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Montgomery committee approves 2025 appointments, temporary budget and pool agreement; one member objects to appointment changes
Summary
The Montgomery Township Committee approved a slate of mayoral and liaison appointments, adopted a temporary 2025 budget and amended a pool access agreement; Committeewoman Deborah Keenan voted no on specific appointments involving a board-of-health change and a planning-board Class 3 placement, citing questions about necessity and recusal.
The Montgomery Township Committee approved a package of reorganization resolutions at its 2025 reorganizational meeting, including mayoral and liaison appointments, a temporary municipal budget and an amended access-and-use agreement with the Montgomery Township Board of Education for the high-school swimming pool.
Resolution discussion and votes: the committee considered Resolution 25-1-01 (authorizing 2025 appointments) outside the consent agenda after questions from Committeewoman Deborah Keenan about changes to the Board of Health. Keenan said she was unfamiliar with moving Dr. Neha to an alternate role and asked why Jay Suri was being elevated from alternate to full member. “But why is that needed for the septic?” Keenan asked. Township leadership responded that Jay Suri’s appointment was intended to support a septic initiative and that the change followed staff discussion. Keenan said she would vote no on that item and also registered opposition to a planning-board Class 3 placement tied to the mayoral appointments, arguing the mayor should recuse due to her real-estate work.
Motion and tally: The motion to adopt Resolution 25-1-02 was moved and seconded; the roll-call vote recorded Dennis Ahn: yes; Deborah Keenan: no; Patricia Taylor Todd: yes; Vincent Barragan: yes; Mayor Nina Singh: yes. The resolution carried 4–1. A subsequent mayoral-appointments resolution (25-1-03) similarly passed with the same 4–1 tally.
Pool access and temporary budget: The committee also approved an amended access-and-use agreement with the Montgomery Township Board of Education to secure expanded pool hours for township recreation programming; township staff said modifying the existing agreement would secure additional hours and place a cap on the township’s annual maintenance and chemical fee. Resolution 25-1-36, adopting a temporary 2025 budget, was moved, seconded and approved on roll call. A multi-item consent agenda covering routine matters (resolutions 25-1-05 through 25-1-35) was approved as a single motion.
What members said: Keenan asked for more explanation about the board-of-health and planning-board changes and asked the mayor to consider recusal for the planning-board Class 3 seat. Township staff explained the personnel change was to advance a septic-related initiative and that staff, the deputy mayor and leadership had discussed the appointment. No amendment or withdrawal of the appointments was recorded; the resolutions passed as moved.
Votes at a glance: Resolution 25-1-02 (appointments) — passed 4–1 (Keenan opposed). Resolution 25-1-03 (mayoral appointments with committee consent) — passed 4–1 (Keenan opposed). Resolution 25-1-04 (committee liaisons) — passed (unanimous as recorded). Consent agenda (25-1-05 to 25-1-35) — passed (unanimous as recorded). Resolution 25-1-36 (temporary 2025 budget) — passed (unanimous as recorded). Resolution 25-1-37 (pool access/use agreement) — passed (unanimous as recorded).
The committee adjourned after the votes and business of the reorganization meeting.
