A study of the way Sea Bright government functions and provides services to residents is currently being conducted to determine the best and most efficient practices for the municipal government.
Acting Business Administrator Joseph Verruni said Sea Bright is using a $15,000 Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to conduct the study of all aspects of municipal operations.
“[The study] started a month ago,” he said. “There is a 90-day window where a draft will be drawn up and then it will be presented to the mayor [Dina Long] and council.”
The Borough Council hired Jersey Professional Management, based in Cranford, to conduct the study.
Verruni said the study would play an advisory role about best practices and how to operate more efficiently.
Steve Nelson, Sea Bright recovery manager, said the need for the study became clear due to the impact of the superstorm on the borough government, which faced not only physical devastation, but changes in the way services were provided.
For instance, he said, the construction department was faced with an enormous increase in its workload to deal with permit applications for demolishing and rebuilding homes.
Another element the study will look at is being discussed by the council’s Personnel Committee — whether a full-time business administrator is needed.
A suggestion was made at the council meeting on June 3 to have a transition plan in place should Verruni, who works on a part-time basis, decide to retire. That transition phase would include bringing in a person to train with Verruni. Councilman Charles Rooney III said he believes if Verruni decides to retire, he would stick around to train the next person.
“Joe cares about the community,” he said, adding that he agrees with the suggestion.
Long explained that Sea Bright did not have a borough administrator until a few years ago.
“The borough clerk had become certified as a public manager, and then we moved to the borough administrator model,” she said.
With 30 years of experience in municipal government, Verruni said he believes a municipality can function both with a parttime and/or full-time business administrator.
“There’s no right or wrong way,” he said. “It comes down to how the municipality operates … some towns like to have the BA there Monday through Friday just so [he or she] is available anytime.”
Verruni said the study would make recommendations about what would be best for the borough.
“We will then have dialogue on how to operate and proceed,” he said.
The borough organizational and services study is funded by one of five grants included in the Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grant the borough received in 2014 from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA).
The Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grant amounted to $262,500. The four other grants include studies for: a debris-removal plan; a graphic information systems data plan; a redevelopment plan; and a hazard mitigation plan.
Nelson said all of the studies and plans are currently being developed.