Franklin Lakes January 20, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Council to hold meeting on use of gates by Frank J. McMahon Franklin Lakes Borough Administrator Gregory Hart will soon be setting up a meeting of the Public Safety Committee, the police chief, and the residents of the Ridge View Way, Iron Latch Road, and Surrey Lane areas to discuss the council’s recent decision to leave the two gates in that area open in the interest of public safety. The meeting is intended to provide a forum where the reasons for the council’s action and the recommendation of Police Chief Irving Conklin can be openly discussed with the residents so some understanding and agreement can be reached as to whether the gates should be left closed and locked as they have been for years, except in the winter months, or left open so that emergency vehicles will not be delayed when traveling through the area. The gates are located on Latch Lane at the end of Iron Latch Road and Ridge View Way, and at the end of Surrey Lane. The gate on Latch Lane is midway between Ridge View Way and Iron Latch Road and has “do not enter” signs at both ends of that short road. There are no signs posted near the gate at the end of the Surrey Lane cul-desac, which leads into the Borough of Oakland. In December, the council reached a consensus that the gates should be kept open for safety reasons based on the opinion of the police chief. Chief Conklin has stated in an e-mail to the council that it is also the recommendation of his staff and the emergency response entities that the gates should remain open. Conklin believes that having more than one sure way in and out of any development can and will save lives and, if the gates are closed and locked, police and emergency service vehicles have to circumvent the gated areas, or stop to open the gates, and both of these scenarios could result in life threatening delays. According to Borough Engineer Kevin Boswell, the gates were installed in 1985 and, in the past, they were kept open during winter snowstorms and locked during other times of the year. But the increase in the number of homes in the area and the construction of Route 287, which eliminated Circle Drive as a through street to Pulis Avenue, has changed the area so there is no travel route through the area if the gates are closed. In November, several residents of that area attended a public council meeting and 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 at that time that she was concerned that the open gates would lead to an increase in the number of motorists who will 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. 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. Choi was also concerned about increases in traffic and speed. In December, another area resident, Irene Gambler, told the council the decision to open the gates was made when no residents were present to voice their opinions. “I want to maintain the status quo,” Gambler said. “You’ve changed the status quo and that is unacceptable.” Councilman Steven Marcus advised Gambler that the council decided the status quo was not in the best interest of the community, but she responded that the community was not present to discuss the issue and she requested a separate meeting on the subject. Mayor Maura DeNicola agreed to set up the meeting after the council reorganized in January, and that led to a further discussion at the council’s first work session of the year. The governing body’s consensus was to hold a special meeting of the Public Safety Committee to allow the residents to hear from the police chief and to participate in the discussion about the status of the gates. The Franklin Lakes Council recently adopted ordinances to amend the storage and application requirements for tow truck operators in the borough, peddling and soliciting regulations, and recycling regulations. Both ordinances were adopted without public comment, and there was no discussion by among the council members who were present. In the towing ordinance, the definition of storage charges for a 24-hour period has been deleted, and the application requirements for anyone seeking a towing license have been amended. The ordinance also provides for the police chief to conduct a review of the applications and make a recommendation to either approve or deny them within 21 days of the filing of the applications. The fee under this new ordinance will be $1,000 to be paid upon the issuance of the license. The tow vendors will be called for service based on a rotational service list, with each operator being 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 if a towing operator fails to respond to a call within 20 minutes, or if the first towing operator called 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 minimum standards of performance for towing operators. 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 articles in the regular course of business to the premises of persons ordering or entitled to receive those things; all agents acting on behalf of political, religious, charitable, and New town ordinances adopted non-profit organizations, except that such persons will be required to complete an exemption form; any public utility that is subject to regulation by the state’s Board of Public Utilities Commission, and the utility’s employees; the agent of any governmental unit in the discharge of its duties or obligations; and minor residents of the borough (under 18 years of age) who engage in solicitations for and distribution of newspapers and magazines. The solid waste recycling ordinance amends the definition of construction and demolition debris and designates the specific recyclable materials that are mandatory for all residential and commercial properties. The ordinance requires the commercial 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, their amount and weight, 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 to separate recyclable materials from all other solid waste materials and requires that all newspaper, newsprint, magazines, mixed paper, and corrugated and non-corrugated cardboard must be bundled securely or placed in paper bags to ensure they will not be windblown or distributed onto public streets. No bundle can weigh more than 30 pounds or be more than 122 inches high. The bundles must be placed at the curb for collection or dropped off at the borough’s recycling center. Comingled items, including glass, aluminum, plastic, tin, and bimetal cans must be secured in suitable reusable containers supplied by the owner, lessee, or occupant and placed at the curb for collection not earlier than 8 p.m. of the day preceding the designated collection date, or may be dropped off at the borough’s recycling center. Specifics of the ordinances may be obtained at the borough clerk’s office. F.J. McMAHON BRIGHT HORIZONS EARLY LEARNING CENTER A general education preschool program for 3, 4 and 5-year olds Franklin Lakes Schools Information Sessions for Sept. 2010 Enrollment: January 26, 2010 - 4:00 p.m. February 3, 2010 - 7:00 p.m. at High Mountain Rd. School, 765 High Mountain Rd. Morning Session or Full-Day Session Available AM Session: 9:00-11:30 AM Session With Lunch: 9:00-12:15 Full Day 9:00-2:45