This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

SP Council Discusses Former Terry Lou Zoo Site, Shared Services, Solar Panel Fees

An overview of the Mayor and Township Council's monthly conference meeting Tuesday.

The Scotch Plains Mayor and Township Council discussed plans for the former Terry Lou Zoo property on Raritan Road, received an update from the Scotch Plains Shared Services Committee and hired a construction company to improve town roads.

Denbar Construction, located in Kenilworth, was awarded the construction contract after submitting the lowest bid out of three companies that attempted to win the job. The municipality will pay $377,197.50 to the private company as part of the 2011 Streets and Roads Improvement Program, which will begin in the next few weeks, according to Township Manager Christopher Marion.

Meanwhile, discussion regarding the former Terry Lou Zoo property focused on three aspects: an ongoing remediation study, the potential for the restoration of the historic Frazee House, and the possibility of installing a community garden. The investigation of the property is currently being conducted by Tony Pedro, an engineer from Hatch Mott MacDonald. Further discussion will occur after the investigation of the property is completed.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Scotch Plains Shared Services Committee presented the council with an update of its activity over the past two months. Since early May, the committee has held three meetings with Fanwood representatives, all of which have focused primarily on the prospective combination of the Scotch Plains and Fanwood police forces. Officials from Somerset County attended the third of these meetings, held on June 28, to discuss the issues they had faced and strategies they had implemented when designing similar police mergers last year. The committee's next meeting, which will take place in early July, will focus greater attention on the possibility of combining the municipal courts of Scotch Plains and Fanwood.

The council also discussed a proposal issued by General Code, a firm located in Rochester, N.Y., to provide Scotch Plains with codification services, which would include examining all municipal records, organizing and editing town ordinances and providing a general analysis of all codes. The council will take action regarding the proposal, which would cost $30,000, at its next meeting on July 19.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Finally, members of the council considered implementing a Photovoltaic Systems Ordinance, which would introduce permit fees for Scotch Plains residents wishing to install photovoltaic, or solar-powered, energy systems. These fees would be used to cover the administrative costs associated with the issuance and inspection of these types of systems, according to Marion. Formal introduction and discussion of this ordinance will take place July 19.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?