A special meeting of the East Amwell Township Committee came to order at 7:00 PM. Present were Mayor Larry Tatsch, Deputy Mayor Linda Lenox (arrived during the meeting), and Committee members Patricia Cregar, Peter Kneski, and Timothy Martin. Township Administrator Timothy Matheny and Treasurer Jane Luhrs were also in attendance.

In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a copy of notice of this meeting was filed in the Clerk's Office, posted on the bulletin board, and sent to the Hunterdon County Democrat, Times of Trenton, and Star Ledger on July 2, 2008. The purpose of this meeting is to meet with the Treasurer/CFO and the Township Administrator to discuss an amendment to the 2008 budget. The public is invited to attend and comment. Action may or may not be taken.

Mayor Tatsch noted that the State cut the local budget by $167,700, restored $35,723 earlier in the year, and recently changed the restored figure to $107,969. The governing body's strategic approach was to wait until the state finalized the restoration figure and adopt the budget after that time. The municipal increase is less than 2%, which was a minor increase similar to last year. The budget was cut in certain appropriation areas, and the Treasurer advises that if the appropriations are not increased, it will have a negative effect on the cap next year and may affect the Township’s ability to pay bills. Mrs. Luhrs went through the budget and made recommendations to increase appropriations throughout, which she reviewed earlier today with Mr. Tatsch and Mr. Matheny. Mr. Tatsch suggested that Mrs. Luhrs outline the proposed changes and the Township Committee would have an opportunity to discuss them.

Mrs. Luhrs explained that it is a rarity to add $107,000 to a budget. The resolution provided to the Township Committee outlined the suggested changes. Under Revenues, the ANJEC grant for the conservation easement project will show $1,400. Also under Revenues, there was a typing error in the original budget and figures for Spring Hill Road and Back Brook Road capital projects were reversed; this will be fixed in tonight's budget amendment.

Mrs. Luhrs explained that appropriations can be inside and outside the cap. The current budget is $160,000 below the cap due to previous cuts. Next year, the cap will be based on this year's appropriations, and having a low figure under cap will have a negative effect on the budget (i.e., amount to increase). Her recommendation was to increase line appropriations, and she went through the line items she suggested to be restored. She also noted increase costs for utilities and the replacement of an air conditioner; the air conditioner cost was $16,000.

Mrs. Luhrs highlighted the following items as listed in the resolution being proposed this evening:

General Administration - Change $47,200 to $57,200, which will include increase expenses for postage and paper products, among other items.

Municipal Clerk - Increase the line item to add $900 for advertising expenses.

Auditor - Add $800 for an additional bill for work on the public assistance account audit.

Tax Assessment - The Ridge at Back Brook Appeal required the hiring of a professional at a cost of $8,500, and there is an additional $15,200 for legal and other fees associated with appeals.

Legal - The line was increased $10,000 to cover expenses for lawsuits and deductibles.

Engineering - This line was increased from $9,000 to $29,000. The 2008 bills paid to date have exceeded the original $9,000, and there are approximately $9,000 in additional bills submitted for payment. The engineer has been doing work on Spring Hill and Back Brook Road projects, and he was asked to submit an application for a NJ Department of Transportation Grant. Mr. Tatsch commented on using the engineer to apply for grant funding, i.e., an investment of a few thousand dollars to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid. Once all bills are paid, there should be approximately $10,000 left for the rest of the year in this line.

Unemployment Insurance - The Township is self-insured, with a specific amount in this fund. There was a claim last year and one this year, which depleted the fund. The recommendation was to increase the appropriation from $5,000 to $15,000.

Streets and Roads - The amount was increased from $73,000 to $87,000, which was the amount of the original request from the DPW Superintendent before budget cuts were made. Increased costs in materials are anticipated, and the restored funding will assist.

Buildings and Grounds - The amount was reduced to $30,000 and funding restored to $50,000 and including the "round off" figure of $969 for a total of $50,969. There have been bills of $20,000 already, including the $16,000 for the new air conditioner.

Vehicle Maintenance - The line item was increased by $2,000.

Environmental Commission - This budget line item was reduced from $6,300 to $3,300 based on the removal of the $3,000 for the ANJEC grant. The grant is now located in the Matching Grant budget, showing a figure of $2,000.

Animal Control Officer - There was nothing in a salary line for this position. There was $6,000 in Other Expenses budgeted. Moving $500 into a Salary and Wage line will allow the Township the option of hiring their own employee, if they so desire. Currently, an agreement has been reached with the Hunterdon County Humane Society to provide services through the end of the year. Raritan Township will have to be paid for the first half of 2008. Payments for these services will come from the Animal Trust Account and current operating budget.

Electricity - $3,000 was added to this line item for increased costs.

