The Stone Harbor Property Owners Association hosted a virtual forum Wednesday, Oct. 25, so borough residents could hear from candidates for the town’s governing body.
Two seats on the council are up for election; two incumbents and a challenger are running for the posts. The incumbents are Reese Moore and Robin Casper; the newcomer is Tim Carney, a member of the borough’s Zoning Board, who is running for council for the first time.
Only Carney and Moore were present for the virtual Q&A. Property Owners Association President Richard Fuchs said, “Robin Casper was unable to join us,” giving no specific reason for her absence.
The three candidates ran against each other in the Republican primary, where Carney and Casper won the party endorsements. Moore is not on the ballot and is asking for write-in votes.
In Stone Harbor, the majority of property owners are not permanent residents. In the 2020 elections the number of registered voters in the borough stood at 676, with 80% of those voters casting a ballot.
The majority of property association membership is made up of homeowners who are not eligible to vote.
Q&A
With several individuals sharing the role of moderator for the Q&A, the candidates were asked to respond to a series of questions proposed by property owners, who submitted their questions in advance.
The questions were grouped into categories that included budget, sustainability, the wisdom of a beach utility, zoning, with emphasis on lot grading and side-yard setbacks, asset sales, offshore wind, marina development and tensions in borough hall.
Tim Carney
Carney was the top vote-getter in the Republican primary, besting both incumbents. He was not familiar with the details involved in some of the questions, but the thrust of his comments had certain consistent themes.
His overall message was that the council as currently constituted is not managing the borough’s business well. “We need to do better” was a phrase he used frequently. He called for better leadership, saying managing the borough’s affairs is more “chess than checkers,” presumably meaning a need exists to think through the implications of actions several moves into the future.
Carney cited the rollout of the new parking scheme as an example of a good idea gone awry because he said it was not managed properly.
He called attention to the loss of Community Rating System points caused by the expiration of Superstorm Sandy era points that could have been anticipated. He was incorrect in his use of the CRS numbers when he said the borough went from a level 2 to a level 7. It actually went from a 5 to a 7. In doing so, it lost 10% of the discount property owners had taken advantage of prior to the change. It was an example of the council reacting to a crisis rather than anticipating it, Carney said.
Another area he cited was the long involvement and expense involved in the 93rd Street pump station project, which grew out of control, moving from a $3 million project to a $20 million project before being terminated with never a shovel in the ground.
On budgets, Carney said the borough needs to work to eliminate debt and better manage spending. He cited the number of lawsuits that are “accumulating” in borough hall involving personal and zoning issues.
On the potential use of a beach utility, Carney said he lacked an understanding of how such a utility works.
It is not a tax on property owners, but rather a way to remove expenses from the backs of property taxpayers. Such utilities are used effectively in Cape May and Avalon. They are user fees funded largely from the sale of beach tags. In Cape May a portion of the occupancy tax revenue is also diverted to the beach utility.
The occupancy tax, especially on the number of short-term rentals in the island resort communities, has become a major source of revenue in a town like Cape May. It has not been publicly debated by the Stone Harbor council as a potential alternative source of revenue.
The concept of a stormwater utility is totally different, and Carney said he was not familiar with that as well. It would be a fee levied on property owners largely based on the runoff potential of their property. It sets up a dedicated fund for flood mitigation and stormwater management projects and even allows separate capital financing. He said it sounded like a tax, and it was labeled the “rain tax” when it passed the Legislature in Trenton.
The lot grading and side-yard setback ordinances are hot topics in the borough. Carney touched on both. He expressed frustration with ordinances that are enacted and in need of change almost immediately.
He criticized the council for too easily disregarding the work of the Planning Board only to have the council’s rewrite of the setback ordinance produce public opposition. He said the root of the problem is the need to better manage growth.
Carney said he was against selling borough assets to help reduce debt. He said he was against giving second homeowners the vote. In his list of things he opposed, he also placed offshore wind projects.
He said the turmoil in borough hall, referencing the conspicuous tension between the mayor and some members of council, saddened him. As a new guy on council, he hopes he can help bridge the gap. He added that he believed in constant dialogue with the borough’s residents and property owners.
Reese Moore
For Moore, the task was how to distinguish his own contributions while not tarnishing the reputation of the council he has been a part of.
He did not disagree that greater budget discipline would be welcome, but he does not have a voting record that shows him as an outlier on council votes. He and the other two members of the Administration and Finance Committee of council voted together almost uniformly.
Moore said that he favored greater use of shared services but had no suggestions for specific services that might benefit from such an arrangement.
On the CRS rating issue he chose not to discuss the task force the council established to win back its earlier rating of a level 5. He did take a position that the Flood Mitigation Plan was flawed, with the project for a large 93rd Street pump station “ill-conceived.”
Moore said he had played a role in establishing a multifaceted group that is grappling with stormwater issues and a new design that may include some smaller pump stations.
He also took issue with comments that the recent Mott MacDonald beach study has not had any of its recommendations acted upon. He said the study is incomplete and argued for peer review of the study to identify intermediate and long-term objectives.
Moore said any alterations to the 127th Street groin represent a project too expensive for the borough to contemplate. He put the expense at $80 million.
On the question of the borough’s use of utilities, Moore said Stone Harbor was moving ahead with a stormwater utility and would seek proposals soon.
He said less about a beach utility and argued that beach tag prices in most neighboring communities are rising to meet the level established by Stone Harbor last year.
On the issues of the zoning ordinances, Moore said he favors engaging a planning professional to look at the array of ordinances for consistency and their ability to achieve stated goals.
Moore was not supportive of the potential for selling borough assets and said emphatically that the plan to move the public works operation off the island was dead.
He joined Carney in criticizing the state’s offshore wind initiative. Like Carney, Moore did not offer any insights into the dangers of climate change for the borough or discuss what alternative energy proposals he would support.
He said he would strongly favor giving second homeowners the vote. “Yes, yes, yes” was his response to the question. He was careful to acknowledge that this would have to be a task tackled in Trenton, since it was beyond the power of the municipal council.
Asked about the turmoil in borough hall, Moore said he was dismayed at the tensions between the council and the mayor. The lack of Robin Casper’s attendance at the event showed here since Casper was the sole vote against the censure of the mayor and a supporter of Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour’s suggestions for more closed session discussions prior to major decisions.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
