Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Gloucester Township Police get their armored rescue vehicle.
As expected, Gloucester Township Council on Monday approved a resolution authorizing township officials to enter into a contract to purchase an armored rescue vehicle for the Police Department. The measure was approved as part of Council's consent agenda. The vote was unanimous. The township will pay Lenco Industries Inc. $277,986 for the bulletproof police vehicle. Councilman Dan Hutchison defended the controversial vehicle purchase at the conclusion of Monday's meeting. "We as a Council, we as a town owe it to our officers to give them every tool that they can possibly have to possibly prevent one of them from being killed," he said. "It is so worth it to purchase this vehicle." Pittsfield, MA-based Lenco was the lone company to bid for …
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Council approved the measure on first reading July 9.
Gloucester Township Council pulled its version of a pay-to-play ordinance from consideration Monday night. The move came amid reports township Democrats are now circulating a petition seeking to have the measure put to voters in November. The all-Democrat Council on July 9 approved on first reading Councilman Dan Hutchison's pay-to-play ordinance. Hutchison is now seeking "more time to investigate ways of improving the ordinance." Clerk Rosemary DiJose read a letter from Hutchison requesting that the ordinance be tabled. Hutchison missed Monday's meeting while on vacation, according to Council President Glen Bianchini. DiJosie read the following into the record: My fellow members of Council, I've asked that the township clerk, Rosemary …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Councilman Dan Hutchison asked his colleagues to consider a measure to strengthen the township's controls on so-called pay-to-play activities.
In a surprising move by Gloucester Township Council, the governing body introduced and unanimously approved a measure Monday night that, if approved, would strengthen the town's controls on so-called pay-to-play activities. The ordinance likely will be considered for final approval at Council's next public-action meeting, which is scheduled for July 23, at which time a public hearing will be conducted. Councilman Dan Hutchison reportedly asked his colleagues to consider the measure last week during a workshop meeting. "This ordinance should be acted upon," he said Monday night. "Something should be done (about pay to play)." The ordinance differs from one proposed by conservative watchdog group South Jersey Citizens in that it would …
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Municipal Complex
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/council-moves-pay-to-play-measure
1777809
/locations/7482993
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The township has seen tipping fees drop over the program's first three months, the business administrator said.
The township's new single-stream recycling program has not just benefited the environment—officials say it has also saved the municipality money at the dump since it began in late 2011. In defending the cost of a 2011 advertising campaign cited in last Saturday's Gloucester Township Patch report on billing deficiencies by the township's energy consultant, Business Administrator Tom Cardis reported during Monday night's Township Council meeting that tipping fees paid to Mount Laurel-based Republic Services will drop by more than $150,000 in the first year of the single-stream recycling program. The township paid an average of $299,136.46 per month for garbage disposal over the three-month period December 2011 through February 2012—about $38…
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Municipal Complex
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/official-single-stream-recycling-paying-off-so-far
1777809
/locations/6604730
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Council approved a resolution seeking bids for court collection services Monday night.
While it's unlikely you will end up in the county jail if you fail to pay court fines, the township is one step closer to enacting a deterrent for those who may be thinking of going the deadbeat route. Think annoying phone calls at all hours of the day. Even worse: Think bad credit. The Township Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution allowing for the solicitation of bids for court collection services. The state Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) oversees firms involved in collecting fines for municipal courts, Solicitor David Carlamere noted during the meeting. "The AOC I believe has indicated that you can't incarcerate individuals for failure to pay fines," Councilman Dan Hutchison said prior to his affirmative vote on…
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Municipal Complex
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/township-to-put-collection-agency-on-fines-deadbeats
1777809
/locations/4861232
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A watchdog group is unhappy with the lack of movement by Council on its proposed pay-to-play ban.
