Haddonfield commissioners introduced an ordinance by title only at their Feb. 26 meeting that would allow for free, short-term parking in town.
Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich explained that the measure was introduced by title only because the borough is waiting for updates from Premium Parking and Police Chief Jason Cutler – who was not at the meeting – on how to logistically implement it.
Since the language of the ordinance was not finalized, there were two options: Introduce it on first reading by title only in February so it could potentially be adopted and implemented in March and April, or delay the process by a month.
The commissioners opted to go with the former, due to the number of people who have spoken out about their parking experiences.
In general affairs, the mayor announced that the borough hopes to unveil an updated borough website in the near future to make it more user friendly with updated technology. She also encouraged residents to continue locking their cars and taking their keys when they leave their vehicles to prevent theft.
“Many attempted thefts that we have occur when cars are unlocked, and many times with the keys or the fobs within them,” she said.
The mayor and Fire Chief Patrick Gorman also urged residents to call 911 in case of an emergency rather than the non-emergency number or the borough fire department. And the commissioners recognized March 8 as Haddon Fire Company No. 1 Day in honor of the company’s 260 years of service.
“The Haddon Fire Company No. 1 remains the second oldest volunteer fire company in continuous service in the United States,” read the accompanying proclamation.
The Haddonfield Y Men’s Club was also recognized for its 75th diamond anniversary on March 11.
“The Haddonfield Y’s Men’s Club has proven to be a model organization for all others to admire,” the Y’s proclamation reads.
During updates on public works, department Superintendent Greg Ley and Commissioner Frank Troy offered updates on the Tree Rapid Execution Event (T.R.E.E.) that began on Feb. 5. The program is in its third consecutive year, and seeks to remove dead, dying or sickly trees as a preventative measure to keep them from falling.
Troy noted that this year’s goal was to take down 190 trees of the 300-plus identified as priority one or two, and that the borough could cut down any tree less than 25 inches in diameter. Larger trees will have to go out to bid.
“By the time the crew is done by the end of March, we’ll have removed all P1 (priority one) and P2 (priority two) trees in the borough … which is quite the feat,” Troy explained. ” … We have plans to send out to bid to take down some of the P1s and P2s that are outside of our capabilities.
“After that,” he added, “we’re going to switch to pruning the remaining 800 P1 and P2 trees that are … overdue for pruning and we’ll report those out as well.”
In budget updates, Commissioner Kevin Roche noted that the plan is to hold a special meeting in March, and introduce the financial plan in April, for adoption in May, subject to change.
The next commissioners’ work session is scheduled for Monday, March 11.
