Mayor Jo-Ann Liptak's message from The 2010 Annual Reorganization Meeting

Charles Dickens’1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, begins with the sentence “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and for the Borough of Raritan these words are prophetic. It was the best of times for us in 2009 with a tax collection rate of 99.03%. We are very fortunate in this difficult economic climate to be able to make this announcement. It speaks to the integrity of our taxpayers and their sense of responsibility to our community. Our construction office issued 375 new and up-dated construction permits with the total value of $4,627,829.00. 418 certificates of occupancy and approvals were issued with their total value being $8, 560,846.00. Notable construction projects in 2009 were: · Demolition of a residential structure and construction of a new single family home · New façade and signs at the Raritan Shopping Center on Route 202 · Re-construction of the commercial buildings at the corner of Route 206 and Sherman Avenue · Tenant fit outs for Embroid Me, Universal Lacrosse, and a new pharmacy at Raritan Crossing Shopping Center on Route 206 and Somerset St. · New façade and construction of a new apartment at a building on First Avenue that once housed Zarillo’s Bakery and has been vacant for years. · Tenant fit outs on Somerset Street for a new dental office, kitchen design center, and plumbing showroom. A number of major projects were either completed or begun in 2009.Improvements to Thompson Street, between Somerset Street and Canal Street, were completed in early spring. The improvements, including curbing and sidewalk replacement, milling and overlay, were fully funded through a NJDOT Transportation Trust Fund grant. A grant was received through the Somerset County EDIP, to design and construct a 24 space parking lot on Borough acquired land on Thompson Street. The parking lot was completed this past fall and is now available for parking as an alternative to parking on Somerset Street. Historic restoration on the Anderson Street Firehouse was completed. Working in conjunction with the project architect, Ford Mills, and Gatsch, CMX provided administrative assistance as the Borough’s technical representative. The project was funded through a grant received from the NJ Historic Trust. A headwall was designed and constructed at the lower end of the Gaston Avenue Book. Significant hydraulic erosion had occurred at this location over the years. The storm water is now properly channeled and the eroded property has been restored. A stream cleaning project has been planned with the assistance of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department; the brook will be cleaned and desnagged. The project was scheduled twice and cancelled both times due to severe weather. A new date will be scheduled for the spring. Through County Community Block Development Grant funding, access improvements to Basilone Pool and Frelinghuysen Park were designed and constructed. These improvements include concrete walkways and parking spaces that are ADA compliant. The Borough is now registered as a “Sustainable Jersey Community”. This designation will proved grant opportunities and technical assistance as a Borough pursues “green” initiatives and develops a sustainable master plan. There were several changes in the tax and finance offices in 2009. Caroline Gara retired after nine years of employment and we welcomed Karin Kneafsey as our Chief Financial Officer. Lisa Simonetti achieved her Tax Collector’s Certificate. This is a difficult eight hour exam and Lisa should be proud of how well she did. In 2009 the Tax Office started sending out quarterly late notices and the response from residents who received them was positive. There were only three properties sold in this years Tax Sale. The Tax Assessor office accomplished 54 inspections, which included new houses, additions, decks, pools, patios, and renovations. These inspections translated into 31 added assessments that have a value of $2,227,700.00. This additional assessd value for the town should help with the 2010 tax rate. The added assessment billing for this year is $43,497.03 of which approximately $36,518.11 will come to the municipality and the remaining portion of approximately $6,978.92 shall go to Somerset County. There were 9 County tax appeals filed, six of which were successfully defended and three were awarded minor reductions. At the State Tax Court level, we concluded 7 cases, 6 of which were successfully defended and one was awarded a minor reduction. There are still 3 open State Tax Court cases moving into 2010. There was significant amount of contact, inspection, and negotiation with Ortho/J&J this year regarding their continually changing property, staffing, and business model. The various managers and supervisors like to discuss tax implications regarding any and all changes made. The Department of Public Works saw a long time employee, Lou Grosso, retire and we thank him for his many years of service to the borough. Anthony Capici was hired as his replacement. The spring season found DPW preparing our ball fields for the little league season by replacing mounds, home plates and spreading infield mix. They prepared the pools at Frelinghuysen Park and Basilone Park and painted the club houses. During the summer months they maintained all park facilities in the borough. The autumn season found the men preparing the borough for the annual John Basilone Parade Weekend. They did a superlative job this year. The addition of a new leaf vacuum cut down the time it took to clear leaves from the streets. They also repaired and maintained all vehicles. Our police department saw a number of changes under Chief Laurence Hess. Sgt. Mickey Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant in charge of the Operations Division. Officer Dave Molina was promoted to Sergeant in charge of Shift B. Everett Holt was hired