Maplewood to Keep Mayor and Chickens, Change Parking -- and Possibly Gain a Park
Recap of Township Committee's final meeting of 2012.
Tuesday night's meeting of the Maplewood Township Committee, the last of 2012, featured a packed agenda. Here is a brief recap of some of the key votes and discussion items:
- Voted 5-0 to adopt new parking regulations in Maplewood Village.
- Voted 5-0 to continue the pilot chicken raising program, and to expand it in 2013 to 15 households.
- Former mayor Fred Profeta proposed the creation of a new park near Jefferson School, which he would help fund. The TC agreed to assign the study of the new plan to the Planning and Engineering Committee.
- The Committee announced that virtually all appointments -- including that of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and various committees and boards -- would remain the same for 2013.
- Voted 3-2 to approve the second annual Beer Garden at Maplewoodstock in 2013 (Larrier and Brownlee voted against.)
- In light of the recent Newtown shootings, the committee passed (5-0) a resolution in support of three proposed actions by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which will be sent to President Obama and congressional leaders along with NJ elected officials. Actions are:
1. Mandate criminal background checks on all U.S. gun sales;
2. Keep lethal, military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines off our streets; and
3. Enact measures to make gun trafficking a federal crime.
Lee Navlen
9:58 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
What were Larrier and Brownlee's objection to the beer garden which by all accounts was quite successful last year?
Carolyn Maynard-Parisi
4:22 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Lee, India told me after the meeting that she thought a beer garden was "inappropriate" for a family event; although she agreed that there didn't seem to be any negative incidents stemming from it this year. I have asked Marlon for a comment as well and will post that when I receive it.
Carolyn Maynard-Parisi
11:20 am on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
I received a comment from Marlon on Dec. 20; I was going to write a separate article but in the meantime I will post his comment here, in two parts:
When I've attended Maplewoodstock in the past, it always impressed me as a "family-friendly" event....little kids (and some grownups!) dancing, throwing balls and playing with hula hoops, and everyone enjoying good music. The sole stated reason for wanting to sell alcohol was to raise more money (to hopefully pay for "bigger" acts). Money isn't enough of a reason for me to want to introduce drinking alcohol at kid-friendly, family event. I would feel the same way if an appeal was made to sell cigarettes and cigars....while it might raise additional money, I just wouldn't feel that it would be appropriate. I voted against the "beer garden" last year as well and stated my reasons for doing so then, and my opinion hasn't changed.
(cont.)
Carolyn Maynard-Parisi
11:21 am on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Marlon Brownlee comment, part 2:
It's also worth noting that despite the fact that the sole stated reason for selling alcohol was to raise additional money, they did not do so last year....they actually lost money doing so. So even the economic rationale doesn't add up. In this year's proposal, the projected expenses for the "beer garden" are less - because there will be less security - but we weren't presented any numbers illustrating the economic benefit that would result from selling drinks. So without any economic rationale and given my opinion that selling alcohol at a kid-friendly event is inappropriate, the only argument really given for why we should have a "beer garden" this year was essentially that "nothing bad happened last year". It is good that there were no alcohol-related incidents last year, and I am hopeful that will be the case this year as well. But that was not enough of a reason for me to vote yes on the proposal.
Shamrock1224
12:19 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
What no one is getting is that you can push to get the high powered guns off the street, but the real problems come to do with the background checks. Being a famly that knows well of the Va Tech Massacre, the background checks don't go into the mental capacity of the buyer. Because of privacy issues, this doesn't come up. People with any prior mental issues, or crimes, should not have access to guns. Homes where they live should not be allowed to have guns in them. Any query by a teacher regarding a student (no matter what the age) should be taken seriously. In the case of Tech, at least 2 teachers went to administrators, and nothing was done. In the case of CT, the mother took this boy to target practice. People like both these shooters should not be around guns, no exceptions. I hope people get the message.
Shamrock1224
12:53 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Additional Comment From Shamrock: The "gun show loophole" that you are hearing about is that the dealers at the gun shows (in some States) are not required to do thorough background checks. Also, it's been proven that some dealers will sell from the trunk of their car in the parking area where the gun show is being held, and you don't even need to provide a drivers license for the right price.
Lindsay
4:02 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
re: new parking regs....
"Mayor Vic DeLuca discussed the proposed changes at the October meeting. He said the adjustments would make it easier for parking officers to enforce the rules, and would also encourage people to spend more time in town."
I think it will also discourage people from doing quick errands (post office, dry cleaners, run to Kings or freemans) since the parking spaces will have such slower turnover.
I guess we'll find out soon enough.