Council Reports - 1/25/21

Check out the comments to see our Council Reports from tonight's (1/25) Pitman Borough Council Meeting. As always, please feel free to reach out at any time with questions or concerns:

Paul Blass paul.blass@pitman.org
Amy Rudley amy.rudley@pitman.org
Matthew Weng matthew.weng@pitman.org
Vanessa E. James vanessa.james@pitman.org
Adam Mazzola adam.mazzola@pitman.org



Council Report January 25, 2021
Council President Paul Blass
paul.blass@pitman.org

The Historic Commission met on January 14th. Before hearing applications, the group held its annual reorganization. Rachel Corma will serve as secretary, Debra Higbee will serve as vice chair, and Walt Madison will once again serve as chair. The Commission heard two applications, one regarding fencing and one regarding painting. Both were recommended for approval at Planning & Zoning.

The Economic Development Commission met on January 21st for its annual reorganization. Marcie Geyer will serve as secretary, Frank Trosky will serve as vice chair, and Barry Owen will serve as chair. The mayor was present to swear in new members Stephanie Van Twuyver and Marla Newsom.

Public Works
Since our last meeting, the Highway Department ….
Collected 13 Loads of trash (133.98 tons)
Collected 11 Loads of recyclables (38.73 tons)
Collected 84 Yards of brush
Collected two Truckloads of bulk trash
Repaired or replaced street signs in town.
Spent six hours patching and repairing potholes and sink holes.
Spent six hours grinding leaves and brush for mulch.
Delivered two new trash cans to residences and 1 recycle cans.
The Water and Sewer Department…
Performed 13 water and sewer mark outs requests.
Plunged out three sewer stoppages.
Performed routine well work, (painting, cleaning, etc.)
Took Water samples.
Read six meters for settlement.
Replaced three meter bodies.
Opened water tower for AT&T.
Did 38 data logger reports (both daily and hourly) from the flow report, ahead of billing.
Inspected new meter at residence on N Woodbury Rd.
Over the past few weeks Public Works has done it annual cleaning of the Borough’s 322 storm inlets. 69 of them needed to be vacuumed out, which resulted in three yards of debris.

Amy E. Rudley – January 25, 2021
Council Report

Environmental Commission
Environmental met on Thursday night via zoom. A few members of the new recycling subcommittee attended. Their first meeting for the subcommittee will take place on February 3, 2021, also via zoom.

Senior Outreach
Senior Outreach met via telephone, also on Thursday night. We discussed obtaining access for our Seniors to the COVID-19 vaccine and ways to maximize engagement with the Seniors on the internet, while we are unable to see them in person. The pros and cons of virtual meetings were discussed.

Miss Pitman
The Miss Pitman Committee is beginning to explore ideas for how to run a 2021 pageant. They are determined to make it happen, in some form and plan to meet in February to discuss.

Memorabilia
Memorabilia met the first Monday of the month. Among the important items discussed was the 150th Anniversary of the First Camp Meeting in 1871. We are looking into holding an event in August to commemorate the initial beginnings of Pitman.

Public Property
I have put together a questionnaire on a Google form to help gather information from our residents regarding their positive or negative thoughts, concerns, and questions regarding the Glassboro Camden Line. I am going to ask that everyone please share it around and I will happily share the data with everyone. So far, it is a very mixed bag of those for and against. I did hear back from Senator Madden’s office that John Hanson of the DRPA will be in touch and that the Chief Engineer for the project, Mike Venuto, would be happy to meet with Mayor and Council to give us an update regarding the planning and progress. I believe we best serve the members of our community if we stay as informed as we can so that we can decide how to minimize any negative impact to our residents and maximize any possible benefit.
Finally, I wanted to thank Mr. Rodi for showing me and Councilwoman James the equipment and facilities at Public Works and for explaining the great lengths our employees go to, to extend the life of our vehicles and materials. It was very helpful in understanding the Public Works budget requests.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me at any time at 609-214-6342 or amy.rudley@pitman.org

Councilman Matthew Weng

The PPD began its “official” active participation in the New Jersey State Chief’s of Police Association Accreditation process. Sgt. Andy Carson has been assigned as the Accreditation Manager by Chief Dan McAteer.
The PPD would like to remind everyone to please dial 589-3500 or “911" if you have an emergency or need to report an incident to an officer. The non-emergency/business line to the PPD is not manned 24 hours a day.
The PPD remains working under Covid-19 precautionary restrictions & guidelines outlined in the General Order.

Council Report 1-25-21
Councilwoman Vanessa E. James
Vanessa.James@Pitman.Org
2021 Liaison: Parks & Recreation, Public Events, Library Board, Chamber of Commerce, Task Force on Diversity & Inclusion

Parks & Recreation
The Parks & Recreation Department has been busy making various improvements to our parks including a new sign at Alycon Lake Park, new roofs on the dugouts at Brown and Harmon fields and cleaning up the area around Glen Lake. Director Fox is also working on a getting quotes for wall improvements at Shertel Park and for the dugout roofs at McBurney field. The Parks & Rec department is looking forward to spring and is planning on having T-ball assuming that the COVID-19 guidelines will allow it. The next meeting of the Recreation Commission is scheduled for Thursday, February 4th, at 6:30 p.m. and will most likely take place via zoom. The link for the meeting is available on the Borough website.

Greater Pitman Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Pitman Chamber of Commerce met via Zoom on January 19th. The GPCC Board is confident that as COVID numbers improve that they will be able to host some events this summer including Fourth Fridays and Pop-Up Parks. The Board has decided that it will be unable to hold the Spring Craft Show, but they are planning to move forward with the Fall Craft Show. They anticipate that registrations for the Fall Craft Show will be available in early spring and will be announced via social media and on the Uptown Pitman website.

McCowan Memorial Library
The next meeting of the Library Board of Trustees will take place on Tuesday, January 26, at 7:00 p.m. at McCowan Memorial Library.

Task Force on Diversity & Inclusion
The next meeting of the Task Force on Diversity & Inclusion will occur on Thursday, January 28th at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

​I want to thank Public Works Manager Fred Rodi and the Public Works Department for giving Councilwoman Rudley and I a tour last week. I found it very valuable being able to examine the equipment and buildings being utilized by Public Works firsthand and I continue to be impressed by the dedication and innovation our Public Works department.
As always, I am available to answer any questions or concerns via email at vanessa.james@pitman.org or by phone at 336-407-8604.

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