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Welcome and Happy New Year.
I would again like to thank Judge Eric Perkins for joining us
tonight and continuing the tradition of having the Rocky Hill Municipal Judge
swear in the Mayor and Council.
As has also become tradition I would like to welcome the new
residents of the Borough as well as remember some that we have lost. Toby, Brian Nolan and I were just commenting
the other day that this was not a good year to be a former Rocky Hill Mayor. In June we lost Mayor John Pettibone who
served from 1975 through 1978, in September Mayor George Morren who served from
2005 through 2006 and just 11 days ago we lost Mayor Anthony Bianculli who
served 1971 through 1974. Additionally
this year we lost at least two lifetime residents in Carl Robbins, Jr. and Seneca
Ottey. Lastly, as you are all aware
Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad are the primary medical emergency
responders in our Borough. I would also like to acknowledge the loss of one of
their members, Michael Kenwood, who lost his life in the line of duty during
Hurricane Irene. Please join me in a
moment of silent respect for all of those the Borough has lost in 2011.
Thank you.
In 2011 we also accepted the retirement of two long time
employees of the Borough, Larry Merk and Raymond Whitlock, Jr. I know I speak for the entire borough in
thanking them for their service. I would also like to congratulate Rebecca
Newman for passing her certifications and moving from Acting Borough Clerk to
the official Borough Clerk in 2011.
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge our new Deputy Clerk Christine Witt
who has some big shoes to fill in replacing Toby.
I’d like to take this opportunity to single out and thank
Council President Mark Pausch for his assistance, his leadership and his
friendship. Mark was also Chair of
Public Safety in 2011. Last year,
between the First Aid Squad issues and the string of natural disasters, Mark
was kept pretty busy. With his level
headedness balancing my emotions, we made a pretty good team in getting the Borough
through some very difficult times.
Every year I say what an interesting year it was, but this
year, in a 6 week period we dealt with an earthquake, a Hurricane, a Tropical
storm and a Pre-Halloween snowstorm that did more damage than the previous
three events combined. Twice Rocky Hill
was declared a federal disaster area, all of this while the First Aid Squad was
struggling to rebuild itself.
Our Fire Department
and Office of Emergency Management were, as usual, outstanding. Under the direction of Emergency Management Coordinator
Alan Querec and Fire Chief Todd Harris, the department played a major role in
insuring that property damage was minimized and no one got hurt. Working with
the Governor, his staff and with Chief Harris on pre-Hurricane disaster
planning was for me a bucket list moment.
Something I will always be proud of.
It is also no secret how proud of
the Fire Department I am for their actions in rescuing members of the Princeton
First Aid and Rescue Squad during the Hurricane. What made this rescue more amazing is that it
was performed by a group of Rocky Hill Firefighters that had only assumed Swift
Water Rescue responsibility and began training six months earlier when the Rocky
Hill First Aid Squad was decommissioned by the Mayor and Council and rescue
operations were moved to the Fire Department.
Now how about a little irony?
During that six week stretch of disasters can you guess which building
in Borough sustained some of the worst damages?
That would be the fire house. The
entire Office of Emergency Management was wiped out by flooding and water
damage. You didn’t hear much about it because the Fire Department worked
directly with FEMA and the insurance carriers and are in the process of not
only rebuilding it but expanding its capacity.
I’m sure it’s only a matter of time, but so far they haven’t asked us
for any financial assistance on this one. Since the storms the Chief and the EMC have
been working from a folding table on the second floor. I want to again thank them for everything
they do for us and for doing it with as little noise as possible.
Ok, at this point is usually where I congratulate the new
members of the council and explain what an awesome responsibility they have
accepted. I usually tell them that their
job is to get things done for all of the people of the Borough, not just the
loud ones. And, I usually throw in the “you were elected to make decisions not
take polls” speech. Well, in looking
back, I realized that this is the first time in at least a decade that we do
not have at least one new member on the Borough Council. So, congratulations to Mark and Julia on your
reelection and I will spare you the rest of the paternal lecture.
In 2011 we got so side tracked by the issues of the First Aid
Squad and the string of natural disasters, that many of the things we wanted to
accomplish were delayed. But still,
there were some highlights. In general
the state of the Borough is excellent.
