Metuchen Borough Council approved hiring a 28th police officer at the meeting earlier this month, a move described by the police chief as a budgetary wash.

The 28th officer will allow the borough to keep in place a full-time traffic safety officer. This is in keeping with council’s priorities to keep driving momentum around the creation of a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly environment in town.

“It was a good idea to have the [police] chief in here talking about the advantages of having a 28th officer and true traffic officer to protect residents and pedestrian safety and bicycle safety and traffic safety,” Metuchen Mayor Thomas Valhalla said at the October meeting.

Chief David Irizarry made a presentation before council last month on the need for 28 police officers. The borough is down to 26 because of a recent resignation. Irizarry had authorization to hire a 27th officer but needed council approval for the 28th.

Irizarry said during his presentation in September the 28th officer would not represent an additional cost to the borough. He said the hiring would basically be a wash since the borough lost a few veteran officers over recent years who were being paid at the top of the salary range.

Officers in Metuchen are paid based on a scale: patrolman’s range runs from a minimum of $41,401 to the maximum of $90,713. Detectives run from $87,537 to $93,580. Sergeant’s range is from $92,691 to $99,089, according to the borough ordinance establishing salary ranges.

Police captain’s range runs from $58,000 to $120,000 and the police chief’s salary range is $68,000 to $130,000.

The Metuchen ‘Stroller Moms’ were out in force at Monday’s Borough Council meeting.

They came to support Police Chief David Irizarry’s request for Council authorization to hire a 28th police officer. The borough is down to 26 officers after a recent resignation, Irizarry said. The Chief has the authority to hire a 27th officer, but needs Council approval to bring on number 28.

Council took the request under consideration and will make a decision at the meeting next month.

The ‘Stroller Moms’, one of whom actually brought her two children in a double-wide stroller to the microphone Monday night, want police to give greater focus to pedestrian safety. They spoke of cars driving through the borough ignoring crosswalks and not allowing pedestrians, including moms with strollers, to cross.

“It’s scary crossing the street,” said ‘Stroller Mom’ Jessica Weiss.

The situation will only get worse as the Pearl Street redevelopment and Whole Foods projects finish, bringing even more traffic into the borough.

Chief Irizarry pledged to keep a sharp focus on pedestrian safety, which he said has already been a top priority of the department. One officer, Ken Bauer, is dedicated to the Street Smart program, a pilot program that seeks to make municipalities more pedestrian friendly. However, Officer Bauer is out on worker’s compensation after being injured on the job this year.

Irizarry made a presentation before Council to try and demonstrate why the borough needs a 28th officer. Twenty eight officers seems to be the magic number of the borough, he said. In 2005, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs audited the borough’s agencies, including the police department, and recommended 28 officers as the minimum for the borough (31 was the maximum recommendation). [Ed note: A copy of the audit report showed the minimum number for the borough was 29. H/T to reader Tom Grant].

With his reduced staff, and with three officers this year on worker’s compensation leave, overtime shifts have gone up to the tune of 46 OT shifts from Jan. 1 to Sept. 14. “32 overtime shifts were due to four-man squads,” Irizarry said, explaining officers normally work in five-person squads.

Besides pedestrian and traffic issues, police perform numerous other functions including responding to calls, patrols, violations enforcement, running the D.A.R.E program and working various events around town. Officers even have to step in and work crossing guard duty when necessary. Metuchen is considering paying a company to provide crossing guards.

The Chief also said lower manpower brings up the issue of officer safety. This is even more important, he said, in today’s environment when every officer has a target on his or her back. “We’re targets these days. The more manpower the better,” he said.

Borough council authorized using $1 million from the sale of land related to the redevelopment of Pearl Street to help fund the Fair Share Housing plan, which calls for the renovation or creation of low income housing units.

Council authorized drawing the money from the parking authority from its sale of land to Woodmont Properties, the developer of the Pearl Street project.

It’s not clear if the money will be used to create new housing, or to renovate already-existing low income housing in the borough. We’ll update this next week when borough government is back to work.

Metuchen’s Fair Share Housing plan, most recently updated in 2008, calls for 42 unit of existing low income housing to be renovated, and one affordable housing unit for every five market rate units created after 2004. Also, the borough is obligated to create one affordable housing unit for every 16 jobs created through expansion or creation of non-residential development.

It’s not clear how much of the plan has been met since 2008. A low income household in Metuchen is one with gross annual income at or below 50 percent of median income. In Metuchen, median income is $101,793 as of June 2014, according to Sperling’s Best Places, so gross annual household income below $50,896 would qualify.

A moderate income household in the borough is one in which gross annual income is more than 50 percent of the median but less than 80 percent, according to the borough’s affordable housing code.