Franklin Lakes June 5, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Borough adopts $1.4 million bond ordinance by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Borough Council recently adopted a $1.4 million bond ordinance to fund the 2013 road improvement program and several other capital projects. The bond ordinance will be funded by using $500,000 from the borough’s operating budget and obtaining $910,000 through bond anticipation notes. The ordinance provides $1.1 million for the road improvement program, which Mayor Frank Bivona described as “a substantial increase to catch up on the bad roads in the borough.” The roads to be milled and paved include Scioto Drive, Vermeulen Place, Shoshone Trail, Ridgeview Way, Saddleback Trail, Arnold Drive, White Pine Road, Vee Drive, Farmdale Road, Atterbury Lane, Calusa Trail, Clara Court, Glen Place from Birch Road to #279, and the Bridle Way cul-de-sac. In addition, the list includes portions of Circle Drive, Lynn Drive, and the police department parking lot and where directed on South Plaza, Marie Court, Tanglewood Court, Cheyenne Drive, and the Woodside Avenue asphalt sidewalk. The $1.1 million will cover the $953,315 lowest bid received by the Northwest Bergen Cooperative Resurfacing Program, which obtains the bid for road improvement programs in several towns in the area; $51,685 to pave the Franklin Lakes portion of three roadways with the Borough of Oakland; $10,000 for bonding costs, legal expenses, and advertising; and $85,000 for engineering design and inspection costs. The bond ordinance will also cover the $50,000 cost of cab and chassis for a salt spreader; $42,000 for a Groundmaster mower and snow plow; $55,000 for SCBA equipment; $20,000 for a Geographic Information Systems project; $125,000 for the recreation center parking lot and basketball court improvements, $90,000 of which will be reimbursed by the Bergen County Open Space Fund; $10,000 for tables and playground equipment; and $8,000 in administrative costs. Mayor Bivona and the borough council realized in March that the funding for the annual road improvement program would have to be significantly increased. Borough Engineer Kevin Boswell advised the governing body at that time that the borough has spent between $350,000 and $500,000 on road improvements each year over the past several years, which generally involves the repaving of roads. But after compiling a list of roads that should be included in this year’s program, he pointed out that seven roads were added to the list. He estimated the $1.2 million cost this year to catch up with the borough’s deteriorating road system. Boswell advised that the list of roads to be improved this year was compiled based on the latest roadway rating survey, input from the department of public works, and his own engineering inspection department. Boswell also recommended that the council budget $700,000 per year after this year to keep up with the borough’s road repairs. In addition to the borough roads to be improved, Boswell said Bergen County will be repaving Pulis Avenue from Franklin Avenue to Wyckoff Avenue, Franklin Avenue from the Waldwick line to Ramapo Valley Road, and Colonial Road from Summit Avenue to Franklin Lake Road. “It’s a lot of money,” Bivona commented about the cost to improve the borough’s roads, “but the second biggest complaint in the borough is about the roads. We’ve got to take care of our roads.”