By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
HIGHTSTOWN Borough Council President Walter Sikorski will be contacting East Windsor’s elected officials about forming a joint commission to study consolidating the two municipalities.
The council approved a resolution Tuesday empowering Mr. Sikorski a supporter of consolidation to begin talks with East Windsor by a vote of 5-1. Councilman Dave Schneider, an outspoken opponent of consolidation, was the only dissenter.
Mr. Sikorski said he would begin by contacting East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov to initiate talks on forming a joint commission.
”This will be a long process,” Mr. Sikorski said. “There are many steps, and any step could derail it along the way.”
Mr. Sikorski added that he hoped the matter eventually would be put to the voters, so that it would be decided in the most democratic way possible.
The council decision to name a representative comes on the recommendation of a private consolidation study funded by the Greater Hightstown-East Windsor Improvement Project. That study performed by Government Management Associates of East Brunswick was presented to the elected officials in Hightstown and East Windsor early last month.
The GHEWIP study claims that as much as $1.8 million could be saved annually by combining the towns, but stopped short of fully endorsing consolidation. Instead, the study recommended that the towns form a joint consolidation commission with representatives from the state Department of Community Affairs to further study the issue. The DCA has promised to fully fund such commissions to encourage consolidation, according to consultant.
The matter would then have to be put on the ballot and approved by voters in both towns before consolidation could occur, the consultant report states. Reagan Burkholder, a consultant who worked on the study, said that even if the effort received quick approval at every step in the process the earliest that consolidation could occur would be in January 2012.
Mr. Burkholder and fellow consultant Greg Fahrenbach recommended that Hightstown begin the process by naming one person to initiate talks with East Windsor on forming such a commission.
Mr. Sikorski already is involved in talks with East Windsor regarding a potential East Windsor takeover of police coverage in the borough.
Mayor Mironov said Tuesday that the first thing the township needs to do is set up a question-and-answer session with the GHEWIP consultants at a meeting of the Township Council. She said she expects that to happen at one of the next two or three meetings of the council, which meets every other week.
Mayor Mironov also repeated that any consolidation efforts are contingent upon “substantial and tangible benefits” for the township and its taxpayers.
In Tuesday’s Borough Council discussion before the vote to appoint Mr. Sikorski, Mr. Schneider once again questioned the methodology of the report and the motives of the people who created it. Mr. Schneider said he believes the authors expected to be brought back for further consulting as the process moved forward.
”That makes them salespeople, pitching their own services,” he said. “It calls their report into question and makes their later involvement in the process completely inappropriate.”
Councilman Mike Theokas, a proponent of consolidation, cut Mr. Schneider off as he was speaking against the report.
”With all due respect, we are not voting on this report. We are voting to create a new report,” Mr. Theokas said to Mr. Schneider. “We will get new numbers and we will have plenty of opportunities to talk about this ad nauseum.”
Mr. Sikorski agreed with Mr. Theokas, and said the GHEWIP report is just a basis for continued discussion.
”In no way will this be shoved down anyone’s throat,” Mr. Sikorski said.

