WESTWOOD—The Borough Council met in person for the first time since March 2020 at its work session held on June 1. All members were in attendance at the Municipal Center except member Robert Bicocchi, who participated over the phone.
Road paving, parking on Bogert Place, employee hang tags, an electronic sign board policy and a proposed traffic change were among topics of discussion.
Two ordinances were adopted: 21-9, setting public workers’ salaries; and 21-12, a $750,000 bond authorization for the 2021 road program.
Councilmember Christopher Montana also introduced the creation of a part-time director or manager of senior services, to be further discussed at the council’s public meeting on June 22.
“Last year with the pandemic, our seniors really took it on the chin because of the isolation, lack of communication, technology limitations and lack of resources,” Montana said. “I think the time has come where we should very much look at stepping up our game around programming, resources, consolidation of information, communication, and transportation.”
Paving, micropaving of the road program
Under the road program, Montana hopes to push out the project of milling and paving over 10 residential roads in Westwood until it is needed.
“The problem that we all have is that you used to get 20 years out of a road,” Montana said. “Now, there’s more garbage in the process, so we’re getting it for 12 to 15. The roads we’re thinking about are five to seven years old. I think it’s worth a little more exploration — we owe it to our taxpayers and ourselves.”
In the meantime, Montana proposed the idea that Westwood’s Public Works Department could crack-seal 40 to 50 roads.
“Are these 11 or 12 roads that we’re talking about in this program scratching the surface?” Montana said. “I’d be hard pressed to say yes. I think the key is that crack sealing will make sure that the 40 or 50 roads do not grow by more than 10 instead of three to five [to later pave].”
Employee hang tags
The Borough Council plans on continuing to not charge merchants and employees the $10 annual fee for hang tangs for the 2021–2022 year. It is a continuation of the rule that went into effect for 2020.
“There’s still more vacancies than we normally see, but if you look at the traffic and the parking, it’s starting to return,” Montana said. “I think the key is to remind them that there is a nominal fee.”
Montana said the letter handed to employees and merchants should hint that parking will not always be free unless there is an additional accommodation.
Creating an electronic sign board policy
The governing body agreed to limit announcements and messages on Westwood’s electronic sign board, at Veterans Memorial Park, to borough information, public service, public health, public safety and other borough departments when a policy is introduced.
The policy will later be in the form of a resolution to get passed.
“We are better off starting out tight and then expanding a little bit, and stick with a two week prior duration,” Council President Beth Dell said.
Dell added that there should be an online application and hardcopy application for individuals to submit a message and get it approved and posted. She said there should be a disclaimer that announcements and the duration of how long a message is posted can be changed, and the bureau has the right to edit or refuse to post certain messages.
“We don’t want one person hogging the board,” Councilmember Cheryl Hodges said. “There are certain times of the year where it gets crazy, and certain things just take precedence over others.”