TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—A final public hearing on a lease for DPW vehicles and equipment in a back lot at Bethany Community Center, off Woodfield Road, will be held Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
On Nov. 17, nearly two dozen residents opposed DPW operations at Bethany, where the already completed driveway feeds into a neighborhood that has enjoyed a wooded space alongside Musquapsink Brook. The lot and its DPW operations would wedge between the brook and a pedestrian path, and bring processions of DPW trucks in and out of the property directly in front of houses.
At the meeting, the Township Council introduced an ordinance, voting 3–1, to allow such operations on the 1.25-acre leased site.
Voting in favor to introduce were Michael Ullman, Tom Sears and Daisy Velez; council president Michael DeSena was opposed.
DeSena told Pascack Press that the administration is “always reactive and not proactive” and criticized the Bethany lease discussion being in closed session, instead of at a public meeting. He also questioned the legality of allowing work at the site without a signed lease.
Asked Mayor Peter Calamari and Administrator Mark DiCarlo to comment on the lease and some resident questions but did not hear back by press time.
Bethany spokesperson Erin Bailey told us that his side expects the township to offer “additional clarity” on the lease terms at the Dec. 2 council hearing following a Nov. 24 meeting with the mayor’s team.
He added that although DPW work between Bethany’s Pascack Road driveway was never an option, raising the new curb made that clear at the outset of negotiations and no such agreement was reached.
Most discussion leading up to the original lease introduction Oct. 20 was held by council and attorney, Siobhan Spillane Bailey, in closed session.
In late September, 37 nearby residents were notified by the township letter of a planned DPW parking lot; Administrator Mark DiCarlo said he met with many families in the neighborhood to discuss the planned DPW lot and few had concerns.
The Nov. 17 ordinance re-introduction was needed after officials discovered the Nov. 10 vote that approved the 18-month, $104,400 Bethany lease was invalid under the Faulkner Act due to a lack of quorum.
That meeting — very packed council chambers and nearly a dozen residents spoke out against the lease. The 2–1 vote then did not have a quorum and was declared invalid, officials said. It was unclear why the discrepancy was not noted at the meeting.
The proposed 18-month lease cost $5,800 monthly, or $104,400. In addition, officials have already spent $57,700 to make needed site improvements including a new driveway off Woodfield Road, security fencing and gates, and black privacy screening on the lot.
Pascack Press revealed the planned DPW lease at Bethany first in an online article Oct. 3, following DiCarlo’s circulation of certified letters to neighbors.
On Sept. 17, neighbors questioned why work was done at the Bethany lot without a signed lease. Bailey said she was going to confer with DiCarlo, who has been silent before answering the question. We reached out to DiCarlo for comment on that and the following: Bethany lease public hearing and what work had been done on site.
Nearly three dozen neighbors and residents have publicly opposed the siting of a new storage unit off Woodfield Road in meetings over the last month. In addition, due to a lack of quorum on Nov. 10 where they approved an ordinance to lease the property, council was forced to re-introduce an ordinance at a special meeting on Nov. 17.
Much of the opposition focuses around the new driveway installed on Woodfield Road, which would increase DPW truck traffic during morning and late afternoon hours on pedestrian-friendly Woodfield Road. Neighbors have opposed the new driveway — installed in early November — without a signed lease in place and without the input of neighbors.
Neighbors have opposed the new DPW storage lot over pedestrian safety concerns, citing children who ride bikes, joggers, walkers, and others who use a nearby walking trail for exercise in the quiet suburban area. (See “‘Makes no sense’ — Dozens oppose Bethany DPW lease; residents urge Pascack Road access” by Michael Olohan, Nov. 18.)
Staff writer Michael Olohan can be reached at Olohan@ThePressGroup.net.