Council did not ring in the new year on a high note as the same old tensions between Council and administration, and also within Council, emerged at the reorganization and Council meeting Monday, January 5.
The 2015 Council will be the same as last year, with Bryan Maher presiding as Council President and Linda Geevers serving as Council Vice President. Maher was elected 3-1 and Geevers was elected 4-0. Council member Kristina Samonte had the flu and was absent. Council member George Borek cast the lone dissenting vote.
After the meeting, Borek said he could not support Maher for the officer position given his “my way or the highway” approach and lack of decorum on the dais the past year.
“We’re elected by the community. I may disagree with someone, but certainly one thing is I don’t go screaming or yelling at my colleagues or the residents. The way Mr. Maher has acted, I don’t think that’s what a Council president should be, or anyone of us on Council. From my perspective he acts like a bully,” Borek says.
At last year’s reorganization meeting Borek and Samonte voted no for both Maher and Geevers. Added Borek: “Last year Samonte and I did not receive a call about both positions. How can you vote for someone if you’ve never had a discussion about it? Mr. Maher did reach out to me this year, but I cannot in good conscience vote for someone that disrespects not only their colleagues but residents in the community.”
There is a consensus that Council will be facing decisions on several important projects in 2015. Geevers said longstanding issues include municipal complex renovations, EMS plans, the Cranbury Road sidewalk, and stormwater management in Penns Neck. The budget considerations for these projects will be considerable, and this year the administration must propose a budget by February 12.
“We’re getting to the point where we want to nail down where we want to go,” Geevers said, noting the municipal complex roof and other building efficiencies such as heating and ventilation are a high priority.
Decisions by Council are pending additional information. The administration is preparing reports on the Cranbury Road sidewalk and the flooding issue in Penns Neck, as well as a request for proposals for an architect specializing in EMS buildings.
However the disconnect between the majority of Council and the administration was apparent when Mayor Shing-fu Hsueh, making his first appearance at Council in months, and Maher separately commented on the municipal building renovations and EMS project.
Maher has indicated the top priority is to first resolve the EMS work space, advocating to break up the project into “bite size chunks,” an approach which he says will decrease the likelihood of a big project going over budget. At the December 8 meeting Council favored the option of building a new EMS building next to the firehouse on Clarksville Road.
“The mayor and administration mentioned doing it all at once. We’re not of the same mind. You kind of need to do one before the other,” Maher said after the meeting. “Because we are putting EMS in a different location, we’re not making major alterations. There’s no reason you can’t fix the roof now, there’s no excuse not to do it.”
The concept plan presented by the Spiezle Group at the June 9 Council meeting noted municipal building physical upgrades as the highest priority (The News, June 13, 2014). The Spiezle report broke the entire project into phases and estimated a total cost of around $5 million for building alterations, upgrades, and an EMS building.
Mayor Hsueh has emphasized the high cost of continual maintenance expenditures to patch up the municipal building, and is not opposed to a phased plan.
“It’s not just EMS, it’s the whole renovation of the municipal complex,” Hsueh said after the meeting. “The only thing is if we break it into phases, the important thing is a logical sequence. We can’t do a little bit here and a little bit there, it has to be comprehensive.”
Added Hsueh: “When you want to fix the roof, you need to look at the utilities on top of the roof. Engineers call it critical path, you can’t do B without doing A. The proposal didn’t say you have to do it all together, you have a combination of scenarios. I didn’t mean that it would be done in one shot. The problem is we never really had a dialogue.”
#b#Township attorney flare up.#/b# For the second straight year, Council began the New Year embroiled in a heated debate regarding the status of township attorney Michael Herbert. Last month the township commissioned a legal report to examine the status of Herbert, who as the incumbent attorney has been representing the township despite Council never having approved of his nomination. A 3-2 Council majority led by Maher twice rejected Herbert’s nomination in 2014.
The report by William John Kearns, the general counsel for the State League of Municipalities, maintains the incumbent township attorney can continue to hold over if the administration and Council are at an impasse. Maher said the report does not resolve the “stalemate,” and that he shared the report with his advisers for further consideration.
Hearing this, Herbert interjected and said releasing the report to members of the public without permission violates attorney-client privilege, in this case between the township and Kearns. A heated exchange ensued, with Maher saying he is the client and responding to Herbert, “I don’t care.”
After the meeting Maher confirmed he reviewed the content of the report with several of his advisers, whom he did not name.
“If something is sent to me and it doesn’t say confidential information, I’m going to assume it’s not confidential information,” Maher says. “The report still leaves open, in our minds, some questions. What we’re going to do with that, I don’t really know. I’m not a big fan of lawsuits in any way, less litigation to me is better.”
#b#Road safety task force.#/b# Council also indicated the future establishment of a committee or task force to review and prepare a report on road safety issues.
Said Geevers: “Many areas in town are very dark, there is simply no lighting provided. There are township and county roads that need to be prioritized for lights. Another issue is medians, like on Village Road West, New Edinburg Road, Lanwin Boulevard, when you drive at night sometimes you don’t see those medians right away. We might be able to put reflectors on them. It’s difficult to see, no question.”
#b#December 22 Recap.#/b# Four ordinances were passed relating to public health and quality of life, and two of which finalized the Akselrad open space purchase. Amendments were made to the “nuisance” ordinance for the purpose of promoting public health through establishing new provisions and standards. The township Health Officer will determine whether an alleged infraction constitutes a violation. The noise ordinance was also passed.
The two other ordinances pertained to the purchase of the 11.47-acre Akselrad parcel for more than $600,000. According to township land use manager Sam Surtees, more than $300,000 in county and state grants are expected to offset the purchase. The open space is located off Normandy Drive, abutting the train tracks on the north side.
#b#Historical Society of West Windsor.#/b# In lieu of a formal lease, the township and the Historical Society of West Windsor have entered into an memorandum of understanding (MOU). Council approved the MOU, in which the Historical Society agrees to assume the responsibility of managing the buildings located on the Schenck farmstead.
Residents John Church and Marshall Lerner strongly opposed a lease, citing the requirement that the Historical Society requires 501(c)3 nonprofit status. The Society is a registered nonprofit in New Jersey, but it is not registered as a federal nonprofit.
#b#Ellsworth redevelopment update.#/b# Council approved the Planning Board’s recommendation to add two residential lots adjacent to the Ellsworth center to the redevelopment area. Shawn Ellsworth owns the two properties, which were granted variances in 2013 for use as a parking lot and as a stormwater detention basin. With redevelopment designation land use jurisdiction is given to the Planning Board, and the two lots would no longer require Zoning Board variances.
Jacinto Rodrigues, the owner of the blighted property between the Ellsworth center and the train tracks, has litigated against the variances (The News, October 24).
Township clerk recognized. Valerie Pascucci was recognized for her 25 years of service to the township at the December 22 Council meeting. A West Windsor resident, Pascucci started in the Clerk’s office in 1989.
Council also approved the purchase of a new traffic speed sign for $17,500 from MPH Industries; the two-year extension of shared animal control services with East Windsor for $16,000 per year; additional design services from Van Cleef Engineering Associates for sewer repairs on North Post Road for $8,673. At the January 5 meeting, Council approved the purchase of a 2015 Jeep Patriot from Hertrich Fleet Services Inc. for $19,738.75 to replace a 2006 Jeep Liberty.
