Borough commissioners recently passed on second reading a measure that will allow fees for emergency service billing to be set by resolution rather than by ordinance.
“As changes in the insurance industry occur, we’re able to more quickly adapt to be able to change our charges,” said Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough.
Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich explained that with the fees set by ordinance, they wouldn’t get updated for years.
“When we examined what the old ordinance, or past ordinance said, it wasn’t actually what insurance would reimburse or what the ambulance association (…) was billing when it could collect those fees,” she explained.
The new ordinance allows commissioners to discuss and set the rate at one meeting rather than spending two months to update an ordinance.
“The actual dollar amount rate gets taken out of (the previous) ordinance, and now (that) ordinance is simply referring to the billing process and how that happens,” Bianco Bezich added. “The rates we would set annually by resolution at one meeting per year.”
The commissioners swore in two officers, Salvatore Grassi and Ronald Morze III, at their Oct. 23 meeting, where they also approved Boy Scout Christian Dorsey’s Eagle Project to install 10 birdhouses at Crow’s Woods, five on poles and five on trees, to attract the Great Crested Flycatcher and the Tufted Titmouse species.
The commissioners also recognized Sunday, Nov. 12, as Diwali Awareness Day. Diwali is otherwise known as the Hindu Festival of Lights.
Regarding upcoming events, Partnership for Haddonfield Executive Director Michael Marciante announced the return of candlelight shopping, where participating stores can have special deals or longer hours and parking will be free for the holidays.
From Friday, Nov. 24 through Friday, Dec. 22, special shopping hours will be in place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday. The partnership is also sponsoring a small business weekend from Friday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 26.
The free downtown parking tradition will be in place from Friday, Nov. 24, through Dec. 31 from Grove Street and the Port Authority Transit Corp. Bridge, except between 7 and 9 a.m.Â
In other news:
- The borough approved Brandywine Living’s breast cancer awareness walk on Sunday, Nov. 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- The commissioners encourage residents to participate in the master plan survey at https://publicinput.com/haddonfield.
The next board of commissioners meeting will be a work session on Monday, Nov. 13, at 6:30 p.m.
This article was updated on Oct. 31 to correct that free parking will extend from Nov. 24 through Dec. 31, not Dec. 24.
