After a car crashed into the gazebo at Kings Court several weeks ago, Superintendent of Public Works Gregory Ley announced it was on track for repair and repainting.
“We’re happy to announce that a P.O. (purchase order) has been issued and work should start in a week or two for the pillar that was damaged,” Ley said at the Aug. 29 commissioners meeting.
During the meeting’s department reports, Police Chief Jason Cutler reminded residents to lock their cars and take their keys.
“All motor-vehicle thefts this year and last year have been with residents who have left their doors unlocked and their keys in the vehicles,” Cutler said.
The commissioners also passed a number of resolutions that addressed issues raised at previous meetings. They include awarding a contract to TCL Landscape Co. for field maintenance at Crows Wood and Centennial Field, work urged this summer by residents and the Haddonfield Soccer Association to improve playing conditions there.
The project includes fertilizing, amending the soil and seeding the fields. Together, the repairs total $20,880 and are expected to begin in a few weeks, Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich told The Sun.
After they took back the authority for in-house emergency medical billing from the Haddonfield Ambulance Association last month, the commissioners awarded the work to Life Line Billing Systems LifeQuest services.
The borough also passed a resolution agreeing to take part in Camden County’s American Revolution Signage Program. Signs will mark places historically significant during the American Revolution at Greenfield Hall, Indian King Tavern and the Guard House, as well as at the Masonic Lodge and either borough hall or another location marking Haddonfield as a Quaker village.
The borough is going out to bid for telecommunication engineer consulting services. Bianco Bezich later told The Sun that an engineer would help officials evaluate appropriate places for a cell tower in town to improve service and help educate residents on the process.
“Last year, there was a lot of controversy about the placement of a cell tower in the vicinity of public works and Crows Woods, and we learned from that process that there were community members who were not even aware that there already were cell towers in town, including on the water tower, as well as on at least one apartment building downtown,” the mayor later explained.
“What we wanted to evaluate is where are the appropriate places in the community for establishing telecommunications and what does that look like in 2022 and beyond?” she added. “With 5G and other technologies, old technology is becoming obsolete. There’s opportunity for new technologies, but none of us are experts.
“We really wanted to rely on an expert who could map out a game plan for where things should and could go, and help us do that in a public process, in an educational process for residents.”
Bids for an engineering consultant must be made by Sept. 21.
In other news:
- The commissioners approved a number of upcoming events, including Partnership for Haddonfield’s Girls Night Out, at Kings Court on Sept. 23 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; the borough’s fall festival on Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Kings Highway; a Halloween Night Market in Kings Court on Oct. 28 from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and a Rally in the Alley by the Haddonfield Education Trust on Mechanic Street and its parking lot on Nov. 19, from 5 to 8:30 p.m.
- The commissioners passed a resolution recognizing Sept. 18 as National Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Recognition Day.
- Commissioners hired Lucas Barouse as a full-time probationary officer for the Haddonfield police department
The next commissioners’ work session will be on Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m.
