Residents Come Out to Support Recommended Projects

Judging from the final budget work session, residents are in support of the same capital improvements as Madison's CFO and administrator.

Madisonians came out to speak up for upgrades to Lincoln Place and the North Street Pump Station at Thursday night's meeting at the Madison Public Library's Chase Room.

Those two projects are on the recommended list for capital improvements submitted to the Borough Council by Chief Financial Officer Robert Kalafut and Administrator Ray Codey. One project which a few residents spoke up for that isn't on the recommended list is road reconstruction to Pine Avenue, which according to those speaking has been in discussion since at least 2005.

The call for upgrades to the pump station stems mainly from a Feb. 20 incident on Fairview Avenue. A deodorizing block was lodged in sewer piping after the netting the block sits in became unattached. The backup caused by the block resulted in what multiple residents called a geyser of sewage rising from manholes.

"It was disgusting to say the least, but that's not the only problem we have," Beth Bagley of 23 Fairview Ave. said. "On a day-to-day basis we have smells on the street that fluctuate back and forth between raw sewage and the deodorant bricks they put in, which basically makes my driveway smell like port-a-potty. I hate to be disgusting, but that's the reality of the situation, and it's not just me."

Residents also expressed concern that there wasn't enough cleanup done after the incident. Codey assured the residents that the borough would be out the following day to street sweep again. Mayor Mary-Anna Holden also told residents that proposed upgrades by Engineer Bob Vogel to the station, which would eliminate odor at the station, was the top priority when budgeting for sanitary sewer projects.

Other residents, mostly from, but not limited to, the business community came out to support the proposed upgrades to Lincoln Place. Main Street Executive Director Jim Burnet again went over parts of the proposal to the council, and said he thought the Downtown Development Commission may be able to help bring down the proposed cost by raising money for lighting and signage. Vogel also said he thought PSEG would help with some of the cost because gas pipes underneath Lincoln Place need repair regardless of the other upgrades. There was also talk of approaching New Jersey Transit about help with sidewalking, since Lincoln Place is adjacent to the tracks.

Lincoln Place is also in the recommended budget submitted to the council. What was not, however, were road improvements to Pine Avenue. Three residents asked that the council get upgrades done on their road soon. They also detailed safety issues and drainage problems on the road.

This was the final budget work session. The council, through a recommendation by Kalafut, decided to cancel the originally scheduled March 18 session. That is also the same day the borough will receive detailed state aid documents following Gov. Chris Christie's budget address on March 16.