During the “Administration Report” portion of the July 23 City Council meeting, Business Administrator George Savastano announced that repairs to the Townsends Inlet Bridge were nearly completed and the bridge was due to re-open to traffic later in the week. Subsequently, the T.I. Bridge was re-opened on Thursday, July 25.
Additionally, Mr. Savastano announced that the City is creating an “Emergency Medical Services Chief” position, which will replace the “liaison” position that has been in place since the City formed its paid EMS Division two years ago.
Also on July 23, Mr. Savastano told City Council that the Administration had completed tallying the results of the recent questionnaire that was created to gather input regarding the City’s former public school property at 4501 Park Road, which is now used mainly for recreation purposes.
Over 800 individuals participated in the questionnaire, which resulted in a mix of findings. However, Mr. Savastano noted that “build a new recreation facility” was the general direction indicated in the questionnaire, rather than renovate the existing building.
After Mr. Savastano discussed the findings of the questionnaire, he recommended that City Council consider adding a non-binding referendum onto the November election ballot to help the City’s elected officials have as much information as possible before making any decisions about the future of 4501 Park Road. At that time, Council requested that City Solicitor Paul Baldini draft the wording for a referendum, which will be reviewed and discussed during the August 13 City Council Meeting.
The results of the aforementioned questionnaire can be found on the home page of the City’s municipal website, www.seaislecitynj.us, under the “City News” tab.
Also during the July 23 meeting, four new ordinances were introduced and three ordinances had second reading and public hearing.
The four newly introduced ordinances were:
· Ordinance 1637, which was written to amend the City’s construction code so it is consistent with State statutes. Following review by the Sea Isle City Planning Board to ensure consistency with the City’s Master Plan, this ordinance will have a second reading and public hearing during the August 27 City Council meeting.
· Ordinance 1638, which adjusts several aspects of the General Ordinance, including changing the allowable morning start time for construction during the summer season from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., addressing some parking regulation issues, clarifying water fees and other “housekeeping” types of changes.
· Ordinance 1639, which establishes “No Loading or Unloading Zones” on or around bay street ends, thus preventing boats from loading and off-loading equipment over City bulkheads.
· Ordinance 1640, which updated trailer parking regulations in the Municipal Marina along 42nd Place.
Ordinances 1638, 1639 and 1640 will each have second reading and public hearing during the August 13 City Council meeting.
Each of the three Ordinances that had second reading on July 23 was adopted. They were:
· Ordinance 1634, which provides for the acquisition of several City vehicles, including a new scissor-lift and trucks for the Department of Public Works and a new ambulance for the City’s Division of Emergency Medical Services. This ordinance also provides for a city-wide road improvement program, new decorative street lighting, lagoon dredging, and drainage improvement efforts – and it pre-funds construction of the City’s future Fishing Pier & Kayak Launch at Dealy Field, the cost of which the County’s Open Space Board will refund to the City after construction is completed.
· Ordinance 1635, which will fund future beach replenishment efforts.
· Ordinance 1636, which provides for various capital improvements to the City’s Water/Sewer Utility.
Our next City Council meeting will take place on August 13 in Council Chambers, located on the third floor of City Hall. We hope to see you there.
Best Regards from the Members of City Council,
Council President J.B. Feeley (jbfeeley@seaislecitynj.us)
Frank Edwardi (fedwardijr@seaislecitynj.us)
Jack Gibson (jgibson@seaislecitynj.us)
Bill Kehner (wkehner@seaislecitynj.us)
Mary Tighe (mtighe@seaislecitynj.us)
