Report From Rocky Hill - December
During the public session of the Nov. 3 Council meeting, several citizens, having parked their torches at the door, made a valiant assault on the question of the tennis wall, whose contract had been signed and ratified during October. One is tempted to spell “tennis wall” in capital letters, like the Berlin Wall, as it has, apparently, taken on heroic proportions lately. One resists.
Borough Council is reviewing the necessity of approval for its construction from the State Historical Preservation Office, but it appears that the location of the wall is actually on the Greenacres site rather than on the Borough Hall property, which would not necessarily require State approval. Approval was not thought necessary for the gazebo built directly behind Borough Hall.
Former Mayor and Councilwoman Peggy Harris raised objections that the funding for the tennis wall, which was a grant from the County earmarked for recreation, was not used instead to build a flag pole with lights at Panicaro Park, a project which she has been encouraging for several years. She pointed out that the grant application allows half of the funding to be used for recreation, such as a tennis wall, and half for municipal needs, such as a flagpole. She questioned the use of funding for a tennis wall rather than for a flagpole.
Mayor Zimmerman responded that the grant was in several parts: about half was the remnants of several previous year’s grants, and about $15,000 was from this year’s grant. The previous grants did not permit any use other than recreation. The rules had been changed for this year, but it was still up to Borough Council, which had been considering it for some five years, by one count, to decide how to use it.
Ralph Teragrossa, whose home abuts the Greenacres and who had previously passed a petition with some 35 signatures objecting to the wall (out of some 700 Borough residents), wondered why previous Council minutes didn’t seem to mention the tennis wall. He also wondered if Borough Council had surveyed or polled residents as to the need for such a wall.
He was told that the minutes of Borough Council never listed every word said at a meeting, but only general subjects discussed and actions taken or tabled. All of the records for the various subcommittees, including the Recreation Subcommittee, are kept in the Clerk’s office. Borough Council Attorney Albert Cruz said, “In my experience, Council errs on the side of caution,” in record keeping.
Mr. Terragrossa again questioned the need for the wall at all, saying, “95% of my petitioners don’t want it,” and why would Council go against their wishes?
It was then pointed out to him that polling was not thought necessary for such a project, nor could it be considered for every municipal project. “We’d never get anything done if we had to poll the community every time we considered something,” Mayor Zimmerman said.
When Mr. Cruz attempted to explain the nature of participatory and representative democracy, prefacing his remarks by using the all-purpose legal phrase, “In my opinion,” Mr. Terragrossa objected, saying that he wanted the “facts” not “opinion.” And so it went. Some left before the Engineer’s Report, as they weren’t interested in “facts” either. All were thanked for sharing.
On a recent walk through the Greenacres in an early November Sunday afternoon, there were three tennis players using the courts; every time it has been nice enough to take a walk through there, I’ve seen players on the courts. I don’t play tennis – or golf, or soccer, or anything like it – but it seems unreasonable to me to say to a legislating body that they can or should spend recreation funding only for those activities I enjoy and nothing for anyone else. But that’s just me.
The Engineer’s Report noted that the bathrooms at Van Horne Park have been closed for the season and winterized, and that landscaping has been on schedule at the new park. They are considering placement of fences to prevent cars from crossing the park, which still happens with some regularity, he noted.
Borough residents are reminded to keep sticks, logs and other debris out of the leaf piles. It clogs the vacuum equipment used by the landscaper and will add considerably to the cost of next year’s collection. There are, apparently, five or six houses that are the worst offenders.
Mr. Tanner will be looking into the costs if the Borough defaults on the tennis wall contract; he noted that its placement between two trees is well clear of the leaf canopy and unlikely to result in damage to either of the trees. One of them, he pointed out, is suffering from rot and insect damage and not long for this world anyway.
CFO Ross Bobal said that Borough expenses so far this year are on tract at about $900,000, against $1.3 million in revenues.
The Borough has until 2010 to do a revaluation of Borough homes; it will take about 15-18 months to perform the work if the Borough does the work, but the first quote for that was more than expected. Council is looking for alternatives among commercial assessors.
Mayor Zimmerman thanked Borough voters for their support during the litigation against the State, during which Rocky Hill and other small towns in New Jersey prevailed against a plan to require towns dependent upon the State Police to pay for their upkeep. He noted, “This administrations war against small towns is far from over.” He warned that the Governor plans to take it out from someplace else in municipal funding. “It wasn’t about Rocky Hill and other small towns as much as an assault on the State Constitution.” He pointed out, for example, that the Governor could unilaterally require Hillsborough and Montgomery Township to pay to repair Rt. 206, a state highway; if they refused, he could take it out of their funding. So – it’s not over.
