Politics & Government
Summit Bonds Nearly $1 Million to Improve Streets
Badeau, Lleweyln and Shadyside covered under $950,000 in bonds.
The Summit Council introduced $950,000 in bonds to improve three city streets at its recent meeting.
Badeau Avenue, Llewelyn Road and Shadyside Avenue will be upgraded under the terms of the ordinances approved on first reading on Wednesday.
The Beadeau Avenue project will cost $400,000, the Llewelyn Road work will cost $250,000 and the Shadyside Avenue construction will cost $300,000. The city will pay for 90 percent of the improvements while property owners will face assessments, payable over 10 years, to fund the remainder.
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Public hearings on the bonds will be held July 2. Additionally, public hearings will be held June 18 on a $250,00 bond to improve Middle Avenue and a $500,000 bond for DeForest Avenue.
Councilman Tom Getzendanner, noting the total amount of the bonds, said that the city should ration its use of debt, adding that debt service accounts for 17 percent of the city budget.
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Those comments drew fire from fellow Councilman Dave Bomgaars.
“I guess you just don’t listen,” Bomgaars said, noting that the council had previously discussed a six-year capitol improvement program.
Mayor Ellen Dickson said that Summit is the only city in New Jersey to have a AAA bond rating, “higher than the federal government and Union County.”
She said the city’s borrowing limit, which includes school projects, is about $100 million and the city has bonded about $55 million.
