Council Briefs: Temporary Budget Extended

What follows is an account of actions taken on March 19 by the Bridgewater Township Council, which, while not breaking news, are still of note.

Emergency temporary appropriations approved

Because the 2012 budget will not be approved before the next quarter of the year, the council unanimously approved a resolution to appropriate another $9,153,498.40 in the temporary budget.

The temporary budget is meant to last until the actual budget is approved. Currently, it is set for public hearing and approval at the April 2 meeting.

“Initially in January, when we introduced the budget, it was for three months, and since we are not approving it until April, this appropriates another quarter of the budget,” said Natasha Turchan, director of finance.

Turchan said this budget is about 25 percent of the usual payments in a given quarter, plus pension payments that are due April 1.

Turchan said the township is paying its last check March 30, which is why additional appropriations are needed.

Recycling tonnage grant approved

The council unanimously approved a resolution to submit the Municipal Recycling Tonnage Grant application to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

“They call it a grant, but it’s actually a reimbursement,” said township administrator James Naples. “It’s a tax that’s collected for every load sent to the landfill for recycling.”

Naples said Bridgewater actually recycles more than the tax that is collected, so it receives more money than other towns.

The money through the grant is used to develop new municipal recycling programs.

Community development block grant approved

The council unanimously approved a resolution to apply for Community Development Block Grants, with some changes from previous years.

According to township administrator James Naples, in past years the township has applied for the grant to be used for youth development programs or the senior center. But, he said, he has noticed that other municipalities have gotten grants for much larger items.

So this year, Naples said, the township is applying for grants for road improvements in income qualified areas, as determined by the federal census.

Township engineer Robert Bogart said the township is applying for improvements on a section of Leghorn Avenue and Southside Avenue near the new Habitat for Humanity development, in addition to youth development program money.

The grants for the road improvements would be $100,000 each.

Naples said he is hopeful the township will receive funds for one of the road projects and the youth development programs, based on what other municipalities have received in past years.