as a Patrol Officer replacing an officer who resigned. The department completed the application process to the NJ Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. This process will take approximately 18 to 24 month. This is a progressive and time-proven way of helping law enforcement agencies calculate and improve their overall performances. The department sponsored “National Night Out” on Tuesday, August 4th at Washington School. This will be an annual event to bring out residents and meet the officers. A new computer-aid dispatch and records management system has been in place since New Years Day. This new system will allow officers to complete reports in the patrol car and be more efficient. Three officers were honored this year for their bravery. Detective Thomas Fisher received an Exceptional Duty Award from the Bernards Township Police Department for assisting them with a county wide bar burglary spree. Officers Michael Acquaviva and James Ranieri were given the Valor Award by the 200 Club of Somerset County for their exceptional heroism in defusing a domestic violence situation in town. The cooperation of Chief Hess, the Raritan PD, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and the members of the Mayor’s Gang Awareness Task Force helped make our Gang Awareness Seminars for parents and guardians an informative presentation. Our municipal court security improvements such as the walk through metal detector, uniformed officers, improved lighting and bullet-proof windows in the court offices are working very well. Semi-monthly court sessions now begin at 3 pm. This is twice as many court sessions as were previously held and the new start time is 3 hours earlier. Credit card payment continues to be the preferred means of paying fines. As we begin 2010 we are keenly aware of the extremely difficult financial times ahead not only for the borough but for the State of New Jersey. As with your house holds we will tighten our belts and continue to be fiscally prudent and down right stingy in all matters. Business as usual is a concept of the past and “but we’ve always done it that way” will not the new normal. I challenge the Council to require all departments to pare their budgets by 5 % for this coming year. Although we’ve received grant money for some road repair projects we must pursue grant money aggressively and work more closely with the Somerset County grant writer. I thank Councilwoman Gara and Councilman Lobell for their concept plan to form a Grants Committee. Thank you for your vision. We do not know what Governor-elect Christie will do with aid to municipalities and what impact this will have on smaller communities such as Raritan. I commend the Bridgewater-Raritan School District for the frugality they have set forth in their preliminary budget and urge them to continue to pare expenses. No community can function without its volunteers and we are so very grateful for their service to the people of Raritan. It is their altruistic desire to serve their community which compels them to public service. They give of their time and talents to help plan our community and preserve our way of life. Special thanks go to our Fire Department and Rescue Squad volunteers who, not only are required to undergo many hours of intensive training, but also drop everything at a moments notice to help those in need. Mike Stitely, one of our Rescue Squad volunteers was recognized by Somerville Mayor Gallagher as their “Citizen of the Year” for his many years of service and we join in applauding Mike’s accomplishments. Community must come first. Emotions, personal agendas, and partisan politics must be put aside. The issues we face this year must be resolved for the good of Raritan and its citizens and not because of promises made to friends or political allies. It is imperative that we all work for the good of the community. Along those lines we will be forming an Economic Development Committee to help promote the economic climate in the Borough of Raritan. We will also be forming a Cultural and Heritage Committee to oversee and catalog the many photographs and papers we have so that we can preserve our past for the future generations. In an effort to provide a more open and accessible government minutes from Council meetings will be put on the borough website as well as the agendas for the up coming council meetings. Our borough newsletter, which unfortunately has been far and few between, will be published twice each year, on April 1st, and September 1st. We will enact a more comprehensive rental ordinance this year that will insure safe housing for all renters. Louis Brandies said, “The most important political office is that of the private citizen.” Participation of our citizens is vital to our government to keep it effective and efficient. You, as members of our community, need to keep the Mayor and Council focused and accountable. Attend Council meetings—they are better than Tuesday night television; find out the issues concerning our town and more importantly your neighborhood; ask questions and demand excellence from those whom you elected. There is always room for thoughtful participation. Effective government represents diverse opinions and works toward informed, conscientious compromises. As we move forward let us not forget that we work for you and let us never loose sight that our ultimate goal is to make the Borough of Raritan the finest municipality in Somerset County and the State of New Jersey. I welcome our two newest Council members, Stefanie Gara and Greg Lobell and look forward to working with them. I welcome back Councilwomen Carra and Wilson and Councilmen Laggini and Lamaestra. Thank you all for coming today. .May you and your loved ones enjoy good health, happiness and prosperity in this New Year. May God bless all our young men and women in the Armed Services wherever they may be; keep them safe and bring them home quickly to their families. God bless us all.