After four years, borough hall will not have modified hours from June till September. A schedule that started in 2013 and had borough hall open for 47 hours whittled away to having borough offices open for 37½ hours last year during the summer.
This year, council initially proposed a change that would have borough hall open for 39 hours. Borough hall employees then proposed the following schedule that had borough offices for 40 hours:
| Day | Hours Of Operation |
|---|---|
| Monday | 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. |
| Thursday | 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. |
| Friday | CLOSED |
The employees’ proposal would have had all four nights open late with Tuesday and Wednesday being open till 6 p.m. and Monday and Thursday open till 7 o’clock at night. The practice of having Roselle Park Borough Hall closed on Fridays from the week after Memorial Day to the week before Labor Day would have remained.
At the May 4th municipal meeting, council – without consulting the employees – amended and voted on a new schedule pending approval by the staff. It was revealed at the May 10th Captial Budget Workshop that it was voted down. Due to sewer bills – which included borough hall hours – needing to be printed, there was no time to reconsider a change in the summer hours. Since the proposal by council was rejected, the default regular hours remained.
During the vote discussion at the May 4th municipal meeting, Fifth Ward Councilman Thomas ‘Thos’ Shipley proposed the new summer hours. He said, “We do this every year and I’m just not finding the sense in it except for the increase in the hours for people who can’t be there which, that is a good reason to change the hours.”
Originally, the new proposed hours offered by Councilman Shipley had Wednesday as the late night. Borough hall would have been opened all five days a week. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ken Blum suggested that the late night be changed from Wednesday to Thursday, due to court and municipal meetings being on that day. After consideration, the CFO’s recommendation was agreed upon. Councilman Shipley stated, “I chose Wednesday because I thought staying later on a Thursday and then having to come in earlier on a Friday would cause more difficulty but . . . It makes more sense because the council meetings are also on [Thursday].”
| Day | Hours Of Operation |
|---|---|
| Monday | 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. |
| Thursday | 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. |
| Friday | 7:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. |
“I’m also making the suggestion as something to do year-round,” continued the fifth ward councilman, “If the main purpose of this – as we keep saying every year – is to facilitate more access and services for the residents, the question keeps coming up is why are we only doing it only during the summer and I don’t mean the Fridays off, to be clear . . . Let’s come up with a schedule that we can do year-round that actually does that for the residents.”
A conversation among members of council discussed what would need to happen to make the changes year-round. Borough Clerk Andrew Casais stated that there might be issues with inspectors’ schedules since they are currently part-time. First Ward Councilman Eugene Meola suggested that the resolution be tabled until the unions and actual employees review the changes proposed by council.
“I can’t see going with the same old thing,” commented Councilman Shhipley, “To me it doesn’t make any sense.”
Upon the recommendation of the borough clerk, council voted on the proposed change in schedule with only Second Ward Councilman Joseph Petrosky voting ‘no’.
Borough hall will be open year-round this year 8:30 a.m. till 4:30 pm. Monday through Friday – excluding holidays.