Votes at a glance: New Britain council approves trash-contract option year, utility vehicle purchase, and advertises zoning change

At its June 12 meeting, New Britain Borough Council took several procedural and procurement actions.

Trash contract: Council approved taking the 2025 option year under the borough’s existing trash-hauler contract. Staff warned market conditions could make re-bidding costlier and noted a projected per-household increase of roughly $25 annually; council approved the option-year motion to avoid immediate re-bid costs and to allow staff time to evaluate service-level adjustments.

Zoning advertisement: Council voted to advertise a draft zoning amendment affecting 117 Bristol Road (a change from L1 to R2) and a separate parcel (a billboard site) with a proposed C3/professional-office designation. Staff said the draft also allows reduced acreage for infill projects adjacent to townhouse developments when combined acreage reaches six acres.

Utility vehicle purchase: Council approved a resolution to purchase a camm utility vehicle not budgeted for the year. Staff said the intended funding would be split between the general fund and Growner-estate/Reserve funds for the Nature Preserve; staff confirmed the 2010 court decree allows certain uses of the Growner funds for preserve maintenance and noted required training and insurance conditions before vehicle use.

Action on the 84 Iron Hill special-exception request was procedural: council indicated no formal opposition and advised the applicants to proceed to Planning Commission for detailed review and any necessary zoning-hearing processes.

The votes were taken by voice; staff will publish the advertisement and notify parties of next hearings.