Andover to purchase police, court equipment
BY ROSE SGARLATO
ANDOVER — All of the council members were present at Andover Township Committee’s July 28 meeting with the exception of Mike Lensak, who was excused. Below is a recap of some of the items discussed.
An ordinance was introduced to purchase $64,000 worth of police department and municipal court equipment to be taken from the capital improvement fund. Upon resolution a variety of items will be purchased including laptops, radio equipment, radar trailer, info-share module and an interview camera system.
The two costliest items are the laptops and radio equipment for the police totaling approximately $42,000.
An ordinance under public hearing was discussed on the purchase of a new dump truck costing $40,000 for the Department of Public Works.
Andover resident Jim Woodstrom suggested that the township look into subcontracting to minimize future equipment and labor costs.
“Don’t close your eyes to it if you want to save the taxpayers money,” said Woodstrom.
Committee member Tom Walsh defended the DPW saying that subcontractors have caused property damage to homeowners in the past.
“You make more enemies with subcontractors,” said Walsh. “We have a good crew, and we do the best we can.”
The new truck is replacing a 15-year-old one and is of minimal cost to the township, because traditionally the DPW reuses the body and sanders and places them on new trucks costing the town $40,000 versus $65,000, according to Darren Dickenson, of the Department of Public Works.
Under new business, committee member Janis McGovern brought to the table an issue regarding the failure of the Lake Lenape Water Company to notify its customers of scheduled and emergency maintenance work.
The Lake Lenape Water Company is privately owned and manages all the water operations for the Lake Lenape section of Andover.
According to Township Clerk Vita Thompson, town hall receives multiple complaints from Lake Lenape residents regarding lack of knowledge of water main breaks.
Walsh said the problem is further exacerbated by roads being torn up by the water company.
“In some cases the water company is not filing for permits to dig up the roads. Residents call us to fix the roads. It is not our responsibility to fix the roads, but we do what we can to help them,” Walsh said.
After much discussion, it was agreed upon that Andover Township would file a complaint with the Board of Public Utilities and ask the owner of the company Bruce Mueller to appear before the next township meeting on Aug. 25.
The Aug. 11 meeting is canceled. The council will reconvene on Monday, Aug. 25 at 6:30 p.m. for an executive session followed by the regular meeting.