News from the
Mayor's Desk
This page provides
information on Bloomsbury from Mayor
Mark Peck. Check back for information on issues and ideas that
affect all of the resident's of Bloomsbury!
Dear
Residents:
After
a very snowy winter, spring is finally here.
Unfortunately, past experience shows that when the weather
gets warmer and spring heads into summer, we have increased
incidences of vandalism and petty crime, in residential areas, the
parks and elsewhere. Please
keep a vigilant watch over your property, as well as your
neighborhood, and do not hesitate to call the police if you see or
hear any suspicious or possibly unlawful behavior; we do have a
curfew in effect as well, so do not hesitate to call the police if
you see anyone under the age of 18 on the streets after 11 p.m.
Finally, as a consequence of repeated vandalism at
Tuxhorn
Park
, the Council is proceeding with the acquisition and installation of
video security equipment that will hopefully deter all future
incidents, and if it does not deter it will help us identify and
arrest any perpetrators. Parents
remember, you can be held civilly liable for the acts of your
minor children (i.e. vandalism), so please be sure to reinforce with
your children that we expect lawful behavior in
Bloomsbury
.
As
you know, the State of
New Jersey
is in dire economic straits. This
is in addition to the Great Recession we are presently in.
As a result of this one-two punch, our State aid has
basically been eliminated, and our property tax collections are down
in an appreciable amount. When
a property does not pay the taxes due, the remaining property owners
have to make up the difference.
The consequence of this is that even though our spending has
been cut from last year, taxes will still increase (up to 4%); had
our tax collections been the same as last year no tax increase would
have been necessary. We
do have money from the sale of the water utility, but we are not
going to use that money for operational expenses; instead that money
is reserved for capital items (such as the security system at the
Park, or the codification of our ordinances, which will happen this
year).
The
Route 173 bridge deck project finally began in early March.
After an initial week of craziness as everyone got used to
the traffic detours (and DOT implemented the proper traffic
management plan, under threat of Borough lawsuit) things seem to
have settled down. There
are still too many trucks using Borough roads, but hopefully these
will go away once 173 is reopened.
The project was originally to be completed around July 4, but
once the bridge deck surface was removed it was discovered that the
bridge was in worse shape than originally thought, so additional
components (which of course need to be specially ordered and have a
long lead time) had to be ordered and now the project will run
through the summer. It
will hopefully be complete right around Labor Day.
I
encourage residents to attend our Council meetings, which occur
every 4th Tuesday at 7 p.m., to share their thoughts and
opinions. And, as
always, please consider volunteering for our many local
organizations that enhance our quality of life and keep our taxes
low the Fire Department, Rescue Squad, Recreation Commission,
Planning Board and all other local groups.
Have a great summer!