No Issues with the St. Francis Fall Festival

This past October, St. Francis Residential Center hosted a Fall Festival to raise money to keep the center, historic building and staple Denville institution operating. This was truly an amazing community event. Organizations from all across town participated. It created increased visibilty and visits to downtown and rejuveniated our town. Undoubtedly a huge success for Denville.

Unfortunately shortly afterwards there was some minor controversy regarding the event. While the organizers of the event followed every proper protocol and process with the Township, a question regarding the payment of Denville Police & permits arose at a recent council meeting. I was not aware of this until the public portion of a recent Town Council Meeting.

The Mayor did question payment of the police officers used for security at the event as well as the permits. Obviously the permits were obtainted and approved by the Council. They were done months ago at Public Meetings with the Mayor and Council. The question of police payment is a legitimate one although, I firmly believe The Chief of Police should be allowed to manage his deparment the way he sees fit. Each year we approve budgets for the Chief and he has always managed to those budgets impeccably while still delivering the best police force in the county. If he sees a need for a certain amount of officers at certain town events he should be free to assign & budget them as he sees fit.

Naturally I was a bit taken back by the questioning of this event at the last moment. As a Councilperson, it is my job to debate and vocalize my agreement or disagreement with policies of the adminstration. Again, police payment is a legitimate question although this event should not jeopardize any additional overtime. It is something that should have been brought up months ago or should be brought up again during our budget workshops for the next year. I never felt the concern to bring it up because the Administration was fully involved and knows how to manage our township budget appropriately.

The Mayor and I agree on many things but I am not shy to also express myself if we disagree. It is the Mayor's responsiblity to know what his own administration is doing. In this case, they were handling the process of a great Fall Festival in town with proper process. Unbudgeted Police overtime (which is most likely not the case) can not be blamed on the Council. If any event in town grows large enough to demand an excessively large police presence, the idea of sharing that cost with the organizers can be evaluated. However, I don't believe the St. Francis Fall Festival or any of our other town events are even near that level yet.

All in all, This Tradition Reborn in Denville is a great thing for our town. I look forward to it's return October 2, 2011.

Clearing Up The Misconceptions On Property Maintenance.

UPDATED

Property Maintenance Ordinances, Environmental Ordinances & Renter's Township Ordinances are a very delicate subject for local government. We have to find a balance between protecting our health, property values and environment and the role of government in our lives.

I despite large government. And I do not favor strong Federal Government or State Government mandates. Our local government should be an example of This is why the council is working hard to find the right balance on such ordinances.

I would like to have a framework established this year. We have been working with a recent ordinance which the council unanimously defeated that many felt was too overbearing. While I believe we could have amended many of the objectionable items upon passing it proved to be easier to defeat re-introduce as a new ordinance. We will do that in the coming months.

I hope you'll continue to be part of the conversation. Whatever we settle on will be governed locally by your local officials and local residents. Ultimately, we are a small community of neighbors that needs to be involved in this process.

Summing up the 6/15/10 Council Workshop

At last Tuesday's Town Council Workshop, we discussed several items;

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE & ORDINANCE REVIEW

This year the Township Council chose not to commit to the Master Plan of the Highlands Council. This would be a regional plan for development. While there were many attractive environmental protections in the plan, there was still too much uncertainty. We can still evaluate joining the plan over the next several years, I believe it was a good decision to not commit to a State run plan just yet.

instead, we must apply many of those planning principals for ourselves to govern. We have asked our Township Planner to re-evaluate our ordinances. Last Tuesday was the first discussion of some of his suggestions. While I oppose over-bearing government and regulations, I believe it is important for the Township of Denville to have a framework to rectify extreme situations where property maintenance is clearly an health and safety concern. As well, we will also tighten our lighting ordinances and more environmental ordinances. I plan to support these ordinance revisions at introduction and further.

DENVILLE'S POLICE STATION

We also discussed the ongoing issues of our Police Station. While it was determined that the mold in the police headquarters was not threatening, there is no doubt that the building is in bad shape. My position has remained the same, I could not yet support a 1.8 Million renovation of the headquarters. As well others on the council were rethinking their positions. Because there was no longer 5 council members in support of the full renovation, a new consensus was taken on fixing the current issues and expanding the locker room for a much less price tag of $500,000. This money would be bonded over time and will have much less impact on the taxpayer. Most importantly the Police Station desperately needs it and is several years overdue. We can not allow our officers to work in the unacceptable conditions any longer. As well, our Building Manager will look at cost-effective ways to improve the conditions and press harder for other measures that can be accommodated for the lesser price tag. This was just a consensus that will now proceed down the governmental process of issuing an introduction, applying for bonding then final approval.

My Position on the Denville Police Station

Parts of Denville's Police Station are in horrible shape. There is inadequate space in the locker room, evidence room, break area, server room and other areas. They have an unacceptable mold problem in the men's locker room. For several years the Denville Police have been promised renovations. Should the Police Station have been updated when the Municipal Building was completed? - Probably. Should the mold problem and overcrowding been addressed a year ago? Definitely. I was not on Town Council then and I am not interested in passing blame. We have a problem now that needs to be addressed.

This year, the Town Council, with 3 new members, was presented several options to remedy the situation. The first, an immediate "band aid" of approximately $300,000, then 2 other options ranging from 1 million to 1.8 million dollars. The "band aid" solution and smaller priced option would only be temporary solutions. However, any cost would be financed over a long period of time with the hopes of minor tax impact.

