Borough mayor, Council look forward to 2012

By Paul Greulich, Staff Writer
The Glen Ridge Borough’s annual reorganization meeting was held Tuesday. Local officials took the oath of office as they prepared to move forward to the challenges and goals of 2012.
Sworn in were Mayor Peter Hughes, Councilman Arthur Dawson and Councilman Jeff Theodorou. All ran uncontested. Councilwoman Elizabeth Baker was appointed as the new council president. The meeting was well attended by the public.
Even as familiar faces were welcomed back, some were preparing to make 2012 their last year in the borough; one being Judge Joseph Connolly, who has served the borough since 1978.
Hughes praised Connolly for serving with “honor and distinction.” He will continue in his position into 2012 until a new judge can be appointed.
“I asked Joe to stay on until we conduct and complete a search for his replacement,” Hughes said.
The mayor publically thanked Connolly, who was present at the meeting, for his service, and citizens present rose to give him a standing ovation.
Connolly said he was very grateful to the municipal judge, prosecutor and governing body for their support during his 33 years with the borough.
“It’s been a great experience and I’m very grateful to the town for letting me spend so much time here,” Connolly said.
Hughes greeted the public with an address reflecting on some of the challenging issues of 2011 that will continue to be felt in 2012, namely problems in power outages, power delivery and the borough’s tree inventory. All three of these issues were worsened by two severe storms: Tropical Storm Irene in August and a freak snowstorm in October. Together the cleanup efforts from these weather events cost the borough about $250,000. However the borough is hopeful federal monies will offset the majority of the costs, Hughes said.
“Clearly power delivery will continue to be an important issue in the year to come,” Hughes said.
Additional goals for 2012 stated at the meeting include continuing to reforest the borough and looking for opportunities for shared services and redevelopment on the Bloomfield Avenue corridor.
Hughes also touched on the difficult economic climate, saying the governing body would work hard to keep the budget under the state mandated 2 percent cap.
Measures he hopes will aid the borough’s financial situation include a new contract with the Montclair Fire Department, the refinancing of the municipal pool’s debt, and imposing a fee to ride the jitney into New York City.
Councilman David Lefkovitz said though he has never been one for making New Year’s resolutions, he is making an exception this year.
“I think in this case my resolution is to continue to look out for the interests of my fellow residents and deliver the best governance at the lowest cost — to keep Glen Ridge affordable,” Lefkovitz said.
Paul Greulich can be reached at 908-686-7700, ext. 121, or at thelocalsource@thelocalsource.com.