Into the Fire

At the BOT Meeting last night, we had a brief discussion about the SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grant which provides temporary funding for paid firefighters as well as funding to recruit and retain Volunteer firefighters. With the enormous budget challenges we face, we are not in the position to discuss increases to paid staff, however it was an intriguing idea to utilize a grant to acquire Volunteer resources until we unfortunately discovered that this grant could only be utilized to recruit Volunteers if you have a currently existing Volunteer Fire Department (or Combination Fire Department, which consists of both paid and volunteer firefighters).

However, this prompted some research to see what other communities are doing and it was fascinating to learn that in the 22 Municipalities of Essex County, roughly half have ALL paid firefighters and roughly half have ALL Volunteer fire departments. There were also some municipalities, like Millburn and Bloomfield that have BOTH Volunteers and Paid Firefighters, which are commonly referred to as "Combination" Fire Departments.

Looking further at the entire State of NJ, it was shocking to see that fewer than only 50 municipalities (out of 566) have fully paid fire departments as of 2007! The common misconception is that Volunteer firefighters only exist in the smallest, most rural parts of the state. However, it was very interesting to to see that Volunteer or Combination Fire Departments, exist in all corners of the State, including the most densely populated such as Bergen, Essex, Union, Middlesex and even Hudson Counties.

Everyone acknowledges the tremendous work and bravery of our firemen and women and nobody is suggesting that we should eliminate them and replace them with volunteers. However, our firefighters frequently bring to our attention their requests for additional personnel and from what can be seen from other similar municipalities, a paid fire department supplemented with properly trained volunteers is a sustainable model to protect the community while keeping a control on out of control taxes.

Clearly, further discussions still need to be had to determine the official policy of the Board and there is still more analysis and research that is needed to fully develop a plan to implement this migration. However, the time has come to pursue this seriously for the benefit of the entire community - taxpayers and employees, alike.

As always, I welcome your thoughts. (and certainly would love to hear from anyone who is a current or former Firefighter, or anyone who has any interest in Volunteering to be a Firefighter)

My City of Ruins*

With the 2009 Budget now behind us (resulting in a 3.9% municipal tax increase), we are now beginning conversations around the 2010 Capital Budget.

First on the Agenda - discussing whether to allocate funding for the rehabilitation of Village Hall. Anyone who has driven past the building is struck by its unique character and incredibly interesting architecture. However, anyone who has observed it up close has seen the rampant deterioration of the exterior and the years of neglected maintenance throughout the interior. The time is long overdue to do something.

Over the past year or so, HMR Architects have been working on a "Programmatic Analysis for the Interior Renovation and Rehabilitation" of Village Hall. According to a draft, "This report analyzes the feasibility of improved accommodation of specific user groups by quantifying their needs and developing realistic design schemes which could be accomplished through a substantial renovation of the existing building. This report also addresses the physical limitations of the existing envelope and structure."

Last night, during the Budget Workshop, they shared some initial assessments and estimates for the rehabilitation of the building, including an approximate cost of nearly $4M (although I can only imagine that with the unknowns involved until construction begins, the risk of significant cost overruns is huge). They also estimate that construction of a NEW building of a comparable size could cost anywhere from $3.6M-$7.2M.

While I am well aware that Village Hall has become one of many prominent symbols of South Orange, I can't help but wonder if it makes sense to rehabilitate an old building or whether it makes more sense to construct a new modern building on another site in town. Clearly, there are rational, as well as emotional arguments on both sides of the equation. Certainly, the long-overdue rehabilitation of the Firehouse, which took SEVEN years, looms large as a poster-child for everything that CAN go wrong with such a complicated project. There are also the logistics of temporarily relocating all Village Hall staff and services to some other location for up to two years if/when the building is rehabilitated. Of course, the other side of the story is about the history, charm and character of the building. However, the only option NOT available is to continue the current neglect and further deterioration of the building.

This is a very complex issue that will have a significant impact on the residents of the Village for several years, both financially, as well as logistically. Therefore, I really want to hear what YOU think. Post a comment to this blog, or send me an email to mgoldberg@southorange.org. I expect you will be hearing much more about this in the coming months.

* Blog title is based on a Bruce Springsteen song of the same name, which speaks of the "rising up" of Asbury Park. It is not intended to suggest anything negative about the Village.

Across the Border

Just returned from our annual family Summer vacation- this year's destination was Montreal and Quebec City - and wanted to share some impressions.

