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Mayor Stephen B. Nolan, who took over from Meryl Frank in January 2010, says he won’t run for another term once he has served out the time remaining from his predecessor.
The former Borough Council member said in an e-mail message this week that his time as mayor will end this year.
“I enjoy serving as Mayor immensely but my responsibilities at work and to my family make running for the next term not possible,” Nolan said in his message. “I wish the Committee the best in finding a candidate who will bring the community together and partner with our fantastic public employee partners.”
Nolan was appointed interim mayor in January 2010 after three-term incumbent Meryl Frank resigned her position. In the November general election he defeated independent challenger Dominic Cerminaro for the right to serve out the year remaining in Frank’s term.
The borough Democratic organization will screen potential candidates for the mayoral nomination early next month.
So far, the only effect this unusually harsh winter has had on the Highland Park school district has been to push back the high school graduation date from June 20 to a likely June 22.
With February only half done, the district has called four snow days, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frances R. Wood. Though the district still has enough flex in its schedule to sustain another snow day, more bad weather on the scale seen in January will force some tough choices, she said.
“I’m just kind of waiting to see where things fall in February,” Dr. Wood said. “We have just one more snow day to use.”
Cutting into the April 17-25 spring break really isn’t an option, she noted.
“We try not to take any days from the spring break,” Dr. Wood said. “We have both Jewish and Christian holidays involved and that’s not something you want to have to work around.”
On the bright side, the district has not had to pay any overtime to its maintenance contractor, Sodexo.
“Snow removal is written into their contract, so if there’s unusually heavy snowfall, they just have to handle the cost,” Dr. Wood said. “There have been other winters where snowfall was light, so it balances out. We’ve had to buy extra salt but we get that at a discount through the borough.”
So far this year the borough has spent $6,824 on salt, as compared with $4,275 last year, Dr. Wood said.
Highland Park has already spent more on snow removal this winter than it did all last year, according to borough officials, who are crossing their fingers and hoping the rest of the season will be a little tamer.
By the end of January, the borough had shoveled out some $20,000 in overtime for Department of Public Works personnel plowing local streets, according to finance director Kathleen Kovach. Last year, she noted, the borough spent about $12,000.
The recent ice storm was not included in the reckoning. With winter not yet over, the borough is not yet out of the woods – or the drifts – where removal costs are concerned.
As yet, the borough isn’t faced with costs that might boost the tax rate, Kovach said.
“We came into the season pre-cut in terms of costs,” she explained. “Last year we negotiated some takebacks and other cost-cutting measures with the unions. I don’t think we’ll see any movement on the tax rate – not because of the snow, anyway.”
Mayor Stephen Nolan agreed.
“I think we’re OK so far,” Nolan said. “We build into the budget a certain amount for snow removal and overtime. I don’t think it’s going to have a big effect. If we have to transfer funds from other parts of the budget, we’ll do it. We have to get rid of the snow.”
Highland Park public schools are closed today, due to the ice storm.
Borough residents are advised to boil their drinking and cooking water until further notice.
The advisory stems from last night’s water main break, which temporarily left most of the borough without water. Though water service has been restored, residents should play it safe and bring water to a roiling boil before using it for cooking, making ice cubes, washing food, or brushing their teeth.
Borough residents may sign up for e-mail notification when the advisory is lifted.
District schools are closed today because of last night’s ice storm.
Highland Park’s schools are closed today because of the snowstorm.
The reorganization meeting of the Highland Park Redevelopment Agency will be held Wednesday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. in Borough Hall, 221 South Fifth Avenue.
The agency’s regular meeting will follow the reorganization.
Highland Park marks Veterans Day tomorrow, Nov. 11, with a pair of events for veterans past, present, and future.
The annual Veterans Day parade starts at 11 a.m. before the Doughboy statue at Raritan and Woodbridge avenues. The parade will go down Raritan Avenue, cross the Albany Street Bridge, and continue through New Brunswick to end at George and Livingston avenues.
There will also be a 3 p.m. ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony for the “Bring Them Home to Homes Project,” the ambitious effort to convert the former All Saints Episcopal Church on South Third Avenue into housing for homeless veterans.
The project, a collaboration of the Reformed Church of Highland Park and the Affordable Housing Corporation, will provide 11 units of housing for eligible veterans.
Incumbent Mayor Stephen Nolan lead borough Democrats in a decisive victory over a slate of independent challengers in today’s mayoral and Borough Council races.
Nolan, 45, polled a total of 2,617 votes to win another term as mayor. Nolan’s tally was more than double the result for challenger Dominic Cerminaro, 62, who garnered 1,238 votes.
Nolan will now serve the year remaining in the term of his predecessor, Meryl Frank.
Nolan’s Democratic running mates also won re-election by substantial margins. Incumbent councilwoman Gayle Brill Mittler polled 2,456 while running mate John Erickson garnered 2,437. Meanwhile, independent challenger Marc A. Scheiner polled 1,326 votes while Helen Prodromo Perzan took 1,226.
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