FREEHOLD – The Borough Council has introduced an $800,000 bond ordinance that would help to pay for road and infrastructure repairs and improvements in Freehold Borough.
On June 1, council members introduced the ordinance that will, if adopted, provide for road resurfacing, storm drainage repairs and crosswalk improvements. The bond ordinance appropriates $800,000 for the improvements and authorizes the issuance of $583,000 in bonds and notes to finance a portion of the costs.
The costs that are not covered by the issuance of $583,000 in bonds or notes will be financed by a $185,000 grant that has been received from the New Jersey Department of Transportation and a down payment of $32,000, according to the ordinance.
According to the ordinance, the improvements will consist of road resurfacing, storm drainage repairs and crosswalk improvements, including, but not limited to, the resurfacing of Phyllis Drive and Vrendenburgh Avenue, storm drainage repairs on Liberty Street, and pedestrian crosswalk improvements on East Main Street.
In other business, council members introduced a bond ordinance that will, if adopted, provide $240,000 for capital improvements and the acquisition of capital equipment. The ordinance authorizes the issuance of $228,000 in bonds and notes to finance a portion of the costs for the improvements, with a down payment of $12,000 covering the rest of the costs.
The improvements will consist of capital improvements and the acquisition of capital equipment, including, but not limited to, an equipment transport trailer, a riding mower, a scarifier (dethatcher), air packs, a heavy duty pickup truck, a fire chief vehicle, firehouse improvements and municipal building security upgrades, according to the ordinance.
The council also introduced a bond ordinance that will, if adopted, provide $210,000 for water-sewer utility improvements. The ordinance authorizes the issuance of $199,000 in bonds and notes to finance a portion of the costs and a down payment of $11,000. The improvements will consist of insertion valve line stops, manhole relining and the replacement of seven fire hydrants.
A public hearing for each bond ordinance is scheduled for June 18. The council may adopt the bond ordinances that evening.
In other business, council members passed a resolution acknowledging that a development application from Igor Kapelnikov for a property on Court Street is compliant with the borough’s core redevelopment plan. The property is in the Freehold Center Core Redevelopment Zone.
Under municipal law, applications for projects in the Freehold Center Core Redevelopment Zone must be brought before the Borough Council so the members of the governing body may determine if the application is compliant with the core redevelopment plan.
If the application is compliant, the council approves the application and the application is then brought before the code/construction official and, if necessary, the Historic Preservation Commission and/or Planning Board.
According to a report from Borough Engineer William Wentzien, Kapelnikov is seeking municipal approval to renovate an existing two-story building on Court Street and to use the first floor for office space and the second floor for two two-bedroom apartments.
Finally, the council passed a resolution approving Mayor Nolan Higgins’ nomination of Joanna Connelly for a one-year term on the Participatory Budget Committee; a resolution confirming the resignation of Dianne D’Anna from the Freehold Borough Board of Health and Neekita Mercacdo as a substitute school crossing guard; and a resolution confirming the appointment of Daniel Grabowski as a member of the Freehold Fire Department’s junior firefighter program.
