Politics & Government

Committee Meeting Recap

New contract agreements for township employees, COAH plans, a new field on Lower Shore Road and more

Miss the Monday, May 2 Committee meeting? Here were the big discussion points.

Keep an eye out today and tomorrow for more details on the controversy over the township's new Lower Shore Road softball field and the ongoing septic system issues in the Brighton at Barnegat development.

  • The Township Committee passed a series of resolutions last night approving new contract agreements with Barnegat employees, including police and public works employees. The renegotiated three-year contracts dictate that employees will defer scheduled raises until December of 2011 and switch to the state’s health care plan. Employees will receive 2 percent raises each year, offset by their 1.5 percent health care contributions, said Township Administrator David Breeden. Breeden said the changes will likely result in a savings of about $350,000 per year. “The savings will be considerable not only for this year, but in years to come,” said Committeeman Martin Lisella.
  • The township’s recent plan to build a new softball field at its Lower Shore Road property was hotly debated during the meeting, with some leveling accusations at Committee members that the decision to create a new field amounted to political posturing following complaints from the Mirage softball league. The township has cleared about an acre of land to make way for the field, which is scheduled to be complete by June 7, Breeden said. Check back with Barnegat Patch later for the full story on the new field and the differing opinions surrounding it.
  • A site plan for the affordable housing development planned for the site of the former Down the Hatch bar on Route 9 – dubbed Laurel Oaks – was presented at the meeting, showing four apartment buildings that will house 94 units. Breeden said developer Walters Group plans to build in two stages; three buildings will go up first, with the final one built later. The Planning Board will review the plans at its May 24 meeting. Breeden and Township Attorney Jerry Dasti reiterated previous points about the plans, explaining that Barnegat has a long-outstanding mandate to fulfill state Council on Affordable Housing Round II mandates and reminding residents that no taxpayer funds would go toward the construction of the units. But some said the plans raised serious concerns over future costs, including schooling. “If we’ve got one kid in every other unit, we’ve got a problem,” said Frank Pecchi.
  • Brighton at Barnegat resident Maxine Blumenthal, a Republican candidate in the primary for this year’s Township Committee election, spoke about multiple repeated failures of her development’s septic systems, which late last week led to raw sewage spilling into storm drains. Blumenthal said that despite a history of complaints, residents remain powerless to do anything about the problem, and that there had been no progress on an application to update the septic system in the development. Township Engineer John Hess said the township doesn’t have the ability to review septic applications, but promised to keep pressing the issue with the Ocean County Health Department.
  • The Committee held initial readings of ordinances establishing two new positions: Manager of Municipal Operations and Superintendent of Public Works. Breeden said the new positions reflect duties and responsibilities that have been in place already, and do not come with pay increases.
  • Mayor Jeffrey Melchiondo announced the Committee would present a budget plan at its next regular meeting.

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