October 5th Meeting Summary
On Monday October 5th the Verona Town Council had a very robust meeting with a lot on the agenda. Here is a summary of what was discussed.
We had a refresh done on a financial analysis of our water and sewer system to see if our current rates that we pay, and rate increases that are planned, were still appropriate. You can review the presentation here.
Our finances for the water and sewer utility are now very strong. As residents recall, we had to raise water rates very significantly due to adjust for the costs related with removing PFAS out of our two water wells, making urgent repairs to several parts of our sewer pipes, and millions of dollars of required upgrades. In addition, we passed rate increases of 4% per year to build a fund necessary to keep up with the projected $14 million in capital projects that were going to be necessary to maintain the system.
Since we did the first analysis, some of the costs associated with major projects that Verona is working on (like are PFAS remediation) did cost less than expected. These savings came because Verona is now tapping into the NJ Infrastructure Bank (thank you former Councilwoman Holland for helping make this happen) and through that financing received through loan forgiveness for part of the cost of the project, which came from the federal government through the bi-partisan infrastructure bill that was passed by Congress a few years ago and signed by then President Biden.
In addition, we also have strong finances now because some projects have taken a long time to execute, due to delays in permits needed through NJ State agencies. We will be using some of the reserves that have been built up once these projects get done, which they are anticipated to be complete soon.
The cost pressures on this utility continue to rise. The presentation reviewed that we now have a staggering $31 million in capital projects to complete, up from $14 million a few years ago. We are also hiring more required staff. Our cash reserve needs to increase as well.
Added together, what this means that while the funding is strong, the cost projections in the future continue to grow. What was recommended to the Council, which as part of new business we discussed, was to reduce the annual water and sewer increases from 4% to 3%, and to raise the connection fees for new development from $3,500 (per 3/4" meter) to the true cost which is $4,563 for water and $8,303 for sewer). These rate changes will be introduced at the next meeting.
After reviewing the presentation if you have any questions or comments, I encourage you to email the Council here: https://www.veronanj.org/councilcontactform.
We also talked at length on the pool finances, and then had a debate in New Business on how to proceed. The pool had a strong financial season, due to sponsorships, out of town memberships, and good cost management due to the staff. You can dive into the numbers and details here.
The Administration is recommending that we keep rates flat for Verona residents, but increase the out of town family memberships by $200 for a $1,200 season rate. The number of out of town memberships is being proposed to staying flat at 125. There is proposed a slight reduction in the fees for guest passes (back to $20 for adults and $15 for children) and a new guest pass fee for seniors that is the same as the child rate ($15), They are also proposing eliminating the early splashpad hours for families during the week, but changing the hours of the pool to open for everyone at 10 am on Saturdays and Sundays. They are also planning on pre-announcing late nights on certain Fridays where the pool is open till 9 pm. There would be some small adjustments to certain other fees.
During new business we had a spirited debate on how to proceed. Deputy Mayor McEvoy and I were on the side of increasing rates for Verona members by a small amount (1-2%) and Councilman Roman and Schor want to keep rates flat. My concern is that we had to make big adjustments to rates after years of keeping things flat, and with millions of dollars of necessary repairs coming to the pool facility and rising costs and minimum wage, I think it would not be prudent to keep rates flat for Verona residents. It appears Mayor Tamburro will be the swing vote on this issue, and he said he would make a decision soon. New rates will be introduced at the next meeting.
If you are passionate about the pool - please feel free to review the presentation and send the Council your feedback here: https://www.veronanj.org/councilcontactform.
Finally there was a major announcement from the Administration (about 1 hr 35 min into the meeting) about Veterans Field, which received press coverage after. Veterans field, and portions of the other fields near the Community Center, are actually owned by the County of Essex. Veterans Field specifically was leased to the Township for the last 50 years. This summer that lease expired, and the County has decided that they want to improve the field. Publicly available documents said that a new softball field would be constructed. The County stated that Verona's scheduling rights would be preserved even though the lease would no longer be in effect. In addition, the Administration also discussed that the County is interested in leasing land that Verona owns by Commerce Court, which is near a new $40 million dollar building the County is building to house election materials and machines.
There was a discussion about some of the impact and outstanding questions this would have on our recreation programs, parking, playing turf, fireworks, and plans for Centennial field. There was general agreement from the Council that we want to make sure Verona's interests are well represented as this project is designed and moved forward. It was decided that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor would directly participate in conversations with the County on how this project would move forward.
This meeting also contained a conversation about upcoming changes we will be making to our rent control ordinance. At our last meeting the Administration detailed a few changes they would like to make to help make the ordinance work better for both tenants and landlords. The changes will be introduced at the next meeting.
Finally in new business we discussed two matters with the police department, including making certain changes to overnight parking rules and fees charged when police presence is needed due to development projects. All of these changes are also expected to be introduced at the next meeting.
A rapid fire of other items discussed at the meeting:
We voted to approve changes to the zoning-land use administrator salary
We introduced an ordinance to make changes to our code related to "site plan review"
We passed a series of contracts and closed out the primary clarifier pump project as part of consent agenda.
If you have any comments on this or any other matter for the Council, you can send us an email here: https://www.veronanj.org/councilcontactform
