Sunday, May 19, 2013
Hopatcong Junior Wildcat cheerleaders named fourth best U.S. squad.
A gang of girls took over the Hopatcong municipal building last Wednesday, filling the council room with good cheer and happy smiles. The members of the Hopatcong Junior Wildcats cheerleading squad celebrated their successful season with family, friends and the Borough Council on Hopatcong Junior Wildcats Cheerleaders Day, so named by council proclamation. The squad, whose members are between four and 18 years of age, had quite a run. In February, the squad placed first in the Recreation and Schools Nationals “Reach the Beach” competition in Ocean City, Md., defeating 59 other squads. That victory resulted in the only invitation of that tournament to appear at the U.S. Cheerleading finals in Providence, RI in May. The team raised $7,000 …
Monday, May 6, 2013
Monies would also help fund a Bayview well repair.
Hopatcong Borough received two grants from the state Department of Transportation that will allow for the paving of Durban Avenue, Hopatchung Avenue and afford the construction of the Modick Park walking path. According to Borough Administrator Robert Elia, Hopatcong was the only Sussex County town to receive two such grants. One grant for $200,000 is for the repaving of Durban Avenue, and the second is $268,893 for the second phase of paving on Hopatchung Avenue and the construction of a walking path at Modick Park. The council discussed the path earlier this year and said it would allow walkers and mothers with strollers to more safely use the park, which is at the busy intersection of Hopatchung Avenue and Lakeside Boulevard. …
Monday, April 8, 2013
Spending plan for 2013 calls for $38 increase in municipal property taxes.
The sharp year-to-year drop in the total assessed value of the property in the borough led to questions Wednesday as to what the 2013 municipal budget actually means. The Borough Council approved the 2013 spending plan that calls for a $38 tax hike for the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $214,600. An owner of a home assessed at the borough average can expect to pay $1,901 in municipal taxes in 2013. It was the assessment drop, coupled with a tax hike that confused resident Jeffrey Carey. He said he received notice from the company performing the borough’s reassessment that his house was worth 50-percent less than it was last year, and his taxes were rising. Borough administrator Robert Elia said that probably was not …
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Public hearing set for April 3; spending plan tops $16.5 million.
The owner of a home assessed at the Hopatcong borough average could see their property taxes rise $38 this year, based on the 2013 municipal budget introduced by the council. The $16.556 million spending plan calls for $12.4 million in property taxes, a 3-percent increase from 2012. Overall the 2013 budget is $376,767 larger than the 2012 budget. The public hearing on the budget, when the council will vote on adoption, is scheduled for April 3. Borough auditor Paul Lerch said the Borough Council and administration brought the budget in below the state-mandated tax levy cap. Under that law, which called for a 2-percent cap on the amount of new taxes from year to year, the council could have raised $12.9 million in taxes, instead the levy is…
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Chicken-raising sought by new resident; asks council to amend town's laws.
It’s not so much which came first, the chicken or the egg, but whether it was the chicken ordinance or the anti-chicken ordinance. A new borough resident asked the Hopatcong Borough Council Wednesday to scramble the rules to allow he and his wife to raise three chickens on their residential property. Chicken raising is not a permitted use under current borough zoning rules. Jim Chaffee said he and his wife would like to be able to raise the chickens so they can use the eggs. They are trying to become more self-sufficient, he said. “We want to stop eating store-bought eggs because they contain antibiotics and human growth hormone,” Chaffee said. In the past, during hard times, governments encouraged residents to raise chickens, he said. He …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Collapse of old system during Hurricane Sandy leads borough to make change.
Hopatcong will switch its emergency communications service to one operated by Honeywell Corporation. The Borough Council approved a resolution Wednesday accepting a three-year contract. Mayor Sylvia Petillo said the borough’s former emergency communication system collapsed during Hurricane Sandy, which left officials scrambling to find ways to get vital information to residents. The Hopatcong schools emergency communication system operated throughout the storm, Petillo said, but was only able to connect with residents with students in schools. She said the Honeywell system has built-in redundancy, as it broadcasts via the Internet from a site in Georgia and another in Minnesota. Borough administrator Robert Elia said the Honeywell system …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Bunce, Galate sworn into new three-year terms at annual Hopatcong council reorganization meeting.
Even though Hopatcong was battered by the "most devastating event"—Superstorm Sandy—to ever strike the borough, officials at Wednesday’s reorganization meeting of the Borough Council chose instead to celebrate the progress made last year. Mayor Sylvia Petillo even joked about the bad parts of 2012 when before the first official meeting of 2013 took place, the council had to finish one bit of last year’s official business—the acceptance of minutes from the Dec. 19 meeting. When the council accepted the minutes, Petillo said, “We closed out 2012” to a cheer from the audience. Incumbents Richard Bunce and Marie Galate, both re-elected in November, were sworn in for three-year terms by Sussex County Clerk Jeffrey Parrott. Councilman Howard …
Thursday, December 6, 2012
New deal will be for 10 years.
The Hopatcong Borough Council approved a 10-year cable television franchise contract with Cablevision of Morris LLC on Wednesday night. Under the contract, which is with the current provider, Cablevision will pay the borough two percent of gross revenues, or roughly $54,000 a year, for the life of the contract, Borough Administrator Robert Elia said. Resident Michele Guttenberger questioned the length of the contract at 10-years. She thought a 5-year contract might be suitable. Mayor Sylvia Petillo said the borough was comfortable with a 10-year contract. Cablevision was the only company that expressed an interest in serving Hopatcong, she said. The company provides free cable service to Borough Hall and all of the schools, and offers …
Residents can sign up starting on Monday for bow hunting on the Natural Preserve.
The Hopatcong Borough Council approved bow hunting on the Natural Preserve for the 2012-13 white tail deer hunting season at Wednesday night's meeting. It was the first parcel of borough owned property to be opened for hunting since the council passed a deer hunting ordinance last summer. The council also approved a bow hunting application form for those seeking borough permits to participate in the hunt. Mayor Sylvia Petillo said the application would be available on the borough’s website starting Monday. There is no fee for the application, she said. Petillo said the council had intended to start the hunt earlier, but Hurricane Sandy interfered with the planning of the event. The deer hunt task force, set up to monitor the hunt, was …
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Officials and residents agree at council meeting communication is where most of the problems evolved during storm's aftermath.
Dozens of residents filled the Municipal Building Wednesday night, hoping to get some answers about the response from Superstorm Sandy. The subject of communication, or the lack thereof, was the hot topic of the night, as both residents and officials have previously expressed concerns about the information flow in the days after the storm. The borough council meeting, which was the first since the storm, saw an exceptionally higher crowd than normal, with not one empty seat. Several residents couldn't get in the room and had to stand outside. About 10 residents spoke in the public portion that lasted about an hour, many offering suggestions while critiquing the town's response to the storm that left the town two weeks without power. …
Judy
12:53 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
Congrats!!! more ›