Council Teases Dredging Proposal, Planning/Zoning Board Future and Bird Web Cam

STONE HARBOR – If you walked through the metal detector outside council chambers before the regular meeting Feb. 18, nothing happened; it’s unplugged. However, Committeeman Albert Carusi said the metal detector is operational with police support during all court dates and will be fully utilized during peak periods (late spring, summer, early fall) for upcoming council meetings.
Capt. Thomas Schutta confirmed, during his monthly report, that various members of the police department received training in municipal court on metal detector procedures. Schutta also reported 1,008 incidents occurred in January; there were 121 motor vehicle stops, 34 moving violations and three adults arrested. The detective division assisted in the identification and arrest of a 27-year-old Rio Grande resident Jan 23, who, after he failed to give correct identification to officers during a motor vehicle stop was subsequently identified as having two warrants for his arrest. He was lodged in Cape May County Correctional Center on $1,000 bail. The case is pending municipal court.
Fire Chief Roger Stanford reported 17 fire calls, 20 EMS calls and four fire drills in the month of January. Stanford also reported “We’ll be going with Cape May County dispatch March 3.” The joint services dispatch is one that will save Stone Harbor and Avalon approximately $181,000 in the first year.
“The big difference is that come March 3, the county will start dispatching for fire and Avalon will do for police but the two of them will have synergy,” said Carusi.
During council members’ reports, Councilmember Joselyn Rich announced that the back bay dredging proposal from Ocean and Coastal Consultants is being reviewed and they are “very pleased with the way it is written to date. It is a plan we’ve asked for that covers how to dredge the back bays, and where to put the material. And we now are making progress with a proposal from people we can trust.” Rich mentioned that Borough Solicitor Michael Donohue will be taking a look at the plan before they go forward with the proposal.
At a recent bird sanctuary meeting, Rich stated, officers were selected. “We have a very thorough, new maintenance plan provided and prepared by the Wetlands Institute and presented by Dr. Lenore Tedesco. The goal is to remove the invasive vines strangling the bird sanctuary. I think it’s going to make a big difference, actually it already has. Included in that we have installed a camera in a tree. We will be able to live stream some of the herons that are in Paul’s Pond.”
During her planning board report, Rich discussed the possibility of combining the planning and zoning boards as well as the possibility of restriping of the 97th Street lot to allow for more parking.
As for the library, Rich said the most recent plans were sent to the architect and council is “patiently awaiting his results. We are very very interested in moving this along and plan to be part of setting a schedule for meetings and deadlines. The words ‘Rome was not built in a day’ are hard to defend in 2014, so we’re ready to introduce some solutions.” Rich said.
Councilmember Karen Lane reported the borough used 2.6 million more gallons of water in January than in January 2013. “With the cold weather we’ve been experiencing a lot of breaks,” Lane said. “All property owners should be checking their properties for these leaks. We have had a lot of emergency shut offs at a number of properties and when we do have to shut off your water on an emergency basis, you are liable for the fee.”
Councilmember Joan Kramar discussed new lampposts in her Public Works report. “If you’re on 104th Street you will see the new lampposts that have been put in over the bridge. We recycled those from another project on 96th street years ago – so it didn’t cost taxpayers any money and they absolutely look glorious. We have also budgeted $700,000 to resurface that bridge.”
Councilmember Barry Mastrangelo reported that council will be meeting with the auditor in the next two weeks to finalize the budget. “In reviewing the annual financial statement, it appears that we were able to increase our surplus by just a little over $228,000.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Angelo Caracciolo, a borough resident mentioned he read in the Herald that Upper Township recently decided not to combine their planning and zoning boards. “I just thought it would be advantageous if you could reach out to them to get information on what their decision was based on,” Caracciolo said.
Mayor Suzanne Walters and several other councilmembers mentioned they were aware of Upper Township’s recent decision and will be looking into it further.
Concerning an ordinance to re-zone Hand Parking Lot and Library Parking Lot for public use on Second and Third avenues, Skip Iannucci, another Stone Harbor resident addressed council. Iannucci wanted to know if there had been any discussion about making the direction of traffic on 94th Street one way?
“That’s something we definitely have tossed around,” said Walters.
“The neighbors I’ve spoken to would greatly appreciate that,” Iannucci responded.
“Ninety-Fourth street is insane during high season. There’s doubt about that,” Walters said.
“One thing to remember,” Councilmember Judith Davies-Dunhour reminded council, “is that it would increase traffic by the school. That would be the trade-off. As soon as you make it one way, you’re going to increase traffic on the other side.”
“We would have to do 93rd at the same time,” Walters added. “We definitely will be looking into it.”
Regardless of the fact that future discussions may occur about this ordinance (which was passed on third and final reading), Rich added that, with concerns to this area, “green is going to be a theme, friendly is going to be a theme. No lighting will be offensive to anyone. We want to present this as ‘If we were the neighbors in that area, what would be acceptable to have in their side yards.’ … I do believe it is time that we use (this area) and get a small revenue from it and within 20 years if someone wants to build something on it, it will still be available for future generations.”
An ordinance authorizing a special emergency appropriation of $71,250 for the preparation and execution of approved tax maps also passed on third and final reading. “Our tax maps haven’t been updated since 1988,” said Mastrangelo. “The tax assessor’s office needs this in advance of county mandated reevaluation.”
Gina Becker, branch manager at Sturdy Savings Bank presented council with a $2,500 check to go toward the construction of the Sept. 11 Freedom Park. Sturdy Bank promises to give a second check in the same amount in 2015.
Earlier this month, the freeholders awarded $99,600 in Open Space Funding to the borough to support design and development of the park. Donations from the public will be used to enhance and maintain the park for generations to come, said Walters.
To contact Bryon Cahill, email bcahill@cmcherald.com.