Hardyston council interviews for prosecutor, public defender

The Hardyston Township Council recently held interviews for prosecutor and public defender.

Interim public defender Shepard Kays, ESQ interviewed for the public defender position and Jonathan McMeen, ESQ interviewed for the prosecutor position. McMeen has seen over 65,000 cases and works for Sparta, Newton, Ogdensburg, Wantage, Stillwater and other towns as well.

Questions posed to the candidates ranged from asking their opinions on ‘dirty dirt,’ junk cars in yards, zoning violations, and DUI handling.

The Service Electric application for franchise is up for renewal. Robert Rossmeissl, Esq. of Dorsey & Semrau explained that there are not many companies clamoring for the business but now would be the time to ask questions and possibly make requests.

At the February 2020 meeting, the public is welcome to come ask questions and voice their concerns. Rossmeissl explained concerns from other towns includes coverage at certain properties and quality of the internet. Deputy Mayor Stanley Kula asked if a map of the service area could be provided prior to the February meeting.

As is the case in many towns, this time of year means renewing shared services agreements. The shared service agreement with Franklin and Hamburg using the Littell Community Center was extended for 6 months since the future of the Littell Community Center is uncertain. Hardyston also renewed an agreement to pick up Hamburg Borough’s curbside recycling.

One resident asked the council members to reconsider citing that Hardyston itself has outsourced and there is always a concern about bandwidth of DPW workers.

Township Manager Carrine Piccolo-Kaufer explain that it takes 2 days per month and the money obtained does help offset salary costs.

The council passed a resolution authorizing an amendment to the lease with Crown Atlantic Co., LLC for an additional 400 square ft for the cellular tower at 29 Stockholm-Vernon Road.

Before work is done, however, the planning board would also need to support this endeavor. Emergency Repair authorization of the water tank for the Park Water Suppression System costing approximately $112,000 was discussed and approved.

Property owners would absorb this over the span of 10 years, and no cost to taxpayers. If the repair did not take place now, the cost would not be absorbable.