The Middletown Township Committee unanimously authorized an emergency appropriation of $1 million to pay severance liabilities from a wave of recent retirements at its meeting on Nov. 15.
Specifically, the ordinance authorizing the appropriation said that these liabilities resulted from accrued leave.
Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante said in an interview that this amount represents the liabilities of 15 to 20 retirees, many of which were unexpected.
The township typically has three to four retirees in a given year, Mercantante said.
He said that while several of the retirees would likely have normally retired this year, many of them resulted from pension reform.
“Most of the people are retiring because they’re afraid of things happening at the state level,” Mercantante said.
These changes, proposed by Gov. Chris Christie, would increase the age of retirement, increase contribution and cap payouts for certain employees.
Christie has said that the state pension system is unsustainable without reforms.
Mercantante said that recently passed legislation allows the township to pay this $1 million over five years.
The Township Committee also approved an ordinance authorizing $683,500 for design work for various road improvements.
According to the ordinance, these funds would go toward design work for road improvements to several streets within the township, miscellaneous curb and sidewalk replacement and drainage improvements to Van Kirk, Garfield and Fairfield avenues.
Committeeman Sean Byrnes voted against this ordinance and reiterated his push to bid out contracts.
“I know that based on comments from our last meeting, a couple of these projects will be bid out, which is a first step, something we have not done previously when it comes to the engineering work of these projects, but my preference would be to bid all these out,” Byrnes said.
When the ordinance was introduced at the committee’s workshop meeting on Oct. 1, Mercantante said that new projects would be put out to bid.
“Some of these road projects are continuations of existing neighborhoods where we are in, but two or three projects are totally new projects, the design of those will be put out to bid,” he said.
Mercantante said that projects already under way would continue with the original engineers for continuity.
“It is the continuation of a neighborhood so it makes sense to continue with the same engineers,” he said.