Street Lighting - $500 was added to this line item.

Fuel Oil - The line was increased from $6,500 to $8,000 for municipal building fuel oil.

Gasoline - This line was budgeted at $14,000. June bills were almost $2,000 alone. The line was increased to $25,000.

ANJEC Grant - This was mentioned earlier that the Township received a $1,400 grant; the line was increased from $0 to $1,400. The local share will be budgeted at $2,000.

Mrs. Luhrs referred to her spreadsheet showing the introduced and amended budgets, based on tonight's changes. The local tax rate will remain at $0.1419 with the same increase of $0.0019 or 1.43% increase. Mr. Tatsch explained that this works out to about $8.00 per household.

Mr. Tatsch asked for comments from the governing body. Mr. Martin and Mrs. Cregar were appreciative of Mrs. Luhrs efforts and agreed with the suggestions, stating that Mrs. Luhrs "did a great job." Mr. Martin commented on having a seven month history this year to judge expenditures. Mrs. Luhrs commented that in March (prior to the budget introduction), an extraordinary amount of engineering assistance was not anticipated (i.e., work on grant projects, submission of a subsequent year grant, etc.). Mrs. Luhrs commented on help in planning for next year's budget, i.e., any funds not expended this year will be closed into surplus and reapplied to next year's budget.

Mr. Tatsch stated that this was a good segway into the next discussion, which was police services. Mr. Tatsch recently attended a meeting in Hope Township; Hope Township Mayor Timothy McDonough (who is also First Vice President of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities) acted as moderator. The meeting occurred in the 23rd Legislative District, where Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow serves. Over 30 attendees participated, and the overall consensus of the group was that they should refuse to pay for state police services. Mr. Tatsch explained that the state has been trying to come up with figures to assess the over 100 municipalities who use state police services. This figure originally started at $80,000,000 and has been reduced to $12,500,000. The figure assessed to East Amwell would be $150,000 per year for coverage (down from over $530,000 if the original figure of $80,000,000 was used); however, the state would begin billing from July 1, 2008, and next year, an additional $75,000 would have to be budgeted to pay the 2008 costs. Mrs. Cregar asked if the amount would cover service as is currently being given; Mr. Tatsch stated that no information had been given on that topic. Mr. Tatsch explained that Assemblywoman Karrow is looking at various state statutes to see whether the State Police are legally able to cut off services if municipalities refuse to pay. Mrs. Cregar noted that East Amwell's services are negligible, based on the monthly report received from the State Police. Other municipalities in different barracks are unable to get usage reports for their municipalities; a copy of our report was sent to Ms. Karrow for her information. Mr. Tatsch commented on the importance of the municipalities in banding together as a united front and being prepared for ramifications, i.e., the next steps if rural patrol disappears.

Mr. Tatsch suggested options to consider: 1) participating in the current shared service study with the City of Lambertville and West Amwell Township - the report will not be available until this time next year and could not be implemented until 2010; 2) by January 1, 2009, consideration will have to be given to "buying" state police service or not doing anything and seeing what occurs; 3) contacting other municipalities to ask about coverage. Mayor Tatsch has already directed Mr. Matheny to make serious inquiries with neighboring towns for coverage. Raritan Township has already approached East Amwell about assisting. It was agreed that a level of service would have to be established prior to soliciting prices.

Mr. Martin asked about negotiating a price with the State, i.e., based on the statistical data for current police coverage in the municipality, could a lesser fee for services be considered, e.g., $42,000 based on call volume and man-hours. Mr. Tatsch said that this could be suggested; however, besides calls, the State Police also patrols the municipality. Mr. Matheny commented on the variables and the bottom line, i.e., the State Police would want a certain amount of dollars for patrols and calls for 24 hour coverage. Further discussion included the following highlights: Mr. Martin felt that the state fee could be negotiated for current services rendered based on existing records or request that the "bar be raised" to provide more service for the fee; Mr. Matheny explained that each barracks works independently, and the Kingwood Barracks has a good working relationship with East Amwell Township; the statistical information collected and copied to East Amwell is actually data required to be kept by the Trenton Headquarters and is used in conjunction with other data, such as call volume, low crime index, response time, etc.; there was some consensus that $150,000 for service seemed reasonable; some comments were exchanged for the rationale to charge municipalities, e.g.., incentive to reduce rural policing, over-worked barracks at present time with police who will still remain busy even if they do not patrol rural communities, intent to cut staffing and costs, intent to increase traffic patrols on major highways, increased anti-terrorism patrols, etc.; Mr. Tatsch commented on the irony of the State's shared services campaign, noting that rural patrol by State Police has been going on as a "shared service" for over 80 years through the State providing services to municipalities, which is being cut; Mr. Tatsch felt that the cost for coverage would be unfair to rural communities by demanding a great expense for this coverage.

