WEST WINDSOR: Council creates positions for emergency managers

By Charley Falkenburg, Special to the Packet
   WEST WINDSOR — To better prepare for what seems like a trend in annual super storms, the Township Council created positions and salaries for an emergency shelter coordinator and monitor.
   With a 4-1 vote, the council passed the ordinance, which aims to prevent large overtime sums while still having trained township professionals on duty during times of emergencies, such as Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Irene.
   Hurricane Sandy in particular sparked the ordinance, when the town experienced difficulties in staffing the designated shelters, such as the Senior Center, with volunteer municipal employees as the days without power dragged on.
   Initially volunteering their time after their work hours, after several days the town had to start paying the municipal workers overtime to keep the operations going.
   Just in Hurricane Sandy, dispatchers received $7,500 in overtime. Police received $4,500.
   Business Administrator Marlena Schmid thought the ordinance was a good move for the town.
   ”These are municipal run and ensured facilities and we have to have municipal employees staffing those facilities,” said Ms. Schmid. “We will accept all volunteers, but in the end we are ultimately responsible for what happens at those facilities.”
   Under the ordinance the monitor and coordinator would be paid $35 and $45 an hour respectively during emergencies. Lone dissenter Councilman Bryan Maher disagreed with the wages, deeming them too high.
   ”There’s a ton of people who would do this job for substantially less. I could support paying them in the $25 range, maybe $30 tops,” said Mr. Maher. “It all has math control and that’s why your taxes are so damn high.”
   Ms. Schmid explained the rates were selected to prevent paying time and a half for township employees, especially those with higher salaries who would make a much greater hourly rate than the proposed rates.
   Resident Pete Weale was the only one who spoke during the public hearing. Mr. Weale thought the ordinance was someone’s way of trying to get paid for volunteer work.
   ”Before I thought volunteering usually meant for free — now someone who is clever and crafty wants to be paid for it,” said Mr. Weale. “That’s an oxymoron.”
   Councilwoman Kristina Samonte said she was at the emergency shelter almost every day after the hurricane and confirmed the acting coordinator and monitors all had emergency management service training — a factor she thought provided a good facility for the residents.
   After Mr. Maher questioned the need for emergency management service training to be a coordinator or monitor, Ms. Samonte asked if he had gone to the shelter at all, to which he replied “no.”
   ”If you went to the shelter that day, you would know there was a lot of coordination going on,” she told him. “When you talk about monitors and coordinators, you’re sort of belittling them and I believe their work was very good and showed a lot of effort.”
   Both council members Linda Geevers and George Borek agreed there is need to have trained professionals on duty during emergencies, especially with potential liability issues in tending to the sick and the hurt. For Mr. Borek, the ordinance was somewhat of a necessary evil.
   ”Hopefully we won’t have to utilize this, but it makes sense to have this in place,” said Mr. Borek. “If people have gone beyond their realm of hours, this makes sense to make sure we have competent people in there.”
   Ms. Schmid said they will be submitting the overtime expenses from Hurricane Sandy to the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA). From there, FEMA will approve 75 percent of the reported expenditures, which will be used to replenish the necessary accounts.
   The Township Council also unanimously adopted another ordinance, which allows the township to lease the building at 331 North Post Road to the United States Postal Service at a reduced rent for a reduced amount of space.
   Instead of paying $135,000 a year for the whole building, Ms. Schmid said the postal service would now pay $60,000 a year for 3,810 square feet, or about one-third of the facility.
   Again, Mr. Weale was the only one who contributed to the public hearing portion of the ordinance. He suggested leasing the other part of the building to the Parking Authority, adding it would be more convenient than having it down by the Princeton Junction train station.
   Ms. Schmid said there is already a potential tenant who is interested in the other part of the building.