Siena resident Nancy LeRoy appeared before the council and said she addressed the resolution passed by the previous council that required the bar to employ security officers from 10 p.m. to 2 p.m or thirty minutes after an earlier closing time. LeRoy said she talked to Park Sports bar owner Jeffrey Melnikoff twice about his security and found it ineffective, finding the licensed security officer, a man named Carl Heber, to be present only occasionally. She said she doesn’t know if Heber is inside the bar because she doesn’t like to go in.
“Mr. Melnikoff maintains that his security person is unable to make people go inside during business hours if they don’t want to, or disperse them after hours if they don’t want to,” she added. “I can’t help but agree with him, since it’s apparent from our experience, those of us who live on Church or South Park Street, that the police can’t do anything either. She was critical of Melnikoff’s decision to bring in security at 11 P.M. rather than 10 P.M. as required by the resolution.
Township Manager Marc Dashield said he preferred a hearing separate from the council in anticipation of its length. Township Attorney Ira Karasick explained that a disciplinary hearing against Park Sports bar would work like a trial, with the council serving as jury. He cautioned that the hearing would have to be managed carefully, given the twelve separate charges and the large number of witnesses and police officers involved. The council agreed to hold a hearing on Thursday, October 11, to start the process.
“I think we owe it to everybody to get a date and get the process [going], otherwise it slips, and the next thing you know, we don’t have any hearing,” Mayor Robert Jackson said.
Among the resolutions and ordinances up for a vote on August 21 was a resolution supporting a pre-application to activate a well at the edge of Nishuane Park, which was first drilled on Green Acres land in 1983. Montclair Utilities Director Gary Obszarny said it would produce 1.1 million gallons a day and produce a surplus of water allocation that could provide for project future demands for water, as well as provide a source of revenue from towns that would buy water from Montclair. The resolution would allow Obszarny to apply to ask for diversion of Green acres property to develop the well and serve residents between Grove Street and North and South Mountain Avenues. Fourth Ward Councilor Renée Baskerville voiced objections on behalf of constituents who want to keep the land, which is located at the merger of Elm Street and Orange Road, open space for the enjoyment of local residents.
Baskerville kept an open mind toward developing the well, but with a caveat. “I think you really need to be certain that this is a need situation for our town, too, not for selling water to other people,” she said. Obszarny responded that the town would benefit from a surplus of water at a time when adjacent towns barely have surpluses.
Deputy Mayor Robert Russo asked Obszarny if the well house could be moved away from the hill in Nishuane Park, which is a popular site for sledding in the winter.
“There’s a hole in the ground with a pipe in it,” Obszarny said. That’s a fixed point I cannot move.” His design sets back the well house 153 feet from High Street with a circular driveway, in an attempt to make it as unobtrusive as possible. Baskerville sought to have the resolution removed, but Obszarny said that the resolution only allowed the process to be started.
The council also heard from Township Engineer Kimberli Craft on change orders for the redevelopment of South Park Street, the completion of which appeared to be in sight. Craft testified in favor of the resolution on the August 21 agenda explaining how the changes were necessitated by the “surprise findings” of the underground utilities found during the redevelopment. Craft cited a new drain pipe needed near the Park Sports Bar, water lines for plantings, a delay on a water main near Church Street, a buried manhole cover on top of an active storm sewer, and a shallow electrical conduit that had been built to service buildings that had stood decades earlier. The change orders amount to $38,100, with gas main relocations accounting for $24,650 of the cost.
One resolution was actually passed in conference, and it was passed unanimously – a resolution terminating an interlocal agreement with Glen Ridge to provide construction code services. Dashield found the staff in Glen Ridge’s office wanting due to the anticipated development of the CentroVerde project and talked to Glen Ridge about the issue. He wants Montclair to bring construction code inspections back “into house” with a reorganization plan to get ready for when CentroVerde’s construction commences. Glen Ridge is mutually discontinuing the agreement.
“In the long run, we’re going to be getting a lot more revenue in terms of permitting,” Dashield told the council. “Hopefully, in our redevelopment agreements, we will have clauses in there that will help defer some of the costs of all the changes that were made.”
The bar is being listed for lease by the owner…looks like SP is closing. vanguard group has the listing.
More jerks in town. They moved across the street from a bar then complained about it.
It will be official on 8/21…SPARK improvement project surpasses the $1.5MM mark. Whoever said nothing noteworthy happens at the Township meetings in August?
Wow Frank. This one increased more than the quiet zone. Well it’s great to see that Montclair has been able to maintain its consistent track record of having every project cost more than originally projected. So they were only off by 100%! That’s pretty good. Raises all around. But make sure you save some for the consultants too.
I would like to note one point about the use of well water: it is by its nature (and that of Mother Nature) unchlorinated, and thus would require people who rely on it to get cavity-preventive rinses from their dentists. Of course this would also mean more opportunities for local “businessmen….”