Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-December 9, 2009 Issue

Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • December 9, 2009 Franklin Lakes Several ordinances to be considered for adoption by Frank J. McMahon At its Dec. 15 meeting, the Franklin Lakes Borough Council will consider several ordinances for adoption. The new ordinances concern solid waste recycling, towing, parking, soliciting/peddling in the borough, and recreation late fees. The solid waste recycling ordinance defines construction and demolition debris and designates the recyclable materials that are mandatory for all residential and commercial properties. The ordinance would require the property owner to fill out a form within five days of the completion of any construction and demolition conducted on commercial property, describing the materials, the amounts and weights involved, and the location to which the recyclable materials have been removed. The ordinance also lists the obligations of all property owners, lessees, or occupants of property in the borough concerning recyclable materials, and includes a fine not to exceed $1,000 if the provisions of the ordinance are violated. The towing ordinance deletes from the borough code the definition of storage charges for a 24-hour period and amends the application requirements for anyone seeking a license to perform towing within the borough. It provides for the police chief to conduct a review of the applications and to make a recommendation to either approve or deny those requests within 21 days of the filing. The fee under this ordinance would be $1,000 to be paid upon the issuance of the license and the tow vendors would be called based on a rotational duty service list with each towing operator given an opportunity to respond to individual calls received by the borough. The police department will have the right to call the next towing operator on the list, however, should a towing operator fail to respond to a call within 20 minutes, or if the first towing operator cannot be reached by telephone or advises they cannot respond. The ordinance also sets the fees for the towing of various vehicles, off-road recovery, storage charges, emergency road service, and cleanup charges, in addition to the requirement for the tow operators to maintain insurance during the life of the towing license. In addition, the ordinance sets the minimum standards of performance to which all towing operators must comply. The parking ordinance would prohibit the parking of any vehicle on any of the streets of the borough during snowstorms, or when the streets are covered with snow. The peddling and soliciting ordinance defines a nonprofit organization and lists the persons who are exempt from the requirement of obtaining a permit under this ordinance. Those persons include anyone engaged in the delivery of goods, wares, merchandise, or other items in the regular course of business to the premises of persons ordering or entitled to receive those items; all agents acting on behalf of political, religious, charitable, and non-profit organizations except that such persons will be required to complete an exemption form; any public utility, or its employees, which is subject to regulation by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Commission; the agent of any governmental unit in the discharge of its duties or obligations; and residents of the borough who are under 18 years of age who engage in solicitations for and distribution of newspapers and magazines. Violation of the peddling and soliciting ordinance could result in a fine not to exceed $1,000. The ordinance pertaining to recreation fees would require a late fee of $15 to be added to the registration fee for those who register during the 30-day period following the publicized registration period. All these ordinances are available in the borough clerk’s office at the Franklin Lakes Municipal Building on DeKorte Drive. �� 201-444-9995 • OPEN 7 DAYS 9AM–9PM �� Premium Fresh Cut Trees �� Open gate policy (continued from page 4) Circle Drive as a through street to Pulis Avenue, has changed the area. Ultimately, Greer suggested the gates could be left open in the winter while the council explores the expense of installing an electronic gate opening system for emergency vehicles. But she preferred to keep the gates locked and to provide bolt cutters to emergency service vehicles to open the gates in an emergency. Marcus and Councilwomen Nathalie Lota and Paulette Ramsey opted to keep the gates open. Councilman Michael Friscia wanted to leave them open until the next meeting of the council to provide time to visit the area. The resulting consensus was to leave the gates open and monitor the traffic in the area while alternatives are explored. Conklin had previously expressed agreement with the idea of leaving the gates open until April 1 in order to evaluate the gate-crossover and be in a better situation to judge or implement other ideas at that time, if necessary. The issue was brought to the council by several residents of the area who said they were concerned that the gates had been opened, perhaps on a permanent basis, for safety reasons. Kathy Schwartz of Ridge View Way told the council she was concerned that the open gates would lead to an increase in motorists who would use the area as a shortcut between Pulis and Franklin avenues, and that the speed of traffic on the streets near her home would increase. She urged the governing body to close the gates. Another resident of Ridge View Way, Mingi Choi, voiced the concern that if the gates are left open, thefts would become more frequent in the area in addition to the increase in traffic and speed. She told the council, “It’s a tremendous detriment to our neighborhood.” Other area residents suggested the use of a lockbox for emergency personnel and voiced concern about their children’s safety. �� SANTA’S HELPER COUPON SANTA’S HELPER COUPON SANTA’S HELPER COUPON Any �� Tree I��S�� 10% OFF �� 10% OFF �� $ �� 13500 ��