Swedesboro and Woolwich
Complete Study on Shared Police Services
by Katherine Harrison
SWEDESBORO- At the April 6 meeting, the Swedesboro
Council passed a resolution to finalize a completed study on the possibility
of shared police services between the towns of Swedesboro and Woolwich.
Swedesboro Mayor Thomas Fromm explained that the study
simply “lays out the framework of what the different scenarios could be for
sharing police services.” Councilman Sam Casella stressed that the
resolution does not mean that the towns are merging their police forces at
this time.
“This is just going back to the state for grants,” he
said. “We're not voting to abolish the police department tonight.” Casella
added that whenever a date is set to actually vote on the issue of combining
forces, the public will be notified about it.
“Once we know where we are heading, then the public
will have their input,” he said.
In other news, Fromm said that the town has been making
great use of the RCA program, which provides free repairs to residents'
homes.
Fromm said that one house has already had its
improvements completed, and two others are going through the construction
process. He added that there are also eight other applicants who meet the
criteria for the program and are currently being processed.
“In a short time, we will have helped out 11 residents
with major work on their houses,” he said.
In other news, the borough is currently in the process
of getting quotes for a “radio read” system for the water meters in town.
Fromm explained that basically this would involve
installing special antennas on the water towers which allow for the ability
to read everyone's water meters from inside Borough Hall.
Council President David Flaherty said that the meters,
which are already being installed in the new developments, are already
capable of being read with the new technology, so this would just involve
replacing a lot of the old meters and installing the new antennas.
“It will eventually allow us to send out a current
bill, and probably more in a timely fashion,” he said.
He added that this would also allow for more accurate
water readings, since it will eliminate a lot of the errors involved with
writing the numbers down on paper.
Flaherty said that the system could take another couple
of years before it is completely up and running.
The borough is also getting quotes for a possible new
water storage facility and for replacement of well #2 in town.
Fromm said that these water projects are important for
the town, and that the finance department is creating a bond ordinance to
allow for the borrowing of extra money to complete them if there isn't any
money available from grants or from the stimulus package.
In library news, Flaherty said that all the preliminary
work for the library expansion project has been completed, and the only
issue left is completing and voting on a bond ordinance to borrow money for
the project.
In other news, Councilwoman Diane Hale raised some
concerns about some trash and littering issues in town.
One issue is that many residents are putting their
trash out too early, and some are even placing the trash out an entire week
before the scheduled pickup day. Some residents are also leaving their empty
cans out at the curb well into the next week after the trash has been picked
up.
“If we're not careful, the town could start to look
very bad very quickly,” she said.
Fromm said that there is already an ordinance in place
concerning when trash is supposed to be left out. The ordinance stipulates
that trash should be placed at the curb no sooner than 5:00 on the day
before collection.
“This really is a police responsibility,” said Fromm.
He suggested that it would be a good idea to have the police department make
copies of the ordinance and send them out to residents, or to possibly give
warnings or tickets to people who are violating the law.
Hale also said that there have been a lot of complaints
from residents about advertisements that are being dropped at people's
homes. Many residents either aren't home or neglect to pick them up, and the
papers then end up littering the streets.
“It's laying in the streets and it's just kind of
piling up and doesn't look good,” she said. “What they're doing is basically
littering.”
Hale suggested that the companies should be contacted
in order to put a stop to the advertisements.
Borough Clerk Dolores Conners said that the companies
had been contacted before, and the practice ceased for awhile, but now it
has started up again.
Hale also raised the issue of possibly creating an
ordinance to regulate clothing drop bins placed around town. She said that
she would be looking over a similar ordinance passed in Washington Township,
and using that as a guide to create one for Swedesboro.
Let us know your opinion on the matter. We will
share the results of the poll as well as some of the comments in next
month’s issue. Visit
our poll page
to share your feelings.
In other news, there will be an Outdoor Living and
Garden Show in downtown Swedesboro on May 16.
Hale explained that during the show, traffic on King's
Highway will be completely blocked off from Church Street to Dunn Drive.
