Monday, April 16, 2012
Kinnelon Council will vote to introduce ordinance on Thursday.
More than a year has gone by since the Kinnelon Council heard from police Chief John Finkle about why he felt the borough needed an ordinance to be able to charge underage drinkers on private property. Next week, the council is expected to vote on the introduction of an ordinance that would allow a judge to impose fines and revoke a driver's license temporarily under egregious circumstances if the underage individual is found guilty of the charge. Mayor Bob Collins said he felt the council should move forward quickly on the ordinance. "We're coming up on graduation," he said. "Timeliness is, I think, an issue here." At Thursday's borough council meeting, Borough Attorney Mark Madaio sought guidance from the council on which way he should …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Police departments see no need for additional ordinances.
In recent months, underage drinking has been a highlighted issue in the Borough of Kinnelon, with the Kinnelon Council continuing to discuss adopting an ordinance that would allow police to arrest and charge underage drinkers. However, similar problems haven’t carried over to neighboring Butler and Bloomingdale, according to police representatives from each borough. Bloomingdale Police Chief Joseph Borell told Patch that, while preventing underage drinking within the borough is always a priority, his department has always felt that it has enough tools to prevent it without adopting additional ordinances or forming an advisory committee, as has been done in Kinnelon. “While we are always concerned with underage drinking within our borough, …
41.00143
-74.34018
Butler Borough Police Department
10 High St, Butler, NJ
/articles/butler-bloomingdale-comfortable-with-underage-drinking-laws
1259465
/locations/6720665
41.008202
-74.338862
Bloomingdale Police Department
101 Hamburg Tpke, Bloomingdale, NJ
/articles/butler-bloomingdale-comfortable-with-underage-drinking-laws
1827515
/locations/6720666
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Committee members agree that underage drinking should be a secondary violation.
The Kinnelon Underage Drinking Ordinance Advisory Committee is planning to recommend that the borough council does pass an ordinance that would allow police to charge underage drinkers on private property, but with a few changes. The biggest changes the committee would like to see are for underage drinking on private property to be considered a secondary violation and for the possibility of loss of a driver's license as a penalty to be removed. By making it a secondary violation, committee member Nick Zichello said, police would need another reason, in addition to the drinking, to enter private property, such as violation of a noise ordinance. "The law, itself, is not controversial. It's how the law is applied that seems to be where the …
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Police lieutenant said ordinance would be a tool to deter underage drinkers.
Kinnelon's underage drinking ordinance advisory committee may have discovered a loophole in the ordinance the borough is considering enacting to penalize those found underage and in possession of alcohol on private property. As ordinance violations are referred to the borough's Juvenile Conference Committee (JCC) by the Morris County Probation Services office, advisory committee chairman Pat Caserta said he is unsure whether the JCC is able to impose fines, the suggested penalty in the ordinance, to those charged with a violation. If the JCC cannot impose fines, only individuals who are 18-20 would be able to be penalized with fines, as their cases would be heard before a judge in municipal court. The ordinance calls for a fine of up to $…
Monday, January 9, 2012
Committee chairperson to be chosen.
Kinnelon's underage drinking ordinance advisory committee will be meeting for the first time Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Kinnelon Municipal Building. The inaugural meeting was scheduled for last week, but later postponed. The committee will be meeting four times in January before making a recommendation to the council. The meeting dates are Monday, Jan. 16, 23 and 30. All of the meetings will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room of the municipal building at 130 Kinnelon Road. The Kinnelon Council formed the committee and appointed members after considering adopting an ordinance that would impose penalties-in the form of fines and eventually the suspension of a driver's license-to individuals who are underage and are found drinking or…
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Committee to choose chairperson.
The advisory committee created to review the ordinance the Borough of Kinnelon is considering to penalize underage drinkers was supposed to be meeting for the first time Thursday night, however the meeting was postponed as it was not advertised in time. A representative of the borough clerk's office said a new date has not yet been set. The meeting was being held, in part, for the committee to appoint a chairperson. Committee members were appointed by the Kinnelon Council during their reorganization meeting Tuesday. The members, who were appointed to the committee through Feb. 15, are Pat Caserta, Mark Gaw, Nicholas Zichello, Donna McLaughlin, Lila Helu, Jeanine Mazzola and Michele Barabash-Fradkin. The Kinnelon Council had been …
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Moleta said 'anxiety' of holidays could lead to more drug use.
As the Kinnelon Council continues to discuss an ordinance set out to curb underage drinking in the borough two months after the ordinance was tabled, one councilman is urging the borough to form the committee to look into the measure and possibly take action before the holidays. “I’m requesting of the council that when we do meet as a committee, we move as quickly as possible to have committee meetings,” Councilman Gary Moleta said at the council’s Nov. 17 meeting. “That we don’t delay it, particularly during holidays when there’s increased anxiety and depression and possibly more use of illegal drugs and alcohol. We want to be proactive.” After months of debate, the council decided to indefinitely table the underage drinking ordinance, …
Friday, October 14, 2011
Mayor said decision likely will not be made on ordinance until next year.
The Kinnelon Council is still seeking community members to serve on a citizen committee to consider the underage drinking ordinance the council tabled last month. If enacted, the ordinance would have imposed a penalty on underage drinkers and those possessing alcohol underage on private property. At Thursday's council meeting, Mayor Bob Collins said only three or four residents had shown interest in serving on the committee by submitting a letter of interest, and that he wanted to establish a concrete number of people who would serve on the committee. While the mayor felt ten people would be appropriate, Councilman Andy SanFilippo recommended between six and seven. Councilman Gary Moleta said he reached out to a representative of KAMELOT, …
Friday, September 16, 2011
Mayor said committee will take a closer look at how to approach issue in the borough.
The Kinnelon Council indefinitely tabled the underage drinking ordinance it was considering until a committee can be formed to examine the best ways to educate and/or penalize underage drinkers or underage individuals caught with alcohol on private property. "We're just not focused with where we need to be with this and I want to make sure we get this right," Mayor Bob Collins said Thursday. The ordinance would have imposed fines beginning at $250 on an underage drinker and, on subsequent offenses, may have resulted in the loss of the person's license. The council introduced the ordinance in May after Kinnelon Police Chief John Finkle spoke to the council about how he felt the penalties could deter underage drinkers. Currently, Kinnelon …
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Kinnelon Council to decide whether penalties should be imposed on underage drinkers on private property.
After months of debate, the Kinnelon Council is expected to vote on the underage drinking ordinance at Thursday's regular meeting. The vote was postponed in July a few days after the council held a special meeting in the Kinnelon High School auditorium specifically to allow the public to ask questions and comment on the ordinance, which would impose penalties on underage individuals found drinking or in possession of alcohol on private property. The council was not pleased with the low turnout (35 people) of the special meeting and decided the timing of the meeting, in mid-summer, might have prevented interested residents from being able to attend. The ordinance, which has the support of Kinnelon Police Chief John Finkle, was originally …
laidbackluke
11:12 pm on Saturday, April 14, 2012
all of these different ideas are never going to work. the council does not know the kids nor the mentalities they hold. No little six hour education course is going to change the mind of a teenager. It is going to come off as a joke and kids will continue to drink. The council has to realize that no matter what they do kids are always going to find a way to drink. All of them were kids back then … more ›