More On Tuesday's Council Meeting

Tuesday's marathon council meeting was exhausting and so was blogging about it. By Saturday, I was still out of sorts and even ill from the after-effects. Even so, there are more items of varying importance that need to be covered.

The 2014 Capital Budget and the 2014-2019 Capital Improvement Plan are important. For whatever reasons, the city has put off major expenditures for several years and very little spending is expected for 2014. We all know what happens in a household when needed repairs or major purchases keep getting put off. The same concern applies to a municipality. A council subcommittee or even a citizens' study group would do well to look into this, but the city also needs a better fiscal team to look after bonding, debt and other long-term planning. The process has bogged down and a price will be paid for neglect of this function.

On a simpler note, there were five resolutions for lien placement due to clean-ups. The total numbers of clean-ups was 121 and the total cost was $100,652.54. That works out to an average of $831.84 per clean-up. Some properties were cleaned up more than once. The city won't get this money back until the property changes hands and the buyer pays the liens. These clean-ups seem to be occurring more frequently, as properties may be in foreclosure or owned by out-of-state banks. If, as stated at a July 2012 council meeting, some owners are just using these clean-ups as a way to avoid paying a landscaper, the city is getting cheated. Maybe some analysis is needed and pressure applied to chronic offenders to do the right thing.

The issue of funding for the Kean University Small Business Development Center came up again. The program is located in The Incubator at 320 Park Avenue. Councilwoman Rebecca Williams said Kean provides the service and " they don't need our money" to provide it. The $30,000 is "purely for rent," Councilman and Mayor-elect Adrian Mapp said.

Councilwoman Tracey Brown spoke in favor of the resolution and said, "You act like it's a terrible thing."

The matter was not moved to the agenda and will be taken up again in December.

As previously reported, only $51,000 of $1.1 million in budget transfers won approval. The rest need to be reviewed and if necessary, brought back for council approval. More needs to be known about the controversial $131,000 for police promotions. Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig and Acting City Administrator/Finance Director Al Restaino were both absent on Tuesday. Some council members saw no problem with the expenditure, while others deplored it. Since only Recreation items were approved, the others are in limbo.

The next agenda-fixing session is Dec. 2 and one hopes all department heads will be available to explain the leftover items in addition to new ones.

--Bernice

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