriff’s sale for $1,500 apiece minimum plus attorney feeds. Gural said the projected cost to acquire the properties via sheriff’s sale is $7,500 plus attorney fees.
The decision on whether to purchase the properties at a sheriff’s sale or wait for the liens to expire was tabled for a later date.
