Random image: Winter windowsill.At first glance, Monday’s City Council meeting has a few unusual items. Time will tell how newsworthy they prove to be.
In skimming the agenda at the Plainfield Public Library Saturday, I missed something I noticed later when reviewing the agenda posted on the city web site. Besides reports from the four City Council committees established in January, there is listed a report from the Community Advisory Group. This is the entity charged with oversight of conditions on the 2008 closing of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center. The first public meeting of the CAG did not take place until April 2010. I must admit I have left reporting on the tortuous aftermath of the closing to others, but this report should certainly be of interest.
Among eight new ordinances, one is to establish the salary range for “city treasurer” at $83,172 to $114,801. This is a new one on me. In another ordinance, that title will become number 20 on a list of those eligible for the Defined Contribution Retirement program, which would seem to indicate it is a new title. The title of city treasurer is listed on the state Civil Service Commission’s web site, but the link to a job description does not work. It seems odd to create a new title at this economic juncture. Perhaps there will be an explanation Monday.
As mentioned in budget deliberations, several fees for applicants to land use boards and commissions will increase with passage of another proposed ordinance, MC 2010-35. Another one, MC 2010-34, has to do with changes to escrow fees. Maybe these ordinances will help the bottom line in the Planning Division, which handles the applications and escrow accounts.
Zoning changes – four pages worth – are contemplated in another new ordinance, MC 2010-37. Plowing through the details, I discovered that my own block would be affected by a change from R-5, Medium Density Residential, to R-6, Medium/High Density Residential. The East Seventh Street side of the block already has several apartment buildings that exceed the density allowed in an R-5 zone, which covers single- and two-family homes. The R-6 designation would also include apartment buildings and townhouses at higher densities. While the change would bring the apartment buildings into compliance, the Yates House, home of one of the city’s first councilmen and now a six-family, could conceivably be knocked down for construction of a townhouse complex or yet another apartment building.
The text of all the proposed ordinances will be in the binder that is set out for public scrutiny at agenda-setting sessions and copies may also be obtained from the City Clerk’s office. Neighborhood associations would be well-advised to check the proposed zoning changes.
As Dr. Yood has already reported, the acting director of Administration, Finance, Health & Social Services, Al Restaino, is being nominated to be the permanent director. If confirmed on Nov. 22, he would serve through the balance of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs’ term, to Dec. 31, 2013.
In skimming the agenda at the Plainfield Public Library Saturday, I missed something I noticed later when reviewing the agenda posted on the city web site. Besides reports from the four City Council committees established in January, there is listed a report from the Community Advisory Group. This is the entity charged with oversight of conditions on the 2008 closing of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center. The first public meeting of the CAG did not take place until April 2010. I must admit I have left reporting on the tortuous aftermath of the closing to others, but this report should certainly be of interest.
Among eight new ordinances, one is to establish the salary range for “city treasurer” at $83,172 to $114,801. This is a new one on me. In another ordinance, that title will become number 20 on a list of those eligible for the Defined Contribution Retirement program, which would seem to indicate it is a new title. The title of city treasurer is listed on the state Civil Service Commission’s web site, but the link to a job description does not work. It seems odd to create a new title at this economic juncture. Perhaps there will be an explanation Monday.
As mentioned in budget deliberations, several fees for applicants to land use boards and commissions will increase with passage of another proposed ordinance, MC 2010-35. Another one, MC 2010-34, has to do with changes to escrow fees. Maybe these ordinances will help the bottom line in the Planning Division, which handles the applications and escrow accounts.
Zoning changes – four pages worth – are contemplated in another new ordinance, MC 2010-37. Plowing through the details, I discovered that my own block would be affected by a change from R-5, Medium Density Residential, to R-6, Medium/High Density Residential. The East Seventh Street side of the block already has several apartment buildings that exceed the density allowed in an R-5 zone, which covers single- and two-family homes. The R-6 designation would also include apartment buildings and townhouses at higher densities. While the change would bring the apartment buildings into compliance, the Yates House, home of one of the city’s first councilmen and now a six-family, could conceivably be knocked down for construction of a townhouse complex or yet another apartment building.
The text of all the proposed ordinances will be in the binder that is set out for public scrutiny at agenda-setting sessions and copies may also be obtained from the City Clerk’s office. Neighborhood associations would be well-advised to check the proposed zoning changes.
As Dr. Yood has already reported, the acting director of Administration, Finance, Health & Social Services, Al Restaino, is being nominated to be the permanent director. If confirmed on Nov. 22, he would serve through the balance of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs’ term, to Dec. 31, 2013.
Don’t be confused if you are viewing the agenda on the city web site and notice a date of Nov. 22 – the first page has the correct date, Nov. 15. The subsequent pages have the date of the regular meeting, a week from tomorrow.
Al of us elder council watchers will be saying our prayers or offering incantations in hopes that the meeting will not be too long, especially for those of us who stay up afterwards to blog.
--Bernice
Ok you are home from the council meeting all set to type away, well let me say this to you Bernice my friend. Relax ... fools as myself are only now realizing that the old computer by line GA-GO is appropriate for Plainfield -- Madness in Madness out.
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