At a Mt Laurel Council meeting on Feb. 23, Burlington County officials gave a presentation showcasing the new Burlington County Energy Aggregation Program, a cooperative between the county and electric companies where the county would purchase electricity in bulk at a lower rate than residents typically pay. Municipalities must enroll into the program to participate.
Since February, there has been no mention of Mt. Laurel Township joining the cooperative. Council shed some light on the subject at last Monday’s council meeting.
Mayor Irwin Edelson said council has decided to not join the program for the time being.
“We didn’t like the program because there was no opting in,” Edelson said.
The township’s big reason for staying out of the program involved the automatic enrolling of residents if Mt. Laurel chose to join. All residents in the township would automatically be enrolled in the program at the lower rate and would have to go through an opt-out process if they didn’t want to participate.
“We didn’t like the idea of forcing people to do something to opt out,” township manager Maureen Mitchell said.
Possible ordinance could give preference to police officer candidates living in Mt. Laurel
A possible new ordinance in Mt. Laurel could see a greater influx of police officers living in the township.
At last Monday’s meeting, council approved an ordinance on first reading changing the way police officers are hired. The change would give preference to job candidates who live in the township.
Previously, the ordinance simply said candidates did not have to be residents of the township to be a police officer in the department. The new ordinance removes the phrase and inserts a preference list where candidates living in Mt. Laurel would get first preference for a position. Following township residents, preference would then be given to Burlington County residents then residents in counties neighboring Burlington and finally candidates in all other counties of the state.
To be considered for a position, officers would still have to meet all of the state’s requirements.
The ordinance will be up for second reading and a public hearing at Mt. Laurel council’s Aug. 10 meeting.
Shared services agreement approved
Council passed a resolution approving a shared services agreement with Burlington County for use of the New World Communications system at Burlington County Central Communications. Emergency personnel used the system to field calls made to 9–1–1 in the township.
Township clerk Meredith Tomczyk said the township has already been using Burlington County Central Communications to field its emergency calls.
“We’ve had dispatch there for a few years,” she said. “We just decided to have a formal agreement.”
