At a glance: Hawthorne council votes — zoning, water rates, stop signs, bleacher bond and consent items

The Hawthorne Borough Council recorded the following formal actions at its meeting:

• Zoning ordinance (gasoline service stations with convenience stores) — Adopted by roll call; recorded vote included Bennett voting no and other members voting yes. Council authorized the clerk to advertise the ordinance.

• Water rates ordinance (chapter 220) — Adopted to revise water fees to cover PFAS-related costs and the borough’s galvanized/lead service-line replacement program; administration reported a projected increase reduced from 13% to about 9% and the ordinance was adopted by roll call.

• Stop-intersection ordinance — Adopted by roll call to add specified stop locations.

• Bond ordinance for WAG bleachers and improvements — Adopted; ordinance appropriates $295,000 and authorizes issuance of $95,000 in bonds/notes after application of grant funds; council noted two grants (state and county) supporting the project and a delivery schedule for bleacher materials.

• Consent agenda and resolutions — Consent agenda R159-24 through R161-24 (including a contract award to AA Berms LLC for downtown streetscape Phase 3 and several tax/assessment items) were approved by roll call; one council member recorded an abstention on the Hawthorne Environmental Commission bills and voted yes on others.

All motions authorized the clerk to advertise or carry out the actions in accordance with law where required. Several items will be returned to committees or require administrative follow-up (ordinance-committee review for zoning language; administration follow-up on water‑line scheduling).