Chief Friel: Vehicle thefts connected to drug problem in town
Page 4 • Wednesday, February 5, 2020 • The Hammonton Gazette
FRIEL, from Page 1
advertently be helping them to be
on their path to recovery by pro-
hibiting them from getting in to
take your things,” friel said.
friel said that the easiest way to
avoid becoming a victim is to lock
vehicles and outbuildings.
“One of the things that we find
is that there are people who are
walking through or riding through
neighborhoods, pulling on car
doors. if yours happens to be un-
locked, you get to be the next con-
testant on What We’ve taken from
Your Vehicle,” friel said.
friel said that several arrests
have been made by finding some
of the articles in the possession of
and having been pawned by indi-
viduals who have gone into un-
locked cars.
“Again, that’s the correlation
with the drug arrests, because that
was in direct correlation with how
we found the items. We just ask,
take an extra minute, make sure
your vehicle’s locked, make sure
you’ve secured your garages, your
sheds, things of that nature, this
way we don’t have anything walk
away,” friel said.
Another way that the police de-
partment has been battling the drug
problem in Hammonton is through
the use of Narcan, which can stop
and reverse the effects of an opioid
overdose.
“the state has another grant
which all of the municipalities in
the state of New Jersey through the
Department of Health and Human
Services will be receiving some
more Narcan at no cost to the town
of Hammonton. that will provide
two doses for every officer to be
deployed in our community, which
helps out a lot to coordinate with
the county program that we’re par-
ticipating in,” friel said.
in other council business, two
ordinances had their second public
hearing and were adopted.
the first, Ordinance #001-2020,
amended Chapter 175, Article Xii
of the General Ordinances of the
town of Hammonton.
“this is the amendments to the
environmental impact Statement
section of our codes, which is Sec-
tion 99 ... this was also reviewed
and recommended by the planning
board, along with the environmen-
tal Commission,” town solicitor
Michael Malinsky said.
the second, Ordinance #002-
2020, established a joint municipal
court between Hammonton and
egg Harbor City.
“We will now handle their court
cases,” Mayor Stephen DiDonato
said.
Both ordinances were approved
unanimously.
town engineer Mark Herrmann
from Adams, rehmann & Heggan
had the following action items in
his report:
• 2018 State Aid funding (14th
Street) (ArH #11-40056.01):
All the items within the contract
have been completed. the Con-
tractor has remobilized and per-
formed additional work adjacent to
the Atlantic City expressway, to
maximize use of the grant. Arawak
has submitted Payment request #3
for $19,666.10 (Phase ii) and
$7,369.02 (Phase iiA). Adams,
rehmann & Heggan Associates
(ArH) has also prepared Change
Orders for both Phase ii and Phase
iiA, which reflect as-built quanti-
ties to date and including the addi-
tional work. the total contract
value of both phases has increased
by approximately 12 percent. Ac-
tion requested: Approve Change
Order #1 in the amount of
+$30,021.40 for the Phase ii Proj-
ect; approve Change Order #1 in
the amount of +$8,236.07 for the
Phase iiA Project.
• Mazza Muffler Site (ArH #11-
01102): ArH is preparing the
HDSrf grant. A resolution has
been provided for review. the res-
olution is required to complete the
grant application and submit to the
State for review. Action requested:
Pass the resolution provided.
• K&K Linens Property (ArH
#11-01094.01): ArH is preparing
the HDSrf grant. A resolution has
been provided for review. the res-
olution is required to complete the
grant application and submit to the
State for review. Additionally,
ArH provided the town with a
proposal dated December 31, 2019
for the completion of the receptor
evaluation. the receptor evaluation
is currently overdue for the prop-
erty. if the township intends on
purchasing the property, ArH rec-
ommends that the receptor evalua-
tion be complete as soon as
possible. Action requested: Pass
the resolution provided. Approve
the December 2019 proposal in the
amount of $1,500.
