The Hopewell Borough Council did not have a shortage of ordinances and topics to talk about at its most recent meeting on June 7.
The Council deliberated a resolution that would authorize the Borough, in cooperation with Hopewell Township and Pennington Borough, to pay a certain percentage to repair the shared senior center located in Pennington.
“This is just a moral commitment to five percent,” Mayor Paul Anzano told the Council.
Much of the agenda of the meeting were first readings of ordinances to be discussed at next month’s meeting. The ordinances included a street project for road improvements on East Prospect, water utility repairs and installation, and ‘pay-to-play’ in redevelopment projects within the Borough.
The pay-to-play ordinance says that anyone who applies to do a redevelopment project would have to disclose any political contributions to a council member. Any contribution over $300 to to a Hopewell Borough candidate, officeholder, or political campaign would result in termination of the contract.
“Not that we have a problem where people are making political contributions and influencing government,” Councilman Ryan Kennedy said. “That’s just not something that happens in Hopewell Borough. That’s just not how our elections work. But, because we’re going into a new area with redevelopment, that’s a good time to check to make sure we’ve checked all the boxes on the good government ordinances and this is one of them.”
The council’s next meeting, in which a discussion of these ordinances will occur, is scheduled for July 5.
In re: redevelopment
What ever happened to the “Area In Need Of Redevelopment” of the Old Kooltronic’s building?
That’s the one the mayor was going to take by eminent domain. He didn’t, but it was passed under “you don’t have to join, but this our plan”. It included changing the zones of certain property, where brownfields get turned into greenfields.