Township of Washington council trims printing line, reviews stormwater, web and holiday expenses

The Township of Washington Council voted unanimously at a council meeting to reduce the Public Affairs printing line item from $1,200 to $1,000 and reviewed other Public Affairs budget requests, including stormwater permitting and DEP-required watershed work, holiday programming and WCTV expenses.

The vote and line-item review took place during the council’s budget review of Public Affairs. The council debated cuts to the holiday party budget and discussed recurring and one-time costs tied to state environmental compliance and contracted services that support the township’s website, social media and archival needs.

Stormwater and environmental compliance were highlighted early in the discussion. The stormwater municipal coordinator said, “So this year, we're expected to pay about $7,000 for permitting. That's for the swim club now. That's for the site remediation for our soil still at DPW, yes, at the old DPW site.” That line item also covers air permitting fees and other site-specific permits. The coordinator told the council she had received a $5,000 proposal from Boswell for a watershed improvement plan phase 1 and a $7,000 proposal from Stormwater Compliance Solutions; she said last year the township covered similar work using a Tier A general permit grant.

Council members asked whether those services could be consolidated under the township engineer or the general engineering contract; the coordinator said general engineering assists with MS4 reporting and other compliance documentation but that the stormwater work had been placed under the Public Affairs line because it concerned stormwater management. The coordinator told the council she expected at least some of the $7,000 permitting costs and the Stormwater Compliance Solutions fees to recur in future years.

Council debate also covered discretionary Public Affairs spending. The budget packet listed a $10,000 request (and $10,000 recommended) for the employee holiday party; one council member proposed cutting that line to $3,500 to allow a modest luncheon and recognition, another proposed $6,500, and other members urged keeping the larger amount citing morale benefits. There was no formal roll-call vote recorded in the transcript on the holiday party line during this session. Public affairs decorations were discussed and left at a $2,000 recommendation to cover banners, tree-lighting replacements and new illuminated snowflake fixtures on main roads.

The council reviewed contracted communications services including social media management (various township Facebook pages), website hosting and ‘‘special projects’’ billed at a contracted hourly rate, an archives/social media-archiving contract, 500 printed town calendars (requested 2,000; recommended 2,000), videotaping of council meetings (requested/recommended $9,000), and the township cable television expense with WCTV (requested/recommended $8,000). The website hosting line was listed as $7,500 requested with a lower contract recommendation; the social media line showed a recommended contract amount of $3,800. A staff member explained that social media work and website work are separate contracted lines because they require different expertise.

A motion to reduce the Public Affairs printing line from $1,200 to $1,000 was moved and seconded. The clerk conducted a roll-call vote: Councilman Casio — yes; Councilman Sears — yes; Councilman Ullman — yes; Councilwoman Velez — yes; Council President DeSantis — yes. The motion passed, reducing that line to $1,000.

The council paused its review at the bottom of page 18 of the budget packet and agreed to resume consideration on page 19 at the next meeting. Members also discussed scheduling departmental presentations for capital requests and agreed to have department representatives available for questions on capital items.

The meeting then moved toward adjournment after the agenda item for Public Affairs.