MILLSTONE — Two three-year terms on the Township Committee in Millstone Township will be on the Election Day ballot on Nov. 3. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Republican incumbents Gary Dorfman and Nancy Grbelja are seeking re-election. Democrat Ray Dothard is seeking his first term on the governing body. Dothard has previously run for a seat on Millstone’s governing body.
At the present time, all five members of the Township Committee are Republicans.
Dorfman and Grbelja released a joint statement to address the following questions posed by the Examiner: Why do you want to continue to serve on Millstone’s governing body and what issues will the community face in the next three years that will need oversight and action by the committee?
Dorfman and Grbelja said, “We enjoy Millstone largely as it is and want to preserve it. We are a rural quiet town with great beauty, very efficient government services and citizens who chose to be here for what Millstone now is.
“The good government we have been able to provide affords our citizens the lowest municipal tax rate in Monmouth County, expansive open space and farmland, good schools, and thriving community programs for recreation and adult education. It is our goal that when one is in Millstone they can experience the green open spaces or listen to the quiet around them in their back yard.
“There are some who would prefer traffic lights, development of the green spaces and the increased taxes that come with those things. We will do our best to protect those things within our community that make it the wonderful place to live we now enjoy.
“We must always be diligent in controlling our taxes, maintaining or improving government services and protecting the rural character of our town. There are many issues which threaten these objectives. We are exposed to certain costs which increase year after year, whether employee labor and benefits, cost of maintaining roads, and other public services. High-risk issues include a state mandated affordable housing obligation with rules and regulations that change too frequently.
“We must strengthen and defend our master plan and zoning ordinances to prevent our community from being overrun by over-development from small residential lot sizes. We have many neighbors who are new to our community, we need to help them understand how open space preservation and our large lot zoning are essential to keeping our taxes low. Providing not only natural beauty, peace and quiet, but also enabling the lowest municipal tax rate in Monmouth County,” Dorfman and Grbelja said.
Dothard was asked why he is running for a seat on the Township Committee and what issues in the upcoming three years will need the committee’s attention and how he will address them.
Dothard, who has lived in Millstone Township for 24 years, said there was incremental population growth in the township up until the past 10 years. He said the population has been on the decline over the last few years. He said he would advocate for reversing Millstone’s 10-acre zoning.
“How many houses have been built and sold since this zoning has been in effect? With this zoning, a developer has to try to build and sell houses for $1.3 million to $2 million. There is very little demand in the market for this (housing) at this time and in the forecasted future.
“Where in the township can a family making under $100,000 annually buy a house? The school population is also declining. I have talked to many citizens of the township. Many of them say they would sell their house tomorrow and move if they could. The planning needs to be rethought to fit the economic reality of today and the future,” he said.
“Too many of the same five or six single party Republican Township Committee members, who have recycled themselves on the committee for the past 10 years, feel this (population) decline is a good thing. If this trend continues, Millstone Township businesses will fail and property taxes will increase for those of us who choose to stay. It only takes about 20 years of negative growth to kill a town. This is my main concern for our beautiful Millstone Township. I will do everything I can to address this situation and reverse this trend,” he said.
Dothard said if he is elected as a member of the governing body he will serve a watchdog. He pledged to advocate for responsible municipal government to avoid lawsuits that arise out of the behavior of committee members. As an example, Dothard said the township’s insurance recently had to pay $375,000 due to such behavior.
“This happens when the same people are on the committee for too long,” Dothard said. “They begin to act like a private club. This situation becomes ripe for corruption.”