Vineland City Council adopts $9.2M bond ordinance, approves $800K landfill closure funding and ratifies municipal utilities director

On Tuesday, April 8, 2025, the Vineland City Council voted 5-0 to adopt Ordinance 20-25-26, a bond ordinance appropriating $9,200,000 and authorizing $8,740,000 in bonds or notes for various capital improvements, and adopted Ordinance 20-25-29, a supplemental bond appropriation of $800,000 for closure of the city sanitary landfill authorizing $760,000 in bonds or notes. The council also ratified Resolution 20-25-181 to confirm Dennis ***** as director of the Department of Municipal Utilities and administered his oath of office.

The bond ordinances were presented and taken up for final reading and adoption without substantive council debate. For Ordinance 20-25-26 the council voted "yes" from each member — Doctor Arthur, Council member English, Council member Gomez, Council member Vargas and President Spinelli — and the ordinance was declared adopted by a 5-0 vote. City staff was asked to submit the adopted ordinance to the mayor for approval or disapproval.

Ordinance 20-25-29, the $800,000 supplemental appropriation for sanitary landfill closure, likewise passed 5-0 on final reading. Council recorded no substantive discussion on the floor before adoption; the motion and second were made and the roll call recorded each member voting in the affirmative.

Separately, the council received a communication from Mayor Anthony R. Fanucci appointing Dennis ***** as director of municipal utilities. The council adopted Resolution 20-25-181 to ratify and confirm that appointment. The transcript shows colleagues offered congratulations; the oath of office for the director was administered at the meeting.

The council also advanced several other ordinances to first reading or scheduled future hearings. The body passed a series of first-reading motions (20-25-30 through 20-25-33) to schedule public hearings on April 22, 2025, and adopted Resolution 20-25-157 to amend Ordinances 20-25-27 and 20-25-28 and schedule a special meeting for public hearing and final reading on April 15, 2025.

Votes at a glance

- Ordinance 20-25-26 (Bond ordinance providing for various capital improvements; appropriation $9,200,000; bonds authorized $8,740,000): Adopted, vote 5-0 (Arthur, English, Gomez, Vargas, Spinelli). - Ordinance 20-25-29 (Supplemental appropriation $800,000 for sanitary landfill closure; bonds authorized $760,000): Adopted, vote 5-0 (Arthur, English, Gomez, Vargas, Spinelli). - Resolution 20-25-181 (Ratifying appointment of Dennis ***** as director of the Department of Municipal Utilities): Adopted, vote 5-0 (Arthur, English, Gomez, Vargas, Spinelli); oath administered. - Ordinance 20-25-30 (utility easement acquisition by condemnation — Block 2401, Lots 3 and 2.05): Passed for first reading; public hearing scheduled April 22, 2025. - Ordinance 20-25-31 (no parking restrictions along Riverside Drive, Marsh River Parkway): Passed for first reading; public hearing scheduled April 22, 2025. - Ordinance 20-25-32 (long-term tax exemption application/financial agreement for redevelopment of portions of Block 4216): Passed for first reading; public hearing scheduled April 22, 2025. - Ordinance 20-25-33 (amend Vineland municipal code subsection 4-25-5 to increase development application fees): Passed for first reading; public hearing scheduled April 22, 2025.

What changed and what comes next

The two adopted bond ordinances authorize the city to borrow to finance capital projects and to close the sanitary landfill; ordinances were transmitted to the mayor for approval as required by municipal process. The council’s adoption of Resolution 20-25-157 set a special meeting on April 15, 2025, for public hearings and final readings of amended ordinances 20-25-27 and 20-25-28.

No detailed descriptions of the specific capital projects funded by Ordinance 20-25-26 were presented during the final-reading discussion in the transcript; the ordinance title and dollar amounts were placed on the record and adopted. Likewise, the transcript does not state which department will administer the landfill-closure appropriation or a project timeline; those implementation details were not specified at the meeting.