Commissioners Act on New Parking Regulations and Water and Sewer Rate Increases

The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners  approved new parking regulations for Kings Highway on Tuesday and introduced an ordinance to increase water and sewer rates in the borough.

Commissioner Ed Borden said the important thing to remember about the new regulations is parking will now be allowed on Kings Highway from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. from Haddonfield Memorial High School to the PATCO station.

The regulations will prohibit parking on the south side of Kings Highway East, starting roughly in front of the Starbucks to Mechanic Street , Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Parking will also not be permitted from Grove Street to the the PATCO bridge from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the month of December.

The water and sewer increase will boost the rate 10 cent per thousand gallons for water usage and 5 cents per thousand gallons of water used for sewer service. It will raise the rate to $4.90 for water and $2.35 for sewer per thousand gallons.

The average quarterly payment will raise from $142 to $145. That’s based on an average of up to 20,000 gallons of water usage per quarter-year. The ordinance was approved on first reading Tuesday. A public hearing and final vote will be scheduled next month.

"I think we should look at selling our water and sewer utilities and get out of that business," said Kirk Peterson, a local resident at the meeting. "As cost continue to rise every year, it would behoove us to see if we can do that."

Another resident spoke in favor of the status quo.

"I like our water," said Betty Phillips. "It taste very good."

Peterson and Phillips were among five people who attended the meeting, including a fourth-grader and his mother who were there to complete a school assignment and an attorney for a utility company seeking a permit to install a fiber-optic cable line. The meeting room had 37 chairs.

In other business, the commissioners approved 15 resolutions, including an application to apply for a state recycling grant and to release a performance bond for the repaving of Centre Street.

Commissioner Tish Colombi did not attend the meeting. She was on vacation, an official said.