Mayor Delivers Budget Address; Spending up, Services Maintained

SEA ISLE CITY – Despite the threat and then reality of severe flooding in the municipality, Sea Isle City’s City Council met Feb. 9.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio opened the meeting with his 2016 budget address whose themes centered around the city’s resiliency in the face of recent storms, the transparency and due process his administration strives to accord all citizens and that he recognizes residents are especially interested in building and developing Sea Isle City for the future.
“I am pleased to report that Sea Isle City’s finances are in good shape, we have a healthy surplus and just received in the last part of 2015 another ‘AA’ rating from Standard and Poor’s. This means that while we have not been immune to some financial downturns our situation is as solid and sound as it has ever been. For example, while our ratable base decreased our city-wide property values have increased,” said Desiderio.
Desiderio also acknowledged that there are some costs contained in the budget that do not provide actual services following up as well in response to a related question during the public comment portion of the meeting. “Our debt service is going up 11 percent, health benefits up 6.5 percent and pension costs up 10 percent.”
Business Administrator George Savastanos replied “These costs total $9 million out of a total budget of $22 million and yes, you’re right, that amount is increasing and increasing as a percent of the total budget, but we do not anticipate any reduction in services for the city looking ahead even five years.”
Desiderio highlighted where in his administration’s 2016 calculations additional funding will be allocated. These include funding for the city’s master plan; continuing the stipend program for the fire department; rest rounds on beach end streets per a request by council; funding to meet requirements that result in flood insurance discounts for property owners; and funding to pay for an analysis of delivery by the city’s ambulance and rescue services. 
He added that administration is replacing and upgrading water and sewer systems and those well-functioning systems “should not be taken for granted.” He pledged that there will be no utility rates increases for 2016.
Late Request for Closed Session
Council passed a resolution introduced during the meeting, i.e. not on the agenda, for a closed session regarding litigation in the matter of 8600 Landis v. the city. After the public comment portion of the meeting, council adjourned and returned later with a statement that a resolution was passed to hire professional legal services with subject matter being a planning board issue in pending litigation. 
Public Comments
During the public comment portion of the meeting, a number of residents spoke on the recently-approved FAR (Floor to Area Ratio) at the .08 level.
Several Realtors stated that the FAR at this level would be an economic detriment to current and future property owners.
“We have had ample notice of how and when to provide our input, there have been surveys, workshops, ongoing council and planning board meetings, so it’s unbelievable you all are now coming forward to give your opinion,” said another resident to applause from the public.
A resident gave more data on the dangers of siting the Verizon monopole within the municipality. “Within the ‘drop zone’ of where this radio tower might go, there then is the risk of fire, the tower collapses because of a storm, or that a residence is not eligible for insurance under HUD rules. It’s unreasonable that the FCC in 1996 passed some rule that allows it to put these radio towers anywhere without citizen input. Why can’t we follow Ocean City’s example and put such systems on telephone poles?”
Another resident requested that the city begin to initiate a siren system to alert residents when there is an unexpected high tide such as occurred recently.
“If I hadn’t heard by coincidence on the TV late news that the tides were going to be a lot higher than anticipated I would not have gotten out of bed and moved my car which would have been destroyed otherwise. I think most Sea Isle City residents would appreciate a siren in the middle of the night alerting them to an unusual tide.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.