SIC Passes Temporary Budget; Addresses Uber Operations

SEA ISLE CITY – Sea Isle City City Council met Jan. 5, a week ahead of its regularly scheduled time frame to accommodate the need to pass a temporary 2016 budget.
In response to a question during the public comment portion, Council President John Gibson said, “We need a temporary budget each year to carry us into the new year until the state approves our final annual budget. Our temporary budget is 25 percent of last year’s.
“State approval usually takes about three months for the final budget unless there is some special circumstance, such as state aid, and then they let us know how much more to expend and how much longer it will take for their final approval. Our new final budget won’t even be introduced until early February at that council meeting.”
Council unanimously approved the consent agenda. Two items elicited questions from the public.
One was about a resolution which authorized the execution of a shared services agreement with Ocean City. Business Administrator George Savastano clarified that the agreement is to “loan” him on a part-time basis as needed to Ocean City which is in the process of a personnel search to fill the position vacancy it has. “I expect they will find someone within six months and Sea Isle City will be fully reimbursed at a rate of $3,500 a month for my time.”
The other item for which there was a question was a resolution “Authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for professional services for architectural services to William A. Haryslak in the amount of $4,800.” 
Gibson explained “Council believes we need these services to make decisions about parking related to FAR (floor area ratio) at the .08 level as the public has said it wants. The architect will provide sketches from planning board information and we will review those before we introduce any new ordinance regarding off-street parking in residential zones.”
Regarding Uber
Council member Mary Tighe suggested under “Pending Business” council move forward on introducing an ordinance that addresses concerns of over-the-Internet transportation services providers such as Uber.
“We said a few months ago that we would take care of their concerns at our January meeting. Many of us use the jitney to get around in town but there are many, many people who need Uber to get in and out of town and it is a very valuable service. I know the police chief has some concerns and I’d like to ask our solicitor to start working with him and city administration to work up an ordinance so that Uber can operate and that they look at the current restrictions.”
During public comment, a question was raised if council intended to “relax restrictions” to which Solicitor Paul Baldini replied, “We only want to remove unnecessary restrictions. One example of this is that under the present ordinance taxi drivers are required to have individual insurance policy coverage. In Uber’s case, they have one master policy in the amount of $1 million that covers all their drivers. So we’re thinking that if they can provide proof of coverage as well as which of their drivers are covered that will satisfy the overall need to provide insurance coverage for passengers.”
Plans to Use City Landfill?
A resident asked what has happened to earlier plans to convert the “old dump” into something usable such as parking spaces, even a covered parking building or golf course since “nothing has been done at all.” “While there haven’t been any circumstances found that would indicate toxic waste at the old landfill, we did find old drums of a suspicious nature,” explained Savastano. 
“We called in consultants and did an extensive environmental study and remediated the drums. We also learned that there are limits as to what can be done there, such as we need to provide a buffer for protected bird species so as a result we decided as a Council not to pursue any development at that site,” added Council member John Divney.
Bike Path Extension
A resident asked about the planned trajectory of the new extension for the bike path.
“We are applying for the necessary environmental permits and an alignment has not yet been chosen for the bike path. It definitely won’t be on private property and it may be not be a straight line. We’re thinking that along the old dunes might be good but still behind the new dunes which are much more important for protection against beach erosion might be a possibility,” said Gibson.
Addressing a follow-up question about a potential bike lane along the new causeway under construction, Gibson added, “That’s a county road and they’re having their share of problems with the project. I can say though that when it’s finally finished it will have two lanes each 12 feet wide and two eight-foot shoulders and biking will operate along the standard ‘Share the Road’ principles.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.