The mayor especially thanked the State Police during the recent Halloween and an electric blackout. “They were absolutely terrific.”
Court receipts during October totaled $9,485; $4,079.76 was from tickets issued by the State Police. Rocky Hill’s share was $1,828.12.
Mayor Zimmerman reported that the Borough’s new computer system should be ready by Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, the Borough website has several new features, including a zoning map.
The Borough is considering an idea to bring in a second Eden group home for the autistic. Each bed in such a home counts as one unit toward the Borough COAH requirements.
The Board of Health will be enforcing a requirement that all Borough pets be licensed annually. Pet owners will have four-month grace period for licensing, which will end on April 1, 2009. After that date there is an escalating late fee, starting at $20 above the normal cost of $12 for neutered or $15 for un-neutered pets, and rising to $30 above costs. The point is to make sure that pets have been immunized against rabies. The Borough will be mailing a reminder to all residents soon.
The problem may arise that most pet owners don’t consider licensing until the rabies vaccine period ends, and for most, that is at three-year intervals. A suggestion was made that the licensing periods reflect the rabies vaccine period, which could simplify things for pet owners. Councilwoman Goldman said that although the State allows municipalities to license for three-year intervals, the difficulty is that the software the Borough uses to track dog and cat licenses currently only allows tracking at one-year periods. Also, the State system, which only tracks dogs, also only permits one-year tracking. Ms. Goldman says that multiple year tracking would require far more work than the current system. “It’s cheaper to just call you every year to remind you,” said Councilman Bill Hallman. The Borough will, however, be continuing an attempt at a census of pets once it has enough volunteers to go door-to-door.
South Brunswick Board of Health, which currently provides services for the Borough, is talking of ending that relationship shortly. However, Somerset County Board of Health may provide some of the services for a fee as needed, from among the county municipalities. That could be cheaper in the long run.
Borough Council approved Ordinance #5, 2008, the one with the long name, which codified previously passed ordinances under one umbrella, and updated fees and fines. The Mayor noted at the Nov. 17 meeting, that he had been looking in the minutes of the 1959 council meetings and noted that codifying the ordinances was on the to-do list even then. “It’s only taken us 50 years,” he quipped. “But we did it.”
PSEG is continuing the replacement of electric wires in the Borough. The old wires were leaking insulating oil.
Best wishes to Evan and Maria Blomgren on the reopening of the Rocky Hill Inn. However, among their start-up worries are problems with the Planning Board. They had building permits for a number of items, but confused the permits with separate permission they need from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board as their building is within the Historic District. A landscaped wall around the front of the building, and safety lights at the front porch were two issues. Council felt that they were nice looking, and unobjectionable in themselves, even necessary for safety issues, but proper permission had not been applied for. They were given until January to make proper applications.
Severiano Berrios was the lone applicant for a snow removal contract for sidewalks at Borough property. He will be charting $45 per hour, up to $2,500 maximum. Borough residents in need of snow removal can contact him and he will charge them the sme rate for their homes.
The Rocky Hill Community Group will hold the annual holiday tree lighting on Dec. 7 at the Amy Garrett House from 4 to 6 pm. There will be refreshments and caroling with the choir from the Reformed Church. Bring the kids because Santa Claus will be arriving.
Borough Council meets the first and third Mondays at 7:30 pm at Borough Hall. Dog and cat license application forms and other information is available on the Borough website, www.rockyhill-nj.gov.
Report From Rocky Hill - November
The Borough’s battle with COAH and their regulations continues; sharp eyes on the Planning Board noted that COAH incorrectly listed two federal agencies, with a total of 79 employees, as being located in Rocky Hill. COAH has noted their error, but the actual affect on the number of affordable housing units that the Borough is obligated to provide has not been determined. Half of the numbers predicted by COAH are based on erroneous numbers in their database, Mayor Zimmerman reported.
The ongoing battle with the Governor to have municipalities pay for State Policing hasn’t changed either. Mayor Zimmerman noted that one major difficulty has been the State Police’s unwillingness to provide accurate numbers for the actual number of calls they provide for each municipality. This makes it difficult for the Borough to negotiate for services.
