By Kevin Coughlin
The storm that toppled trees and power lines across Morristown last month also hammered the town’s coffers.
On Tuesday, the council approved an emergency appropriation of $117,600 to cover tree removal and overtime for police, fire and public works employees in the aftermath of the severe weather on July 14, 2016.
The money will come from the town’s budget surplus and must be repaid in next year’s budget, said town Administrator Jillian Barrick. The vote was 6-0. Council President Stefan Armington was absent.
In other business, the council okayed the purchase of a former group home that vexed residents on Headley Road for years. Council members also pondered whether to require local businesses to provide paid sick leave for workers.
And they heard about plans to revamp Pioneer Park, the barren slab of concrete outside of Headquarters Plaza.
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NO MORE HEADLEY HEADACHES?
The council unanimously approved a $479,000 bond ordinance to purchase a house at 38 Headley Road that formerly served as a group home for troubled teenaged boys.
Neighbors lodged scores of complaints about the operation after the Pennsylvania-based Devereux Foundation assumed control from a married couple who had run it quietly since 1980.
Accusations of poor supervision, shoddy maintenance and alarming encounters with wandering youths came to a head in 2014, when the foundation’s president shot back with allegations of neighbors’ cruelty to teens afflicted with “autism, major depression and anxiety disorder.”
The home has been vacant for about a year, according to Barrick. The town has sought permission from state regulators to buy the house, at its appraised market value, with the purpose of re-selling it–probably at auction–as a single-family residence, the administrator said.
Councilwoman Alison Deeb asked to stipulate that use as a deed restriction. Town Attorney Vij Pawar said such details will be addressed in another ordinance, after the town completes the purchase.
In all, the council authorized spending $505,000 for the acquisition.
PAID SICK LEAVE?
Prodded by a Newark-based organization, the council introduced a measure to require private businesses to provide paid sick leave for employees.
New Jersey Working Families, described by its political director as a progressive policy organization, obtained enough local petition signatures to place the question on the November ballot.
The identically worded council ordinance was intended to save the expense of adding this to the ballot, according to town Clerk Kevin Harris. But the council must enact the ordinance within 20 days to achieve that goal; the next scheduled meeting is not until Sept 13, 2016.
Morristown would become the state’s 13th municipality to adopt such legislation, according to Craig Garcia, political director for New Jersey Working Families.
He said the aim is for companies to provide three- to five paid sick days annually for full- and part-time workers, depending on company size. Employees could use the earned time off to care for parents, children, grandparents and siblings.
More than a million New Jersey workers lack paid sick days, said Councilwoman Michelle Dupree Harris, citing statistics from the organization. Proponents contend paid sick days boost worker morale and productivity, help low-income residents keep their jobs, and save $1.1 billion by reducing emergency room visits.
Public health benefits include preventing the spread of germs by sick food services workers and social service providers, advocates add.
Questioning who would pay for the sick time, Councilwoman Deeb, one of two Republicans on the governing body, voted against the ordinance.
The Morristown Partnership, which represents downtown businesses, has not been approached on the matter, said Jennifer Wehring, its marketing director.
“We’re always open to conversations about issues affecting the business community,” Wehring said.
The public can weigh in at the September meeting.
A PIONEERING PARK?
More trees, more shade, more grass, more fun.
Those are some of the things contemplated for the wind tunnel known as Pioneer Park, according to nationally recognized landscape architect Ken Smith.
Smith’s brief presentation to the council mirrored one he gave to the public in March. Town Planner Phil Abramson said he would like the planning board to review the proposal next month.
“And hopefully, we’re off to the races,” with construction anticipated in the spring of 2017, he told the council.
The planning board is scheduled to meet on Sept. 22, 2016.
Former Mayor Jay DeLaney Jr., a lawyer, spoke on behalf of the Olnick Organization and Fisher Development, joint owners of Headquarters Plaza.
As part of a 2014 deal in which the town sold its land rights beneath HQ Plaza to the developers for $1.6 million, Olnick and Fisher agreed to spend between $500,000 and $1.15 million to upgrade the concrete park.
The developers will be responsible for park maintenance, DeLaney told Councilman Bob Iannaccone.
Video: A greener Pioneer Park?