We were scheduled to leave NJ on August 24, and the week before we were leaving, I discovered my wife's passport was expired! After calling the Passport office, I was told that I would have to make an appointment in NYC, but the next available appointment was August 28. Alternatively, I could go to the office in Norwalk, CT on August 25. I was preparing to delay our trip, when my wife called the Border & Customs office and learned that an expired passport is sufficient. I was a little skeptical, but decided to take the chance which turned out to be the right choice and we had no problems at the border in either direction.

Once we arrived in Montreal, we had a few items planned, but mostly we were just there to explore the city. The highlights of Montreal included: jet boating on the St. Lawrence River, a family bike ride along the Lachine Canal, visiting the Olympic Stadium/Biodome and hiking to the top of Mont Royal.

All in all, we enjoyed Montreal and were surprised what a large city it actually was. We did a ton of walking and even got to brush off my years of French to try to speak to the locals.

From there, we drove another 3 hours and arrived in Quebec City for a few days. We didn't have much planned other than wondering around the old city and fortunately the weather generally cooperated. One day, we decided to explore outside the city and drove up to Canyon St.Anne which is a huge waterfall with a terrifying pedestrian bridge across the gorge. From there, we drove around Ile D'Orleans which is a tranquil little island with quaint little towns and amazing natural scenery.

It was a nice trip with a mix of city, country, old, new, culture, adventure and relaxation which is always the right combination for a successful family vacation. Now it's time to start thinking about where to go NEXT year! :)

Summertime Blues

Earlier this evening, we held what will likely be the final Budget Workshop for the 2009 Budget cycle. After many meetings over the past 9 months, and the news last week that we received $750,000 in Extraordinary Aid from the State, we are on the verge of finalizing the Municipal Budget which results in a Municipal Tax increase of just around 3.95%. I say "around", because there is still one item to be finalized - the subsidy to SOPAC. This year, SOPAC requested $265,000 from the Village, but this evening I proposed reducing it by another $20,000. Due to the incredible financial pressure that all residents are feeling in their own lives, SOPAC must also tighten their belts and like all of us, they must simply learn to live with less.

In other budget news, we also agreed to hire 3 new Police Officers to replace a number of the officers that are retiring this year. There is always a difficult balance between staffing needs and our crushing tax burden, however maintaining our tremendous Police Department must be our top priority and we agreed to send 3 new recruits to the Police Academy beginning in September.

The end of budget season is always bittersweet. Certainly, it is a relief to have gotten to the end of an incredibly difficult budget year. It is also incredibly gratifying that we managed to go from the threat of a 25% increase at the beginning of this year to something south of 3.95%. At the same time, it's incredibly frustrating that even after all the hard work, we still are forced to raise taxes at a rate that will cost the average homeowner approximately an additional $600 this year, when the County & School levy is also factored in. It is clearer than ever that the property tax system in NJ is a complete mess and needs radical reform at the State Level. It's disappointing that there is an election for Governor in November and none of the candidates are even seriously talking about doing anything. So, unfortunately, we can expect the status quo for the foreseeable future. Very sad, indeed.

Take 'Em as they Come

This week we had the long awaited vote on Second Reading of the "Rental Registration" Ordinance, which would require landlords to register their properties, pay a fee, and be held accountable for the actions of their tenants. The genesis of this Ordinance was from all the complaints that have arisen over the years regarding quality of life infractions by some tenants - especially near Seton Hall. The initial draft of this Ordinance had a much higher fee structure and after receiving resident feedback, was ultimately stricken and revised.

Which brought us to last night and the Public Hearing on this revised Ordinance. Prior to the meeting, I had heard a smattering of opposition, but I was not sure how widespread those concerns were. I also knew that the INTENT of the Ordinance was good and it seemed to be a reasonable approach to a longstanding problem. However, since I had no vested interest either way, I went into the meeting with an open mind and was interested to hear what the public had to say. We initially heard from an attorney who, while raising some very interesting points, also went a bit far over the top in the drama department. Rightfully so, Trustee Bauer did call him on some of these allegations. However, the memo he provided us in writing seemed to provide some reasonable suggestions. The night continued with a multitude of landlords who were outraged by the details, or lack thereof, of this Ordinance for a variety of reasons.

When it came time to vote, my decisions came down to a few key points - a) With the number of people who turned out, there was not a single person who spoke in favor of the ordinance. b) The members of the public articulated their concerns well and raised valid objections which raised doubt in my mind that this Ordinance was ready for passage in its current form c) Ultimately, the whole point of a Public Hearing is to listen to the members of the public and take their feedback into account, when possible. A Public Hearing should not simply be a formality.

