January
15, 2008
A Budget Meeting was held by the Township Council
of the Township of Roxbury on January 15, 2008 at 1715 Route 46, Ledgewood, New
Jersey at 7:30 p.m.
OPEN PUBLIC MEETING STATEMENT
Adequate notice of this
meeting of the Township Council of the Township of Roxbury was given as
required by the Open Public Meetings act as follows: Notice was faxed to the Daily Record, the
Newark Star Ledger and the Roxbury Register on January 8, 2008; notice was posted
on the bulletin board in the main hallway of the Municipal Building on January
8, 2008.
ROLL CALL: Councilman Gary Behrens, Deputy Mayor Kathy
DeFillippo, Councilmen Fred Hall, Jim Rilee, Martin Schmidt and Mayor Tim Smith
ALSO PRESENT: Christopher Raths, Township Manager; Lisa Palmieri,
Chief Financial Officer and BettyLou DeCroce, Township Clerk
ABSENT: Councilman Richard Zoschak
REPORTS OF COUNCIL LIAISON
REPRESENTATIVES, COUNCIL COMMITTEES AND NEW BUSINESS/OLD BUSINESS.
Christopher Raths, Township
Manager and Lisa Palmieri, Chief Financial Officer; discussed the Capital
Budget 2008.
·
Capital Budget Discussion
Capital Objectives
v
Meet the pay as you go plan
v
Implement the top 50 Roads Hit List
Offsite Contribution fund
$100,000.
Prior year Capital
Ordinances $220,000.
v
Implement the Sidewalk Priority Map
v
Implement the Operation Catch Basin
v
Initiate Phase 1 of Recreation Improvements (only after public hearing)
v
Evaluate all Fire Equipment and develop Multi-department Comprehensive
Plan
Mr. Raths discussed with the
Council the capital budget summary and total debt service.
Further discussions took
place with regard to Engineering – completed projects,2008 pending projects,
DPW Facility, vehicle replacement, road department projects, recreation – 2007
projects, sewer utility 2007 projects, water utility 2008 projects, 2008
Capital Budget Summary.
Operating Budget Discussion
v
Budget Objectives
v
Revenues
v
Expenditures
v
New Programs/Initiatives
Mr. Raths and Ms. Palmieri
discussed with Council the operating budget objectives for 2008.
Further discusses took place
with regard to minimizing impact on tax rate, comparison of Roxbury Township to
other municipalities, operating expense budget, stabilize expenditure growth,
forces driving the budget, departmental achievements and goals, Roxbury Township
2007 TO Do List, Roxbury Township 2008 To Do List, new programs and initiatives
and budget summary.
Mr. Raths advised the
Council that the current draft budget would have an average impact of $124.00
per household.
MAYOR SMITH AMENDED THE
ORDER OF BUSINESS AT THIS TIME TO THE PUBLIC PORTION:
MATTERS REQUESTED/REFERRED
BY COUNCIL MEMBERS, MANAGER, ATTORNEY OR CLERK.
PUBLIC PORTION
Fran Day
7 Orben Drive
Landing, New
Jersey
Ms. Day asked what is the percentage of roads being paved in
the Township. Mr. Raths stated
2.3%.
Ms. Day asked if old sidewalks are the developer’s
responsibility. Mr. Raths advised that
the Developer is not responsible once the township takes ownership. Ms. Day further questioned the current status
of the Landing Road Project. Mr. Raths
stated the attorney’s are reviewing it.
Ms. Day also asked what we do with old vehicles and the tax
impact. Mr. Raths stated that we auction
off the vehicles we can no longer use and the tax impact is 7.7 points on a
home assessed at $200,000.00.
Robert Church
256 Eyland
Avenue
Mr. Church asked what the cost is for medical coverage for
township employees. He felt that they
should be contributing more. Mr. Church
is concerned as to the cost of property taxes and feels that the seniors are
being pushed out of the township.
Fran Day
7 Orben Drive
Landing, New
Jersey
Ms. Day had questions regarding the surplus in the Roxbury
Board of Education budget. Council
advised Ms. Day that they are not in a position or have the power to tell the Board
of Ed how much surplus they should carry.
Further, Ms. Day had a concern that if the turf field is on Board of
Education property, than who will control its use. Mr. Raths will be setting up a meeting with
the Board of Ed for further discussions pertaining to Shared Services.
AT THIS TIME MAYOR SMITH AMENDED THE ORDER OF BUSINESS TO
DISCUSS NEW BUSINESS/OLD BUSINESS:
Mr. Rilee stated that there was a resolution handed out for
discussion this evening pertaining to the new NJ Transit train station. Mr. Rilee would like Council to consider
approving this resolution this evening to petition NJ Transit to include the
name Roxbury Township on the station. Roxbury is a major corridor for the train
station and it would help passengers to identify this location with both
names.
Mr. Rilee made a motion to approve 08-38 “A Resolution
Requesting That New Jersey Transit Rename The Train Station Located On Howard
Boulevard At The Boarder Of Mt. Arlington And Roxbury Township The “Mt.
Arlington/Roxbury Train Station”. Ms.
DeFillippo seconded the motion.
Roll Call: Mr.
Rilee – Yes Ms. DeFillippo – Yes
Mr.
Behrens – Yes Mr. Hall – Yes
Mr.
Schmidt – Yes Mayor Smith – Yes
Motion Carried 6 to 0
Mr. Rilee brought up for discussion the impact of the proposed
new COAH regulations. Mr. Rilee
believes that the township should reactivate the COAH Committee.
Mr. Rilee made a motion to reactivate the committee and the
members would consist of Ms. DeFillippo, Mr. Rilee, Mr. Hall, Russell Stern,
Township Planner, Christopher Raths, Township Manager and any other
professionals deemed necessary to be a part of the committee. The Committee
would be charged with making recommendations with a plan of action to the Mayor
and Council. Ms. DeFillippo seconded the
motion.
Roll Call: Mr.
Rilee – Yes Ms. DeFillippo – Yes
Mr.
Behrens – Yes Mr. Hall – Yes
Mr.
Schmidt – Yes Mayor Smith – Yes
Motion Carried 6 to 0
Councilman Hall asked Mr. Raths if the debris on the Eyland Avenue
walkway was cleaned up from the construction.
Mr. Raths stated that it was.
DRAFT ORDINANCES FOR DISCUSSION
None
ORDINANCES TO BE INTRODUCED
None
HEARING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING
None
DRAFT RESOLUTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
None
INTRODUCTION AND ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS
None
COMMUNICATIONS
January 11, 2008
Mr. Rilee made a motion to
file the communications. Mr. Schmidt
seconded the motion.
Roll Call: All In Favor – Yes
Motion Carried 6 to 0
EXECUTIVE SESSION
None
ADJOURNMENT
At 9:25 PM Mr. Rilee made a
motion to adjourn the Budget/Workshop Meeting.
Mr. Behrens seconded the motion.
Roll Call: All In Favor – Yes
Motion Carried 6 to 0
Submitted By:
_______________________
BettyLou
DeCroce
Township Clerk
MINUTES APPROVED BY COUNCIL:
DATE: March 11, 2008
ROLL CALL: Mr. Schmidt – yes Mr.
Zoschak – abstain
Mr. Behrens – yes Mr. Hall – yes
Mr. Rilee – yes Mayor Smith - yes