January 16, 2013

Task Forces Formed, PU Payment Approved At Council Meeting

Two task forces have been created to help map out the future of two key properties on Witherspoon Street. At its meeting Monday night, the Princeton Council approved the formation of a hospital rezoning task force, which is to begin meeting this week. A second committee was formed to look into expanding the fire station adjacent to the Valley Road School property.

Council President Bernie Miller will head the group studying the hospital issue. The Planning Board voted last month to reject a proposal by the developer AvalonBay for a rental complex on the site. The property is currently under two zoning ordinances representing what were until recently the Borough and Township. A single ordinance representing consolidated Princeton could replace them.

Mr. Miller said he hoped the modifications to the ordinance will be created “in a manner that reflects the values of the Princeton community.” Serving on the task force are Mayor Liz Lempert, Planning Board member Marvin Reed, Council member Jenny Crumiller, resident Joseph Weiss, architect and Site Plan Review Advisory Board member Bill Wolfe, architect and Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods member Areta Pawlynsky, and Planning Director Lee Solow.

Council member Jo Butler asked whether a representative from the University Medical Center of Princeton, which moved to Plainsboro last May and still owns the property, had been invited to join the task force. Mr. Miller replied, “There was some concern that it would not be appropriate. However, the meetings are open to the public and they are welcome to attend.”

The group charged with resubmitting a proposal on the fire station expansion, which would consolidate Princeton’s three existing fire stations, includes Mr. Miller and fellow Council members Ms. Butler and Lance Liverman. A new proposal is needed because of changes to the original proposal, which would have moved teen counseling center Corner House and the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad {PFARS} into an expanded facility at the Valley Road School building. Since then, PFARS has opted to enlarge its existing location on Harrison Street, and Corner House is set to move into what was formerly the Borough’s municipal building. The deadline for the new proposal is April 8.

Also approved at the meeting was an ordinance to establish a fee of $65 a year for participation in Princeton’s food waste compost program. Up to 1,000 households can take part in this year’s program, a previous version of which served more than 400 members. Premier Food Waste Recycling, a division of Central Jersey Waste and Recycling, was the hauler hired for the new program last month.

There were heated exchanges when the topic of Princeton University’s voluntary payment to the town for 2013 came up. A resolution for a contribution of $2,475,000 in unrestricted funds was approved after much discussion about how the PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, was negotiated and whether the process was sufficiently transparent. The total is the same as last year’s, but the 2012 amount included $500,000 earmarked for consolidation. The current agreement also includes $20,000 toward expansion of the Princeton firehouse.

The tensions arose when Ms. Butler suggested there was a conflict of interest in Ms. Lempert’s negotiating with the University since Ms. Lempert’s husband is a member of the faculty. Ms. Butler also questioned whether the agreement was for one or two years, and asked for a copy to inspect. Ms. Lempert said the agreement was oral. Kristin Appelget, the University’s director of community and regional affairs, stepped up to the microphone to explain that when the agreement was made for 2012, the idea was simply to extend it into 2013 because members of the governing body would be busy adjusting to consolidation. She added that a multi-year agreement is planned to be negotiated once the University selects a replacement for outgoing president Shirley Tilghman.

After Council members who served on the previous Township Committee and those who were on Borough Council mentioned how such business was handled in the former municipalities, Mr. Miller said he hoped future discussions would be geared toward the present instead of the past.

“This is the first business meeting of the new year, and I’m wondering how long we’re going to be reminded that this is not the way we did it in the Borough,” he said. “The Borough is gone. The Township is gone. This is the new Princeton. We need to look forward, not backward.”

The measure was approved with Council member Heather Howard recusing herself, Ms. Butler abstaining, and four votes in favor.

The next meeting of the Council is January 28.

November 6, 2012

Residents Asked to Double-Check Voting Sites As Princeton Prepares to Vote as One Community

Princeton Borough and Princeton Township will vote as a consolidated municipality in the General Election on Tuesday, November 6. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Residents who want a mail-in ballot must now apply in person at the Mercer County Clerk’s Office by 3 p.m. on November 5.

Consolidated Princeton now has 22 voting districts. To find your consolidated voting district and polling place, follow the links from www.princetontwp.org/election1.html.

