At its latest meeting, Haddonfield’s board of commissioners approved, upon first reading, an ordinance which amends a portion of borough code regarding restrictions to parking on certain borough thoroughfares.
Per the intended legislation, vehicles will be prohibited from parking on the east side of the unit block of Centre Street between the hours of 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Monday through Friday and also on the north side of Lincoln Avenue – at the intersection of Lincoln and Park Place on the curbline for 140 feet eastward – from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Monday through Sunday.
In addition, the ordinance includes language for parking permits to be issued to residents of the unit block of Centre, restricted to no more than two permits per dwelling unit. Residents who apply to the borough will need to pay $50 per yearly permit, which expire at the end of each calendar year.
“This parking permit program is over at Tarditi Commons, in the front area where it limits certain parking during the day and also for permit parking, that needed to be codified in an ordinance,” said Mayor Neal Rochford.
As further explained in the ordinance, up to seven vehicles from the Commons may apply to the borough for permission to park on the north side of Lincoln, at the hours listed above, but from Monday through Saturday. Any applications for the complex, located at 325 Lincoln, should be submitted to Haddonfield Police Chief Jason Cutler, and a representative of his choosing will evaluate the application and grant a permit based on regulations submitted by the Borough Administrator.
Second reading and public comment is expected to be held at the commissioners’ next public session on Oct. 22.
Commissioners also issued a proclamation, declaring October to be “Dinosaur Month,” in honor of the Hadrosaurus foulkii site on Maple Avenue as well as the beloved “Haddy” statue which greets visitors just off Kings Highway in the borough’s downtown business district.
“Whereas, in 1984, the discovery site, which gets over 100 visitors per month, was officially marked by Eagle Scout Christopher Brees and has been continually maintained by his father Butch Brees, and whereas in 1994, the discovery site was declared a national historic landmark and whereas, in 2003 the H.A.T.C.H Committee dedicated a sculpture of this famous prehistoric fossil, and whereas, October 2019 marks the 161st anniversary of the excavation of the nearly-complete skeleton,” read a piece of the proclamation presented to the elder Brees at the meeting.
The site on which the dinosaur’s bones were first unearthed in 1858 was included within the National Register of Historic Places 25 years ago, and “Haddy” herself will celebrate her 16th birthday on Oct. 12 during the Haddonfield Fall Festival and Juried Craft Show.
In other news:
- Commissioners moved to approve the hiring of two police officers, Kristin O’Neal and Conor Beckas, and also authorized the Planning Board to name Caroline Keefe as a Class II member to the Environmental Commission with a term expiring May 31, 2022.
- One borough tree truck in need of a new engine will have its necessary piece of equipment, as commissioners approved the bid from Hupert Fleet Services of Berlin, in the amount of $29,887.26.
- Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough confirmed that the municipality and the Teamsters Local #676 – concerning employees in the Department of Public Works – have come to an accord on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement whose start is retroactive to April 1, 2019 and whose term is set to expire on March 31, 2023.