BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — The Town-ship Council has introduced a capital budget totaling $4,429,796, about half of which will be offset by grants or other funding.
Mayor William Neary, who put the budget together with the help of administrative staff, read a statement regarding the budget during the council’s March 14 meeting.
About $2.4 million of the total capital budget would be funded by the township through financing.
“The capital budget of 2005 continues the commitment we have made for the past eight years, namely a desire to satisfy basic municipal needs, not increase the municipal debt, and to provide capital for long-term projects without increasing property taxes,” Neary said.
One of the largest budget items focuses on municipal infrastructure work. The amount proposed for roadwork and pavement management is at nearly $1.5 million, he said. Some $190,000 in state aid will be used toward those projects.
“This is the ninth year in a row that we are committing over a million dollars in roadwork,” he said.
Another big-ticket item is new equipment for public works and public safety. Almost $600,000 is earmarked for those expenses, which include the purchase of a vacuum jet truck, aerial lift truck and traffic maintenance vehicles.
“[They] are among the purchases that will keep our equipment efficient and safe in the future,” he said, adding that they are replacing “extremely old models.”
Adrianne Eisner, manager of the Division of Human Resources, Budget and Purchasing, said in a memo that the administration looked at all the requests from department heads and prioritized them.
“You will see that due to fiscal constraints, there are proposed projects for 2005 which we could not include in the recommended program,” she said.
Neary also noted how one of the main expenditures in the budget is $250,000 for the initial phase of work on Heavenly Farms, a large Cranbury Road tract the township recently acquired for open space. According to the budget, almost $1.5 million of work is proposed, with about $1.2 million of that coming from the sale of a township-owned Dunhams Corner Road property, according to Township Business Administrator James White.
“This long-term park development will get started with funding which we’ll use for engineering plans, initial site work, seed money for any additional contributions from other sources, and a variety of first steps to this exciting project,” Neary said.
The Department on Aging will get a new bus, at $50,000, for transportation to the senior center, shopping centers and special events. Grant money will help pay for about $60,000 in improvements at the senior center.
Among other noteworthy expenditures is $7,875 for new audio equipment for recreation programs; $40,000 in new computers for staff; and work on storm water and drainage systems.
Among the road infrastructure projects Neary mentioned are Willow Street improvements, at $350,000; reconstruction work on Tices Lane, $150,000; resurfacing along Riva Avenue, $126,000; reconstruction of Kimberly Road, $390,000; and $100,000 for a third phase of work on Fresh Ponds Road.
Also, work on a township bike path will cost $150,000, paid for with grants; and a dog park at Heavenly Farms, $125,000, according to the budget.