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Portion of Bellmawr’s Leaf Avenue To Be Reconfigured as One-Way

The Boro of Bellmawr is passing an Ordinance that will allow for a portion of Leaf Avenue to become a one-way street where it intersects with Harding Avenue. Once the change goes into effect, motorists exiting onto Leaf Avenue from Southbound Rt. 42 will be directed to turn right at Harding Avenue.

At its February 23, 2017 meeting, Bellmawr Council approved on first reading an Ordinance that will amend the Borough’s code allowing for a portion of Leaf Avenue to be reconfigured as a one-way street.

The change will be made where Leaf Avenue intersects with Harding Avenue and will impact motorists exiting onto Leaf Avenue from southbound Route 42.


Once the reconfiguration goes into effect, motorists will be directed to turn right turn onto Harding Avenue. As a point of reference, Oxygen Support Systems is located at the corner.

When contacted about the upcoming change, Bellmawr Police Chief Bill Walsh provided further clarification via email: “We will post when the changes will occur on Leaf Avenue, only between Coolidge and Harding. This will avoid traffic coming off Route 42 and crossing over Harding. Numerous trucks and vehicles are doing this now to avoid the traffic control at Creek and Harding and creating a dangerous situation at the intersection of Leaf and Harding. We will also have the signboard out there a week or two before notifying the motorists of the change.”

Bellmawr Leaf Avenue Bellmawr News
Screenshot: Google Images

Excerpts from Council’s Committee Reports

Councilman Paul Sandrock

“Our Court Administrator process is going smoothly. We have scheduled interviews. Actually, we had over 80 applicants that applied for this particular position. We’ve narrowed it down considerably due to some of those individuals having no experience in the Court system. Although they may have had experience in the business world, they did not fit the criteria for a Court Administrator. We’ve narrowed that down and will be conducting interviews on March 1.”

Councilman Jamie Casey

“You might see some improvements going on in Borough Hall. We are going to continue with that. We had a bathroom done in the Police Department. It needed to be redone. We are going to work on the ones upstairs shortly.”

“We have a Shared Services Agreement with the school district for the purchase of a salt spreader that is going to be used for our roads and for when we clear the schools’ properties.”

Councilman Jim D’Angelo

“The Rec Department: This is the time of the year when we start gearing up to get our fields in position and in condition for all of the spring softball and baseball teams. So the next couple of weeks, we will be out there. We anticipate that the fields will be in as good a shape as they ever were. So we are just starting a little early because of the weather.”

“A side note, there was an obituary for Robert Wyatt, who was at one time the superintendent of schools in Bellmawr. He was there when I got on the school board in ’86 and he sort of guided me and Bill Evans to show us the political way. Because back in ’86, we were rookies and had no idea how politics worked. He was a teacher, educator, and superintendent of schools. Besides being a good teacher, he was a really good guy and an adopted member of our community because he was here for a really long time.”

Councilman Steve Sauter

“Thanks to a relatively mild winter, Public Works hasn’t had to spend their time cleaning up after storms and developed our concrete and asphalt paving schedule, which we have quite a few slated for this year.”

“You might have noticed on Browning Road from Bell to Thomas, we are currently involved with PSE&G and Nelson Tree Company, the sub-contractor for PSE&G. There are 13 trees that will be coming down. They have all been assessed and created a dangerous situation. So you will see that project going on.”

Street Signs

“A lot of residents have been inquiring about the signs for the streets they live on. So they will become available for purchase. It will be advertised when the signs become available.”

Councilman Steve Hagerty

“Some of the patrolmen have been visiting the schools. Besides doing a daily walk through, they are also spending time during the lunch and gym periods. So, they are getting out to the schools to reach out to the kids to let them know they are on their side.”

Bellmawr News Bellmawr Police Department
Patrolman Anthony Franklin recently visited with Bellmawr Park School students during their lunch period. (Photo courtesy: Bellmawr Police Department Facebook)

“Calls for the Fire Department for the month were 88: All of the members passed their physicals. Congratulations to those guys.”

“As of February 24, the ladder truck was sold to East Greenwich. We passed that (Resolution) last month.”

Bellmawr News Bellmawr Fire Department
Sayonara to Bellmawr Fire’s ladder truck. Before departing for East Greewich, Bellmawr FD’s ladder truck was recently used in training drills. (Photo by SJO)

St. Joachim Parking Lot Project

“From the Planning Board. A heads up heading into the Spring sometime: St. Joachim will be starting a parking lot project where they will be adding more spaces, taking down the old rectory, making a new parking area, and new exits and new entrances. At the end of the summer is when the temporary bridge will go into effect and [the removal of] the old bridge. The area is going to be congested.”

Bellmawr Zoning Official and Fire Chief Jim Burleigh explained: “At Browning Road over by the mausoleums, a temporary steel bridge will be put in. One lane each direction with a pedestrian walkway while they take down and redo the other one. Breaking ground in April and they have to do footings and a lot of legwork.”

Mayor Frank Filipek added: “This is part of the second phase of the New Jersey Department Transportation and is not being paid for by Bellmawr.”

Councilman Ray Bider

Finance & Upcoming Budget Presentation

“We had an opportunity to meet with each of the committees for setting up budgets and every one is complete. At this point, we are finalizing to make sure that everyone is below the 2% cap, which it appears to be.”

“At the March meeting, we will be making a presentation to the audience to give you the initial budget, but things actually look really good for the Borough. We are hoping that the county and schools chime in the same so we can have a very good presentation for you. It looks really good now.”

“What we are going to do in the Resolutions tonight, we are approving some Capital Budget items so we can get started with the roads while the weather is still good and to get it done now rather than later.”

“As far as Veterans: February 23, 1945 is when the U.S. flag was raised on Iwo Jima”

Mayor Frank Filipek

With regard to the historic Hugg-Harrison-Glover House, the Mayor said he is still waiting to hear a decision about what will happen next.

Speaking of the Bond Ordinances that were passed for capital improvements and the reconstruction and repaving of roads, Mayor Filipek said that the interest rate was below 1%. As for how certain streets were chosen, the Mayor said that the Superintendent of the Highway Department, Joe Ciano, works closely with the Borough’s engineers to decide which streets are picked to go on the list to be reconstructed.

Screenshot taken from Council’s February 23, 2017 agenda.

 

Public Portion

Resident, Shane Mertz, asked about the status of an ongoing easement issue. A meeting will be scheduled for the involved parties.

Agenda Items & Resolutions

Council approved all other items on the meeting agenda.

Click image below to view Council’s February 23, 2017 meeting agenda and all of the detailed Resolutions.

Warren Avenue Water Tank

Among the items Council voted to approve were to award a contract to TKT Construction in the amount of $2,248,000 for the construction of the 250,000 gallon elevated water storage tank for Warren Avenue.

Bellmawr News Bellmawr February 23, 2017 Council Meeting

With regard to the bill list, Councilman Paul Sandrock abstained and Councilman Steve Sauter abstained as pertains to purchase orders relating to F&F Pest Control.

March, 2017 Meetings

Council meets next for its Caucus meeting on Thursday, March 16 at 5:00 p.m. in the conference room of Borough Hall. Council’s regular meeting will be held on Thursday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m. in the courtroom of Borough Hall.