Troubled TWW to be bolstered by new engineers

TRENTON >> Trenton Water Works will be bolstered with new manpower.

City Council Thursday night passed an ordinance creating six positions that will work under Trenton’s Department of Water and Sewer.

West Ward Councilwoman Robin Vaughn also used Thursday’s meeting as an opportunity to urge the Mayor Reed Gusciora administration to hold a job fair or open house event seeking to hire city residents to work at Trenton Water Works.

Under the newly passed ordinance, a chief engineer, four environmental engineers and a water sample collector can now work for the city under those titles. They would “oversee and coordinate the many projects and processes being carried out by the Department of Water and Sewer.”

The salary of the chief engineer would be between approximately $111,000 and $153,000. The environmental engineers would be paid on a range as low as approximately $43,000 and as much as about $110,000, according to the ordinance. The water sample collector’s salary range would be between approximately $30,000 and $46,000.

Trenton Water Works over the last 12 months has experienced a rocky year defined by a record level of noncompliance, including distribution of overly contaminated water.

City Council also passed an ordinance establishing a formal process for establishing honorary street names. The council passed that ordinance following a controversy from last year in which Charles Brinson, the leader of Brinson Memorial Church, lobbied City Council to pass a resolution honoring his parents, Eldest Charles and Tardy Brinson, by renaming a stretch of Brinton Avenue into Brinson Memorial Drive. The son who pushed the resolution had a checkered past.

Trenton Public Schools will have the option to hire retired law-enforcement officers as “Class 3 special law enforcement officers” thanks to another ordinance that City Council passed Thursday. Other school districts in the area have already implemented Class 3 officers for extra security. Class 3 officers cost less than fullfledged municipal cops.

Also at Thursday’s City Council meeting, Councilman Jerell Blakeley delivered public comments complimenting The Trentonian for its ongoing coverage of issues of importance in the capital city. At the same time, he chastised the Times of Trenton for its minimal news coverage, alleging the Times had “abdicated” its responsibility to report city news. He said Trenton has effectively been reduced to a “one-paper town” due to this newspaper outperforming the competition in local news coverage.

Trenton’s municipal government has designated The Trentonian and the Times of Trenton as the city’s official newspapers of record. The city by law is required to advertise certain notices in the newspapers of record.

Councilwoman Vaughn on Thursday also recommended that any resolution to award a contract should “be accompanied with an invoice.” City Council on Thursday passed a resolution to rescind a duplicate resolution that had authorized approximately $31,000 to be paid to Gres Paving Co. The city never made a double payment to that contractor for an emergency roadway repair, but Vaughn was troubled by the fact that Trenton City Council on two separate occasions had passed a duplicate resolution authorizing approximately $31,000 in payments to Gres Paving Co., a Hamiltonbased private company.