SWEDESBORO — Public Works and safety was the dominant topic of discussion at the July 20 regular meeting of the Swedesboro Council.
As part of his public works report, Mayor Tom Fromm informed the council of an upcoming proposal regarding the borough’s water treatment plant. Fromm said that the plant currently uses four tanks for water filtration, three of which he described as being in “antique” condition. Of those three, one has begun to fail by means of losing the filtering media (sand) through which the water is purified.
Fromm said that while the tank in need of remediation is currently not being used, given the state of the remaining tanks, it should be a priority to have them repaired.
“It’s a very expensive job [remediating the one tank],” Fromm said. “We’re going to need to get a price to [remediate] the other older ones. We’ve got to get these things replaced.”
Fromm said he hopes to have a proposal to present to the council by the Aug. 17 meeting.
Continuing with his address on public works, Fromm said he had put a request out to Gloucester County to revisit the work done on Glen Echo Avenue by South Jersey Gas. The utility company had removed asphalt along the road to maintain the gas line in July and replaced it. However, the repair work has since resulted in an uneven road surface and poor driving conditions.
Fromm said that since the road is owned by the county, the county has the responsibility to maintain it.
“We’re trying to find out if they’ll demand that [the gas company] repair the road correctly,” Fromm said.
Concluding the council’s reports, Woolwich Township Police Captain Anthony Verrilli inquired about the possibility of the Borough lowering the speed limit on Franklin Street (within city limits) from 35 to 25 mph. Fromm explained to Verrilli and the council that as the road is maintained by the county, they have the final say.
Previous attempts to lower the speed limit on Franklin Street have resulted in the county seeking proof of enforcement of the current speed limit before initiating a change.
Speeding on Franklin Street has been a frequently discussed issue among council members and the public. According to meeting minutes from the Borough’s regular meeting on April 6, 2026, a Franklin Street resident stated that the street was continuously being used as a cut through, and despite signage and speed bumps, the road was still seeing incidents of speeding.
“It’s been a historical issue of people cutting through and speeding up and down [the street],” Fromm said. “And there’s been several accidents as a result of that… It’s been an issue for quite a while. We’ve put radar signs out and stuff like that but it’s still an ongoing issue.”
Verrilli has since issued a formal request to the county and provided the necessary documentation. Fromm said that the county will most likely conduct a speed study themselves before taking action. The timeline for that is currently unknown.
In the legislating portion of the meeting, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 110 of the Borough’s code regarding vehicles and traffic. The ordinance codifies the new parking spaces on Ashton Avenue (between Blk Shp and Mama Francesca’s), allowing for parking only on the south side of Ashton Avenue. The ordinance’s second reading and approval will occur at the Aug. 17 meeting.
By Ethan Stoetzer
