The Verona Town Council has posted the agenda for its next meeting, which will be held on Monday, May 21.
The Council will have a public hearing and vote on resolutions authorizing it to acquire two pieces of property that a developer had been seeking to use as sites for affordable housing. One, 25 Commerce Court, has long been used as the Verona leaf dump, and the second, at 111 Mount Prospect Avenue, is a heavily wooded lot at the edge of Eagle Rock Reservation. Their current owner is South Orange developer Roger Kruvant.
The Council is looking to invoke the the Eminent Domain Act of 1971 to acquire both properties. Eminent domain allows a government entity, including a municipal government, to take private property for public use but requires “just” compensation to be paid to its owner. The proposed ordinances authorize the Council to use $25,000 per property from the Capital Surplus Fund for preliminary planning expenses, but do not indicate a total purchase price for the acquisitions. The ordinances say that the Council wants to maintaining both properties as open space and public parks, and that 25 Commerce Court will also be used by the Department of Public Works.
There will be a public hearing and vote as well on resolutions for commercial garbage pickup, parking fees and the organization of the Verona Police Department, including its use of privately owned outdoor video surveillance cameras. Also on the agenda are a proclamation on gun control and resolutions on establishing a Neighborhood Traffic and Safety Committee. Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-NJ26), who represents Verona to the New Jersey state Senate, has asked to address the Council.
The meeting, which will be held in the second floor Council chambers at Town Hall, begins at 7 p.m. It is open to the public. You can read the full agenda here.
The Council’s website contains information on meeting dates, agendas, ordinances and resolutions, and links to videos of past Council meetings.
