What You Missed at the Borough Commissioners Meeting

It wasn’t all LumberYard talk at the May 7 borough commissioners meeting. Here are five things that happened as well:

1. The meeting went high-tech as an executive from Reader’s Digest Skyped in to present Collingswood with $5,000 from the magazine’s We Hear You, America contest. Reader’s Digest’s Gary Davis said Collingswood “set the pace” with its innovative plan to involve restaurants in . Collingswood took , and will use the funds for public art at . The borough will hold a competition to select the pieces for installation in the park.

2. Commissioners adopted and immediately voted to amend it. The total budget doesn’t change, but the state requested that some line items move around, Mayor James Maley said. A special meeting is scheduled for May 17 at 8 a.m. to adopt the amendment. No residents spoke at the public hearing.

3. Commissioners approved Julian D’Alonzo as a firefighter/EMT on recommendation from chief Keith Davis. Additionally, Elena Benedetti was reappointed as deputy court administrator, Madalyn Deets was appointed municipal alliance coordinator, and Mary Johnson was named to the Board of Trustees of the Collingswood Public Library.

4. Borough commissioners introduced three ordinances appropriating $465,000 for water treatment, sewer infrastructure, and roadway improvements. All these projects are mentioned in the 2012 budget. A public hearing and adoption vote will be held on the three separate ordinances at the June 4 meeting.

5. Collingswood established a “cap bank” that allows the borough to save for a rainy day (i.e., budget year). Under state law, towns that don’t push up against the 2 percent mandatory cap on spending can bank the difference for the future.