Local MUA Dissolution Remains Council’s Chief Topic

VILLAS – The July 7 meeting of Lower Township Council began with at least one issue that all members of council could agree on: “New Jersey Tuition Equality for America’s Military.” This bill would benefit veterans who want to continue their education after serving in the military.
Mayor Michael Beck commented, “We can’t do enough for our veterans’ education.” The vote was a unanimous yes from all five members.
At that point in the meeting, significant yet civil disagreements along party lines characterized the remaining items on the agenda.
A resolution that concerned the payment for the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority (LTMUA) auditor Leon P. Costello was presented for action. This audit was used to justify the dissolution of the LTMUA based on the auditor’s finding of a $1 million savings if the MUA were dissolved and absorbed into township government.
Councilman Thomas Conrad questioned the $15,000 cost of the audit based on his desire for fiscal responsibility. Beck countered that the cost was very small considering “we put a few drops of water into the pump to get $1 million savings.”
Councilman Erik Simonsen offered that the township should be looking to share services with the county instead. Beck reminded Simonsen that in February, in closed session, he and all councilmen voted in favor of hiring the independent auditor. The vote on the payment resolution fell along political lines with James Neville, Beck and Norris Clark voting yes, Simonsen and Conrad voting no.
A resolution seeking nominations and a vote for a replacement board member to the MUA was presented. Conrad immediately nominated Robert Rizzo to fill that vacancy. At that point, Beck began to question the extent of Republican representation on the board of the MUA. He cited that three out of the four current members are Republican, 75 percent of membership. He contrasted that with other boards that have much smaller Republican representation. He also cited the zoning board that consists of eight members, all from Ward 3, which is Simonsen’s ward.
Only one board member resides in Ward 2, with none from Ward 3. He questioned the geographical imbalance this formula represents township wide.
Beck then continued to express concern about why the MUA is so heavily Republican. He cited the criminal investigation of the MUA that resulted from the alleged illegal taping of meetings that led to that inquiry and the fact that board member, Tom Frisoli, chose to contact local Republican Chairman Jeffrey Lindsay for advice instead of coming to the township solicitor, township manager or any other proper government official with his concerns.
Beck repeated his allegation that the Republicans control the MUA; he then acknowledged Clark as the next speaker.
Clark continued the theme by asking, “Why would Councilman Simonsen and Councilman Clark vote against saving $1 million?” He was referring to the MUA dissolution. “Why, when the Republican governor encourages local governments to consolidate to save tax payer’s money? I tried to put this together; so I followed the money. Why are they (Republicans) drawn to the MUA? So when you follow the money, you see that out of $8 million spent on engineering for the MUA, $1.1 million went to a particular engineering firm.”
Clark added that the firm, Remington & Vernick, is a significant political contributor, having provided $733,000 in political contributions to the state level parties. He alleged that the state-level Republican Party then funneled some of that money into the last Lower Township Council election in an unsuccessful attempt to gain Republican control over Lower Township Council.
At this point Simonsen stated that Beck had actually voted for two of the four MUA board members himself, an allegation Beck denied saying that he voted for just one of the three candidates at that time.
Conrad then asked if there was a problem with appointing Rizzo to the board. Beck indicated that he just wanted to be sure that the next board member has government experience. “We need someone down there to see what they are doing (at the MUA).”
Clark nominated former mayor Jack Sparks to the vacant MUA board position. Beck stated that Sparks has the “government savvy” needed at this point in time.” A vote was called for to appoint Sparks, which led to his approval by a 3-2 margin, with Beck, Clark and Neville in favor, and Simonsen and Clark opposed.
Clark then criticized a July 2 letter to the editor sent to The Herald by Conrad and Simonsen. He pointed out that much of what they said was untrue. He particularly criticized the letter’s allegation that the move of the police department back to the municipal complex would cause tax increases. The letter called Beck’s and Clark’s assertion that the township’s debt service would remain the same, and therefore taxes would not increase, as “propaganda.”
Beck and Clark explained the timing of the bond issues and repeated that the independent auditor, Costello, had explained why no tax increases would be needed. Conrad then conceded that he agreed that it appeared that no tax increases would be needed but he still objected to “maxing out our credit.”
Beck replied that he thought the letter to the editor was “deceptive.” Clark stated that councilmen are entitled to their opinions, but are not entitled to creating their own facts.
Township Administrator Michael Voll then provided some updated information concerning his efforts to dispel rumors about the MUA dissolution. He provided copies of a paper entitled “The REAL Facts About the MUA Dissolution” that was circulating around the MUA from unknown sources. He indicated that there were many erroneous allegations and rumors on the sheet.
Among the errors was the characterization of the $1 million savings as “phantom savings,” that rates would go up, salaries would be cut, utility bill grace periods would be reduced, etc.
Voll provided responses to these charges that refuted the allegations point by point. He also related that he, Simonsen, the chief of police and Beck had met with all MUA employees at a meeting to dispel these rumors that are untrue.
This group also met with Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton to discuss the county’s desire to find a location, on high ground, to accommodate the 911 dispatch system and the Office of Emergency Management.
Simonsen suggested that it may make sense to build a new building at the airport site to accommodate the county’s needs, rather than use the existing building.
Following this debate, the newly-appointed MUA board member, Sparks expressed thanks to council for appointing him and promised to “do my upmost to work to produce some good conclusions and will involve myself deeply to improve the MUA.”
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.