January 19, 2010
A Budget Meeting
was held by the Township Council of the Township
of Roxbury on January 19, 2010 at 1715
Route 46, Ledgewood, New Jersey at 7:30 p.m.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Rilee requested a Moment of Silence for the residents of Haiti and for
those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake.
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 December 18, 2009; notice was
posted on the bulletin board in the main hallway of the Municipal Building on
December 18, 2009.
ROLL CALL
(Present): Councilmen Gary Behrens, Councilwoman Kathy
DeFillippo, Deputy Mayor Fred Hall, Councilman Martin Schmidt, Councilman
Timothy Smith and Mayor Jim Rilee
ALSO
PRESENT: Christopher Raths, Township Manager and
Janet Rieth, Deputy Township Clerk
Absent: Councilman
Richard Zoschak was on vacation.
Mayor Rilee advised that he asked Mr. Raths to amend all Budget Agendas
so they will have 2 Public Portions.
REPORTS OF
COUNCIL LIAISON REPRESENTATIVES, COUNCIL COMMITTEES AND NEW BUSINESS/OLD
BUSINESS
A. 2009 Year End Financials
Lisa Spring, Chief
Financial Officer, reviewed the Monthly Revenue Summary and Monthly Expense Summary
for 2009 with Council.
Mr. Hall stated that he feels Verizon should be
contacted as they must be near the 60% completion of the cable installation. Mr. Raths advised that they have not met the
60% requirement and they do not anticipate Roxbury being completed for a couple
of years.
B. 2010 Budget Message
Mr. Raths advised that the Township is
trying to focus on the
accomplishments of previous years. In
the past several years 13 positions have been eliminated, saving the Township a
total of $950,000 in salary and benefits.
This figure includes a reduction of two police officers and one
engineering inspector in 2010. Mr.
Raths further advised that the expenditure per capita has remained flat from
2004 to 2010.
Ms. Spring advised that in April the
Township will go for permanent bonding and we will not have any pay downs on
the Bond Anticipation Notes that will need to go into the Budget. This money will be moved into the Capital
Improvement Fund thereby beginning the "pay as you go" fund. All capital improvement projects would begin
to be funded with that money. Based on
the Auditors recommendations, most of the capital this year, preliminarily,
will be out of cash.
Mr. Raths advised that the State aid
revenue continues to diminish. For 2010,
we have it level funded, but the fund balance is lower that we typically used
in past years. Before we commit
ourselves to traditional fund balance, we would like to see what numbers come
out of Trenton.
Mrs.
DeFillippo asked how much is spent in unfunded Sate mandates. Mr. Raths will forward Council a document he
received showing a complete analysis of all unfunded mandates.
Mr.
Raths stated that the following are some of the major accomplishments for 2010:
Ø
Implementation of lock box program
Ø
On-line payments for utility and tax bills
Ø
Credit card payments
Ø
Increased commitment to resurfacing roadways
Ø
Implementation of employee contributions to
health care
Ø
Reorganization of water and sewer departments
Ø
New banking services with increases in service
and interest
Ø
Automation of permit process
Ø
Development of Recreations and Stewardship
program
Ø
One of the States first communities to comply
with third round COAH obligations
Ø
Recent preliminary notice of Standards and Poor upgrade
to a new bond rating of "AA"
Mr.
Raths advised that the tax bill for Roxbury
Township is 15% less than the average
for other municipalities in Morris
County.
Mr. Raths'
recommendations for 2010 are:
Ø
Provide
$16,000 for maintenance of Horseshoe Lake Monument
and Island areas
Ø
Provide
appropriations for the implementation of Housing Code
Ø
Intensify
the upgrade of tax maps
Mr. Raths
advised that the municipal tax increase on this preliminary would be 5.5
points, or 5.8% at this time. The forces driving the increase are contractual
obligations, health insurance, utilities and pensions.
C.
Capital Budget
Discussion
Mike Kobylarz, Township Engineer
Engineering
Mr.
Kobylarz advised that the Township received funding for the Berkshire Valley
Road
project.
