A series of shared service agreements between Allentown and neighboring Robbinsville were unanimously approved by the Allentown Borough Council during the Jan. 3 reorganization meeting, continuing what officials described as nearly a decade of cooperation between the two municipalities.
Four separate agreements provide Allentown with the use of Robbinsville’s construction and sub-code officials, Department of Public Works, garage services and fire inspector. Those agreements were unanimously approved for renewal by the members of the council.
“The borough is renewing these agreements because they are beneficial to the taxpayers of Allentown,” Mayor Stuart Fierstein told the Examiner.
Robbinsville’s construction and subcode officials will provide services for electrical, building, construction and plumbing applications. The use of these services is provided at no cost to the borough because the applicants pay the required fees directly to Robbinsville.
The impetus for the agreement, according to Fierstein, came as a cost-saving measure for Allentown.
“For Allentown to [employ] all of the [required code officials] and for the amount of activities and fees that were coming through, it was costing the taxpayers to offset the salaries and expenses of those parttime [employees],” Fierstein said.
The agreements with Robbinsville for garage services and the use of the fire inspection official come at a cost to Allentown on an as needed basis.
“The [in-house] costs of repairs were high and the turnaround of service was poor,” Fierstein said. “[The garage services agreement] has cut down on the cost of vehicle repairs and provided a prompt way of getting vehicles repaired, serviced and back into use.”
According to officials, Allentown vehicles in need of service are maintained and repaired at the Robbinsville garage facility. If a vehicle, such as a dump truck, is being repaired, Robbinsville can supply a loaner vehicle to the borough.
As per the agreement, Robbinsville will provide a supervisor and laborer for the Allentown Department of Public Works, as well as performing a number of services throughout Allentown.
Duties to be completed include grass cutting and landscaping at Borough Hall, Sara Barnes Park, the Pearl Street parking lot, the water plant, the Church Street parking lot, the guardrail across from the water plant, Heritage Park, the Borough Annex, Sensi Park, Lakeview Drive, Farmer Park, Reid Park, the Allentown cemetery, the Allentown water tower, the sewer plant and the Main Street entrance to Heritage Park.
Seasonal work is also included in the agreement, such as leaf pickup during the fall and snow removal/salt control on all borough-owned streets, sidewalks and parking lots during the winter months.
Along with weekly brush pickup, Robbinsville is responsible for general maintenance, including some township buildings, roads and other locations.
In light of recent major storm events, Fierstein said that agreement in particular substantially helped Allentown.
“During the issues that we had the last two years between [hurricanes] Irene and Sandy, it’s been very helpful because we can supplement our two-person staff with additional manpower … and our minimal equipment when needed,” Fierstein said. “We could not have done it all [on our own].”
In return for Robbinsville’s service, Allentown pays the supervisor’s salary ($55,770, and more than $20,000 in benefits and overtime), the laborer’s salary ($26,010, and more than $9,000 in benefits and overtime) and $5,731 in administrative costs, for a total annual payment of $120,356.
The borough pays an additional rate of $60 per hour for equipment and $25 per hour for labor per person, Allentown is expected to pay $10,030 a month.
Fierstein said while an in-house option might be more cost-effective, the quality of service provided by Robbinsville makes Allentown’s agreements with its Mercer County neighbor worth the money.
“It costs us more to have the arrangement than it may have been for the [inhouse] service we were providing, but it’s a far better service, so you can’t compare the two,” the mayor said. “With the public works agreement, we have a lead supervisor and employee, and of course there is an administrative supervision that is provided that is beneficial to the borough.”