Council amends bond ordinance purchases BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - The City Council amended a bond ordinance last week for the purchase of equipment and vehicles for the Department of Public Works At the Nov. 28 municipal meeting, four of the five council members adopted ordinance 24-06 to change which items will be purchased with the bond money. Recently elected Councilman Brian Unger voted against approving the ordinance because, he said, he did not have enough background on the original bond ordinance. One resident felt the council should have voted to remove the ordinance entirely. "Please explain how much the bond is for," asked Harold Bobrow, Ocean Boulevard, at the meeting. City Financial Director Ronald Mehlhorn and members of the council said they did not have the figure available at the meeting. "You don't know, yet you bring it to a meeting and vote on it," Bobrow said. "If you don't know this, you should remove it." Council President Michael DeStefano explained that the money had already been authorized. "I am not voting on any money," DeStefano said, adding that the amount of the bond is available at the City Clerk's Office. The council adopted bond ordinance 21-05 last year, which called for bonding $761,900 to purchase a 32-yard garbage truck, two single-axle bulk metal trucks, a roll-off truck, a bulk metal truck body and a single-axle dump truck. The amended ordinance calls for the purchase of two 32-yard garbage trucks, a bulk metal truck body and four single-axle dump trucks. Mehlhorn said at the meeting that the amendment does not call for increasing the amount of money bonded by the city. Resident Bill McLaughlin, Ocean Avenue, commented during the public portion of the meeting that he was happy to hear a "no" vote from the council. "It seems that there is a breath of fresh air with Brian Unger sitting up there," McLaughlin said. "Tonight I hear a 'no,' " McLaughlin said. "You said you are going to be a people's candidate, and I believe that. We have a chance to serve the people of the town." The council also introduced 13 ordinances at the meeting dedicating streets in the city's redevelopment zones where redevelopment has already taken place, according to DeStefano. The public hearing on the ordinances is scheduled to be held at the Dec. 12 council meeting.