Santa Claus makes a stop during his annual ride-around with the President Park Fire Company in Sayreville Dec. 17. SCOTT FRIEDMAN SOUTHAMBOY — Police here will be getting a little boost in resources from Middlesex County.
As outlined by a resolution passed at the Dec. 21 City Council meeting, the city will receive a Taser weapon for use by the police department.
The electroshock device would be provided through the county prosecutor’s Law Enforcement Trust Account, which, according to the resolution, is used to supplement and upgrade law enforcement capabilities.
South Amboy Business Administrator Camille Tooker said after the meeting that the city was looking into obtaining more Tasers for the department, and added that the Taser would be carried in addition to an officer’s service weapon.
Also at the meeting, resident Vince Mackiel asked if progress was being made with any waterfront development projects.
“We haven’t seen anything at the Planning Board level,” responded Council President Joseph Connors, who also serves on the board.
Mayor Fred Henry said discussions were ongoing between developer O’Neill Properties Group and Amboy Aggregates regarding the purchase of the sand company’s waterfront land. He said he anticipated a 2012 closing on the deal.
Resident Tom Kross asked if there were any updates regarding his suggestion a few months ago to add a crosswalk near the train station. Tooker said that officials initially wanted a crosswalk incorporated into the new train station’s plans, but were told that it was not feasible since there were no intersections.
“Someone’s going to get nailed,” Kross said, regarding pedestrians’ risk as they cross the street.
“Maybe we can look at it again,” Tooker responded.
Also at the meeting, a state issue was localized when resident George Flugrad addressed the council regarding Gov. Chris Christie’s efforts to eliminate payouts for unused sick leave for public employees. Flugrad said his research from the Department of Community Affairs showed the city had an overall payout liability of $1.3 million, which he said broke down to $412 per household. He compared this data to what he had researched for South River, which he used for comparison because of its size and demographics. He said South River had a per-household liability of just $45 per household.
Tooker said she was not familiar with those figures, but that the data did not reflect South Amboy’s proactive efforts to prevent large retirement payouts, including capping payouts at $15,000 and instituting a two-tier benefits system. She said comparing
South Amboy to South River may not be appropriate, depending on the services that borough does in-house and what is outsourced.
Flugrad said he was concerned about the overall financial health of the city.
“Every year I see the budget go up, the taxes go up,” he said. “It’s kind of outrageous.”
Tooker said the city has made a number of efforts to reduce the taxpayers’ burden.
Flugrad said as a young adult, he planned to stay in the city for many years, and as such wanted to make sure costs were kept in check.
Tooker reminded him that those on the governing body are also taxpayers.
“Everyone up here has an investment in this city,” she said, “and we’re going to protect that.”