Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • November 16, 2011 Allendale Leaves must be packed into paper bags for disposal by John Koster The Allendale Department of Public Works will not accept leaves for disposal unless the leaves are packed in paper bags. Council Member Elizabeth White said she had seen some residents using plastic bags for the leaves, and assured those citizens that their leaves would not be picked up. “The plastic bags get too heavy, and the DPW crews will not pick them up,” White said. Any resident who calls at the composting area at 300 West Crescent Avenue near the railroad overpass may obtain 10 free paper bags for use in leaf disposal. Residents may also drop off their own leaves and branches for composting and recycling. At last week’s council meeting, the governing body also voted by resolution to add $2 per hour to the pay rates of temporary DPW workers who are signed on during times of key need, including leaf pickup and snow removal periods. The base pay will now be $14.25 to $14.50 an hour for the temporary workers. “They’re all good young guys and do a good job,” Mayor Vince Barra said. Barra said the late October snowstorm was five to six times more destructive and disruptive than Hurricane Irene, which hit the area in late August. He praised CERT Director Peter Branigan and the CERT volunteers, especially Kevin Montagna, for setting up an emergency facility at Northern Highlands Regional High School. The mayor also praised the volunteer fire- fighters and ambulance corps members for putting in long hours. Council Member White told the mayor, “The person you left out was yourself. We really need to get you a pair of roller skates. I don’t know if you slept during those four days.” Acknowledging the tribute from the council members, Mayor Barra said the cleanup was a team effort of volunteers, staffers, and elected officials. A requested change of hours for the ATM services at the Bank of America on Allendale Avenue has been dropped due to a lack of interest on the part of the bank. Allendale Mayor Vince Barra and Borough Attorney David Bole batted the concept around in a way that indicated the complicated history of the borough’s attempts to change the hours at the Bank of America ATM from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. six days a week. The borough pursued the proposal, which was never implemented, and now appears to have been abandoned. “I’m not sure it’s going anywhere,” Mayor Barra said candidly of plans for extended ATM hours. Barra and Bole jointly explained that several women had complained about the tentative access problems to the bank ATM because of competitive parking, while others preferred a drive-up ATM to entering the bank during evening hours. But the real impetus to drop the project, which had been discussed by the Allendale Planning Board, the Allendale Board of Adjustment, and the Allendale Borough Council, came from bank. Borough officials, acting on behalf of the concerned Hours at ATM will remain unchanged citizens, took the issue to the planning board. “They started with the planning board, but it had to go to the board of adjustment because it was an outdoor business and needed a variance, so that was the right place,” Mayor Barra said. “It just died a slow death and they withdrew the application.” Mayor Barra said he understood the concern for convenience and safety that prompted some residents to ask for a change of ATM hours, but that the point is now moot and outside the borough’s control. “I don’t think the applicants ( from the public) would have standing because they don’t own the property, and I don’t think the bank is interested,” he said. In other business, the council appropriated $12,835 for the maintenance of parks and fields that are under the control of the borough, voted to retain a part-time tax office clerk, and signed off on milling and paving of borough streets by Tilcon, which the council members said was an entirely satisfactory project and showed that the competitive bidding process could sometimes work. J. KOSTER