June 26, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Franklin Lakes Borough adopts sewer system ordinance by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Council has adopted an ordinance that establishes the rules, regulations, and sewer service charges that will apply to the use of the municipal sewer system the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority is now installing in the business district. The ordinance was introduced in January, but its adoption was delayed while the borough negotiated a modification of the 2006 agreement between the municipality and the NBCUA. That agreement was based on a 2005 feasibility study of installing sewers to service the central business district and the 2008 approval of the plan for that sewer system by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Borough Attorney William Smith recently advised the council that the purpose of the new agreement is to make it clear that neither the borough nor any borough property owner has to hook up to the sewer system, and that the system will not be expanded without the agreement of the borough. He said the negotiations have been ongoing for two years, but the matter was resolved when Mayor Frank Bivona recently met with the chairman of the NBCUA and said he would not leave the room until they reached a new agreement. Smith explained that the 2006 agreement was signed when the borough was pleading with the NBCUA to install sewers in the business district and the authority said it would do so if the borough agreed to certain requirements. Now, the NBCUA has asked the borough to install the sewer line and the borough agreed, but would not accept all the requirements in the 2006 agreement. “They don’t like that we wouldn’t sign the same agreement that all the other municipalities have signed,” Smith explained, “but we allowed them in under different circumstances and they have finally acknowledged that.” Bivona emphasized that there wasn’t really a disagreement with the NBCUA, and said, “Generally we’re very excited about having sewers in our downtown area.” He also explained that the borough requested that a gravity feed line be installed under the railroad tracks on Pulis Avenue at no additional cost to the borough so the municipal complex could be hooked up to the sewer line in the future. The NBCUA consented as long as the borough pays an up-front $50,000 hook-up cost, which the municipality agreed to pay. “It’s a good financial deal,” Bivona said and he recommended the adoption of the ordinance, which the council proceeded to do unanimously. The sewer system is being installed in the business district along Franklin Avenue and Susquehanna Avenue extending to the Mountain Shadow condominium complex, and in the Commerce Street commercial (continued on page 19) Franklin Lakes Police Chief Joseph R. Seltenrich has announced that his department has assumed a “Zero Tolerance” policy in terms of underage drinking. His announcement coincided with the closure of the local schools and the return of college students who will be living at home for the summer. At this time, he noted, the incidence of underage drinking parties increases considerably. These parties, he added, have the potential to evolve into large-scale events that can quickly become uncontrollable, endangering the participants and neighboring residents, sometimes resulting in property damage, Police chief announces ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy personal injuries, fights, sexual assaults, and ambulance transports for alcohol overdosing. There are a number of violations of law, which can result in arrest, that often exist as a consequence of underage drinking parties, such as maintaining a nuisance, making alcoholic beverages available to underage persons, and possession or consumption of alcohol by underage persons. These offenses can carry the penalties of a monetary fine and imprisonment for up to six months upon conviction of the offender. The Franklin Lakes Police Department wishes to remind residents that it is in the best interest of every- one in the community for parents to educate their children about the dangers of underage alcohol consumption and to understand that it is not beneficial for them to host or allow underage drinking parties (or any other type of event that may become unmanageable and develop into a neighborhood hazard), as the results would likely be the filing of criminal charges, and the incurring of severe civil liability. Parents have the responsibility to always ensure that their homes are not used as gathering points for underage drinking, and should monitor all underage parties for the presence of alcohol.