Proposals to fund another $163,152 in successful property tax appeals, extend the contracts for the town attorney and assistant town attorney, and approve two resolutions to enable the town’s funding of a $60,000 bleacher project at the high school baseball field head the agenda for the June 10, 2014, town council meeting.
The meeting agendas and related materials are here.
Council is asked to approve funding $162,152 in successful property tax appeals, including $120,539 for the office building at 395 Pleasant Valley Way for the years 2008 to 2013. The resolution brings the 2014 year-to-date total to more than $1.2 million. The town funded $3.35 million in successful tax appeals in 2013, and the town chief financial officer is projecting a similar amount for 2014.
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The administration is asking council approval to extend the contracts for the town attorney, Richard Trenk, and Ken Kayser, assistant town attorney through the end of 2014. Mr. Trenk is paid $42,500 annually, and his law firm does substantial legal work for the town. Mr. Kayser is paid $31,500 annually. The salaries are for general legal matters, but litigation is billed separately.
The administration is asking council approval for a shared services agreement for the town’s $60,000 project to improve the bleachers and sight line on the third base side of the high school baseball field. State law requires the agreement when two municipal entities share the use of an asset. The town’s funding of the project sidesteps the state requirement for voter referendum for most school district bonding. The town has funded millions of dollars of improvements of the high school athletic facilities over the last decade in this way.
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It’s unclear to me why the resolution and draft shared services agreement cites a determination by the township and school board “that new bleachers are required at various field of the Athletic Complex, because the existing seating is outdate and antiquated” when this project is only for the third-base bleachers – which date to 2006.
The administration is also asking council approval for a $10,800 no-bid contract to Paulus Sokolowski and Sartor (PS&S) of Warren to perform survey, site plan and construction specifications for the project. According to a letter to council from the town engineer, he solicited the firm for this contract, citing its previous experience as a contractor for the original baseball field project. It’s unclear to me why the town would want the same firm that designed the very bleachers and sight line that is now proposed for replacement.
The agenda has other proposed legislation of interest including:
- A proposed interagency services agreement to work with the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program for two unspecified pilot projects to protect water quality. A presentation by the cooperative extension is on the conference agenda that starts at 6:30 p.m. The town would agree to fund the projects, but the legislation doesn’t have a project description or cost.
- An executive session to discuss litigation between the town and West Orange First Aid Squad, which had asked and was denied a court order to delay the administration’s search for an emergency medical services provider.
- Renewal of a shared services agreement to provide Roseland with animal control services. West Orange would receive a 4% increase to $11,843 in the first year of the contract, which would then rise another 4% to $12,316 in the second year of the contract.
- Approval of a no-bid $5,000 contract to provide public health testing services this year by Garden State Laboratories of Hillside.
- Adding $293,795 in grant revenue and offsetting expenditures to the 2014 municipal budget, including a $224,000 New Jersey Department of Transportation grant and a $64,795 Clean Communities grant.
Two proposed ordinances are on the agenda for first reading:
- Expanding the definition of a parking meter to include a central pay station similar to the one used at the Valley Road parking lot near Northfield Avenue.
- Adding handicapped parking zones at 8 Shepard Terrace and 20 Llewellyn Avenue.
If you’d like to contact the council with your thoughts on any of these issues, please send an e-mail to council@westorange.org or call 973.325.4155 to leave a message.
I’m a West Orange Township councilman since 2010, reachable at jkrakoviak@westorange.org. I'm a business communications consultant in my spare time.
