HIGHTSTOWN: Borough residents call for additional code enforcement

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   HIGHTSTOWN — Over the past several months, residents have been urging Borough Council to pursue enforcement and expansion of its code enforcement.
   During the council meeting on May 21, it was the topic of discussion and came up several times again during the budget discussion, introduction of salaries, and in public comments sessions.
   The first reading and introduction of an ordinance establishing salary ranges for certain officers and borough employees was unanimously approved by council — although concerns were raised.
   According to the ordinance, 2012-06, the mayor will receive a salary of $4,800; a council member will receive $3,600. A construction code official will be paid between $18,000 to $35,000; a fire sub-code official will be paid between $3,500 to $6,000; and a building sub-code official will be paid between $3,500 to $6,000.
   Mayor Steven Kirson said that certain enforcement officers, known as special I and special II, could help law enforcement.
   The ordinance establishes the salary range from $8 to $18 an hour for special I officers.
   It reduces the salary ranges for special II officers to $18 to $30 an hour from $24 to $34 an hour, which was the most significant change in the ordinance, according to Mayor Kirson.
   ”The key thing is that they have to be a support role for the current police officers,” said Michael Theokas, business administrator, on May 24.
   Special enforcement officers can be used in situations like traffic, transporting to the court and special events, according to Mr. Theokas.
   ”The town is required to have an ordinance in place. I have taken a look at other municipalities and the ranges are much wider than these,” Mayor Kirson said.
   ”The economy is what it is. It gives us an opportunity to look for talented people at the most reasonable rates,” Mayor Kirson continued.
   Councilwoman Susan Bluth questioned if the ordinance obligated them to hire for particular position like the special I and special II officer positions.
   ”It won’t affect the ordinance,” said Fred Raffetto, borough attorney. “This allows us the possibility. It doesn’t require you (to do so).”
   Councilman Rob Thibault questioned what the salaries were based on.
   ”Has anyone gone and done a salary survey?” Councilman Thibault asked.
   ”It’s based on our current salaries and contracts with PBA and makes sure we are in the range of contractual obligations,” Mayor Kirson replied. “We are not paying anyone a whole lot of money in this borough.”
   The mayor said, “Our employees work hard, very dedicated people and I’m very happy to be associated with them . . . No one is getting rich working for Hightstown.”
   ”I did check the starting salaries for a police officer in Mercer County, all 13 towns, and we (are) not the lowest but we do fall in the low category for Mercer County,” said patrol officer Janine Krupa, and PBA president, of Hightstown Police Department.
   According to an e-mail sent to the Herald on May 23 from Ms. Krupa, the starting annual salaries for a graduate of the police academy entering his or her first job in law enforcement are as follows:
— Trenton: $31,330
— Hightstown: $51,189
— Lawrence: $51,516
— Hopewell: $53,711
— Hamilton: $54,150
— West Windsor: $54,767
— Ewing: $56,027
— Princeton Borough: $61,543
— East Windsor: $62,258
— Princeton Township: $71,287
   Ms. Krupa said, “I don’t have any concerns at this time except that we need to get the ball rolling to hire officers. We are at such minimums now that we need to start hiring more officers.”
   She continued, “Day shift (police officers) always (try) to team up with (code enforcement officers) Anelly (Gomez) and George (Chin) to make field visits to homes,” Ms. Krupa said.
   At last week’s meeting, Mr. Theokas said during a code enforcement update that Hightstown had eight notices of violations thus far in May. Most of the violations issued were for grass being too high and some were for garbage by the curb.
   ”There are some continually overcrowding issues that are being addressed,” Mr. Theokas said.
   He said that Hightstown plans to hire a part-time employee for code enforcement. The code office also received a car donation from the Hightstown Engine Co. No. 1 to provide it with transportation around the borough instead of driving around in their own personal vehicles.
   ”As of today with the adoption of the budget, we’re hiring somebody,” said Mr. Theokas.
   ”I really want to apologize because I didn’t get the full grasp of code enforcement until I went in (and) sat with Anelly and George and I was just blown away,” said Selena Bibens, council member.
   ”There’s got to be an excel spreadsheet that is probably miles long of continuous documentation of George going out with Anelly and enforcing what they were able to enforce. After speaking with George, that sometimes based on our ordinance, there is certain wording in there that prevents him from following through and just writing the summons or have the process complete,” Ms. Bibens said.
   The new ordinance is set to change that.
   Still, Ms. Bibens said there was not enough code enforcement officers in town.
   Dan Buriak of Hightstown, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, spoke during the first round of public comments regarding the importance of code enforcement.
   ”It doesn’t matter what end of the town Borough Hall is on if you are not enforcing anything,” Mr. Buriak said.
   He continued, “Code enforcement is an empty issue in town,” adding that he is up and down the street cutting other people’s grass and along the street as well as trimming trees. “We need to have a better way because I can’t do the whole town. So, somebody needs to be enforcing the basic ordinances.”
   Mr. Buriak mentioned that the HPC will be starting a new process which they are in the process of working on. They will be giving out proclamations to individuals and homeowners who are taking care of their properties appropriately and for working with the garden in front of the Soldiers Monument.
   ”We want to start recognizing people for doing good things in town,” Mr. Buriak said.