BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer
SEA BRIGHT — The Borough Council is poised to hire a lawyer to represent it in its fight over finances with Shore Regional High School.
The attorney has experience in representing a North Jersey municipality, which similarly feels it bears an unfair share of the cost of a regional school district.
A resolution to hire Morristown attorney Vito Gagliardi was placed on hold at the council’s Oct. 19 meeting until its meeting on Nov. 16 to await receipt of his actual proposal.
The resolution to hire Gagliardi as special counsel in the Shore Regional school fight authorizes the payment of up to $25,000 for his services.
Sea Bright, which is now paying more than $50,000 for each student it sends to Shore Regional High School, hopes Gagliardi can intervene with the state Department of Education to lower its share of the tax burden for Shore Regional, which is supported by four municipalities. The other three municipalities are West Long Branch, Oceanport and Monmouth Beach.
Gagliardi has been representing North Haledon in its regional school financial fight.
In action taken at the meeting, the council authorized the sale of various vehicles, bicycles and office equipment, including computers, at auction on Saturday, Nov. 6 at a multi-municipality auction being held at 10 a.m. at the Tinton Falls Department of Public Works Yard.
The council also gave final passage to an ordinance changing the salary range for three positions. The salary range for borough administrative assistant, construction department secretary and technical assistant was set at a minimum of $18,000 up to a maximum of $42,000.
The salary range for a part-time planner, on a yearly retainer, was set at $1,000 to $2,000, and the range for a part-time planner, on an hourly basis, was set at $55 to $70.