The Somerville Borough Council took a number of actions at their meeting on Monday evening to improve the overall quality of life in Somerville.
At the beginning of the meeting the Borough Council approved and administered the oath of office to 5 new police officers who will fill vacancies left by recent retirements over the past number of months.
The Borough Council also approved the promotions of four veteran police officers to the positions of Lieutenant (2) and Sergeant (2).
In an effort to address continuing quality of life violations throughout town in reference to property maintenance issue, the Borough Council introduced:
ORDINANCE # 2466-15-0316
ADDING TO CHAPTER 95 HOUSING STANDARDS, CREATING ARTICLE II, SECTION 9 ENTITLED LANDLORDS WHO PERMIT REPEATED QUALITY OF LIFE VIOLATIONS BY THEIR TENANTS.
This Ordinance is modeled after a very successful Ordinance in Bound Brook, NJ.
Mayor Gallaher noted that this Ordinance will provide the process for the Borough to enforce repeated violations that have been occurring throughout the Borough. Homeowners work hard to maintain their properties and should be able to have the surrounding properties in their neighborhood maintained as well by the property owners.
The Borough Council also approved the hiring of an additional Deputy Code Enforcement Officer in order to enforce this new Ordinance.