At the local level, Princeton voters will select either Democrat Liz Lempert or Republican Richard Woodbridge for mayor. Candidates for six new Council seats include Republican Geoff Aton, and Democrats Heather Howard, Arden (“Lance”) Liverman, Patrick Simon, Bernard (“Bernie”) Miller, Jenny Crumiller, and Jo Butler.

Vying for three Freeholder seats are Democrats Marie Corfield, Ann M. Cannon, Pasquale “Pat” Colavita, Jr., and Samuel T. Frisby, Sr.; and Republicans David G. Mayer, Richard Urbani, and David Walsh.

Nominees for a single General Assembly seat are Republican Donna M. Simon and Democrat Marie Corfield.

Republican Eric A. Beck is challenging Democratic incumbent Rush Holt in a race to represent the 12th Congressional District, and Republican Joe Kyrillos has challenged incumbent Democratic Senator Robert Menendez.

While the ballot will include the names of nine Presidential aspirants, as well as a “personal choice” box, that race presumably comes down to incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama against Republican Mitt Romney.

Statewide, voters will determine whether or not New Jersey should provide $750 million for certain types of new construction at specified New Jersey colleges and universities, and whether or not to amend the New Jersey State Constitution to redefine justices’ and judges’ salary and pension benefits.

Locally, Princeton voters will have an opportunity to approve an open space tax of 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

February 15, 2012

Public Input Is Integral to Task Force Mission As Team Members Discuss Ways to Achieve It

On February 8, at the second meeting of the Transition Team Task Force charged with shepherding Princeton Township and Borough through consolidation, some members expressed differing views as to how many of their sessions should be open to public input. Dorothea Berkhout commented that because the team will make recommendations to the Borough and Township, rather than decisions, she was not sure it qualified as a public body under the Open Public Meetings Act. Colleague Brad Middlekauff added that it may be less efficient to solicit public input at every meeting. Team member Jim Levine suggested forming a committee to keep the public informed.

However, Chairman Mark Freda said that keeping the proceedings public was an integral part of the team’s mission. “The message to me by the majority of the people has been clear. We will do the absolutely best we can to perform this process in public,” he said. “Public participation in this process is critical.”

Township Administrator Jim Pascale said that according to the Township attorney, the task force must conduct its business in public, since it is a public body. The only exception would be if a topic under discussion legally falls within the parameters of an executive session. Bernie Miller said the group should “think about what is legal and what is the public’s perception of what we’re doing. This cannot be done behind closed doors.” The group agreed they should find an attorney, but in the meantime ask the governing bodies to amend its resolution so that they can make use of the attorneys for the Borough and Township.

In other action at the meeting, the Task Force agreed to form several subcommittees in the areas of personnel policies; public safety and merging police departments; public works, engineering and recreation; and finance. While the finance committee is already full, the Task Force is looking for volunteers to serve on the other four, and several more are expected to be named in coming weeks.

The personnel subcommittee held its first meeting on February 13. The future of Princeton’s municipal employees, 18 of whom will lose their jobs by the consolidation deadline of January 1, 2013, was the focus of the meeting. Currently, Township and Borough employees have different benefits regarding sick leave and pay increases. It was suggested that the periodic pay increases that Township employees receive based on longevity be grandfathered in.

To express interest in serving on a committee, send a resume and cover letter no later than 5 p.m. Friday, February 17 to either: Linda McDermott, Township Clerk, 400 Witherspoon St., Princeton, N.J. 08540, or lmcdermott@princeton-township.nj.us, or Delores Williams, Borough Deputy Clerk, 1 Monument Drive, Princeton, N.J. 08540, or dwilliams@princetonboro.org.


January 11, 2012

Township First to Select Transition Team

Four applicants with backgrounds in academia, business, social services, and politics were recently selected by Princeton Township to serve on the consolidation transition team. The Borough has not yet announced its choices.

The transition team has been charged by the Consolidation Commission with implementing its recommendations for consolidation, which will take effect in January 2013. Both municipalities were asked to select four residents; three transition team members and one alternate. Two elected officials from both the Borough and Township will also serve, along with administrators Jim Pascale and Bob Bruschi. The Consolidation Commission, which is a separate entity, will continue to function in an advisory role.

