Toms River council formalizes policy letting on-call employees use township vehicles

The Toms River Township Council adopted a resolution clarifying township policy on employee use of township-owned vehicles, formalizing a long-standing practice for employees who are on 24‑hour call.

Mayor Dan Roderick and town legal staff explained the ordinance was intended to resolve a discrepancy between past practice and the township code, which generally restricts vehicle use to official business. "Anybody on 24 hour call. . . has been taking these vehicles to and from work for close to two decades, but it's in violation of the township code unless we set a policy," the mayor said.

Township counsel noted the policy itself will be appended as Schedule A to the resolution so that the policy text is part of the record. The council asked procedural questions about the missing Schedule A in the meeting packet; staff said the schedule would be provided to the attorney and then attached to the resolution.

Councilman Lamb moved the resolution and Council President Coleman seconded. On roll call the motion carried with a recorded abstention by Councilman Sikozi and affirmative votes from the majority of the council. Some members clarified the policy applies to emergency work (police, DPW foreman, other critical on-call staff) and is not an expanded benefit.

The resolution places responsibility on the mayor's office to promulgate the policy and on the clerk to attach the schedule to the ordinance. Councilmembers asked the attorney to provide the missing schedule and legal documentation to the record.