TOMS RIVER – A bond ordinance that would have the township borrow money to pay for such things as road repair and police cars did not pass at a recent Township Council meeting.
The ordinance would have borrowed $13,999,000 to pay for various items. The total money being spent would have been $14,700,510, which included the town’s down payment.
Towns traditionally have a certain amount of debt as they purchase items. Local Bond Law states that anything being bought with borrowed money must have at least five years’ worth of use. Towns pay off the debt annually, sometimes getting better bond rates years later. The philosophy behind it is that while it may cost more with interest in the long run, the annual payments are able to be made more easily.
Councilmen Justin Lamb and Daniel Rodrick voted against the bond. Councilmen Matthew Lotano, Kevin Geoghegan, Joshua Kopp, and James Quinlisk voted for it. Councilman David Ciccozzi was absent.
Township Attorney Anthony Merlino said “Bond votes require a super majority,” which would have been five ‘yes’ votes. Because of that, there were not enough votes to pass.
Lotano said the bulk of the bond was road improvement and elevation. There was also police cars and garbage trucks. “These are all items that we use to keep the town running.”
The bond would have paid for:
$7,819,000 for road paving, township-wide drainage, bulkheads, the 2023 Roadway Elevation Project as well as the Downtown Toms River Loop Road Project.
$4,385,000 for vehicles including dump trucks, a street sweeper, mower, roll-off truck, wheel loader, a tandem, pick-ups, 10 police cars, an ambulance, and other equipment and computers.
$1,795,000 for improvements to various municipal offices and parking lots.
Lamb said he voted against it because a majority of the costs have to do with the downtown redevelopment he is against. Lotano explained that the majority of it is road projects; of that, a small amount is the downtown.
After the meeting, Mayor Maurice Hill sent out a statement blasting Lamb and Rodrick for putting essential services and life-saving equipment purchases at risk.
As a result of their vote, “the Township has no funding for road paving and road elevations this year and no funding for town wide drainage and bulkhead repairs,” he said.
Furthermore, the township is at risk of losing $6 million in matching grants from the federal and state governments for these projects.
“The political grandstanding by Councilmen Rodrick and Lamb is putting lives and property at risk. These two political hacks never leave campaign mode. They are not serious about governing and serving the public. Their most recent action has real negative consequences for the residents of Toms River,” he said.
Hill said that the downtown portion of the bond was about $1.5 million of the total. The federal government has agreed to pay $5.6 million toward the project if it goes through. The project includes 285 new high-end apartments, new restaurants and retail stores and well as a banquet hall/wedding venue.
“The 285 apartments are already approved by the Planning Board after multiple public hearings. By voting against the funding for the Loop/Water Street widening, Rodrick and Lamb are not only risking a $5.6 million federal grant for the project, they are risking that the towers will be built without the necessary road improvements. That would be a traffic nightmare.”
“I will ask the Council to introduce a new Capital Bonding Ordinance, but the delay will increase costs and potentially push some road paving and elevation projects into 2024,” he said. “We lost the prime months of April and May for road improvements. Fuel prices always rise in the summer and oil prices are on the rise again which increases the cost of asphalt. We may not be able to repair all the roads we planned to fix this year. Rodrick and Lamb have really hurt the taxpayers with this stunt.”
Rodrick is challenging Hill in the Republican Primary Election for mayor in June. Geri Ambrosio and Robert Bianchini are also competing for the mayor’s spot in the primary.
Although Lamb isn’t running for office this year, he fired back at Hill in a release of his own.
“Mo Hill has been hanging around town hall for 20 years and now he’s asking for another 4 years to build massive monuments to himself along the downtown waterfront,” Lamb said. “The people of Toms River don’t want to see a little Camden on the Delaware constructed in Huddy Park.”
“The people of Toms River are upset about what’s being done to their town,” Lamb said. “Mo’s twin 10-story towers are modeled after a massive Hackensack project and they’re completely incompatible with our town.”
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