Discussion continued, as follows: Mrs. Cregar asked Mrs. Luhrs about police costs in West Amwell Township; Mrs. Luhrs noted that West Amwell police salaries are over $500,000, not including social security, pension, uniforms, police cars, and vehicle maintenance for five, full-time employees and one part-time officer. Mr. Matheny explained that the municipality would need 4.2 people for 24/7 coverage, not including days off for vacation, holidays, training, etc.; he provided specific information on this type of coverage. Mr. Tatsch asked about having a small part-time local force during the day and having the state police patrol on off-hours; further comments were made about costs for such.

Mrs. Luhrs concluded that by keeping the budget tight this year, she will be able to cancel some funding to surplus at the end of the year for use, and the remainder of the cost for police service (i.e., either $225,000 or the amount if a different contract is pursued) will have to be planned in 2009.

Committee members agreed that contracting for less than the amount suggested by the State may be a difficulty. Mr. Matheny will continue to collect information from other municipalities as he explores other options. Mr. Tatsch suggested getting information for an "on-call" basis without active patrol. Mr. Matheny explained that the police, in whatever capacity they serve, take on the Township's liability, e.g., if someone dies, a domestic incident gets out of control, problem with response time, etc.; he stated that whatever route is taken, the police will be required to give their best efforts. Mr. Kneski would like to see some routine on-call patrols; some discussion on the response time in relationship to the Township’s geography took place. Mr. Tatsch commented on Raritan Township's approach to provide assistance earlier, commenting on their possible attempt to reduce their police costs. Mr. Matheny will keep the Township Committee up to date on his investigative efforts for service.

Mr. Tatsch asked Mr. Kneski about his previous requests to have the engineer develop a five- year road project plan. Mr. Kneski agreed that he would like to have the plan because it would be a good working tool for capital road projects and would keep the residents abreast of projects slated for up-coming years. It would be helpful in terms of cost estimates and in applying for state aid and grants. Mr. Kneski further explained that the Engineer and DPW Superintendent did put a list together ranking roads for repair; the next step would be to hone in on critical capital projects and spread them out over a five year time frame. He would like to formalize the work over the summer. Mr. Kneski will speak with Engineer O'Neal to get an estimate of the costs involved for completing this work. Mr. Tatsch commented on the possibility of having some money left over in this year's budget after November (i.e., perhaps $3,000) to finalize the list and utilize it for capital road project consideration in 2009.

Dennis Hajek, 18 Rocktown Hill Road, wanted to compliment the governing body as a resident; he felt that the Township Committee “did an unbelievable job” on the budget. He would like to send all of them, including “Marshall Matheny,” to Trenton. Mr. Hajek appreciated the research being done on police coverage in the Township and as a voice of the public, he was more concerned with what type of coverage to be received more than what the cost would be. He added that the quality, dignity, and character of the municipality was more important, and he appreciated the efforts being made.

Mr. Tatsch stated that he has not gotten any calls from residents about police concerns, but he is writing an article for the VIP about police options in hopes that this will give the public opportunity to provide input. Another suggestion was to put the information on the website to solicit comments.

Ms. Lenox arrived at the meeting at this time.

Mr. Hajek commented as Vice Chairman of the Recreation Committee. He provided the “East Amwell Soccer Field Repair Project Update 7-7-08, which provided the following: “Field Status Update – currently neither field is useable due to surface conditions and both fields are worse than ever due to lack of top soil; Project Status Update – well and electrical phases have been quoted two times and with a few surprises, including costs, field one deterioration, and soil; Scope of Project has grown but objective still remains the same – need to purchase and spread 12 truckloads of top soil per field, need to fund raise about $15,000 more, may need to do one field at a time, request for balance of capital funds to purchase soil as South County Soccer League (SCSL) is looking to take the lead on the irrigation project and balance will cover top soil for one field.”

Mr. Hajek provided a brief history of the soccer field project for the benefit of the new Township Committee members, with the following highlights: there are 270 children in the SCSL program, and neither field at the school (on the former Reiter property) are suitable for use now because of divets and sparse grass, which is due to the fact that there is no top soil; teams have been sent to temporary fields until the fields are ready for use; the scope of the original irrigation project has changed, including two phases for the well and irrigation system and the electrical work; the quotes for the work were altered in a couple of ways to try to minimize costs; while not included in the original scope of work, the soil is part of the equation, which is causing deterioration of the fields; the cost for delivery of 12 truckloads of top soil to one field is $6,000, and Mr. Hajek provided specifics on how the topsoil would be spread (i.e., amount of soil, spread by volunteers, etc.). Mr. Hajek provided budgetary information, i.e., $6,000 per field for topsoil for two fields in the amount of $12,000, $15000 for the pump, and $12,000 for the irrigation system. Mr. Hajek recommended fixing one field at a time, suggesting take $15,000 from the existing ordinance in the amount of $20,000, and using the remaining $5,000 for top soil since that amount of money will not cover the $12,000 for irrigation.

