Here is the latest Take Five briefing from the March 19, 2024 meeting of the Mayor and Borough Council.
1) Park Partners Grants Awards: Mayor Foster reported that 88 residents came out to Sunday’s Park Partners open house at the Community Center to meet the applicants, learn about their projects, and cast their votes. The successful projects/awardees are: 1) Who Is My Neighbor's Wall of Art, Who Is My Neighbor Inc. (Arts); 2) Native Plants for Your Garden, Sustainable Highland Park (Environment); 3) Senior Connection: Programs for Increasing Social Wellness for the Elderly, Highland Park Chinese Association (Safety, Universal Access, or Health & Wellness); 4) Tree of Community Unity and Gratitude, Highland Park Human Relations Commission (Culture and Diversity); 5) Prom for All, Mayor's Teen Advisory Council (HP High School Students Class or Club).
2) Ordinance Authorizing a Long-Term Tax Exemption and Financial Agreement with SuperFresh: The Borough Council introduced an ordinance to approve the application for a long-term tax exemption and to authorize the execution of a financial agreement with DL Urban Renewal, the owner of SuperFresh grocery store that is renovating the former Stop & Shop. SuperFresh will be investing $6,000,000 on the renovation and the project anticipates the creation of 20 construction, 35 full time, and 15 part time jobs. A public hearing on this ordinance will be held at the April 2nd meeting of the Mayor and Borough Council.
3) Year Three Implementation Plan for the Neighborhood Preservation Program: The Borough Council approved the Implementation Plan for the third year of the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP), an initiative to make improvements in the Woodbridge Ave commercial district. The plan envisions launching a residential improvement grant program, collaborating with the NJ Business Action Center to provide technical assistance trainings to Woodbridge Ave businesses at no cost, cleaning and improving district amenities and adding new ones, planting 20-30 street trees, and introducing new annual events to welcome visitors to the district. The NPP initiative is funded by a $125,000 grant from the New Jersey State Department of Community Affairs and supplemented by a $25,000 allocation from the Borough.
4) U Drive, U Text, U Pay Distracted Driving Crackdown, April 1-30: The Borough Council approved a resolution in support of participation in the national and statewide Distracted Driving 2024 Crackdown for the month of April. The resolution notes that in New Jersey, distracted driving was listed as a contributing factor in 50 percent of all motor vehicle accidents in 2018 and that distracted driving crashes that same year resulted in 2,841 deaths and 400,000 injuries nationally.
5) Extension of Conditional Developer Designation for Tract A: The Borough Council approved a resolution that authorizes extending the designation of HP RarDen Redevelopment LLC (formerly Tantum Fidelco HP LLC) as the conditional developer for the property identified as Tract A in the 2021 Downtown Redevelopment Plan. With this designation now extended to March 31, 2026, the Borough and the conditionally named redeveloper can continue to engage in pre-development activities, including property assembly and negotiation and preparation of a redevelopment agreement.
If you are interested in watching the March 19th Mayor and Council meeting, go to the HPTV Youtube channel where the video of the meeting will be posted in its entirety. The next meeting of Mayor and Council is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2nd, at 7:00 p.m.
