Hamilton Township Council approves consent agenda, adopts ordinances and awards road and equipment contracts

Hamilton Township Council on Feb. 25 approved a multi-item consent agenda, adopted four ordinances and introduced three additional ordinances for first reading during a regularly scheduled meeting at the Hamilton Township Municipal Building.

Council President Pasquale V. Papero, Jr. opened the meeting with the required public-notice statement under the Open Public Meetings Act. The roll call recorded Councilmembers Anthony Carabelli Jr., Richard Tighe and Charles Whalen as present; Council Vice President Nancy Phillips was absent. Motions throughout the meeting were recorded by name: for example, Councilmember Richard Tighe moved to accept changes to the agenda and Councilmember Anthony Carabelli Jr. seconded; the motion carried with recorded Yea votes from Carabelli, Tighe, Whalen and Council President Papero.

The Council adopted Resolutions 26-119 and 26-100 to name Britani Radice-Calderone as acting deputy municipal clerk for the meeting and to certify review of the Township's 2024 annual single audit for submission to the New Jersey Local Finance Board. The body then approved the Consent Agenda (CA1–CA17) on a single motion (moved by Tighe; seconded by Whalen). Items on the consent agenda included grant applications and awards (a 2026 Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund request of $16,182.65 and a Distracted Driver Crackdown grant of $7,000), a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection leaf-composting grant ($35,526), and procurement and contract authorizations for road and infrastructure work.

Notable contract and procurement items approved in the consent agenda include: a contract with Richard T. Barrett Paving Co., Inc. for 2025 roadway improvements (Resolution 26-104) with a maximum not-to-exceed value of $464,433; an A. Takton Concrete Corp. contract for miscellaneous concrete, curb, sidewalk and accessible ramp improvements ($290,875 maximum); vegetation-removal services for Sayen Gardens and Sunnybrae Park with Princeton Hydro, LLC (not to exceed $57,150); purchase approvals for two Exmark Lazer Z mowers ($35,768 maximum) and a 2026 Ford F-550 chassis with a Leach rear-loader for sanitation ($172,554.94 maximum); and professional-services agreements including Phoenix Advisors, LLC (financial advisor; $100,000 maximum) and Danziger & Markhoff LLP (actuarial services; $20,000 maximum). The Council also approved a refund resolution covering tax and sewer overpayments totaling $150,316.60.

On ordinance business, the Council adopted on second reading Ordinance 26-005, authorizing $200,000 in capital improvements to the Police–Municipal Court Building roof. The Council also adopted Ordinance 26-006 renewing a long-term lease to the Hamilton YMCA for a portion of Block 2730, Lot 14.01 (Sawmill property); Councilmember Charles Whalen recorded an abstention on that vote. The body adopted Ordinance 26-007 accepting a deed of right-of-way dedication from Meadowbrook Realty, LLC for property at 1201 State Highway 33 and Ordinance 26-008 vacating portions of Williamson Avenue that are paper streets and no longer needed by the Township.

Councilmembers then introduced three ordinances on first reading to amend land-development and affordable-housing provisions and to modify criminal-history background-check code sections (Ordinances 26-009, 26-010 and 26-011). The Council adopted Resolutions 26-117 and 26-118 to refer the proposed affordable-housing fee amendments to the Hamilton Township Planning Board for review under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-26; Township Attorney Elissa Grodd Schragger noted the Township is required to have the new ordinances in place before March 15.

Council President Papero closed the meeting at 7:00 p.m. with a closing remark thanking staff and the public; he said the meeting was conducted "with dignity and integrity."