EMERSON—Mayor Danielle DiPaola says she has several people interested in the Borough Council seat just vacated by first-term member Carl Carbo, and notes that the incumbent has served the borough honorably and will be missed.
Carbo, a Republican who joined the governing body this January with running mate Michael Timmerman, has resigned his post in light of his family’s imminent move from the borough.
The council on Aug. 17 accepted Carbo’s resignation, which is effective Friday, Aug. 20.
The borough will notify the Republican County Committee, which has 15 days to put forth three nominations. The governing body will accept one, with that person serving at least to the November election. The Democratic County Committee will be able to put up a challenger if they wish. Whoever wins that election, if there is a challenge, will fill Carbo’s unexpired term, which runs to Dec. 31, 2023.
“I thoroughly enjoyed being a council member of Emerson and working with the current governing body,” said Carbo. “I’m confident the current governing body is doing what’s best for Emerson.”
He was liaison to the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Education, and co-liaison for the Construction Department, public buildings, parks, playgrounds, utilities, technology, social media, and the ambulance corps.
Back-to-school looms over street improvements
Borough Engineer Dave Atkinson told the governing body that construction workers have completed concrete work and drainage on Ackerman Avenue, but they are waiting to repave and strike the roadway in case it ends up settling.
DiPaola noted that Ackerman Avenue experiences a higher volume of traffic when school is in session, and that the borough is hoping to complete the improvements by the end of August so that there is “the least interruption to our roads as possible.”
Redevelopment litigation remains unsettled
In her report, DiPaola spoke to the long-stalled and litigation-plagued project to redevelop block 419 and construct 29 affordable housing units. While the council on July 6 approved a developer’s agreement with Emerson Redevelopers Urban Renewal that provides specific guidelines for the project, DiPaola said the borough had not settled any lawsuits with the redeveloper.
The back-and-forth of lawsuits and countersuits began last summer. Most recently, the redeveloper filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court alleging that Emerson has acted in bad faith, delayed their construction schedule, and showed racial discrimination by preventing 29 affordable units from being built as part of the 147-unit, mixed-use residential/retail development planned for downtown.
Emerson has filed a motion denying the charges, citing a lack of evidence, and challenging the redeveloper to build its approved project.
DiPaola said reports on social media that the lawsuits had been settled were erroneous: “That info is not accurate… If we do [settle], there will be a report and an accurate report on the findings and what happened by this governing body.”
Borough seeks better lightning detection system
Borough Administrator Robert Hermansen recommended that Emerson cease using its current lightning detection system, which is shared with other towns and districts and is based in Westwood.
Councilmembers at the Township of Washington recently said they were exploring going their own way on a lightning detection alert system.
There was no issue working together with the neighboring towns, Hermansen explained. But DiPaola said the frequent storms this summer brought with them concerns among residents that the lightning alert system was not going off when it had to.
Hermansen recommended that the Borough Council instead partner with the Board of Education to purchase equipment. He said this will allow Emerson officials and residents to know “exactly when a lightning storm is about to hit.”
Veterans to be honored in new plaques
The council later passed a motion to spend no more than $10,000 on refurbishing the Veterans Park Monument, located across from Villano School on High Street. The borough is planning to design and install three new plaques on the monument with additional names of veterans, a process Hermansen said would take six to eight weeks.