At a recent Town Council Workshop, we all committed to finding a solution. However, I couldn't vote to give direction to the architects to preliminarily proceed with 1.8 Million dollar renovation just yet. I have seen the Police station and understand the gravity of the situation. Instead, I would have preferred to immediately approve the $300,000 or slightly more to temporarily fix the immediate problems. Perhaps this would cost more in the long run but after last evening I'm concerned with the process of a new renovation. As well, there are times when you just don't have money to buy a new car and must continue to repair the old car in order to make it through a difficult time. I think we are in those times. Most of the Council supported moving forward with the full expansion, however many had differing ideas on the process. The Mayor also had another new proposal he was looking into. This unclear direction worries me that 2 years from now our police station will be no further than it is now. Therefore I would rather a smaller fix that could be executed quickly to improve the working conditions now.

Regardless of my vote, I am committed to keeping the public informed about the condition and needs of our police station. We have the best Police Department in the County led by an outstanding Chief. Several weeks ago the public tours of the station were cancelled, but they need to be reinstated The awareness campaign must continue. We now need to make sure we follow through with improving the Police Station responsibly.

Withdrawing the Salary Ordinance was the Best Option

Denville's Mayor and his Administration are responsible for negotiating contracts with the Denville Police and Township employees and the Town Council ratifies them. Earlier this year, with much debate, Mayor Ted Hussa's administration made a very strong case to the Council for a proposed negotiation. At first I was wary of the proposed negotiation terms because of salary increases very different from what the private sector was experiencing. However, a strong case was made presenting long term savings in the negotiations. These savings would be realized by concessions of starting salaries, medical contributions and avoiding the costs of arbitration. By state law, contract disputes can be taken to a 3rd party arbitrator. Surrounding towns and Denville have not faired well going to arbitration, even in difficult economic times. This original general plan from the Mayor's Administration was unanimously supported by the Council.

At last Tuesday evening's Denville Town Council meeting, the salary ordinance was up for adoption.   It was very clear that the Mayor's position on his own office's negotiation had changed.  It also appeared extremely likely, that a Mayoral veto would be executed if the ordinance was approved.
Regardless of the Council's opinions of the contract and without hesitation, I seconded the motion of withdrawing the ordinance because of this. The withdrawal was not a vote for or against the ordinance. It was a strong message, which the Council unanimously supported, sending the contract back to the Mayor's office for him to re-evaluate since his position had changed. Denville Town Council awaits an update from the Mayor on how he will proceed.

Whether or not these events will save or cost Denville remain to be seen but as a Councilman I am prepared to debate, research and ask many questions of any new contracts put before the council. These are extraordinary, difficult and rapidly-changing economic times with tough decisions and major sacrifices needed. I am very disappointed with how this all came about and a lack of leadership from our Mayor on this particular instance but look forward to assisting him however I can to provide a solution and move forward. We'll need to resolve this in a way that is very conscious of costs and fair to our officers and township employees.

Council Update - 4/13/10

Regional Board of Education Update.

Last Evening's Town Council Workshop was jam packed. We were first given an update on the Regional Board of Education. The superintendent of Morris Knolls Regional High School, James Jencarelli, discussed the proposed budget. If passed on April 20th, it would result in about a $66 increase per the average Denville home per year. As with most Boards of Education in the state, there were massive cuts of state funding which then resulted in cuts made by the Regional Board. More information can be found at the Regional Board of Ed website.

The Highlands Council

Eileen Swan, Executive Director of the New Jersey Highland Council. This was a very informative presentation. Denville will have a very big decision to make about whether to opt into a regional plan for development and environmental protection. This was the first time this new council was presented to by the Executive Director. By June 8th the Council will have to make a decision on opting into the plan in order to determine our affordable housing requirements. However, we can still opt out at any time. I still remain very open, yet noncommittal to whether or not we opt into the plan and am anxious to see what develops with affordable housing requirements in New Jersey. Currently there are many bills introduced at the state level regarding the Council on Affordable housing. The outcome of these bills will help the decision.

Ordinance Review.

Last evening the Town Council had a lengthy discussion and presentation on light ordinances, sign ordinances and property maintenance ordinances. It was agreed that the Township Planner, Engineer and Health Officer will review and recommend back to the Town Council how we can tighten up and strengthen these ordinances to keep from excessive light pollution and unkempt properties.

Introducing the Budget

At this Tuesday's Town Council Meeting. The Council will introduce the budget prepared by the Mayor and Administration.

The municipal budget makes up 18% of your Denville Property Tax Dollar. The rest of your tax dollar goes to The Regional Board of Education, the Local Board of Education, Morris County Tax and Open Space taxes. While Municipal taxes are a smaller share of the overall tax pie, I still believe in being conservative and cost conscious.

This budget has been a roller coaster ride. Upon first preparation, the Administrator was looking at about $100 increase on the average home. After further work the Administrator and Mayor reduced it to about $70. The council continued to work with the budget during our workshops. Eventually we got the budget down to about $17 for the average household. This was truly a great accomplishment and something I think the whole council supported. However 3 weeks ago, we received word that massive State funding was cut. This immediately erased our hard work and propelled the average cost to about $80 per house. We have continued to work hard and this Tuesday will introduce a budget with a cost increase somewhere in between $50-$60. While I am not thrilled with this, I do realize that many factors, mandates and other things outside our immediate control are affecting this.

In the next several months the Council will partake in workshops aimed at cost savings and efficiencies. Some of these ideas represent new thinking for government. We will look at township vehicles, shared services, new models for town revenue outside of burdening the tax payer and much more. This undoubtedly will help our municipality save in years to come.

When elected to council, someone said to me - "this is not going to be easy". There is no doubt the economy and the buildup of issues this council has inherited are tasking. However, I believe we are now headed in the right direction.