Ultimately, I think SOME FORM of an Ordinance is still a good idea, but after listening to all the feedback, I realized that we should try to incorporate them, not simply pass an ordinance because we don't want to "start all over again". No law is ever perfect, but I came to the realization that this one still needed some more work and voted "No". However, my colleagues didn't agree and the Rental Registration Ordinance passed by a vote of 4-1-1.

Long Time Coming

It seems this latest blog entry has been a long time coming. There have been a few recent events I've been wanting to blog about, but didn't, so I think I'll combine them into a single entry:

1) My Beautiful Reward
Recently, I took my 7-year-old daughter bicycling in Hoboken & across the Hudson by ferry to NYC. As we were returning in Hoboken, we were stopped by a Hoboken Police Officer who proceeded to hand my daughter a "ticket". He then explained it was a "reward" for her wearing a helmet when bicycling and it contained a coupon for a free ice cream at Johnny Rocket's or a free ices at Rita's. After the surprise wore off, I realized what a clever idea this is to reward positive behavior and have brought it back to South Orange for discussion. The Police Chief is looking into it further and we will then discuss the idea with the full Board to see what everyone thinks.

2) Rollover Beethoven
At the BOT meeting last week, we were asked to formally approve the rollover of $4M in "loans" that had been given to SOPAC and which come due next week. SOPAC gave a presentation to us on June 22 explaining their revised business model and how they plan to achieve independence from the $300k annual subsidy from the Village. On the surface, it all sounded very positive, but upon further thought, it became apparent that there was no detail given on how these projections were made. So, I sent a letter in writing to SOPAC requesting further detail. Several days later, most of the information requested was hand delivered to me, which was appreciated. After reviewing the detail, I was pleased to see that there actually was analysis that had gone into creating the projections, although I am still extremely skeptical of the overly-optimistic projections. However, after confirming that this rollover would have no tax impact to the Village (since SOPAC would still be responsible for paying all interest and principal), I decided to support the 1 year rollover with an eye towards re-evaluating the situation in 1 year. In the meantime, I strongly urge SOPAC to tighten their belts to reduce spending, (just as every other Organization is being forced to do in this horrible economy) and start focusing on their primary purpose - booking performers that will attract people to our town and ensuring those performances sellout and are profitable.

3) Long Time Coming
As hard as it may be to believe, this past week, the Firehouse received a "temporary certificate of occupancy", which is the last major milestone needed for the firefighters to move back in to the Firehouse. After far too many years of delays, the long awaited completion of the Firehouse is upon us. There is now still some minor "touch up" work to do, but that will be done while the firefighters are living and working in the firehouse, once they move in this week. This will allow the Village to disconnect and return the temporary trailers that had been located adjacent to the site, and return that site to be used for parking. In the short term, the firefighter's will park their vehicles in that lot while the driveway around the firehouse is re-done. Once the driveway is completed, the firefighter's will park their vehicles there, and the lot will likely be designated as "premium" parking for resident commuters.

It is absolutely inexcusable for this project to have taken as long as it has and there is more than enough blame to go around. However, we can now be glad that this painful part of our Village's history is in the past and we can take comfort knowing that we have this project as an example of everything not to do if and when the Village decides to move ahead with renovating Village Hall.

Secret Garden

We are about to undertake an exciting new project in South Orange, thanks to the creative suggestion of a resident. Back in April, I was contacted by a resident who lived in the Mews and he was looking for a place to create a community garden. He suggested the open space across the street from the Mews, between the river and Church Street.

It seemed like a great idea, so I scheduled some time to meet him, along with Village President Newman to walk the site and explore the options. While there are a few challenges (i.e. location of a water source, ability for people to park/drop-off materials nearby, wetness of the soil), it immediately struck us as a fantastic idea with huge potential. There are many residents living in apartments or townhouses, without access to a yard. There are also many residents living in homes with shady yards or too many animals to sustain a garden. As a result, a Community Garden has the potential to attract residents from all over town and give them access to gardening, while fostering a true community spirit.

Unfortunately, the initial resident ultimately decided he had too many other commitments to devote the appropriate amount of time to spearhead this effort. However, we have decided to try to move the idea ahead and have scheduled an initial Public Meeting on Wednesday June 24 at 7:30pm in the Baird Center to gauge public interest, since obviously this garden will only succeed if residents determine it is something they would like. I urge you to come out, offer to get involved and help bring this idea to reality!