Mayor David M. Scapicchio: Mayor's Desk
December 02, 2008
Residents should begin to notice signs going up around town that identify all of the open space properties in Mount Olive Township. The signs read "Open Space Public Welcome". The signs are not only to help residents know were all the open space properties are but to also encourage the public to use the open space we have managed to acquire over the years. The Open Space Committee is working on developing a trail system that will eventual connect all the open space in town. While we encourage residents to use the open space there are some restrictions such as no hunting and no motorized vehicles. For additional open space use details visit www.mountolivetownship.com or call 973.691.0900 ext. 7272.
We have finally taken down the two old DPW buildings at the Budd Lake Beach to allow for additional parking and are planning on putting up a fence to shield the beach from the business's that boarder the property. Our plan is to make the beach area more attractive for the residents that use the lake. Use of the beach and lake has continued to grow over the years. We are also going to continue with our weed control efforts in the spring of 2009 and towards that end the township council has authorized a professional services agreement with Princeton Hydro, LLC.
The County of Morris has announced a Countywide Renewable Energy Initiative which is being offered to all municipalities. The program is to help us reduce our dependence on retail electricity by using solar panels or wind devices. Bill Sohl and I will be attending an informational meeting on December 11, 2008 in Morristown on the subject.
Mount Olive has been selected to receive $155,000 from the New Jersey Department of Transportation for phase II improvements to Flanders Bartley Road. These improvements should begin in the spring of 2009.
If you have comments, questions, or concerns about anything in this article, or about any Township issue, please contact me at 973-691-0900 ext. 7200 or scapicchio@verizon.net to schedule a meeting during afternoons between about 3pm and 8pm at the Municipal Building or join me walking around the oval at Turkey Brook Park on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I understand that some emails sent to me have been going to a spam folder, so if I don't respond please call.
David M. Scapicchio, Mayor
Mount Olive Township, New Jersey
October 31, 2008
Property Assessment Concerns
Some have asked why I don't support a new property assessment at this time. We just completed a town wide assessment at a cost of approximately $500,000. To go through with what is referred to as a "hybrid assessment" would cost the township approximately $100,000.
I agree that property values have declined since the town wide reassessment. But the result of going through with a hybrid assessment at this time would likely mean that while all properties in the township would potentially have lower assessments, the taxes would remain the same for properties. That is because the mount Olive property tax rate (Municipal, School, Open Space would increase as a result of the township wide decreased valuations.
If you have comments, questions, or concerns about anything in this article, or about any Township issue, please contact me at 973-691-0900 ext. 7200 or scapicchio@verizon.net to schedule a meeting during afternoons between about 3pm and 8pm at the Municipal Building or join me walking around the oval at Turkey Brook Park on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I understand that some emails sent to me have been going to a spam folder, so if I don't respond please call.
David M. Scapicchio, Mayor
Mount Olive Township, New Jersey
January 8, 2008
State of the Township Address
by Mayor David M. Scapicchio
Mr. President, members of the Township Council, distinguished quests and residents of Mount Olive Township; it is an honor to present to you the 2008 State of the Township Address. I'd like to first welcome Councilman Alex Roman and I wish him the best of luck. It has been a pleasure working with Councilman Rob Greenbaum as President this past year and I look forward to working with our new President Councilman Ray Perkins.
Over the past year you have seen the administration, township council, township employees, and all the volunteers working together to move Mount Olive forward and we should all be proud that the pride we all share in our Township has been restored.
In government, success is something that can only occur when a group of individuals work together for a common goal, and 2007 brought about many accomplishments which we should all be very proud of.
In a general sense we have successfully ended the negative articles and commentary in the weekly and daily press. We have opened up communications between Council and Administration and Council direct to department heads. We have opened inter-departmental communications and significantly improved inter-department cooperation. We have restored a sense of pride and positive attitude in the employees. We have fostered, encouraged and achieved a "business sense" attitude of professionalism amongst employees. We have worked and continue to work towards an overall "team" player attitude amongst employees, management and the governing body.
The Library Construction Project was closed out and the outstanding funds of $198,000 were handed over to the township. We received a letter from the state confirming that our obligations under the library bond construction grant have been fulfilled. The long awaited handicap parking has been completed.
In the area of departments, the Department of Public Works continues to strive to achieve the best possible services for the residents. In a one month-period we successfully replaced the Township fleet contractor with Penske Services to repair and maintain our fleet. We took over the construction of the new DPW garage and the building is now in operation. Our recycling efforts continue to improve resulting in significant economic benefits through the cost avoidance of disposal fees at the transfer station plus the revenue derived from the sale of the recycled material.
