BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP: Committee looks at ways to expand Public Works site

By David Kilby, Special Writer
   BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — The town continues to seek ways to save residents money while providing more services as the municipality plans to expand its Public Works center.
   The idea is to create a yard next to the current center on Crosswicks Street where residents can discard televisions, electronics, construction materials, paint, oil, tires, trees and home appliances.
   In July, a new subcommittee was formed to forward the expansion project. Members of the new Public Works Expansion Subcommittee are Public Works Director Dean Buhrer, Committeeman John Moynihan, Committeeman Jim Cann, Frank Nucera and Steve Benowitz. The purpose of the subcommittee is to determine if the project is feasible and profitable.
   At the first meeting last month, the group discussed the repairs, replacement and reconstruction needed to complete the expansion.
   ”It does appear to me that the expansion will provide additional services to residents,” Mr. Cann said at the Township Committee meeting Aug. 27. The Public Works Department in Bordentown Township currently provides snow plowing, an annual leaf pick-up, Christmas tree pick-up, field and facility rental and a recycling drop-off center.
   In addition, Burlington County provides residents with recycling carts. Last year, the county recycling program recycled 1,026 tons in Bordentown Township, saving $74,324 in landfill fees, reads a recycling brochure posted on the Bordentown Public Works web page.
   However, Bordentown is looking into ways to save even more.
   Mr. Buhrer said the township could make an extra $50,000 a year from the Public Works expansion site if the township uses it the way he suggests. His ideas included plans to build an impound.
   ”We can do a lot of recycling (with the expansion), which would provide services to the public,” Mr. Cann said in July when the subcommittee was just established.
   ”Most other towns our size have been doing this for so long,” Mr. Buhrer said in July. “We’re so far behind the eight ball, it’s ridiculous.”
   Mr. Cann gave a report on the first expansion project subcommittee meeting at the Township Committee meeting Aug. 27.
   ”We still haven’t gotten a grasp on income generation,” Mr. Cann said in his report. “We shouldn’t be looking at it from the best case scenario, definitely, but maybe we shouldn’t look at it from the average scenario either.”
   He also said, “We should have a public hearing on this to get some feedback from the community and we should make sure it’s well known.”
   The Bordentown Township Department of Public Works, headed by Mr. Buhrer, supervisor David Dietrich, and administrative assistant Kimberly Wolverton, is located at 262 Crosswicks St. and its offices are open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
   The Public Works expansion will also help the township conform with state law. The state Department of Environmental Protection has put laws and programs in place to discourage wasting products and encourages conservation.
   For example, Since Jan. 11, 2011, the DEP has banned all televisions and computers, including laptops and monitors, from landfills and incinerators. The expansion might provide a place to discard these electronics.
   Also, the DEP has established Sustainable Jersey, a program to encourage communities in creating self-sustainable, environmentally friendly towns. Municipalities that meet Sustainable Jersey requirements become eligible for grants. Bordentown Township has recently established a Green Team, which is one of the projects that lead to grant eligibility.