EATONTOWN — Eatontown County Council members have passed an ordinance that, if passed, would amend the rules regarding appointments to the planning board.
The decree was introduced on November 21 and scheduled for public discussion on December 7. According to the results of public hearings, council members can adopt a decree.
The proposed ordinance would eliminate the portion of the existing ordinance that prohibits former city council members from being appointed by the mayor to the Planning Board until one year after they leave the governing body.
If this section of the existing ordinance is eliminated, the mayor will be allowed to immediately appoint former council members to the Planning Board.
The ordinance states that state board members believe it is in the best interest of residents to encourage volunteerism and allow former city council members to be immediately eligible to be appointed by the mayor as members of the Planning Board.
Residents who serve on the Planning Board do so without compensation.
In other cases, councilors authorized a grant application to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for a project to purchase and install restrooms and storage facilities at the planned Capt. James M. Gurbish Memorial Park.
According to the resolution, municipal officials are seeking about $500,000 from DCA for the project.
Gurbisz Park will be developed on a 4.6-acre site that was formerly part of Fort Monmouth. The parcel was purchased by Eatontown officials from the Fort Monmouth Revitalization Authority in March.
Formerly known as Eatontown Parks Parcel and Nicodemus Gate Parcel, the planned park will be named in memory of James Gurbish, an Eatontown resident who was serving in the U.S. Army when he was killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005.
