Mount Laurel held its first Council meeting of February on Monday February 8th. Council approved property tax cancellations for fully disabled veterans, approved a cooperative agreement with Burlington County for Mosquito Control, appointed special law enforcement officers, and approved the LOSAP program for Mount Laurel EMS.
The township has the ability to cancel property taxes for fully disabled veterans under New Jersey State Law. Mount Laurel Council regularly does this for disabled veterans living in Mount Laurel.
Special Law enforcement officers are police officers who are classified as part-time officers and are limited in the number of hours they can work per week. These special law enforcement officers must be appointed every year as the appointment only lasts for one year.
The Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) program allows Mount Laurel Emergency Medical Services (EMS) volunteers to receive a contribution to a retirement account. The resolution adopted at Council Meeting approved the members who qualified for the disbursement.
Also, at the Council Meeting a Stormwater Management plan was approved. According to Township Manager Meredith Tomczyk, the state of New Jersey mandated that an updated plan, one that brings the township up to date with the latest FEMA guidelines, be implemented. Any new applications for development, starting in March of 2021, will need to adhere to the new guidelines. These guidelines do not apply to applications for development that have already been filed and approved.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, a resident inquired as to the status of the second round of Requests for Proposals for funding and operating PAWS Farm. According to township solicitor George Morris, none of the proposals submitted met a graded criterion for approval. The committee reviewing the proposals considered required capital improvements, staffing plans, business plans, and the animal plans, among other criteria. The committee had a goal of 85 out of 100 for a project to be considered for approval by the Council. During the second round, the highest any proposal scored was 49 out of 100. Mr. Morris said that the committee even considered lowering the threshold to 70 out of 100. Mayor Steglik emphasized that any proposal that the Council would approve must be financially sustainable for the long term. The township will be opening a third round of RFPs.
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