• Washington Street reconstruc-
tion CDBG funds (ArH #11-
40054): this project is complete.
final paving was performed on
October 10, 2019. the Contractor
has submitted Payment request #3
for $121,107.91. We have also pre-
pared Change Order #1, which rep-
resents final project quantities.
Change Order #1 results in a net
decrease in the project of
$1,043.00. in addition, members of
the Highway Department and Mu-
nicipal Utilities Department re-
paired the blocked drainage pipe
on Orchard Street. Since the repair,
there have been no flooding issues
and the inlets and piping are work-
ing as expected. Action requested:
Approve Change Order #1 in the
amount of -$1,043.00 (decrease)
for the Washington Street Project.
• Boyer Avenue Pump Station
Design (ArH #P2019.1080): ArH
has prepared and submitted a pro-
posal for the design and permitting
of a new pump station along Boyer
Avenue and adjacent to Sewell Av-
enue. this pump station will con-
nect the six existing dwellings
along Boyer Avenue and southwest
of Sewell Avenue. in addition, the
pump station will be sited and de-
signed to accommodate future
sewer main extensions to capture
flows from existing properties, as
well as potential development
along the Boyer Avenue corridor.
the project will require approval
from both the Pinelands Commis-
sion and the New Jersey Bureau of
environmental, engineering and
Permitting (BeeP). Action re-
quested: Authorize ArH to design
the Boyer Avenue pump station
and prepare the permit applications
for an amount not to exceed
$42,800.00.
regarding the pump station de-
sign, furgione gave an explanation
as to its expected timeframe.
“We’re trying to get this project
designed so it’s out for bid in the
springtime. Hopefully construction
will start in the summertime. it’s
not a big project; it’s just a lot of te-
dious work to get us to the point of
bidding. We’re getting closer,” fur-
gione said.
DiDonato agreed.
“residents have waited a long
time for this. this should have
been done 25 years ago,” DiDo-
nato said.
each item was approved.
Herrmann’s report also included
a number of information items, in-
cluding the following:
• Hammonton Bike Path Con-
nector (ArH #11-40052): ArH
addressed all NJDOt and NJDOt
railroad comments and has re-
ceived authorization to bid this
project. the bid opening is sched-
uled for Wednesday february 19,
2020 at 10 a.m. Once bids are re-
ceived, ArH will review all docu-
ments and forward a recommenda-
tion of award to the town for con-
sideration. ArH notes that the
Pinelands resolution and Soil
Conservation District permits ex-
pire at the end of April.
• Boyer Avenue – 2019 Addi-
tional Survey Work (ArH #11-
50058.24): Survey and r.O.W.
mark-out of Sewell Avenue, Boyer
Avenue and 7th Street is complete.
• relocation of interceptor
trench Discharge at Boyer Avenue
(ArH #11-50143.02): Pinelands
approved this work per a resolution
at its January 10, 2020 meeting.
Project Maintenance and environ-
mental Maintenance bonds have
been received and delivered to the
town. the bonds have expired and
will be performing a final walk-
through to ensure there are no out-
standing issues.
• frog rock Golf Course (ArH
#11-01000): ArH has been per-
forming ongoing work with the
Conflict Solicitor and Attorney re-
garding the litigation pertaining to
the frog rock Golf Course.
• NJ Water Quality Accountabil-
ity Act – Valve & Hydrant Map-
ping (ArH #11-30166): final
rollout of the app and dashboard
are complete. the Water Depart-
ment has been using the app in its
work exercising valves, and the
app is now also being used to
record hydrant flushing activities.
Users will be meeting with ArH
personnel as needed to work
through any bugs.
• NJ Water Quality Accountabil-
ity Act – Asset Management Plan
(ArH #11-30166.03): the Water
Main renewal Program has been
updated and was presented on Jan-
uary 27. Signatures from the
Mayor and the Licensed Operator
are required. the web map will be
updated with pipe ages next week.
See MEETING, Page 10