The Righter Road
resurfacing includes repairs and resurfacing from
Hillside Avenue to Mary Louise Avenue. A section of Mary Louise will be spot
repaired and set up for later
resurfacing. The Commerce Boulevard/Righter Road sidewalk
will provide a safe crossing from Willow Walk and the Meadows at the
intersection of Commerce
Boulevard/Righter Road to the Post Office. This will consist of approximately 250 feet
of sidewalk and curbing.
Sewer Utility
The
grinder pump replacements are kept in stock for "as needed" basis.
The
portable message trailer will be shared with the Police Department.
Water Utility
The utility truck that is being replaced
will be used by the Parks Department. It
is a 2 wheel drive vehicle and is not usable in bad weather. The new vehicle for the Water Utility will be
a 4 wheel drive, smaller pick up which could be utilized for repairs and better
for snow and ice conditions. Council asked if Mr. Blood has a small 4 wheel
drive vehicle that could be swapped. Mr.
Raths will speak with Mr. Kobylarz and Mr. Blood for a possible alternative.
Public Works
Richard
Blood, Public Works Director
Road Department
Mr.
Blood advised that the Town wide roadway maintenance covers typical repairs, spot
mill and pave, sidewalk repairs and miscellaneous items.
The
roads for paving this year are King
Road, Nyma
Way and Whitegate
Road. The
Township is looking for a contribution from NJ Natural Gas for King Road since
they put a gas trench down the road.
Sidewalk
maintenance is ongoing. There is a slight reduction from last year. The intent is to move up towards the Mountain.
Mr. Blood will continue to obtain
competitive prices for subcontract catch basin maintenance.
Mr. Blood would like to replace the 1992 John
Deere loader. This would be a tough item
to share with another municipality and the employees could not load material
from the yard without it.
Equipment
Repair
No
discussion
Sanitation/Recycling
Mr. Raths advised that there will be a
presentation in the Spring in regards to converting a significant section of the
Township to ?one arm bandits?.
Minor Capital
Regarding Police
Dispatch, the County is trying to get Randolph and Roxbury on in 2010
IT
Mr. Raths
advised that the Township is on a 4 year rotation cycle for computers.
Buildings and Grounds
Mr. Stierli will
be at the next meeting.
Fire & First Aid
The Fire Chiefs
will attend the next meeting.
Library
Mr. Raths will
confirm the boiler replacement and a discussion will be held at the next
meeting.
Mr. Smith advised that there will be a meeting of
the Government Efficiency Movement (GEM) Committee tomorrow at 5:00 PM here at
Town Hall and Thursday in Morris
Township regarding the
possibility of consolidating government departments.
MATTERS
REQUESTED/REFERRED BY COUNCIL MEMBERS, MANAGER, ATTORNEY OR CLERK
None
PUBLIC
PORTION
None
DRAFT
ORDINANCES FOR DISCUSSION
None
INTRODUCTION
OF PROPOSED ORDINANCES
None
HEARING
AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING
None
DRAFT
RESOLUTION FOR DISCUSSION
None
INTRODUCTION
AND ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS
None
COMMUNICATIONS
January 15, 2010
#6 ? Correspondence from Robert A. Bianchi, Esq.,
Morris County Prosecutor, dated January 5, 2010, re: Information on and Request
to attend the "MORRIS COUNTY-WIDE INTELLIGENCE LED LAW ENFORCEMENT
INITIATIVE" to be presented on both January 25th and 285h from
6:pp PM to 8:00 PM at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy ? Mrs.
DeFillippo will try to attend.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION
None
ADJOURNMENT
At 9:15 PM Deputy Mayor Hall made a motion to adjourn the Budget
Meeting. Mr. Smith seconded the motion.
All In Favor - yes
Submitted By:
________________________
BettyLou DeCroce
Township Clerk
MINUTES
APPROVED BY COUNCIL
DATE: February 9,
2010
ROLL CALL: Mr. Schmidt ? yes Deputy Mayor Hall ? yes
Mr.
Behrens ? yes Mrs. DeFillippo ? yes
Mr.
Smith ? yes Mayor Rilee - yes