Votes at a glance: Highland Park council approves property purchase, adopts accessible-parking ordinance, moves cap‑bank ordinance to public hearing

The Highland Park Borough Council on Feb. 18 recorded a series of formal actions on ordinances, budget transfers, appointments and administrative matters. Key outcomes:

• Ordinance 25‑2‑102 — Purchase of 15 South Third Ave: Adopted after a public hearing. The ordinance authorizes the borough to enter into a purchase‑and‑sale agreement for Block 3001, Lot 5 (15 South Third Avenue). A roll call vote recorded affirmative votes by the governing body and the ordinance passed.

• Ordinance 25‑2‑101 — On‑street accessible parking (initial version): Pulled. Council members removed a previously published second‑reading ordinance (identified as 25‑2‑101 in the agenda) because substantive changes were required after publication.

• Ordinance 25‑2‑103 — On‑street accessible parking (reintroduced): Introduced and adopted on the record after the revised locations were read into the record. The council indicated the revised ordinance corrects earlier errors; borough staff will verify voting district numbering and confirmed that the measure creates on‑street dedicated accessible parking spaces (no curb‑cut work was authorized in this vote).

• Ordinance 25‑2‑104 — Cap bank/cap exceedance (NJSA citation referenced in record): Introduced by the Finance Committee and authorized for publication with a public hearing set for March 4, 2025. The ordinance would establish a cap bank (the transcript references NJSA and the municipal cap process) to be available if budget items exceed statutory caps.

• Consent agenda and appointments: The council adopted consent agenda items 13a–13k by roll call and confirmed the appointment of Dr. Maisha Malik as co‑chair of the Human Relations Commission.

• Budget transfers and resolutions: The council approved two budget transfer resolutions (Resolution 2‑25‑81 and Resolution 2‑25‑82) and other routine financial procedural items by roll call.

• Executive‑session resolution pulled: The resolution listed as 2‑25‑83 (executive session litigation matter) was pulled from the agenda because the outside attorney who would have attended was unavailable.

Why it matters: several of these items clear administrative and legal steps that allow staff to proceed with planning and procurement (the property purchase and the RFQ for the South Third plaza) and to preserve budget flexibility (cap bank). The accessible‑parking ordinance updates on‑street signage and designated spaces in town and will be implemented without curb‑cut construction under this action.

Roll‑call practice and unanimity Most roll calls recorded in the meeting transcript show unanimous affirmative votes among the council members present; where individual votes were read into the record the clerk recorded “yes” votes for council members on each adopted item. The transcript did not list named movers and seconders for every motion; several items were moved and seconded on the floor with roll‑call adoption.