By Robert Holt
SWEDESBORO — At the Swedesboro Council meeting on Nov. 18, Mayor Tom Fromm announced plans to reject bids that have already been received on the crosswalk project around the community. Swedesboro wants to add crosswalks to Franklin, Mechanic, and South Street, among possible others.
Fromm said there had been some confusion about who was handling the crosswalk project. “Gloucester County is working with us for approval on the crosswalks,” the mayor clarified. “But our engineers are designing them, and we are doing the projects ourselves.”
“We will not blow out our budget on this, and we will stay within our means,” Fromm commented, regarding the rebidding. “Our goal is to have these at critical points within a month.”
Fromm also noted that the community was trying to get a pedestrian enhancement grant for the Swedesboro Auction site. He indicated it was a positive sign that the state Department of Transportation had already been around surveying the area.
In his Environmental Commission report, Councilmember Sam Casella stated that the committee made up now of Swedesboro and Woolwich Township was opposed to the revised path of a proposed natural gas pipeline.
The pipeline was originally expected to go straight through Center Square Road, but a newly proposed route would take it up Oldmans Creek Road, creating possible problems for farmland. “The Environmental Commission is going to send a letter to the mayors of Woolwich and Swedesboro saying to take the original Center Square Road route,” Casella said. “We are opposing this until further investigation has been completed.”
Also, in Historic Preservation, Casella reported that the Commission wants legislators to sign off on their grant application to increase the chances of receiving it next year.
In resolutions, the Council approved an addendum to the shared service agreement between Swedesboro and Logan Township for waste and recycling collection. Councilmember George Weeks recommended accepting the addendum because it would reflect the decreases in trash and recycling rates.
Councilmember Dave Flaherty announced that the Shade Tree Commission held a successful event at the library in October that educated children about trees. He reported that the Commission will be putting in a tree at Tavros 13, and would be looking to purchase a few more, “to put in reserve for inventory,” he said.
In Economic Development, Councilmember Diane Hale mentioned that Councilmember Patrick Wilbraham was checking prices for the community to purchase its own movie screen and equipment. “He thinks we can get it at a decent price,” Hale observed.
Hale promoted the Swedesboro website, and encouraged any suggestions and ideas to be submitted that would keep it fresh and updated. But Municipal Clerk Tanya Goodwin pointed out that it was hard to locate information that the state wanted posted on certain parts of the site.
Fromm suggested that it might be good to sit down as a subcommittee and go over aspects of accessing the website.
“That’s the best way to do it,” Wilbraham commented. “We’re trying to get that information out there, but we don’t always know who’s looking for it.”
