Town Pensions, Firefighter Contract Top This Week's Local News

Belleville Suspends Pension Payments for Three

The Belleville mayor and council suspended pension payments to three township attorneys after a state report came out that said they were improperly enrolled in the state pension system. The Township Attorney, Assistant Township Attorney and Prosecutor were among nearly 200 New Jersey professionals who continued to collect pension credits, despite state laws designed to remove those professionals from the state’s pension system,

will vote on a new contract on Sept. 11th that has already gotten the endorsement of the township council The four-year contract was approved by the council in August and according to township officials it will give firefighters a 2 percent increase retroactively in 2012, another 2 percent in 2013 and 2014 respectively, but only a .75 increase in 2015.

Belleville library officials are partnering with a group that helps overseas troops call home. The Belleville Public Library and Information Center and the non-profit group are asking Belleville residents to help troops call home by donating gently-used cell phones. The cell phone group officials say that with ongoing deployments to combat areas and elsewhere, as many as 369,000 troops are serving in the U.S. military overseas.

The Township of Belleville has agreed to rebuild the Friendly House recreation facility – and has the money to do so – thanks to a Community Development Block Grant. But it appears some of the details haven’t been ironed out, such as whether to add air conditioning to the building. Arguments apparently broke out among council members during a private session on Tuesday and those in attendance could overhear some of the heated exchanges about the Friendly House.