Tuesday June 18th Action Meeting by the Fairfield Township Committee had 3 Ordinances and 8 resolutions on the agenda. The meeting was conducted by Deputy Mayor Thomas-Hughes. Mayor Servais was absent. A presentation was made by Triad Assoc. who would like to be hired by Fairfield as a grant writer. Their fee would be $200.00 a month and they would meet monthly with the Committee to review available grants. They represented Fairfield at a DCA meeting on the 20th for the small cities grant. As an aside, Leo Selb has been trained as a grant writer but has not been given that responsibility by the Committee. There is no money budgeted for either Triad or matching funds. Ordinance 2 2013: Second reading for approval of the Fire Truck was defeated for lack of a majority. Ben Byrd stated again that buying a truck was not the issue but that the Committee had done no research of their own and relied only on what the fire company wanted. Committeeman Sharp stated that he had, in fact, done his own research and you could buy a truck that met the specifications without the frills for around $300,000, a savings of almost $200.000. It was suggested that the Committee should analyze the entire Township, the complete inventory of existing equipment and come up with a 5 year plan. Vote, 2 to 1 with Morton absent from the discussion and vote for conflict of interest. Ordinance 3-2013: Second reading for passage of ordinance to modify general licensing, passed 4 to 0. Ordinance 4-2013: Second reading to modify licensing of the regulation of dogs: Passed 4 to 0 with heated discussion. Ben Byrd feels the dog warden has a conflict of interest and has represented the Township in court, and should not have submitted this ordinance. Dr. Zirkle mentioned that the state does not require census of animals although it is better for the control of rabies to enforce the concept. Cindy Zirkle asked if there was money in the budget, that once the ordinance is adopted it must be enforced. That question was not answered. Resolutions 87 thru 92 were all passed with the exception of the Toad Fish which must still be released by the State for tax issues. Resolution 93: Supporting sustainable funding for open space did not pass. The vote was Morton and Taylor no, Sharp and Hughes yes. A resident talked about a dock on the Cohansey, Leo will check with DEP but it was mentioned that with approximately 50% of the Township owned by the State we ought to be actively encouraging sustainable funds for stewardship and improvements to State owned lands. Note: SCR 138 passed, this is a bill to put the funding question on the November ballot using 1/5 of a cent of sales tax for just this issue. Previously bonding has been approved; this is the first constitutional funding proposed. Resolution 94 was for a coin drop for Volunteer Fire Company #2. Resolution 95: Approved the annual audit and it is now posted on the Fairfield web site. There will be a hearing on the audit at a future meeting. Under old business: Deputy Mayor Thomas-Hughes made a motion to look for discretionary aid for funding to pave Thomas Lane. This has been a heated issue since Viola was elected with many people questioning if the road is owned by the township or the residents. Our engineer wrote an opinion that he could not determine ownership it would require a legal opinion. The Attorney present did not comment. There are other drives with the same question of ownership. The Township is currently filling the pot holes. Plans for the Crime Watch are progressing; there was some question about the volunteer application. Leo Selb is researching security cameras.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 18:03:09 +0000