Financially, we did not raise the municipal tax rate again in
2011 and we will be left with a surplus going into next year. We did complete the revaluation process with
only a minimum of tax appeals. Most were
settled quickly and the general sense is that it was done fairly.
While we have not been able to resolve the unfair school tax
levy apportionment yet, Senator Bateman and I are still working on getting it
changed so that Rocky Hill does not pay more per child than Montgomery
Township.
Going into 2012 I expect that this Council will do a thorough
review of all our insurances and put them out to bid in an effort to find more
cost effective coverage.
During 2011, we completed the resurfacing of a large portion
of Montgomery Avenue, repairing the sidewalks along that stretch of the road as
part of the project. Going into 2012 we have applied for funding to finish all
of Montgomery Avenue by resurfacing the far end between Merritt and the Cemetery.
Additionally, we need to consider finishing the five year phased plan of sidewalk
repairs, having now completed all but parts of Washington Street.
Administratively, as I mentioned earlier we have had some
staffing changes. Additionally, we
passed an ordinance adding Rocky Hill to the newly formed Millstone River Flood
Commission. Moving into 2012 we need to
review the current Web Site and decide if it is time to modernize and make sure
email issues are finally resolved. We also need to implement some of the
programs that got pushed off last year to help network Rocky Hill businesses,
help people prepare for job searches, build a CERT team and create recreational
programs for our seniors.
The change over from Larry Merk to Tim Lesko as Water
Superintendant went smoothly. We know
going into 2012 that we have a collapsed section of storm water sewer on Toth
Lane that needs repair. We also need to explore the possibility of a generator
for power back up on the well system given the number of times we lost power in
2011.
In 2010 the Borough applied for and received a grant for
energy efficient upgrades to Borough Hall, the Fire House and the Squad Building. This work was completed in late 2011. The playground at Borough Hall was resurfaced
in 2011. Due to weather and labor
issues, the plan to resurface the playground at Panicaro Park was put off until
spring 2012. However, Panicaro Park did
receive a great addition in 2011. Early
in 2011 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey granted us a twisted 8
foot steel beam remnant from the World Trade Center. Working with an extraordinary team that
included architects, sculptors, Trap
Rock management, Schilke Construction and a host of other volunteers including
Brenda Fallon and Councilman Donahue, a September 11th memorial in
honor of former Councilman William Fallon was built and dedicated this
year. The monument itself is beautiful
and moving, but from all the feedback we received, the dedication ceremony
stood out as a shining moment of Rocky Hill Community Pride.
In December of 2011, the Borough was given a 28K grant from
the County to build a plan to historically restore this Borough Hall. Given the amount of effort that plan will
take and future projects it will create I don’t see a lot of projects for
Buildings & Grounds in 2012 other than finishing up what was started in
2011 with the playground resurfacing and repairs and installation of the phone
system that was donated early last year.
A lot has already been said about Public Safety in 2011. I
hope from an emergency management standpoint it is going to be a quiet year,
but understand that we have been through some unique events and we are better
prepared than ever. There are two things
we need to be mindful of in public safety going into this New Year. First will
be the viability of the First Aid Squad both operationally and
financially. They have made some real
progress operationally since we green lighted their restart in back in
August. I have said from the beginning
that while there are better financial options out there for us regarding EMS,
there is a value to having a local squad stationed in the center of our
town. What we need to determine as we
come to the end of their probationary period next month is what that value is,
how does it benchmark against the surrounding communities and how far are we
willing to take it.
Secondly, Princeton Hospital will make its move to the other
side of Route 1 this year. While the
emergency room will stay put for a year after that, we have to start planning
for emergency situations once it moves. In
the past, when the river flooded only Robert Wood Johnson Hospital became
unreachable. Now Princeton Hospital will
be as unreachable as well. In 2012 we
will need to rewrite our Emergency Management Plan to take this into account
and look for ways to transport patients no matter who is the Borough’s primary
First Aid Squad.
So, as we look back and consider our actions in 2011, and we
look forward and see the workload in front of us, I ask that the council
members continue to take our jobs seriously and make decisions and get things
done based on what is right, not what is easy or stress free. Experience has shown us that if we do what is
right, in the long run, it becomes easy and stress free.
With that we have a lot to get done tonight so let’s get
started with the appointments.
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