New hires for maintenance of parks weighted against more land acquisitions.
By: David Campbell
Forecasting ongoing budgetary constraints, the Princeton Township Committee on Monday night weighed new hires for open-space maintenance against future acquisitions and debt service for the Gulick farm.
Deputy Mayor William Enslin said he will resist any new open-space purchases until township officials "step up" and hire staff he said are needed to oversee daily maintenance of the municipality’s existing open space and passive-use parklands.
"I don’t want to see our parks be a disgrace," the deputy mayor said. "You’ve got to take care of the parks day in, day out, week in, week out. It takes people to maintain these things."
Committeewoman Casey Hegener said she is more inclined to use funds from the township’s 2-cent open-space tax on land acquisition, indicating that opportunities for such purchases are lost once the land is developed.
Mayor Phyllis Marchand, also reluctant about paying salaries and benefits for new employees, expressed concern about having funds available for anticipated bond payments on the $2.7 million purchase in 2002 of much of the Gulick farm on Princeton-Kingston Road.
The mayor said she did not want to increase the open-space tax or do anything to jeopardize the township’s Aaa Moody’s bond rating.
Mayor Marchand pointed to township Arborist Greg O’Neil’s promotion to open space manager a year ago and the assignment of a township staffer to assist him.
She suggested officials "think creatively" before making new expenditures when the township is "still not out of the woods" on other commitments. One idea floated was pushing for more volunteers under the township’s Adopt-A-Park program.
Princeton Township Engineer Robert Kiser said Mr. O’Neil was in "an impossible situation" with his current staffing, noting that shade-tree maintenance and residential tree removals alone occupy a great deal of the open space manager’s time. Mr. O’Neil said about 67 applications for removals are pending.
The township has 12 completed parks, seven of them comprising about 278 acres that require extensive daily maintenance, Mr. O’Neil said. The total open space in the township is more than 550 acres, Mr. O’Neil continued. Active-recreation fields are maintained by the Recreation Department, while other wooded and natural-growth lands are permitted to stay uncultivated, he said.
"The task at hand is somewhat daunting," the open space manager said.
In March, Mr. O’Neil briefed the Township Committee on his long-range strategic plan for the upgrade and maintenance of public lands, which he began preparing after assuming his new duties last year. In that document, he cited the need for hiring three or four qualified staffers to accomplish objectives under the plan.
Committeeman Bernard Miller said the township’s new shade-tree ordinance, which took effect earlier this year and requires residents to get township permits for the removal of larger trees, may need to be re-examined.
Mr. Miller said officials were told the measure would not require new staff to implement. He suggested existing township staff might be reassigned to meet Mr. O’Neil’s needs without increasing the tax burden on residents.
According to township Chief Financial Officer John Clawson, the municipality is still awaiting reimbursement from the state Green Acres program for open-space funds used to buy 28 acres of the roughly 40-acre Gulick farm off Princeton-Kingston Road.
The township took out short-term notes to buy the land. Long-term bonding will have to be sought if the expected funds do not materialize in the next several years, the CFO said.
The township’s open-space tax brings in roughly $470,000 a year. At the start of 2004, there was about $522,000 in the fund, and about $417,000 is anticipated to be paid this year toward debt service, Mr. Clawson said.
On Monday night, Mr. O’Neil said he would come back to the committee with a breakdown of the requested new positions’ duties and requirements.