Meanwhile, the Borough has received bids for leaf pickups, and the winner is Mastorianni Landscaping again. Their bid of $32,000 for four pickups is higher than last year, but that is due to the cost of fuel. Leaf pickups were tentatively scheduled for Oct. 30, Nov. 10, 24, and Dec. 8.
Hopewell Borough made a last minute plug to pick up leaves for $1500 per pickup. Although there was some discussion to see if Mastoianni could make three pickups, and Hopewell one, “Just to see how it goes,” as Mayor Zimmerman said, Rocky Hill couldn’t take Hopewell up on it because the offer was made after the bid-process had officially closed. Council approved the contract.
So maybe next year the Borough will add another shared service to the list, which currently includes health, animal control, policing, schools, and recreation, among others I may have missed. The Governor may be getting his avoided wish to see municipalities do more sharing of services, but some of us think it’s really about the money.
And speaking of shared services, Rocky Hill is still negotiating with Montgomery over the cost of sharing recreational services. Mayor Zimmerman said he was “Impressed by the number of seniors taking advantage of recreational services with Montgomery.”
He realized after contacting Mayor Birge of Montgomery that no consideration has been made in the formula for Montgomery residents using Rocky Hill facilities, such as the tennis courts.
Speaking of tennis courts, we have one correction: the $29,000 tennis wall Council approved last month will be paid for from a grant from Somerset County to be used for recreation. We regret any confusion among taxpayers who thought that the Borough taxpayers will paying for the wall, some 38 of whom signed a petition against it.
Mayor Zimmerman expected a howling, torch-lit mob at the Oct. 20 Council meeting and was not disappointed. Oddly, most objectors were not assuaged by the fact that the use of this use-it-or-lose-it recreation-only grant had been discussed for five years, by some recollections, nor the fact that it had been posted on the website in the minutes and agenda during this past year, as well as at the Mary Jacobs Library for those not computer literate.
Instead objections were raised by some residents rarely if ever seen at a Borough Council meeting that it was to be built in the historic district: was it floated past the full Planning Board? Why not? Was permission secured with the State Historic Preservation Office, which presumably must approve every paint job, re-glazing, new door, side walk patching, re-roofing or whatever, at any municipally owned building located within a historic district, we were reliably informed, permission to be granted - or not - after a 45 day review? This last met with blank gazes.
Some taxpayers objected that they were not “proactively” notified before it was approved, as they lived within 200 feet of the project. After all, they were notified by registered mail when the Mary Jacobs Library enlargement was being contemplated. Informed that municipal projects were exempt from such a requirement, they insisted that they should have been anyway, despite the cost.
Told that it would be built perpendicular to Montgomery Avenue so that constables would be able to see if any untoward activity were occurring behind it, not a few were visibly outraged that anyone would think Rocky Hill kids would ever do something like, well, take drugs, or drink openly, what have you.
And just think of the noise as tennis players bang balls against it! That despite the objections of others that few would use it anyway, and those from out of town.
Still others objected to the construction of a 10 by 20 wall, all of 18 inches thick, inside the Greenacres, where it could be seen at all. “Did you consider hiring a professional landscape architect before altering the viewscape?” one asked; to which I thought, when did a landscape become a viewscape? And what’s a viewscape anyway? Viewscape – sheesh! And so it went, for a long, long, tedious hour and a half before other business was attended to. Council deserves an award for that evening.
Meanwhile, the Township also has a fee structure for use of Township parks by groups, but Rocky Hill does not. One suggestion made was for the Township to set fees for use at Van Horne Park, and for Rocky Hill to receive 20% of them. Currently, Rocky Hill contributes 20% of the cost of building and maintaining Van Horne Park. The Borough would not want the Township to collect fees for activities in Rocky Hill without an enabling ordinance from the Borough.
Borough Council also passed a resolution to purchase new soccer goals for the field behind Borough Hall at a cost of $2,881. This will be paid in part with funding from the County.
The NJ Dept. of Community Affairs wants the Borough to have a signed contract with Elizabethtown Water Company so that if the Borough should have to tap into Elizabethtown’s water main, as it has done in the past during emergencies, there will be a signed contract regulating fees for water. Previous agreements were ad hoc, which DCA objects to.
