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Woolwich introduces fire cost-recovery ordinance; pickleball director appointment passes with two abstentions
Summary
The township introduced Ordinance 2025-08 to allow the Woolwich Fire Company to recover vehicle-incident costs; Fire Chief Valichka described a Turnpike crash that damaged equipment. Separately, the committee appointed a pickleball competition director in a roll call that recorded two abstentions.
Woolwich Township introduced Ordinance 2025-08 on March 17, a measure to establish a program to recover costs from motor vehicle or commercial vehicle incidents for emergency and non-emergency services provided by the Woolwich Fire Company.
Committeewoman Minhas asked Fire Chief Valichka to explain how the rates in the ordinance were set. Chief Valichka said the rates “were established by insurance companies” and described a recent incident on the New Jersey Turnpike in which, while he was speaking with a state trooper outside his fire vehicle, “another car hydroplaned across the highway and struck his vehicle.” He said insurance would cover vehicle damage but that interior equipment damage might not be covered and that the ordinance would enable recovery of such costs.
The ordinance was introduced on a motion that carried; no final adoption vote was recorded on March 17.
Also on the agenda, the committee considered and adopted resolution R-2025-87 appointing a Competition and Tournament Director for the Woolwich Pickleball Club for the 2025 season. Deputy Mayor Nocentino had asked that the resolution be removed from the consent agenda so he could abstain. The roll-call votes recorded Frederick: ABSTAIN; Minhas: YES; Nocentino: ABSTAIN; Matthias: YES. The measure was adopted with two yes votes and two abstentions.
During public comment a resident of 10 Wilshire Blvd. asked whether the pickleball reservation system operates on a first-come, first-served basis; Committeeman Frederick responded. The same resident raised questions about how contractor costs are handled when projects like the Garwin Road resurfacing are delayed; Township Engineer Mark Lardo explained that only a survey of Garwin Road had been completed and that design work was delayed intentionally to combine grants into a single bid package.
The committee entered closed session on contractual and litigation matters later in the meeting and resumed to complete routine business.