Township choices included Dorothea Berkhout, executive director for administration at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University;К

Linda Mather, president of Beacon Consulting Associates and a regular League of Women Voters moderator who also served on the 1991 consolidation committee; and Scott Sillars, president of Isles E4 and chair of the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee for Princeton Township since 2007. Gary O. Patterson, a senior executive with Miller Investment Management, was selected as an alternate.

“Scott, Thea, Linda and Gary are all extremely well qualified and each brings different, complementary skills to the table,” said Township Committee member (and new Deputy Mayor) Liz Lempert, who, along with then-Deputy Mayor Sue Nemeth, interviewed the candidates.

Applicants who were not chosen may still be asked by the transition team to serve on subcommittees. “We had many qualified applicants and want to take advantage of the great pool of talent that came forward,” noted Township Mayor Chad Goerner.

All interviews for Township members of the transition team were conducted in December by Ms. Lempert and Ms. Nemeth. “We reviewed their work in late December and met in closed session to discuss how we could put a team together with various strengths,” Mr. Goerner said.

In response to recent comments complaining that the selection process did not take place at public meetings, Ms. Nemeth observed that “interviews were conducted in a manner that allowed for candid and thorough discussion of each individual’s expertise, interests, and time availability. A public interview process would not have afforded us enough time or provide enough privacy to adequately weigh the commitment of serving.”

Ms. Lempert similarly commented that ‘Interviewing in private allows for a more open and relaxed dialog, and helps us to better evaluate candidates. This was the same process we used to select the Consolidation Commission members, as well as other committees.”

“The public should know that we recommended the very best team selected from among a highly qualified pool of candidates and hope many who were not selected will serve on subcommittees formed by the Task Force,” Ms. Nemeth added.

“We are anxious to move this process forward as soon as possible and hope that the Borough is able to make their appointments soon,” noted Mr. Goerner.

Borough Council members were scheduled to meet in a closed session last night (January 10) to discuss the appointments, before their scheduled public meeting.

The issue was first discussed at a private, unannounced meeting in late December of Council members Jo Butler, Kevin Wilkes, Jenny Crumiller, Mayor-elect Yina Moore and Councilwoman-elect Heather Howard. Eight candidates were selected from a list of applicants interested in representing the Borough. They were interviewed, in an open session, on January 3.

Councilman Roger Martindell took exception to the implication that Council was going to select from that group in a closed session. At press time, he said he intended to ask at the January 10 meeting that the appointments be discussed instead at an open session.

“The selection of persons to interview for the transition task force should be by publicly acknowledged criteria following public interviews of candidates,” he said. “Since we have not, as of the January 10 meeting, accomplished those goals, then I think it’s important to hold the process open and continuing so that we might select the persons in the most open and rational way possible. I look forward to doing so in the next few days ahead.”

Ms. Crumiller said in an email that meetings by governing bodies to discuss personnel matters, including appointments, are always done in closed session, “for a good reason.

“It would a disservice to volunteer applicants to discuss their relative merits in public,” she said. “Given that the Township Committee had chosen its Task Force members weeks ago, the Council felt a sense of urgency in moving the transition process forward and catching up to the Township Committee.”

“Frankly, it’s frustrating that people who agreed to that process are now raising issues about it,” she added. “There was not a peep of dissent over the plan until a few days ago. I hope we can move forward and name the task force — we have remarkable citizen applicants and we need to let these volunteers get to work. We’re anticipating that those volunteers who are not chosen for the task force will be considered for a subcommittee, where we expect most of the work to take place.”


Township Elects Goerner, Lempert As It Reorganizes for the Last Time

Chad Goerner was reelected Mayor and Liz Lempert took Sue Nemeth’s place as Deputy Mayor at Township Committee’s reorganization last week.

In her nomination, Ms. Lempert observed that, given how much was accomplished in recent months, it was hard to believe that Mr. Goerner has been mayor for only one year. She described him as a “great colleague,” “inclusive” in his work and a “great communicator”

Ms. Nemeth, who hopes to run for a seat on the Mercer County Board of Freeholders later this year, nominated Ms. Lempert. Ms. Nemeth spoke of Ms. Lempert’s history of engagement in preservation efforts; her work with the citizens finance advisory committee; her role as an advocate for the Human Services Department; and her influence in the recruitment of bilingual volunteers Township offices.

