Town Council Gets an Earful At Regular Meeting

The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council breezed through a long laundry list of ordinances and resolutions during its regular meeting Tuesday night. That the meeting went 53 minutes in length had to do with its volatile public comment portion.

Mary Purzycki, a member of the town's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, made an impassioned stand against the "area in need of rehabilitation" designation for vacant and unused properties.

The designation, which was approved for use by the council and could allow mixing residential and commercial properties within a neighborhood, has become controversial thanks to the Planning Board's deliberations over what to do with the lot at 272 Parsippany Rd.

Purzycki said the mixed use development idea was rejected back in the 1970s.

"People didn't feel it was in the best interests of Parsippany," she said.

She had a message for those who say the rehabilitation designation is needed to create home options for those who do not wish to live in traditional single family homes.

"There are 23 rental garden apartment areas. There are six condo co-ops. There are 10 condo houses," she said. "You can't have a town at peace with itself by having a mixture of commercial and residential on one lot."

Resident Robert Simpson called for money to be made available to create a quiet zone in the areas near Powder Mill Road and Rainbow Lakes that are impacted by the sound of trains.

"There are 87 scheduled trains a day and night and a lot more not scheduled," he said. "It's time for people to get some peace and quiet."

Mayor James Barberio indicated that someone will look into the possibility, but that most likely, they could not be budgeted until next year.

Jerry Manning, a Rainbow Lakes resident, spoke next.

"If you buy a house near railroad tracks, don't complain that trains go through," he said. "There are two ways this can be dealt with. He [Simpson] could move or have the 700 people affected pay $100 each and leave the taxpayers out of it."

Town Council candidate Annelise Catanzaro brought up the ongoing debate regarding the council's 2008 refusal to buy solar panels for the old sewer system and comments Council member Brian Stanton made on the subject—and against her—at the June 14 meeting.

Catanzaro said she researched all of the figures Stanton cited, found them to be incorrect and wanted to make sure his statements did not go unchallenged.

Once the meeting was adjourned, the mayor made a beeline to State Assembly candidate Joseph Raich and Democratic council write-in candidate Robert Crawford, who were sitting in the audience.

"If you have something to say, take it to the microphone," he said to them. "Stop smirking. It's not respectful."

Raich and Crawford said they were talking among themselves during the session. Barberio said the two men were "making faces" at council members' comments.

"I would have said the same to anyone who acted like that, no matter what party," the mayor said. "It wasn't respectful."

The real business of the meeting wrapped up very quickly:

Only one ordinance was introduced during the meeting—a measure that would amend the law to allow the town's bid threshold to be increased. 

Township Attorney John Inglesino explained that this change would codify past practice and clarify that because Parsippany operates with a purchasing agent, the town will avail itself of the legally allowed higher bid threshold.

The ordinance passed unanimously and will receive its second and final reading—along with public comment—at the next council meeting.

Eight ordinances received second readings and won approval.

• $5,632,800 for capital improvements and the issuance of $5,101,160 in General Improvement bonds or notes

• $595,000 for water utility improvements and the issuance of $565,000 in General Improvement bonds or notes

• $2 million for sewer utility improvements and the issuance of $1,900,000 in General Improvement bonds or notes

• $202,677 for golf course and recreation utility improvements and the issuance of $192,543 in General Improvement bonds or notes

• Allowing public employees to waive health benefit coverage

• Increasing the number of regular members on the Recreation Advisory Committee

• Establishing fire zones and regulating parking at Andican Brothers on Tabor Road

• Amending permit fees for various uses of recreation areas and public lands

The council also easily approved a number of resolutions including:

• Hiring AlphaDog Solutions to maintain the Parsippany.net website for a figure not exceeding $17,500.
• Contracting D&H Alternative Risk Solutions Inc. to administer the town's workmen's compensation insurance claims.
• Forming a consortium to participate in the HOME Investment Partnership Program
• Contracting Parsippany-Troy Hills Bio-Energy Center, LLC, A Synagro Company to build and operate a new incineration plant to manage biosolids from the township's wastewater treatment system 
• Appointing Carol Kehoe, the acting township clerk, as the interim township clerk.

Early in the meeting, Mario Springer of Automatic Data Processing presented Mayor Barberio with $2,000 contributions to five institutions: Police Benevolent Association #131, Police Athletic League, Parsippany Public Free Library, the Parsippany-Troy Hills Fire Association and the Parsippany Volunteer Ambulance Squad.

"Companies like yours keep pride in Parsippany alive," Barberio said, thanking Springer.