MANALAPAN — Attention to details in municipal resolutions was a topic of discussion and some sparring among elected officials at the Feb. 23 meeting of the Manalapan Township Committee.
The committee members ended up revoting on two resolutions that had been passed at previous meetings.
The first resolution to be reconsidered by the committee on Feb. 23 dealt with the cancellation of 2011 preliminary taxes on certain properties. Among those properties were two parcels that are owned by Mayor Andrew Lucas.
At the Jan. 12 meeting, Lucas voted yes on the resolution.
At the Feb. 9 meeting, Committeewoman Michelle Roth pointed out that Lucas had voted to reduce his own property taxes. She said he should have recused himself from voting on that resolution.
When the resolution was put back on the agenda on Feb. 23, in addition to listing the block and lot numbers that were being considered, the resolution included the names of the property owner, in this case Diamond Developers at Burkefarm, LLC. The resolution cancelled $14,581 in 2011 preliminary taxes. The reason listed is “becoming farmland.”
Roth called the vote “a do-over for the mayor, but as they say, ‘you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.’ ”
She said Lucas has not been completely up front with the public regarding his purchase of the property and his subsequent application seeking farmland assessment/ preservation status.
Property that is assessed as farmland is taxed at a significantly lower rate than nonfarmland assessed property.
Lucas said the original resolution he voted on did not contain the owner’s name for the two pieces of property in question. He apologized for voting on that resolution.
Lucas said he and his wife purchased 100 acres that were slated for development and “took it out of the pipeline. We decided we wanted to farm it.”
The mayor said he has not received special treatment in the farmland assessment/ preservation process.
Lucas’ application for farmland assessment/ preservation remains active, said Committeeman Don Holland, who works with Manalapan’s farmland preservation program.
Roth was not moved by Lucas’ explanation and said, “I don’t appreciate your condescending attitude toward me bringing it up. I will keep bringing it up because it’s wrong.”
Lucas said there was no sense in him making any more comment on the matter and wasting the public’s time.
When the resolution to approve the cancellation of 2011 preliminary taxes was voted on, Lucas recused himself, Roth voted no and Holland, Committeeman Jordan Maskowitz and Deputy Mayor Ryan Green voted yes.
Roth then noted that at the Feb. 9 meeting, Green had voted yes on a resolution to employ a number of individuals, including his sister, in Manalapan’s summer recreation program.
She said Green should have recused himself from that vote. Roth said she recuses herself from voting on items in which she knows a particular individual.
In response, Green said his vote on the summer recreation program resolution “was an inadvertent error. I am the victim of Mrs. Roth’s ‘gotcha’ politics. My sister was in this position before I joined the Township Committee, with the same title and no increase in pay.”
Roth fired back at Green, saying, “This is not ‘gotcha’ politics. This is serious. Everyone (on the committee) should take responsibility to be prepared. To call this ‘gotcha’ politics is so inappropriate.”
Township Attorney Roger McLaughlin said, “It is incumbent on everyone to know what they are voting on,” then added it is also the job of the township’s professionals (i.e., township attorney and municipal clerk) to point out certain items on a resolution that could pose a conflict for a committee member.
When the committee members re-voted on the resolution to hire the summer recreation program employees, Green abstained and Roth, Lucas, Holland and Maskowitz voted yes.