SAYREVILLE — The cost of professionals attending the meetings of a mayoral advisory committee is a source of contention among members of the Borough Council.
The Main Street Bypass Committee, formed in 2007 to provide recommendations on a multimillion-dollar project that would create a stretch of road running parallel to Main Street and alongside the Raritan River, has resulted in a partisan fight over the cost of borough professionals who attend the meetings.
Council Democrats voted on May 11 to end the practice of paying professionals to attend, citing an eight-year delay of the project stemming from a 2010 rejection of plans by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the ongoing waiting period for the approval of permits.
“I would like to make sure that when [Borough Engineer Jay Cornell] gives any kind of reports up here that a copy of his report be forwarded to the Main Street committee,” Councilwoman Mary Novak said during the vote. “That way, they’ll still be getting all the reports; we just won’t be paying Jay to be at their meeting to say the same things he is saying here.”
However, lone Republican Councilman Art Rittenhouse and Republican Mayor Kennedy O’Brien said they would like the Main Street committee to continue meeting with the aid of borough professionals.
“The money spent on the professionals over the last three years totaled … not quite $3,000, which is less than three-tenths of 1 percent,” Rittenhouse said at the meeting. He said he did not have the numbers for the years prior.
However, Councilman Daniel Buchanan said the committee was initially created to be an obstacle to the project, and because of the delays caused by outside agencies, the costs of professional advisors to the committee are continuing to accumulate.
“As I said last time, this [committee] was brought up by a Republican candidate eight years ago to put a monkey wrench in this Main Street bypass [project],” Buchanan, a Democrat, said at the meeting. “We’ve spent $2 million of that money already, and some of it has gone to professionals for the Main Street Bypass Committee.”
However, O’Brien responded by stating that he feels the costs are negligible.
“I believe it’s such small money and, essentially, what you’re saying to the homeowners is they have no professional advice for the direction,” he said.
Buchanan and Council President David McGill disagreed, stating the committee has had the opportunity to submit recommendations and the public would continue to have the opportunity to speak during future hearings before the borough’s land-use boards.
To date, roughly $1.7 million has been spent on the total Main Street bypass project, including permitting costs, according to borough officials.
Since 2013, the borough has paid $3,409 in professional costs associated with the committee, according to figures provided by Main Street Bypass Committee Chair Paul Campagna. Cornell provided those figures.
Campagna, who spoke during the public portion of the meeting, said the committee requires professionals to attend their meetings in order to make informed decisions.
“So $900, guys. That’s what we’re here talking about today,” said Campagna, who has chaired the committee since 2014. “Without the township engineer, we do not think we could give recommendations, because those would not be wise recommendations.”
The Borough Council voted 5-1, with Rittenhouse dissenting, to cease the practice of sending borough professionals to the Main Street Bypass Committee’s meetings.