Sports Museum, Cyclists, Countywide P.D.: Town Forum Offers Updates

Did you miss the borough town forum Wednesday night? (For the first time, the event was streamed live.) If so, here's your recap of some of the top questions from the night.

Did the borough get the best deal it could in the recent labor negotiations with emergency personnel?

 “[On] contracts, do we do the best we can for taxpayers? I feel silly saying this, but of course we do,” Collingswood Mayor James Maley said.

Prior to settling its labor negotiations with the fire and law enforcement officials, the borough had held off hiring additional firemen and policemen, Maley said, also pointing out that the new contracts feature “a 15 percent rollback on salaries” and “givebacks on allowances.”

“There’s substantial savings that’s allowing us to replenish the officers we laid off more through attrition,” he said.

What’s the status of the DePace Sports Museum (the former TD Bank building on Haddon Ave.)?

A month away from May Fair, the collapse of the TD Bank facade is no less fresh on the minds of borough commissioners than when they look at the front of the unfinished building in which cardiologist Nicholas DePace has planned to install a sports museum.

To do so would require a variance from the zoning board to operate a nonprofit entity in a retail zone, however; to replace or repair the façade of the building, they will have to submit a plan to the historic commission, and they haven’t yet, said commissioner Joan Leonard.

What’s the status of the curb (re)painting in town?

“We partnered with a [teenaged] crew team to supply them with materials, supervision, and the proper method to do it, and they started out last weekend,” said Commissioner Mike Hall.

What business is going in the vacant lot across from the library on Frazer Ave?

According to Maley, "a food-related business that is not a restaurant" is in the process of completing a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan for the property. The developer will construct a first-floor retail space with residential units upstairs.

"He has everything done, ready to go, and he’s waiting for a commitment from a commercial tenant," Maley said.

The National Food Market, on the other hand, has been visited by McFarlan’s Market of Merchantville as recently as two weeks ago, Maley said, with an architect and engineer in tow.

"They’re working through financing as well," he said. "It’s a seven-figure project; it’s a huge investment. There’s progress, it’s coming along, but it’s hard."

What is the borough doing to address how motorists share the roadways with bicycles?

Maley said that in addition to a still-developing pedestrian safety program, the borough is "working on trying to encourage bicycle safety among children," and would look into publishing more information on how to share the road with cyclists in the near future.

Maley said that wearing a helmet is something of a pet issue in his household: his own son avoided serious injury because he was wearing one when he was struck by a car.

"We haven’t really supplemented yet how cars should treat bicyclists," Maley said. "Maybe we will try to weave that into the pedestrian safety initiative."

Hey! Can I get some free compost over here?

Collingswood composts through the borough Department of Public Works, and there’s enough to give away, too.

“You just have to call us and tell us,” said Leonard.

Interested? Call up the DPW at 856-858-0533 and "they’ll set it up for you," she said.

Will Collingswood become part of the County police force?

"We are not joining a Camden County police force," Maley said. "I was part of a task force that worked on putting it together, and it really started with an effort to see how we could try to share services.

"What became clear is that the suburban towns were not ready for anything like that at all," he said."

Maley did say that Collingswood, which has shared-service agreements with a group of six other towns is also exploring negotiating townwide electric rates.

But he did caution that the pressures of the 2-percent budget cap are limiting the options of local governments, and that possible consolidations could be in the works for administrative efficiencies.

"Ten years from now our police force can’t look the way it is," he said. "You can’t only add a 2 percent increase with healthcare costs. That is what the driving force is behind all of this."

Is there a town ordinance on how many dogs a person can own?

“I feel like I live next door to a kennel,” said one resident.

Although there are no limitations placed on the number of animals a borough resident can own, Leonard said, "There are a lot of ordinances and rules on the health and safety of the animal; how the animals are around people," that could help mitigate that impact.

What’s the status of the LumberYard?

Of the 13 units the borough owned in the existing property, five will have been sold by April 30, Maley said. Five more will be leased; four of the six townhouse units completed by the Ingerman Group are rented.

"They haven’t advertised; they’re more than happy with the traffic, he said.

"On the financial side of it, we just rolled over the notes at less than half of what the interest rate was last year, and we’re paying down $600,000-650,000 of the debt," he said.

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