Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • September 23, 2009 Funding provided by Frank J. McMahon A new ordinance adopted by the Franklin Lakes Borough Council authorizes a special emergency appropriation of $20,000 to cover the cost of engaging special consultants for the amendment and preparation of a master plan in order to comply with state regulations. The charge for the emergency appropriation will be deferred and will commence in the borough’s 2010 budget at one-fifth the charge, or $4,000 each year for the next five years. The need for the emergency appropriation arose when the planning board accepted the environmental commission’s environmental resource inventory (ERI) report, which called for some amendments to the borough’s master plan. However, the council realized that the $17,500 that was in this year’s original budget for that purpose had been removed as part of the budget cutting process earlier this year. Mayor Maura DeNicola advised the council in August that the ERI, which will become a permanent part of the borough’s master plan, needs to be reviewed by the borough’s professional planner and planning board engineer in light of some development plans that may come before the board for consideration. “The planner has to incorporate the ERI into the master plan, and we need the money to do that,” DeNicola said. Borough Administrator Gregory Hart advised the mayor and the borough council that the amount removed from the planning board’s budget was rounded up to $20,000 for the emergency appropriation on the advice of the borough auditor who said it would be prudent to do so. The ERI, a comprehensive compilation of text, maps, and geographical information system data, fully describes the borough’s key environmental resources. It presents factual information concerning these resources and provides information and guidance on the protection, preservation, and conservation of those resources. The ERI also provides several recommendations to further the environmental goals of the community. (continued on page 8)