UPPER FREEHOLD: Township discusses being high-speed

by Tom Baldwin, Special Writer
   UPPER FREEHOLD — The township is looking to the Internet to speed up ways taxpayers stay abreast of their local government.
   The issue arose at the Feb. 5 Township Committee’s regular meeting, where Committeeman Robert Frascella asked if the committee’s upcoming agenda could be more quickly posted on the township’s Web site. He also asked if the committee’s minutes of recent meetings could be posted on the Web.
   Mayor Steve Alexander said any delay in posting the agenda may be partly his fault, since he gives the agenda its final read, usually over a weekend, before Clerk Barbara Bascom sends it to the township’s Web page.
   ”There has got to be a way in this day and age of 2009,” Mayor Alexander said of various avenues to posting the data, or even e-mailing it to anyone seeking the material. “That would probably be more like a link. … We should talk to somebody about the mechanism for how we can do that.
   Ms. Bascom said late-breaking issues — such as road-closings or fallen trees – go immediately to the Web, where the alerts flash. She said meeting minutes or upcoming agendas could be similarly posted.
   But she added that there has not been a lot of demand for the minutes, and when there is, hard copies are available for a fee, which she reminded the committee would not be an option over the Internet.
   Committeeman Frascella said the issue was not paramount with him, but he said he brought up the matter on behalf of a constituent.
   ”It’s just like everything,” said Mayor Alexander. “They don’t want things until it is coming to a lot next to them.”