By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
Princeton Township is cutting way back on capital project spending in light of the poor economy, Township Administrator Jim Pascale said at Monday evening’s Township Committee meeting.
At the meeting two ordinances were introduced, one authorizing the issuance of $300,000 of bonds for road improvement projects, and the other appropriating the sum of $789,692 for the construction of the Stony Brook pedestrian bridge by the township.
Mr. Pascale said the $300,000 bond ordinance was for “resurfacing of roads that are of the highest priority,” in order to prevent them from decaying to the point they will need to be completely rebuilt. The pedestrian bridge project is fully funded through state and federal grants and so will not come out of the pockets of township taxpayers, he said.
The reason behind the funding pullback is “first and foremost the economy,” Mr. Pascale said. “We recognize we need to take a little pause on capital projects that would involve taxpayer dollars,” he said.
The township intends to continue to assess capital project needs, but intends to seek federal funding which may become available under the pending federal stimulus package to execute them, Mr. Pascale said.
”We want to make sure we have shovel-ready projects to put Princeton Township in line to utilized federal funds and not taxpayer dollars,” he said.
Township Engineer Robert Kiser said the township committee would be kept apprised on efforts to obtain stimulus funds for specific municipal projects.
In an interview after the meeting, Mr. Pascale said the $300,000 in road upkeep and repair funding was a reduction of $3 million from the $3.3 million sought for road projects a year ago, a reflection of the current economic state. “The $300,000 is a Band-Aid if you will to resurface roads with our own public works crew on an as-needed basis,” he said.
”Obviously Princeton Township is not immune from what is going on around the country,” Mr. Pascale said, noting Township Committee had directed that all municipal department operating budgets for 2009 be at or below those in 2008.
Asked when the township would have a draft 2009 budget in hand, Mr. Pascale said, “I wouldn’t even venture to guess.” He said too many major factors affecting the budget remained unclear, citing state aid and state pension deferrals as “two big big items,” for a budget to be formulated.
”There’s too many balls up in the air to make any predictions regarding the 2009 tax rate,” Mr. Pascale said.
Mr. Pascale said that because of the budgetary constraints, the township would go forward only with capital projects which had offsetting grant funding, like the Stony Brook pedestrian bridge.
At the Township Committee meeting, Mr. Pascale said the Stony Brook pedestrian bridge — located adjacent to the Jasna Polana golf course and Hun School — had been in the works since 2002, with the township working with Friends of Princeton Open Space to complete the project. The bridge will complete “the missing link in the township’s pathway system,” he said.
Helmut Schwab, a member of the board of Friends of Princeton Open Space, urged Township Committee members to vote for the pedestrian bridge project, which he emphasized utilized only grant funding, and which completed a trail around the township to the benefit of cyclists and pedestrians.
Both ordinances were introduced by unanimous vote of Princeton Township Committee. A public hearing on each will be held on February 23.
At the meeting, Mr. Kiser said that because of the wintry conditions so far this season the township has needed to use far more salt for its roads than in winters past. So far this winter, the township has used 2,200 tons of salt, he said.
”That equates to about $140,000 worth of salt,” Mr. Kiser said.

