Brooklawn council adopts traffic, parks changes; hears safety concerns about McDonald's site near school

The Borough of Brooklawn Council voted unanimously to adopt two second-reading ordinances amending the borough's vehicles and traffic code and its parks and recreation rules, and introduced a fence-height amendment and a reintroduced bond ordinance to fund water-plant rehabilitation.

During public comment, resident Jen German (215 Pennsylvania Road) pressed the council for safety measures around a proposed McDonald's site adjacent to a school playground, saying the current playground fence is low and "anybody can walk up there and take one of those" children. German urged a taller, less see-through fence, locked gates and netting to keep balls and children from reaching adjacent streets; she also raised concerns about staff parking being displaced by the development.

Mayor Grom and council members said final site plans will go before the Planning & Zoning board, likely in November, and that the borough has secured roughly a dozen teacher parking spaces near the site for now. "We're on it," the mayor said, adding the council is discussing fence and netting options and that playground changes would be a council decision separate from the site'plan process.

Engineer Greg pcow reported progress on multiple infrastructure projects, including completion of excavation work and installation of activated-carbon equipment at the water treatment plant. He described an unexpected finding during piping work: crews uncovered century-old pipe material that required special sleeves and briefly delayed bypass operations by about two weeks. He noted a January 20 delivery date for a key vessel the project is waiting on and that the borough has applied for Municipal Aid funding for Third Street phase one; bidding is authorized with recommendations expected at the September meeting.

On financing, the council said a clerical error in the prior advertisement required reintroduction of a $200,000 appropriation line tied to the water-plant bond ordinance. Council said the borough will still borrow approximately $1.6 million as planned (bond closing expected Sept. 5) and will reintroduce the $200,000 line at a later hearing.

Votes at a glance - Ordinance No. 15 of 2024 (amending Chapter 141, Vehicles and Traffic): Adopted by roll-call vote (Clotworthy, Halton, Ostrom, McAdams recorded "yes"). - Ordinance No. 16 of 2024 (amending Chapter 112, Parks and Recreation): Adopted by roll-call vote (Clotworthy, Halton, Ostrom, McAdams recorded "yes"). - Ordinance No. 17 of 2024 (amending Chapter 83, Fences): Introduced (first reading) and moved for future hearings. - Ordinance No. 18 of 2024 (reintroduced bond ordinance for water-plant rehabilitation; $200,000 appropriation line): Introduced for re-advertisement following bond-counsel advice. - Firemen's association membership applications (Rachel Gersic, Brandon Welsh, Jason Boyce): Approved by motion. - Bills and vouchers on the consent list: Approved by roll-call vote (Clotworthy, Halton, Ostrom, McAdams recorded "yes").

Council also reviewed a slate of resolutions (Nos. 124'135), including authorization to purchase a 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe through the New Jersey Cooperative Purchasing Alliance and authorization to purchase Motorola radios for the Brooklawn Police Department (council discussed procurement and funding lines during the presentations). A separate resolution would authorize foreclosure processes on certain municipal-liens properties to clean tax books; council noted environmental reviews and possible spill-exemption protections before any foreclosure to avoid assuming remediation liability.

The council accepted the 2023 audit with no findings and asked members to sign an affidavit to transmit the audit. The meeting concluded after routine business and remaining votes.

The council will return agendas for the introduced ordinances and pending projects to future meetings and Planning & Zoning hearings; the water-plant team expects to report progress at the September meeting.