Mrs. Luhrs read from the existing ordinance appropriating the $20,000 for the irrigation project at the school; if the soil is considered a part of the project, the funding for soil could come from the ordinance. There was a consensus from the governing body that this was an appropriate expenditure from the ordinance. Mr. Hajek noted that when going out for quote for the irrigation system, it would be more cost effective to get the systems for both fields in order to obtain a 30-40% cost savings.

Mr. Hajek noted that SCSL would also assist with the irrigation system, and the intent is to get the well pump and electric installed and top soil one field with the ordinance funding. Kevin Inglin, President of the SCSL, was acknowledged for his assistance in working on the project and providing support from the League. Mr. Martin and Mr. Hajek exchanged comments on getting the appropriate amount of top soil to sustain grass growth. The Township Committee agreed that the ordinance funding could be used for the top soil purchase so that the project could proceed. Mr. Hajek thanked the Committee for their support.

Mr. Tatsch concluded by stating that the Recreation Committee has been doing a great job in meeting the Township’s recreational needs, and they did an excellent job setting up the concert at the park. Mrs. Cregar also thanked Mr. Hajek for his nice comments on the budget.

Mr. Hajek left the meeting at this time.

Mr. Tatsch summarized the proposed amendment changes to the budget, based on the resolution provided for review.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RESOLUTION #122-08

(As Attached to the Original Set of Minutes)

An Amendment to the 2008 Budget of East Amwell Township

By Order of the Township Committee,

_____________________________

C. Larry Tatsch, Mayor

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Motion by Mrs. Cregar, seconded by Mr. Kneski, and it was carried unanimously by roll call vote to adopt the resolution to amend the 2008 budget: Mr. Martin, yes; Mr. Kneski, yes; Mrs. Cregar, yes; Ms. Lenox, yes; Mr. Tatsch, yes.

The resolution will be published in the July 10, 2008, issue of the Hunterdon County Democrat, and the public hearing on the amended budget will take place on July 17, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. at the regular Township Committee meeting.

Mrs. Luhrs reminded the Township Committee that they will have to amend the Open Space Trust Fund in order to pay Architect Terry Golda $6,000 to draw up revised plans for the Clawson House. She suggested the following changes in the Trust Fund, under the $47,000 for Maintenance of Parks and Lands for Recreation and Conservation: Reduce Clawson Park Maintenance from $40,000 to $36,000; delete Bio-retention Rain Garden Match from $2,000 to $0.00 since the ANJEC grant for this project was not received; add a new line, Clawson Homestead Preservation Plan $6,000.00. There will be a public hearing on this amendment at the next regular Township Committee meeting.

Mr. Matheny asked that the governing body consider the award of the well and electric portion of the soccer field project in light of Mr. Hajek’s presentation tonight. Quotes were solicited twice for installation in two different scenarios. The original installation sequence was determined to be correct. Quotes were received from Rowe Electric at $3,600 and William Krieg at $3,250 and from Stover Wells and Pumps at $12,110 and Sam Stothoff Well Drillers at $11,600. The recommendation was to accept the quote of William Krieg and Sam Stothoff Well Drillers.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RESOLUTION #123-08

BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Committee of the Township of East Amwell that the following quotes be accepted for the East Amwell School Soccer field well irrigation project: William Stothoff Wells in the amount of $11,600 for installation of a well pump and William Krieg in the amount of $3,250 for electrical work to install wiring in the shed, for a total purchase price of $14,850.00.

By Order of the Township Committee,

_________________________

C. Larry Tatsch, Mayor

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Motion by Mr. Kneski, seconded by Mrs. Cregar, and it was carried unanimously by roll call vote to approve the resolution: Mr. Martin, yes; Mr. Kneski, yes; Mrs. Cregar, yes; Ms. Lenox, yes; Mr. Tatsch, yes.

Mrs. Luhrs commended Mr. Hajek on a tremendous job on working on the school soccer field project, which was very frustrating. Mr. Tatsch agreed, commenting on Mr. Hajek’s good humor through it all. Committee members all agreed that the Recreation Committee is doing a great job.

The meeting was open to the public for comment. Mr. Matheny’s son, Kevin, was in the audience, but had no comments to offer at this time.

Motion by Mr. Martin, seconded Ms. Lenox, and it was carried unanimously to close to the public.

Motion by Mrs. Cregar, seconded by Mr. Martin, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m.

____________________________

Teresa R. Stahl, RMC/CMC

Municipal Clerk