Acquisition of open space for both active and passive recreational purposes continues. The township participated in the acquisition of the Mandelbaum property which added 106 acres to the Allamuchy State Park connecting several large state properties together. We purchased the Blue Atlas property consisting of 32 acres on Flanders-Netcong Rd. The existing building on site will supplement Park and Recreation uses. Baum property, 37 acres of donated land in three parcels will increase the size of Turkey Brook near the pond and improve trail access. The Dog Park at Turkey Brook Park has opened to great success and is being used from early morning until dusk.
Recreation Department continues to serve the community. The 2nd annual Mount Olive Carnival and Community Weekend turned out to be a great success. About 15,000 attended over the four days, with Saturday's fireworks night attendance almost double that of last year. Over 100 entities participated, including service organizations, sponsors and support services. Three new summer day camp programs served over 1,195 children during the four weeks of summer camp. Interest in the use of the Municipal Beach continues to grow with 822 Beach IDs being issued, and a total of 9,172 visitors.
The Finance Department continues to maintain the operation of all divisions in the department with reduced head count. There were no audit recommendations from the auditor which means all the practices and procedures in place meet all the appropriate accounting requirements. We upgraded the financial system which improved the flow and timeliness of information processing. We implemented online credit and debit card payments for tax and utility bills which will begin in the first quarter of this year. We exceeded surplus and tax collection rate figures from 2006 which will directly impact the 2008 taxes residents will pay. We implemented a check scanning system which allows for quicker availability of funds for the Township.
The Planning Department responded in a timely fashion to the release of the Draft Highlands Regional Master Plan and continues to respond now that the Master plan has been released to ensure Mount Olive gets maximum opportunities that are available. We continue to work with Morris County and Office of Smart Growth to get a change in the Budd Lake area from Planning Area 5 to Planning Area 2 which would be more advantageous to the Township and will help us attract more businesses to the Foreign Trade Zone.
The Building Department has an Interlocal Agreement with Jefferson Township for electrical inspections and Randolph Township for vacation and sick time coverage for plumbing inspections. Fire Prevention has reached out to area communities to cover Fire Prevention inspections for vacation and sick time coverage.
We accepted the Retirement of Police Chief Ed Katona and conducted a selection process for his replacement. We appointed Mark Spitzer as the new Chief of Police. We also saw the promotions of Donald Gardner to Captain of Operations, Craig Austenberg to Lieutenant of Investigations, and Kevin Hyland to Patrol Sergeant. We funded, purchased and installed the Cross Match Live Scan Fingerprint System which electronically scans the fingerprints of arrestees, applicants and others for immediate transmission to the FBI in Washington D.C. and the State Police in Trenton. This immediately proved successful with the very first inquiry sent which resulted in the discovery of warrants for a prisoner out of North Carolina. And Chief Spitzer put his signature on the department by changing the color of the patrol cars to black and white!
Our employees, working with the countless volunteers and organizations within the Township, such as, but not limited to, the volunteer emergency services and recreational organizations, are truly what makes us proud to live in Mount Olive and will continue to keep Mount Olive moving forward for years to come.
That is not to say that difficult times do not lie ahead because they do. Mount Olive, like the rest of the municipalities throughout the State of New Jersey, continue to struggle with ever increasing tax burdens and the state and federal government restrictions which make limiting tax increases an extreme challenge. Before we even started to work on the budget we had approximately $1.6 million of mandatory increases that needed to be included in our 2008 budget which we will be submitting to council on January 15th.
As we move forward into 2008, I will keep the lines of communications open with all involved and will continue to work cooperatively with Township Council. We will continue to allow the employees to do their jobs with out the fear of any political influence. As we prepare the budget for 2008 we will again look at every request to insure the item requested is needed. I will keep in place the hiring freeze that was put in place in November 2007 with replacing only essential employees. We will continue to explore shared service opportunities and consolidating services with the school district and other municipalities when it makes economic sense for Mount Olive.
I'd like to conclude by saying the one thing I am most proud of is helping to restore confidence in our local government and keeping the negative stories about Mount Olive out of the newspapers. As I look back over the last 14 months, I would note that it has been an enjoyment being your mayor-many times. It has been a challenge being your mayor-lots of times. But most of all it has been a privilege to be your mayor-all the time. I look forward to 2008 and being your mayor for the next 4 years.
Have a very happy and healthy New Year.
David M. Scapicchio, Mayor
Mount Olive Township, New Jersey
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