Clark Township council adopts five ordinances, approves resolutions and routine items

The Clark Township Council on Monday adopted five ordinances, approved routine municipal business and passed several resolutions, including a town resolution supporting state legislation to prohibit sales of cats, dogs and rabbits in pet stores and a ratification of an emergency sewer repair.

Council members voted unanimously to adopt ordinances 25-04 through 25-08. Business Administrator Jim Ulrich said the measures include renaming a compliance inspection requirement, reorganizing fee schedules, amending land-use fee and administrative sections, aligning a civil-service job title and creating a custodial worker position. "This is just to change the title from 'certificate of compliance' . . . to 'certificate of resale'," Ulrich told the council.

The council also approved routine resolutions and consent-agenda items: acceptance of the 2024 annual health report (council sitting as the Board of Health), a resolution supporting the humane pet store bill (S-2511/A-4051), authorization for the mayor to execute an amendment to the Hyatt Hills Golf Course agreement, and ratification of an exigent-action payment of $7,500 to remediate a sanitary sewer main break on Prescott Turn. Consent-agenda items included two volunteer-fire-department appointments and tax/sewer refunds totaling the amounts stated in the clerk's package.

Nut graf: The votes clear a set of administrative and operational changes the township said will streamline inspections, fee administration and personnel titles, and they also formalize support for state-level animal-sales restrictions and ratify an emergency repair payment. Several items were described by staff as noncontroversial and moved on a single consent motion.

Most important facts: Ordinances 25-04 through 25-08 were adopted after public hearings were closed and roll-call votes were recorded as 'yes' from all present council members. The council recorded unanimous roll-call votes to adopt the five ordinances. Resolution roll-call votes were likewise unanimous on the items presented.

Background and details: Ordinance 25-04 renames an inspection requirement from "certificate of compliance" to "certificate of resale" to align with state Department of Community Affairs terminology, Ulrich said. Ordinances 25-05 and 25-06 separate construction-related fees from zoning/electronic-zoning fees so fees appear in the relevant code sections, he said. Ordinance 25-07 adjusts a civil-service ranking for the job title of public works repairer; Ulrich said the blue-collar union supports the change. Ordinance 25-08 creates a custodial-worker position and establishes a salary range after the township brought the position in-house from an outsourced vendor.

Resolutions and consent items: The council accepted the 2024 annual health report (inspections, complaints and enforcement activity summarized in the packet), voted to support the humane pet store bill (S-2511/A-4051), authorized the mayor to sign the fourth amendment to the Hyatt Hills Golf Course agreement (an extension), and ratified the business administrator's emergency action to remediate a sewer-main break on Prescott Turn for $7,500. Consent items authorized two new volunteer firefighters and several tax/sewer refunds.

What's next: Several introduced ordinances and bond ordinances discussed later in the meeting were set for public hearing on April 21. The council chair closed the meeting after routine new-business and public-comment periods.

Ending: The council completed the formal business and moved to public comments and monthly reports before adjourning.