Now for the $64 question: property revaluations. The Borough has to do them by the end of 2010, but Mayor Zimmerman suggested that they be done sooner. “Now is the best time to do this while the market is down,” he said. Good point, especially as it looks like it will be down a lot more before it goes up. Although a revaluation won’t make much difference as far as Borough taxes goes, it could reduce the County bite. Homes were last reassessed in 1997
CFO Ross Bobal answered what he said has been a constant thread of questions he’s received: “Are we okay?” He says that we have cash in our bank accounts, as much as $1.3 million; and there is the Government Unit Protection Act, which guarantees claims against the Borough. There are currently no claims. But, he says, “Panic is panic. When people can’t keep cash on hand they run to the banks.”
The Borough has reached what the Mayor calls Phase Two of a years long overdue attempt at cleaning up old ordinances, some of which have been on the books for a very, very long time. The laws have been readied into something called “Ordinance updating the Code of Rocky Hill to reflect changes in underlying state statutes, Borough practices and procedures as well as consistency in penalties and violations.” Mayor Zimmerman noted that it “Fixed the easy ones, those that we could fix for now. The hard ones, requiring months and months of discussion, we put aside for now.” Those set aside include about 20 ordinances, such as regulations for use of the Parks. This Ordinance was introduced at the Oct. 6 meeting, and will be voted on shortly.
The October 6 meeting ended in Executive Session to discuss the ongoing appeal of the appeal by a group of Borough citizens who have objected to the Schafer Tract rezoning; and also, to consider a suit borough against a number of New Jersey towns, including Rocky Hill, which have on the books an ordinance against “public drunkenness.” A Christopher Obchinetz was arrested for drinking beer in South Jersey town, which also had a law against public drunkenness. He pleaded guilty, but had second thoughts when he discovered that that particular law had been declared unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. In short, he pled guilty and paid a fine when he needn’t have, and now wants to make all municipalities with that law on the books pay for his folly. The Mayor says it won’t be on the books for too much longer following the passage of the new ordinance, the one with the long name. The Borough has been told that municipal insurance will pay for legal fees incurred.
Borough Council tentatively approved the holiday tree lighting for Sunday, Dec. 7, time to be announced.
The Health Department would like to remind residents with dogs and cats to make sure their licenses are up to date. Even though the rabies vaccines are good for two or three years, the licenses should be renewed annually. After April 2009, there will be an escalating fine imposed on those who have failed to renew. “Only a third of pets are registered,” Councilwoman Goldman noted.
Dog and cat license application forms and other information is available on the Borough website, www.rockyhill-nj.gov.
Borough Council meets twice a month at 7:30 at Borough Hall.
Rocky Hill Prevails in State Police Funding Issue
The NJ league of Municipalities announced today that the State’s Council on Local Mandates has reversed the Governor’s attempt to get those New Jersey towns that rely on the State Police to pay for that service. 22 towns joined in a suit against the State after receiving bills for policing. Rocky Hill, which had relied on the State Police for decades, received a bill of $29,000.
The governor had been trying to balance the state budget, which has been in deficit for some time, by finding alternative sources of funding.
The Council declared that the attempt by the state was an unfunded mandate, that it was unconstitutional, and that the Council’s decision was unappealable.
The State had argued that the constitutional prohibition against unfunded mandates did’nt apply to new costs imposed by the State’s Annual Appropriation Act. And secondly, the State argued that setting aside this funding (some $12.6 million), the State would be exempt.
This decision has left the State with the unwelcomed task of finding another source of funding in troubled times. But for Rocky Hill Mayor Ed Zimmerman, “I feel like the principal made the bully give back the lunch money.”
Rocky Hill Mayor Takes on ACLU And Wins
Rocky Hill Mayor Ed Zimmerman was at the center of a dispute with the ACLU, which had issued a press release in early September listing 20% of New Jersey school boards as being out of compliance with a state law forbidding attempts to determine whether the parents of registered children are legal emigrants. Many of those same children are US born citizens.
Some school boards had done this by asking for Social Security numbers, for instance, which is out of bounds. Among the towns listed, to the Mayor’s surprise, was Rocky Hill. Rocky Hill children are registered in Montgomery schools. However, Montgomery was not listed as an offending school board. What was up with that?
When the ACLU was gathering information, they worked from the State website, which had lists of contacts for each municipal school board. Montgomery was in compliance, but Rocky Hill shares the same part-time representative to the state as two other towns, one of which was unlawfully asking such questions. However, the person gathering statistics simply lumped Rocky Hill in with the rest.
After some discussion with Mayor Zimmerman, the ACLU realized its error and withdrew Rocky Hill’s name from the list and notified the State as well. “I may not win arguments with my wife, but I won one with the ACLU,” he quipped.
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