City Council President Joseph Connors presides over the South Amboy Business Meeting.
*Photo by Jennifer Lilonski
By Jennifer Lilonski –
SOUTH AMBOY – South Amboy City Council members discussed the addition of a new administrative fee to the property maintenance ordinance at the Oct. 2 business meeting.
Business Administrator Camille Tooker says the fee is necessary to cover the labor costs that go into taking care of a property when owners fail to do so.
“The only thing we didn’t do in that ordinance is, we didn’t take into consideration all the work that has to happen before that person is sent to do the lawn,” Tooker said. “Now we can only charge what the actual bill is, so we need to come up with an administrative fee that covers all the paperwork.”
The council discussed several methods of imposing the fee.
Council President Joseph Connors suggested charging 10 percent of the total amount of the bill.
But Tooker said that charging a flat rate is a better idea because lawns vary in size and a percentage would not accurately reflect administrative costs.
Tooker suggested a $250 fee based on the amount of time it takes for code enforcement, public works and other agencies involved to impose the ordinance.
That is when Law Director John Lanza stressed the importance of coming up with a fee that can be justified.
“It should reflect the time that the city spent sending people we have to pay with the inspection, the process, the paperwork,” Lanza said.
The council agreed on a $250 fee as a starting point.
“It’s a start and then we find out we’re getting hammered on it, we raise it,” Connors said. “If we find out it’s too high, we lower it.”
The new fee will be enacted once an amendment is made to the existing ordinance.
At the conclusion of the business meeting, Mayor Fred Henry made a point to recognize two new businesses in the City, including Mara’s Continental Cuisine on Route 35 North.
“We got a couple new businesses coming and hopefully we’ll add one or two more not too far in the distant future,” Henry said. “Things are starting to turn around a little bit.”
Councilwoman Zusette Dato hopes the local restaurant is successful.
“This is a family. It’s third generation, so these people know what they’re doing,” Dato said. “We’ve tried it twice and we were impressed. We want them to be successful.”
City council also heard from City Engineer Mark Rasimowicz on the status of bringing heat back to the police station.
The building was undergoing renovations when Superstorm Sandy made landfall almost a year ago, interrupting progress and leaving the department without heat.
But Rasimowicz says work is about to start on the station and heat will be restored to the building.
Local business Keltic Mechanical Contractors was recommended to do the job after meeting with two contractors, Rasimowicz said. Keltic came in with a slightly cheaper quote than the other contractor.
“They’re all ready to go,” Rasimowicz said.
The station will now be outfitted with gas heating—a change from the previous electric baseboard heating system that existed before renovations began.
The council also rescheduled two future meetings.
The Oct. 16 meeting will take place on Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. because of the special U.S. Senate election, while the Nov. 20 meeting will be held on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. because of the New Jersey League of Municipalities convention in Atlantic City.
