January 11, 2020 Special Budget Meeting #2

STILLWATER TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE MEETING

MINUTES – January 11, 2020 – Budget Meeting #2

A SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING of the Stillwater Township Committee was called to order by Mayor Chammings at 9:00 a.m. noting the meeting date, time and place were sent the New Jersey Herald and posted at the Town Hall, on the Township’s website and advised those present that this meeting was being held in compliance with provisions of P.L. 1975, Chapter 231, Sections 4 & 13.

Roll Call: PRESENT: Mayor Chammings, Committeewoman Rumsey, Committeeman Fisher, Deputy Mayor Scott, Committeeman Morrison, Municipal Clerk Lynda Knott, CFO Dana Mooney, Finance Clerk Tammy Leonard, DPW Supervisor Josh Raff and Municipal Engineer Michael Vreeland

DPW Supervisor Josh Raff asked that the discussion begin with the Capital Budget. Mr. Raff noted he was not sure what direction the County is moving with salt. As long as Stillwater Township can continue to store their salt in the County’s shed Mr. Raff does not feel the Township needs a new front end loader in the budget for 2020.

Mr. Raff also discussed his idea the Township should be more aggressive with asphalt overlay than oil and stoning roads in 2020. Mr. Raff believes the asphalt overlay will bring the roads back to good condition and then oil and stone applications will be able to hold the roads in that condition. Mr. Raff would like to begin with Old Foundry Road and Mount Benevolence Road and move to other roadways as needed.

Mr. Vreeland noted oil and stone are used as a sealant and a process which will not repair roads or make them safe that oil and stone only provide limited time until the next process is necessary. Mr. Vreeland said the winters are no longer cold the entire season and that the moisture, rain and refreezing all contribute to the roads demise. Mr. Vreeland said the County and other municipalities have been trying alternative processes for their roads but they have not been proven to work better.

Ms. Mooney said there is $130,000.00 left in asphalt overlay for 2019. Mr. Raff said it was for Stillwater Road. He had hoped to complete the project to the Five Points intersection but the addition of the guiderails had stopped the project just shy of Five Points in an area where drainage has to be completed prior to the asphalt overlay. Ms. Mooney stated there is $14,000 left in an oil and stone line from the 2018 budget which can be used for any type of roadwork. There is also $7,000 left in the ordinance for the asphalt paver.

Mr. Vreeland discussed the DOT projects. For the 2018 DOT grant the Township received $169,000.00 and in 2019 the Township’s DOT grant was $140,000.00. These grants cover the first and second phases of West End Drive. Mr. Vreeland said the projects were combined and advanced through the Morris County Co-op and were to DOT standard specifications. He hopes to get a committee census on the plans and submit the project to the DOT this week with a resolution to follow in early February. The project covers the full length of West End Drive from East Shore to the Hampton Township boundary with mostly asphalt overlay but milling around bridge approaches and adjacent roadways. The project also includes new guiderails (approx. 1700’) and Mr. Vreeland discussed the new standards with the Township Committee. The project also contains striping and installing new signage. The grants are about $35,000.00 less than the cost of construction and soft costs. There is also a need for five or six inlets to be rebuilt. Mr. Vreeland suggested Mr. Raff contact the co-op and get quotes for the inlets as a stand along project. The West End Drive project cost includes center line striping and Mr. Vreeland asked if the Township Committee if they would like edge line striping in this project and added it would cost approximately $4,500.00.

Mr. Vreeland spoke about the 2020 DOT grant which is for Old Foundry Road Phase I. The DOT grant was awarded for $200,000.00. Mr. Vreeland said the cost of construction is $279,000.00 plus $15,000 for inspections etc. which come to a total of $294,000.00.

Ms. Mooney discussed that in the future the Township Committee may want to have a temporary budget so projects like these can be started much more quickly. Ms. Mooney also discussed other old ordinances with left over balances that can be used for road projects.

The discussion led to what project would be applied for in 2021. Mr. Raff said he hoped it will be Old Foundry Road from the Five Points Intersection to Mount Benevolence Road.

Mayor Chammings asked Mr. Raff what vehicles were in the picture for 2020. Mr. Raff said none until 2021 and discussed his time line for vehicle replacement.

The discussion turned to the operating expenses of the DPW. Ms. Mooney asked why Mr. Raff increased the overtime line by $1,500.00. Mr. Raff explained it was to include the pay increases as per the collective bargaining agreement.

Mr. Raff also removed funding for the seasonal part-time help because the Township was unable to hire anyone for the part-time position this year and because the caliber of employees in the DPW they would be able to accomplish the jobs on their own. Mayor Chammings also discussed that SLAP was going to be available to do a larger variety of jobs for municipalities.

Mr. Raff added an additional $2,250 to the school, training and seminar line of the budget because he is eligible to begin the Certified Public Works Manger training in the fall of 2020.

The Asphalt/cold patch line was remained the same for 2020 because the Township will be following a more aggressive paving schedule which will lower the need for patching. The pipe/basin line will also remain the same from 2019 because Mr. Raff budgeted more in capital this year. The road striping line was increased by $1,000 to be able to line Fairview Lake Road and crosswalks at Owassa Road. $2,500 is added to the 1987 loader line for maintenance costs now the new front end loader purchase is cancelled.

There are no changes in the budget for Recycling or Solid Waste.

$10,000.00 is added to the Field Maintenance line because the expenses will be moving to DPW from Recreation Commission for ease of requesting and receiving quotations. The clerk will inform the Recreation Commission of this decision to allow the full time employees of the Township to aid them in obtaining materials.

Mr. Raff opened three quotes for landscaping services. The lowest quote was $12,900 from Country Care followed by $17,825 from KMH that does not include spring and fall clean up. The KMH quote stated an additional $%1,450 for those clean ups. The last quote was from TC Landscaping which offered no spring or fall clean ups and a price of $16,000.00. The job will be offered to Country Care.

Mr. Raff lowered the cost of gardens/mulch line by $50 to $350 because the playgrounds already had new mulch in 2019.

Mr. Raff removed the $7,000.00 maintenance from the 1994 Roll-off truck line because the Township purchased a new vehicle. Mr. Raff upped the maintenance lines by $500 for the 2010 International, 2014 Ford F350 Pick-up and the two 2015 Freightliners.

There being no further business, Mr. Scott made a motion to adjourn the budget meeting at 11:10 a.m., seconded by Ms. Rumsey. In a voice vote, all were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynda Knott, RMC