Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Officials describe 'highs and lows' of past year, including homecoming of killed Kinnelon soldier and how the community came together following Sandy.
As Kinnelon's elected officials gathered to welcome the new year with a swearing-in ceremony and reorganization Wednesday, they could not help but reflect on a year that one councilman described as starting off like a lamb and ending like a lion. "It was a great year for pride in Kinnelon," Councilman Jim Freda said in his remarks, noting several moments in 2012 when he, and others, were proud to be from the borough. A Year of Highs and Lows Earlier, Mayor Robert Collins described the "highs and lows" of 2012, beginning with mention of Jonathan Batista, the 22-year-old soldier from the borough who was killed in Afghanistan. As Batista's body was brought home in July, Kinnelon Road was lined with residents waving flags to welcome him. "The …
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Council will accept resignation at Thursday's meeting.
Barbara Owens will be retiring from her position as the director of the Kinnelon Public Library. The Kinnelon Council will be accepting Owens' associated resignation during Thursday's borough council meeting. Owens was not available for comment Wednesday. Kinnelon Public Library Board of Trustees President Anne Hermanowski Vosatka said Owens is retiring after eight years of service to the library. Her final day will be Dec. 31. The library board will be discussing how to move forward with the library's leadership. Over the past several months, Owens has approached the council about the financial challenges facing the library. In August, she said that the library has been operating under a deficit for the past three years and that issues …
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Council authorizes emergency expenditure while mayor thanks residents for their assistance following the storm.
The Kinnelon Council authorized a special emergency appropriation of $80,000 to be used for expenses associated with Superstorm Sandy during its Thursday meeting. Mayor Robert Collins said the expenses include overtime, gasoline and other emergency costs. Borough Chief Financial Officer Donna Mollineaux explained that this appropriation will give Kinnelon an account to charge its expenses. The hope, she said, is that the borough will get 75 percent of that money back from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after reimbursement forms are filed. After Thanksgiving, the borough will perform a post-storm assessment of its Sandy response to analyze what it did well and what it could do better in the future. Collins and the council …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Mayor said it could be difficult for residents who live in JCP&L region to switch to Butler Electric service.
A Kinnelon councilman plans to propose a borough ordinance that would impose a penalty on utility companies that “put dollars before their customers,” resulting in long delays when repairing outages after events like Superstorm Sandy. Councilman Ronald Mondello said he came up with the idea, which he briefly mentioned during the council’s Thursday meeting, after reading earlier in the day about a Somerville law firm that had enacted a class action lawsuit against Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) in relation to its Sandy response. Mondello said he would discuss the idea further with the mayor and council before officially proposing an ordinance. During last week's work session meeting, Mayor Robert Collins described his …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Kinnelon Council agrees not to get into the business of towing cars and comes to consensus on a new possible location for police vehicle seizure and evidence lot.
The Kinnelon Council seemed to agree on two things regarding the proposed vehicle seizure and police evidence lot that seemed to cause some controversy last month: that the lot's location should be moved closer to the Department of Public Works (DPW) garage and away from the recreation field and that an impound lot should not be included. The new location proposed for the vehicle seizure lot is near where recyclables are collected and leaves are deposited. The leaf pile would be moved and the area would be fenced in on a graveled portion of the land. But an impound lot would not be included in that location. "Going into that business is something that, I don't think, is going to be enough of a benefit to this borough," Councilman Stephen …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Borough to lower speed limit around sharp curves.
After several residents expressed their concerns over safety on some of Fayson Lakes Road's sharpest curves, the Borough of Kinnelon has responded and begun several improvements intended to help. Kinnelon Councilman Gary Moleta announced the improvements during Thursday's council meeting. He said some road signs have been put in place and more are coming with appropriate verbiage asking motorists to slow down in certain areas. Other safety improvements are also coming. "We're going to lower the speed limit from 35 to 25, which I think is far more reasonable in the Fayson Lakes area," Moleta said. The safety of one curves in particular came into question last spring after a motor vehicle accident occurred there involving two bicyclist. The …
Monday, October 22, 2012
Legislators drafted bill that would create Highlands requirement exemptions for turf on municipal fields.
The Kinnelon Council has not given up the fight to be able to install artificial turf on municipally-owned fields and the borough now has support from two state legislators. The borough council had originally considered installing artificial turf on the field behind the Kinnelon Road municipal building, but was advised by the borough engineer that because the borough is located in an area protected by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, too many New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection exemptions would be needed for the project to come to fruition. Board of education property, however, is exempt from many of the restrictions of the law and the borough has been working with Kinnelon Board of Education members to see if…
Friday, October 19, 2012
Kinnelon Council tables voting on police vehicle seizure lot behind borough municipal building.
Several Kinnelon residents spoke passionately Thursday night against the borough council's consideration of creating a lot where police could store seized vehicles and evidence behind the borough municipal building and across from a municipal field on Kinnelon Road. "It's disgusting. It's disgusting that I'm going to have to explain to my son about having an impound yard across from where he plays football," resident Olga Gilhooley told the council. The council has spent the past three months discussing the lot after Kinnelon Police Chief John Finkle has said a lot is needed to store the vehicles and equipment currently taking up at least six spaces in the parking lot directly behind the municipal building. As Mayor Robert Collins …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Kinnelon Council discusses future development of lot as revenue-gaining measure.
The Kinnelon Council could vote Thursday to approve a seized vehicle impound lot behind the borough municipal building where Kinnelon police can store vehicles taken after being involved in crimes. The council discussed the lot after hearing from Kinnelon Police Chief John Finkle at the Oct. 11 work session meeting. Finkle told the council the lot would be used to store the vehicles, as well as some police department equipment currently stored behind the police department and taking up parking spaces that could be used for the municipal building. He said the lot is a necessity. "I need this lot for the storage of these vehicles," Finkle said. If approved, the lot would be located in the lower parking lot behind the Kinnelon Municipal …
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Committee to investigate recommendations for trimming costs by $150K per year.
For months, a subcommittee of the Kinnelon Public Library Board of Trustees has been fact-finding and considering ways to help pull the library out of a serious financial situation, the result of operating under a deficit for the past three years. "It's been intense," Christine Whittemore, a member of the library board's Fiscal Responsibility Subcommittee, said. Whittemore presented the findings and recommendations of the committee to the Kinnelon Council Thursday night, along with committee members Linda Farmer and Anne Vosatka, president of the trustees board. Those recommendations included cuts to staff and programs, but the recommendations were merely in draft format and members said none of the information presented would be …
Robert Vosatka
9:29 am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Is there a specific geographic portion of Kinnelon covered by JCP&L? more ›