Early Budget Time in Stone Harbor, Joint Dispatch Unanimously OK’d

STONE HARBOR – More than a dozen members of the public works department were present for the Nov. 18 Borough Council meeting. One of their own, Jack Gryning, who recently passed away was being honored. Gryning, a U.S. Army veteran, began his employment at public works in 1988. A resolution was passed to retire Gryning’s ID number before a moment of silence in the chamber.
Concerning old business, new location plans for the Sept. 11 memorial were still being finalized. The memorial committee will meet twice before the next council meeting in the first week of December. Though final plans have yet to be revealed, Councilmember Joan Kramar announced that the budget would be in the neighborhood of $100,000. However, that figure does not include $50,000 that was already spent on design. “We’re contemplating doing Second Avenue in that strip that is along the firehouse,” said Kramar, “and extending it beyond the Fireman’s Memorial up to the yellow poles that are there… so we have a lot of ideas.”
Councilmember Albert Carusi proposed a resolution, later unanimously approved, to consolidate dispatcher services with Avalon. “Due to (Stone Harbor’s) outdated equipment, dispatcher health reasons, and a burden that has been placed on the police department, what we have ended up with is a 13-page document that outlines a tentative three-year contract with Avalon for shared services.”
Of the reasons for a joint dispatch service the most important is savings, according to him. “Broken down, we should see about $81,000 in savings for Stone Harbor per year,” said Carusi.
“The target is to roll this out on Jan. 1 but realistically, it could be delayed to March 1,” said Carusi. “But that has to be the drop-dead date to implement before the summer season. We just want to make sure we have all the bugs out because we’ve seen, on a national level, what happens when you roll something out that’s not ready.”
The basics of the consolidation are that police emergencies would be dispatched from Avalon. Fire and emergency medical service emergencies would be dispatched from county 9-1-1 center. According to Stone Harbor borough’s website, “This provides a higher level of service to Avalon and Stone Harbor since all fire call incidents will be handled by a dedicated dispatcher who is specifically trained in fire communications.”
From a legal standpoint, Solicitor Michael J. Donohue said the contract was “pretty standard” and that other counties have implemented similar dispatch consolidation services and have been “very successful.”
For Stone Harbor, “this amounts to approximately 1,200 calls annually. Technology allows you to do this instantaneously so it’s not like it will be a phone call; it will be a button that they push which will go to county dispatch.”
“If we didn’t have the trust and cooperation between the borough administrators, between the two police chiefs, the fire chiefs and EMS, it just wouldn’t have happened,” said Carusi. “My thanks to all of them.”
The 2014 proposed budget was discussed and remains a work-in-progress. One notable item is $615,000 for a fire pumper (which includes $15,000 for extrication equipment). “The rationale for this is that the current vehicle is 15 years old and has been damaged by salt water,” said Carusi. “If we trade it in now, we’re looking at approximately $100,000 back. My feeling, from what I’m seeing now, is that we really have to look at the total numbers as they come in for the capital (budget) and see what makes sense for the other projects and then make priorities. If this thing is a priority for next year then so be it, if not, then we do what we have to do.”
Kramar suggested they split the cost of the pumper “with $300,000 in either 2014 or 2015 and then the remaining money in the next year and then go out and buy the truck. We have a lot of expenses this year—we have a new police building that needs to be built.”
“I think that, especially since we just spent $500,000 on the firehouse,” said Councilmember Karen Lane, “I think this should be a long-range plan and priority has to be given to the police department.”
“Oh, it is,” agreed Carusi. “The total number for the police department is $882,500.”
For Beach and Recreation, $15,000 is for new lifeguard stands. “One of the things we see,” added Council President Judith Davies-Dunhour, “is that the tennis courts are getting minimal use that we would like to do something.” There is $130,000 proposed to possibly re-do tennis courts and “possibly turn those into pick-up basketball courts. Or we could patch them and paint them and not re-do them this year. Just putting that out there, but beach rules and access signs really need to get redone.”
Councilmember Joselyn Rich discussed natural resources as “being the reason why we all live here.” Natural resource department includes the beach, bay, bird sanctuary, and open spaces. There is a $2.5 million request because of Site 103 material. “It shocks me that that is one of the guesstimates of cost for removing that material. This is a big wish list and it’s not going to happen all at once. The thought process of what our community needs to do now is the same sort of process that the community went through 25 years ago when it was time to take care of the beaches.”
Rich discussed the back-bay dredging situation. “There’s all kinds of new ideas that are out there. We are going to work very hard at being creative. But we need a place to place that material,” she said.
Councilmember Barry Mastrangelo added that there are conversations happening where contracts are possible for companies to “dig it and take it with them.”
“We are working on it,” Rich emphasized. “We all know what a treasure those back bays are. We have also offered to be a test case. We’d love to set the example, because we are so small compared to every other town up and down the coast. We would be willing to try almost any creative ideas that come along … we welcome them over and over again.”
One last number that might be in excess of $1 million is for various streets and sidewalks. “When you ride down our roads, very seldom are you going to hit a pothole,” said Kramar. “Go into any other town and you’re going to ride on rough roads with potholes. So what is being fixed with (that figure) is 107th to 111th Street, 99th and Berkley. If you do maintenance, if you keep up with it every year, then you don’t have all those potholes and roads that really are a disgrace.”
The overall numbers presented were not final. There are a number of factors including more cuts and the possible implementation of old money to help reduce the budget.
“I love old money,” said Mastrangelo.
To contact Bryon Cahill, email bcahill@cmcherald.com.