Township officials say "significant opportunities may exist to provide the citizens of Hopewell Valley with equal or better services at reduced cost."
By John Tredrea
The Hopewell Township Committee has called on the mayors of all three Hopewell Valley municipalities to hold a summit on sharing more municipal services in order to save taxpayers money.
At the suggestion of Township Committeeman David Sandahl, the full committee voted unanimously Monday night in favor a resolution calling for the summit meeting.
Township officials say "significant opportunities may exist to provide the citizens of Hopewell Valley with equal or better services at reduced cost."
After the vote, township Mayor Arlene Kemp said she would try to meet with Pennington Mayor Jim Loper and Hopewell Borough Mayor David Nettles soon. Mayor Kemp said she wanted to convene the meeting within the next few weeks, since the township is poised to begin work sessions on its 2005 budget.
The resolution passed Monday night said interlocal service agreements "should be updated to reflect current circumstances and realistic cost-sharing."
Under an interlocal agreement that has been renewed annually for decades, the township provides police service to Hopewell Borough (Pennington has its own department). Other services provided by the township to the boroughs under such agreements are in the areas of health and animal control.
At the summit meeting, the township wants to consider shared services in the areas of police, public works and recreation and others.
The resolution states that additional cooperation between the Valley’s three municipalities "will accelerate the development of new services and facilities for seniors and the development of the Hopewell Valley Community Center YMCA."
The resolution noted that "citizens participating in a forum on shared services at The College of New Jersey put the highest priority on "achieving greater efficiency through shared services."