RB Council: Sandwich Boards, Sandy Funds, Utility Fines

At last week’s Red Bank Borough Council meeting, some unfinished business was attended to, resolutions passed by consent agenda and ordinances scheduled for public hearing.

Here are some news tidbits that you may have missed and will keep you up to date on Red Bank issues:

• The sandwich board issue is up for debate again. A while back, the boards were considered intrusive and not consistent with some ordinances and/or the decor of the downtown area. Council voted, by ordinance, in December of 2010 to allow the boards be set up in front of some businesses for limited periods of time while evaluating the how the allowance fares.

Now, pending a public hearing on the matter, the governing body will vote to extend the period of time during which the matter continues to be evaluated by another year. The ordinance, which “amends the authorization of sandwich board signs to continue for the following year, until Dec. 31, 2013”, Mayor Pat Menna said at the meeting, was introduced. It’s public hearing is scheduled for the Dec. 19 meeting.

• The governing body approved of, by consent agenda, the appropriation of $454,000 in emergency funds to cover the cost of repairs Hurricane Sandy-inflicted damaged to “streets, roads, bridges or other public property located in the borough,” the resolution says. (A copy is attached.)

 • The governing body also passed a resolution in line with recent proposed legislation to increase fines on utility companies for failing to service the public in the wake of emergencies, such as “Hurricane Irene, the October, 2011 snow event and Superstorm Sandy."

The resolution supports legislation sponsored by Senators Kevin O’Toole and Joseph Pennachio and Gov. Chris Christie dubbed the “Reliability Preparedness and Storm Response Act of 2012.”

It specifies that pubic utilities, which are regulated by the state, should be subject to increased fines for lack of adequate response to repair power failures. The resolution recommends that the fines, or civil administrative penalties, be hiked from $100 per day to “$25,000 per violation, with a maximum of $2 million for any related series of events.”