Describing her as “an excellent leader” over the past year, Mr. Goerner noted that Ms. Nemeth has his full support as she looks ahead to working at the county level.

Mr. Goerner, who sported a blue bow tie that evening, was sworn in by former governor Jim Florio. “I worked on his campaign while in I was in college and his ability to stand by his principles and make difficult decisions–but the right decisions–even when they weren’t always the most popular, inspired me to become involved in politics,” said Mr. Goerner in thanking Mr. Florio.

Ms. Lempert was sworn in by attorney and former School Board member Walter Bliss.

Both Ms. Nemeth and Bernie Miller, who were returned to Township Committee in the November election, were sworn in as well at the Tuesday evening meeting. Ms. Nemeth was sworn in by Township Attorney Ed Schmierer. Noting that he had done this a number of times before, Simon Miller did the honors for his father, whom he thanked for the “lesson he’s given me and my children: the value of public service.” Mr. Miller announced that he would not run for office in 20012.

Congressman Rush Holt (D-12); Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes; and former Township May Michelle-Tuck Ponder were among the dignitaries present for the Township’s last reorganization meeting as a separate entity.

Dog Tax

With that in mind, Mr. Goerner said, he and Deputy Clerk, Kathy Brzezynski paid a visit to the Township’s archives that morning. Princeton was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 9, 1838, and the hand-written budget for that year, Mr. Goerner reported, included $500 for the repair of roads; $500 to support the poor; $50 for bridge repairs; and $400 for schools. Incoming revenue included a $1 tax on every dog. “From our humble beginnings to a budget today of approximately $36 million ($61m if we include Princeton Borough), we have grown into a vibrant, diverse and desirable community,” observed Mr. Goerner. “Reunited once again, the future for our community looks very bright.”

At last year’s reorganization meeting, Mr. Goerner reminded the audience, he paraphrased David Bowie, observing that “we won’t always know where we’re going, but I promise you it won’t be boring.” This time he channelled the Moody Blues as he promised that “we will ‘keep as cool as we can and face piles of trials with smiles.’”


January 4, 2012

Moody’s Bond Rating For Princeton Township Unchanged at Triple-A

Princeton Township’s triple-A bond rating, said Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Monzo, will be not be affected by Moody’s Investor’s Service recent downgrading of Ewing Township’s bond services. In a December 23 report that described over-reliance on surplus money, Moody’s cut Ewing’s rating from A1 to A2.

“It will have no bearing on Princeton Township,” said Ms. Monzo, citing the success of a recent bond sale as evidence of the Township’s fiscal strength. “We have our own financial situation and different ways of doing things,” she added. The future looks “stable,” she reported, and consolidation promises to be a fiscal plus.

Moody’s Investors Service is a leading provider of credit ratings, research, and risk analysis. The firm’s ratings and analysis track debt covering more than 110 countries, 12,000 corporate issuers, 25,000 public finance issuers, and 106,000 structured finance obligations. Princeton’s triple-A rating is the highest that Moody ever assigns; its system follows the pattern Aaa, Aa, A, Baa, Ba, B, Caa, Ca. and C. Numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 are appended to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. Low bond ratings for municipalities usually result in higher interest rates on borrowing or issuing bonds, because the cities are perceived to be at greater risk of default.

Ewing was not the only New Jersey city to be downgraded in Moody’s recent report. Passaic received a similar demotion, going from A2 to A1 based on dwindling amounts of reserve cash. Jackson also went down a notch, from Aa2 to Aa3. The downgrades occurred despite the recent announcement that there would be a new infusion of $139 million in state aid to New Jersey cities. 

Ms. Monzo spoke at last week’s Township Committee meeting, which was noteworthy for its day and time — Wednesday at 10 a.m. — and for its brevity. The three members who were present, Mayor Chad Goerner, Deputy Mayor Sue Nemeth, and Bernie Miller, approved a “consent agenda” of items that are typically described as “housekeeping.”

The Township’s reorganization meeting was scheduled for Tuesday evening, January 3, after press time.