Ed Trzaska, Mayor, Montgomery Township
To the editor:
One of our key commitments to the residents of Montgomery has been to make local government more accessible. Last year, we started posting audio recordings of Township Committee meetings on our website and increased usage of ebulletins to disseminate information as efficiently as possible.
Now, we are proud to announce the next step of this initiative, video recording of public meetings. Township Committee, Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings will all be hosted online for everyone to view at their convenience. A camera has been mounted on the side wall of the court room and will be monitored by technicians when meetings occur.
Meetings will be streamed live something never done before in Montgomery. These recordings will also be archived in a user-friendly way. Our professional partners will match up the videos to agenda topics, so residents can easily jump to the portion they are interested in viewing. Just go to our website’s home page and click on the video camera icon simple as that!
Even though Township Committee meetings normally generate the most interest, we are very excited to be also making Planning and Zoning Board meetings more accessible. This represents another first for Montgomery. Our Planning and Zoning Boards help shape our community and decide how we grow and evolve. If you are interested in learning about local government, we highly recommend taking a look at these meetings.
Everything with government is about balance in this case, controlling spending versus improving the quality of township services. Over the past year, we investigated numerous options of recording meetings. This system is the most cost-effective way to accomplish our goal of improving access and transparency.
Also, there is great news regarding township finances. We have approved a debt refinancing plan to take advantage of the historically low interest rates. The plan is going to save Montgomery taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and it eliminates two future balloon payments which will make our future budgeting more manageable and predictable. We will pass along more details once all of the auctions are completed.
Ed Trzaska
Mayor, Montgomery Township
