Quality-of-life team seen
as top ’02 achievement
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — Borough officials say the town had a very good year as they reflect on the accomplishments of 2002 and look ahead to the events shaping the coming year.
Mayor Michael Wilson said he was glad officials were able to maintain a stable municipal tax rate.
"From a municipal standpoint, our increase of 1.8 percent was very low compared to other towns. Budget-wise, we have a strong budget." Wilson said.
The mayor cited the new Quality of Life Enforcement Team as the most significant accomplishment of the year. The team saw the hiring of a full-time special police officer and a full-time code enforcer. They focus on the enforcement of local codes and issues that include residential overcrowding, absentee landlords and violations such as public drinking and public urination.
Several special municipal court sessions have been held for the sole purpose of hearing the violations and the borough has collected more than $20,000 in fines resulting from quality-of-life summonses.
"It’s working very well," Wilson said. "Rome wasn’t built in a day. This is an ongoing project that will continue to grow but has definitely made an impact on our town."
Highlights of the year, according to Wilson, were the construction of a long-planned assisted living facility, Brookside, on Manalapan Avenue, which he said has enhanced the neighborhood.
Completing work on the Freehold Little League complex that Wilson said is almost "ready to go," is very important as well.
"We’ll be ready for opening day," the mayor said.
Projects for the new year include keeping a tight rein on the municipal budget, according to the mayor, who explained his concern over forthcoming state aid.
"We don’t know if aid will be frozen from Trenton," Wilson said. "We won’t know the answer to this for a few months."
Also on the horizon for 2003 is the upcoming move of police headquarters from Bennett Street to new offices on the first floor of the Rug Mill Towers on Jackson Street.
"We’re going to work on deciding what to do with the old police station," Wilson said. "We won’t do much on this until the police have actually physically moved out of the building and into their new headquarters."
Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer shared Wilson’s view and said the borough had a very productive year. She cited the Quality of Life Enforcement Team as the most important issue addressed in the borough in 2002.
"I do believe it is the single most important issue we’ve dealt with, especially because it is having a ripple effect," Shutzer said. "We will continue with the momentum we’ve gathered in 2002."
Shutzer expressed concern and worry over ongoing litigation that the township of Marlboro has instituted against the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education. The federal lawsuit regarding the board’s voting system could have an impact on all eight towns that send students to the district.
"The whole thing sickens me," Shutzer said. "The outcome of this will be determined in a court of law. Sometimes moral issues cannot be decided in a court of law. This is a moral issue.
"The Board of Education is autonomous. Therefore, some may perceive our council as ‘butting in,’ but this goes beyond that," she said, explaining that the borough has less than one vote on the FRHSD school board.
"The whole problem here is that they never should have named these schools after the towns," Shutzer said. "They don’t belong to the towns, they belong to the regional district."
Shutzer also addressed volunteer organizations such as the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad and the Freehold Fire Department, stating that donations and volunteers are needed.
She said the planned purchase this year of a new fire truck will be an important accomplishment.
Looking back on 2002, Councilman Robert Crawford said, "The Quality of Life Enforcement Team has been very effective. We’ve sent a message that our citizens are very concerned with quality-of-life issues."
Crawford said the code enforcement team has also sent a message to code violators. The message, he said, is, "We’re serious."
One concern on Crawford’s list for the new year is the upcoming revaluation of borough properties.
"I know this is a big concern to our citizens. We’re going to try to find a way to minimize that impact as much as possible. We must be more cost effective and watch how we spend our money," he said.
Other issues Crawford looked ahead to for the coming year were the police department’s move, "any day now," and a permanent location for a post office in the borough.
Councilman Kevin Coyne said the code enforcement team’s work showed that the borough is taking a stand.
"We’ve shown that we are getting control of something on a local level that is really beyond our control in many ways," he said.
Coyne said he hoped to find a more sympathetic ear at the state level to help with the problem of overcrowding and the increase in the illegal immigrant population.
"I’d like to think that we’ll get some help with this situation," the councilman said. "We’re doing what we can to exercise control over the illegal immigration situation in our community. I am concerned by the lack of help and the lack of interest on the part of everyone around here. We’re left to be the bedroom for every town around here. We cannot absorb this indefinitely."
Absentee landlords, another contributing factor to the residential overcrowding situation in town, was also addressed.
"Other communities have ways to encourage people to become homeowners. We want people to be vested in the community, not just passing through or absent altogether," Coyne said.
The Freehold Regional lawsuit is also on Coyne’s mind, who said that the situation has been "endlessly frustrating." He said it is not fair to have one member town in the regional district forcing the borough to pay attorney fees, among other things.
"We have the most efficient and cost effective, successful district around and it is endlessly frustrating to fight these battles. After all," Coyne said, "we’re the founding central community. It is endlessly maddening. It’s one thing to argue but quite another to sue. It’s like suing your cousin. Now we need to take money from the taxpayers of the town to defend a system that works. Before it was only energy, now it’s money."
Councilman Kevin Kane served the first year of his term in 2002 and called it a "great learning experience." Stating that council made headway in many areas, Kane placed an emphasis on the success of the Quality of Life Enforcement Team.
"We attacked the problem of overcrowding head on, but it takes time. This will continue to be our main focus for a number of years. We’ve made much progress and we are taking a stand," Kane said.
Overcrowding is a national problem, according to the councilman, but because the borough has affordable housing and access to transportation, the town is bearing the brunt of the immigrant population’s housing and school needs.
"If you have the capacity for 10,000 people, you can’t fit 20,000. It leads to major problems," Kane said. "We have limited resources. This will continue to remain a problem until we are subsidized by state or federal grants."
Kane said he is looking forward to more improvements in recreational activities for borough citizens. He said the council is working with the Freehold Soccer League and the Freehold Little League to improve offerings for the borough’s youngest citizens as well.
He also cited recreation at Lake Topanemus as a goal, one that is in the process of coming together now. Kane has attended three meetings with the goal of recreating what was once a traditional local festival — Old Freehold Day.
"We don’t want Old Freehold Day to be a one-time thing. We want it bigger and better every year," he said.
Kane said improvements being made to the Little League complex will be a great accomplishment.
"Most of my memories as a child revolve around the Freehold Little League and the Freehold Soccer League. We want to create a family atmosphere and a great quality of life for families. In an unstable world, we want to focus on making the quality of life better for all our residents. That’s what we were elected to do," he said.