Don't Cry Poverty

The Borough is great at saying it has no money and needs to cut back.

If that is the case, how did this quietly get passed as an ordinance:

11-17. WAIVER OF FEES FOR CERTAIN VOLUNTEERS AND RESIDENTS:
A. All active first responders of the Lincoln Park Fire Department and First Aid Squad and
their families, residents receiving public assistance, residents on active duty with the
armed services of the United States, or residents over the age of 60 shall be entitled to
the following benefits for recreation programs.
(1) Exemption from fees for recreational programs conducted within the Borough of
Lincoln Park.
(a) Specifically excluded is any portion of the fee collected by the Borough of
Lincoln Park on behalf of another entity, including but not limited to: State
of New Jersey, County of Morris, or any outside vendor.
B. All active first responders of the Lincoln Park Fire Department and First Aid Squad and
their families, shall be entitled to the following benefits for activity under the Uniform
Construction Code
(1) Exemption from the municipal portion of the Uniform Construction Code fees for
the issuance of a building permit required in connection with either the
construction of an addition or completion of repairs to an existing single-family
dwelling and occupied by an active first responder member of the volunteer
organization.
(2) Partial exemption from the municipal portion of the Uniform Construction Code
fees not to exceed a maximum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for the
issuance of a building permit required in connection with the construction of a
new single family dwelling to be occupied by the active first responder member of
the volunteer organization.

You can fins the ordinance here.

OK - so what that means is if you volunteer for the First Aid Squad or the Fire Department, a lot of your fees are waived. Wow. I guess we know who has juice in this town. So to all you other's who volunteer for PAL or something else - too bad.

Where is the Council?

Do you know who any of these people are (or what they look like):

In no particular order:

Ann Thompson
Herman Nadel
Jim Wild
Lou Pepe
Matt Petracca
Janet Long
Ray Kerwin

The borough had a 5K yesterday and from the looks of things, none of them thought it important to show their faces. Busy planning their annual (paid) trip to Atlantic City I guess.

The Old West Ghost Town

Well it seems the old west has come east, since the Borough of LP is resembling an abandoned ghost town. Let's walk down Main - not too bad, except for the old Moe's and the jewelry store being vacant. We have a shoemaker moving in sometime, so the street won't lean too far to one side with empty storefronts.

Over to the plaza with Blockbuster - wait, "store closing". That will leave the dingy convenience store all by itself. Great.

Shop-Rite plaza - off the top of my head, it's about 40% occupied. So that is starting to look a little dangerous as well.

Walgreens and vicinity - OK except for the empty gas station at the corner. Overrun with weeds and looking like a bad strip of land.

Over by the trains, nothing. R&K left for less rent by the recycling center.

So what is the borough council doing about it. Nothing. They prefer to speak about nothing in particular except cutting spending, spending that supports programs that the citizens of LP pay for. But we have a really nice Municipal Building and two great looking firehouses. Maybe when people can't afford their homes they can stay for a couple of nights in these places.

Rough days ahead.