A government watchdog group is inching closer to putting its proposed pay-to-play ban to township voters. The ban would close three major loopholes in the state law that aims to limit campaign contributions from prospective contractors and professionals, proponents say. The Township Council would get to vote on the measure proposed by South Jersey Citizens (SJC) under the state's initiative and referendum process, but, should Council reject it, voters would be given an opportunity to adopt it. SJC plans to gather signatures from registered township voters equal to 15 percent of the number of residents who went to the polls for the 2009 general election (about 17,500 voted that year), allowing them to put the proposed ban to the people if …
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Municipal Complex
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/on-the-road-to-a-referendum-battle
1777809
/locations/4615231
Monday, June 13, 2011
The new e-ticketing system will save township personnel time, officials say.
The Township Council is expected to vote tonight on a proposed shared-services agreement that would allow the police department to begin an electronic ticketing program. The program initially would see eight patrol cruisers outfitted with the e-ticketing hardware, Police Chief W. Harry Earle said. E-ticketing would result in "saving on cost in a variety of fashions, including, of course, the cost of the ticket books, the efficiency of the officer and even the efficiency of the court," the chief told Council last Monday. Patrol officers would be able to swipe traffic scofflaws' driver's licenses into the new e-ticketing devices, which are equipped to automatically generate tickets and input the pertinent driver and violation information …
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Police Department
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/police-to-go-to-electronic-tickets
1778167
/locations/4577338
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
One way or another, the proposed ban will be voted on, the resident said.
Township officials expressed reservations that a citizens group's proposed pay-to-play ban could hinder, if not block, future shared-services agreements. The citizens group vowed to use the tools available to it to push the patronage ban to a vote—whether it is council members or township residents voting on the measure—following an hour-plus discussion on the proposed legislation Monday night. South Jersey Citizens (SJC) were hopeful Council would move the pay-to-play ordinance to its agenda for its June 13 meeting following Monday night's discussion. That did not happen, although Council President Glen Bianchini did order Solicitor David Carlamere to begin researching and drafting an ordinance "ASAP." Bianchini and other Council members…
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Municipal Complex
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/officials-resident-debate-proposed-pay-to-play-bans-readiness
1777809
/locations/4553645
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Also, the end-of-night fireworks witnessed May 9 continued at Monday's Council meeting.
A citizens group's proposal for a pay-to-play ban in the township turned into a rather lengthy question-and-answer session between a proponent and councilman during Monday's Council meeting. The end result: It appears South Jersey Citizens (SJC) will at least get an opportunity to pitch its proposal to Council in more detail, possibly as soon as Council's June 6 workshop meeting. "I think we're obligated to look at that to see if we can mesh it into what the state has set forth for us to follow, and if we can improve upon that ..." Councilman Dan Hutchison said. "I'm not saying we're going to, but I'm saying we should at least look at it." Beyond the obvious goal of potentially helping to reduce taxes, the underlying motive for the …
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Municipal Complex
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/council-to-hear-out-pay-to-play-proponents
1777809
/locations/4424494
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Councilwoman Crystal Evans maintains that she is still a Democrat, and still an independent thinker.
Councilwoman Crystal Evans said she remembers the first budget she voted on as a new member of the Gloucester Township Council. "I was brand new to the council, and I went there to vote on a budget that was worked on 18 months before," she said of the proposed tax increase. "I was given a packet. I told them that I hadn't had a chance to look at it yet. They said, 'Just say yes.'" According to Evans, this incident has turned out to be characteristic of her experience on the Gloucester Township Council, to which she assumed office in January 2008. Since then, Evans, a Democrat, has broken ranks from the party, publicly supporting former mayor Cindy Rau Hatton, a Republican, in her bid for re-election, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in …
39.821003
-75.040635
Gloucester Township Municipal Complex
1261 Chews Landing Rd, Laurel Springs, NJ
/articles/evans-its-about-people-not-parties
1777809
/locations/2941342
Lauren Burgoon
3:13 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Is there a reason everyone on here can't act like adults and refrain from calling each other names? Cut it out. more ›