Monday, April 10, 2017

Looking Forward to Bicycle Races and Fireworks

With so many worrisome things to think about now, maybe we can look forward to some fun things coming up.

Among items up for City Council approval at Monday's meeting, for the second year the State Bicycle Race Championships will take place in downtown Plainfield.

The races in several categories will start at City Hall, go north to Front Street, then down Park Avenue and across East Seventh back to Watchung Avenue.

The event, on Sunday, May 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., will include a free bike giveaway and a "Taste of Plainfield."

Initially on my block of East Seventh the races were a surprise to many apartment dwellers, who then came out with friends and family to watch the fast bikes speeding past in packs. I recall one young boy who was thrilled at the sight of these highly trained athletes and their many-colored bikes. He waved excitedly and I'm sure went to bed that night with exciting memories.

It's Resolution R 137-17, if you want to talk about it in public comment

Another memorable event will be the annual July 4th fireworks display at Cedar Brook Park. The governing body will be asked Monday to authorize payment of $14,000 to Garden State Fireworks for the event, which will actually be on July 4th this year. Another resolution up for approval, R 165-17, is for fees in the amount of $8,305.71 to Union County for use of Cedar Brook Park.

Projected expenses for the 2017 Independence Day parade are listed in the introduced budget as $54,000. Monday's agenda includes a public hearing on the $81.5 million introduced budget, which has a local tax for municipal purposes of $55,520,325.72.

A reminder: Budget deliberations start Tuesday with the City Council and the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee reviewing the Department of Public Affairs & Safety budget for Police and Fire divisions. Wednesday's deliberations will be on Administration & Finance and Thursday's will be on Public Works & Urban Development. All three will be held at 7 p.m. in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave.

--Bernice

3 comments:

  1. CBAC should look closely at FD ovetime since investigation of using funds to do renovations at $150 hour to paint

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  2. Anon 1:14 - OT at fire department was down about 20% over prior FY and if fireman painted that would depend on how many hours they spent doing it - if it was 5-10 hours then who cares? Getting bids and going through that process would likely just cost more. This is a silly issue. Also I bet the union contract says they can't do anything that is related to their official duties - public works probably did the work since that is their job. And is case you are wondering - OT for public works is down as well.

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  3. nOT SURE how painting or any thing other than firefighting is in the union contract for fire department members. prosecutor would disagree

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