Earlier Start Time for Council Meetings Approved

The big news that came out of last week’s Lawrence Township Council meeting was, clearly, the 2012 municipal budget presentation by Township Manager Richard Krawczun and his .

But that’s not all that happened during the meeting held Jan. 17.

During the meeting, Mayor Jim Kownacki and members of township council approved several appointments to township boards and committees. A full listing of those appointments can be found at the bottom of this story.

Chief Gary Wasko of Lawrenceville Volunteer Fire Co. was officially sworn into office by Mayor Kownacki. Wasko was out of town on New Year’s Day when the chiefs of the Slackwood and Lawrence Road volunteer fire companies were sworn in .

There were no bid awards or ordinances scheduled for an adoption vote on the meeting agenda but one new ordinance – which would authorize the refinancing of outstanding bonds for a possible savings of about $165,000 – was approved for introduction by council.            

Eighteen resolutions were approved during the meeting, including one adjusting the start time of all future council meetings to 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., beginning with the next meeting on Feb. 7.

, when he suggested such a change be made, Kownacki said starting meetings at 6:30 p.m. would put Lawrence Township “in line with a lot of other municipalities.”

After Councilman Michael Powers expressed concern that the earlier start might make it difficult for township residents who have long commutes from work to get home in time to make the public comment segment of council meetings, council agreed to consider moving public comment from the beginning of meeting agendas to the time later in the meetings if it seems residents are missing their opportunity for public participation.

A full list of the resolutions that were passed, with details about many of them, can be found in the media box above in the copies of the meeting agenda and the township manager’s pre-meeting memo to council members.

During the public comment portion of last week’s meeting, Darrah Lane resident Edward Wiznitzer voiced his opposition to immediately after the intersection with Eggerts Crossing Road.  During the Jan. 3 council meeting, Krawczun explained that members of the township’s Public Safety Advisory Committee last year discussed the possibility of making such a change to the traffic pattern as a way of improving safety in that area.

“When you make a traffic change in one place it always is going to affect traffic in another place. When you ban left turns on Wayside, should you choose to ban them, people who want to get into the Birchwood Knoll neighborhood – which is the only reason for going down Wayside – they’re just going to go to the next intersection, Berwyn [Place], and try to make a left turn there…” Wiznitzer told council. “The notion that I read that zig-zag turns from Eggerts Crossing [Road] onto Wayside does not match my experience of thousands of times being there because it’s a shortcut to nowhere. The only place you get by going down Wayside is the Birchwood Knoll neighborhood, unless you want to go to Darrah Lane and continue east, but if that’s what you want to do, why do the zig-zag turn [when] you should turn left onto Lawrence Road and just go to Darrah.”

Council members said they would take Wiznitzer’s comments (which can be heard in their entirety in the meeting audio available in the media box above) under consideration.

In response to Wiznitzer’s explanation that some motorists like himself cut through the Birchwood Knoll neighborhood to easier access Lawrence Road southbound because making a left turn onto Lawrence Road from Darrah Lane is difficult and sometimes dangerous during periods of heavy traffic, Councilman Michael Powers noted that a new traffic light has been approved for the intersection of Lawrence Road and Darrah Lane. Once installed, that new light should make it easier for motorists to turn left from Darrah Lane, Powers said.

Krawczun said the state Department of Transportation is still in the process of completing “engineering work” and it is not yet known when the new light will be installed.

Wiznitzer responded by saying he is in favor of the new traffic light there, but is concerned because there is no sidewalk on Darrah Lane near Lawrence Road. “You put a traffic light there, people are going to want to cross. There’s no sidewalk. They’ve got to walk out in the curve of the road… Putting a traffic light on Darrah Lane is going to stop me from going the way I go on Birchwood Knoll and Wayside because I may as well take advantage of the light now. So I would change my route. So will a lot of other people. What happens to the pedestrians when the road narrows and turns and there’s no sidewalk? They’re going to want to cross the street there too and I think that’s going to be a big hazard.”

“That’s helpful information,” Powers answered.   

There following are the appointments approved by council during the Jan. 17 meeting:

Affordable Housing Board

• Peter Ferrone (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)

Greenway Committee

• Anne Demarais (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)
• Peter Wood (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)

Growth & Redevelopment Committee

• Ryan Kennedy (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)
• Jags Vazirani (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)
• Karen Vincent-Lavanga (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)
• Danielle DelPrato (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)

Health Advisory Board

• Anthony Brickman (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)
• Darlene Hanley (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)

Township Historian

• Dennis Waters (term ending Dec. 31, 2015)

Historic Preservation Committee

• John Deibel (4-year term ending Dec. 31, 2015)
• Sherry Heffern (unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2014)
• Billy O’Neal (unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2014)

Human Relations Committee

• Nelson Melendez (3-year term ending Dec. 31, 2014)
• Elissa Schragger (unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2012)

Municipal Alliance on Drug and Alcohol Abuse

• Susan Varga (2-year term ending Dec. 31, 2013)

Planning Board

• Terrence Leggett (moved from Alternate #1 position to regular unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2013)
• Christopher Bobbitt (unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2013)
• Philip Duran (4-year term ending Dec. 31, 2015)
• Ian Dember (unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2012)
• Doris Weisberg (moved from Alternate #2 position to regular 4-year term ending Dec. 31, 2015)
• Aaron Duff (Alternate #1, 2-year term ending Dec. 31, 2013)
• Glenn Collins (unexpired 2-year Alternate #2, term ending Dec. 31, 2012)

Public Safety Advisory Committee

• William Holmes (2-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2013)

Recreation Advisory Committee

• Robert Dalle Pazze (3-year expiring Dec. 31, 2014)
• George Ferenchick (3-year expiring Dec. 31, 2014)
• Sigmund Zegarski (3-year expiring Dec. 31, 2014)

Senior Executive

• Livia Borkowski (4-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2015)
• Theodore Hendricks (4-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2015)
• Joan Rowland (4-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2015)

Shade Tree

• Edward Sproles (3-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2014)

Zoning Board of Adjustment

• John Gladwell (regular 4-year term ending Dec. 31, 2015)
• Sam Pangaldi (moved from Alternate #1 position to regular 4-year term ending Dec. 31, 2015)
• Frank Scangarella (moved from Alternate #2 to Alternate #1 for unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2012)
• Edward Wiznitzer (Alternate #2 term ending Dec. 31, 2013)