HOWELL – After scheduling a special last-minute meeting, the Howell Township Council voted unanimously to adopt four ordinances, borrowing millions of dollars for projects.
The meeting, held on August 10 at 3 p.m., was the third time the council tried to take action on the matter. They had previously canceled two meetings when there weren’t enough council members in attendance.
The special meeting consisted of the council approving $8.17 million for capital improvements and equipment, such as vehicles and engineering projects; $700,000 in sewer improvements and over $6 million in equipment lease agreements.
Many residents expressed their frustration since the meeting was only announced one day before it took place.
Resident Barbara Dixel said how she had reported the council to the New Jersey attorney general.
“You don’t have a meeting at 3 o’clock in the afternoon when people are working,” she said. “I’m putting you all on notice… We hired you, you serve us… I’ve reported you to the state.”
The meeting was called on short notice due to the urgency of adopting the ordinances, Municipal Clerk Dwayne M. Harris explained. The ordinances required a minimum of four out of five votes.
Previous meetings were canceled because some of the council members could not attend for personal reasons. Harris said the state provided them an extension in order to vote on the ordinances.
The ordinances authorizing the bonds and leases were first introduced July 13. Some of the capital improvements include a new fuel island and repaved yard for the Department of Public Works, “building and security improvements” at the police and court buildings, an unspecified roof replacement, road work and a new traffic signal, according to documents.
In the lease agreements, a majority went to the police department: $1.3 million to lease 25 SUVs for five years, $770,133 for a 10-year lease on a public safety VHF paging system upgrade and $750,000 for another 10-year lease for a communications antenna site.
In addition, the council approved Board of Education capital equipment leases, the highest being $965,520 to lease iPads for five years.
