Council discusses strategic planning, sets goals

The Byram Township Council discussed strategic planning and goal setting on Sept. 29, at a special meeting where each official reviewed his or her top priorities.

Mayor Alexander Rubenstein reviewed the major areas of agreement among the council: the Open Space Recreation Plan design for CO Johnson, through Open Space taxation, technology integration: automation, digitization, agenda management, residents interacting with the town, and road improvements.

Regarding the infrastructure of the town, streets and roads, Rubenstein said the cost of asphalt is out of their control. However, they need to plan to increase the budget as necessary over time and not in one year. Additionally, DOT grants may shrink.

Rubenstein agreed with other officials that the municipal building needs to continue forward with purpose. They should not slow down, and the architect is actively engaged. Also, he said they were far from the cost of raw materials, and there may be further stabilization in prices before that time.

Town Manager Joseph Sabatini emphasized the need to have an annual road improvement budget item. He said a 2021 estimate could be more than $900,000.

Other items Sabatini brought up as potential projects were: rewriting the police manual, zoning code, records management, shared services for animal control, a full-time building department construction official, and software enhancements.

Councilman Raymond Bonker said his priorities were: the municipal building, capital projects in the Greener By Design – CO Johnson reconfiguration plan, automation and digitization of the entire operation, and the policy to fund sports equality. He said he was not calling out anyone or sport, because the sports process had developed over decades. To begin with, he suggested painting everyone’s fields equally.

Councilman Jack Gallagher said his priorities were also the Greener By Design plan, with emphasis on CO Johnson Park, also roads, and the Building department – construction.

Councilwoman Cris Franco said her priorities were the municipal building, technology to record and televise meetings, hardware for council members, and Open Spaces with the CO Johnson Building. Franco also agreed with the resurfacing budget line item.

Councilman Harvey Roseff said in order to understand the kind of funding available for priorities, he wanted to see the revenue amount on Jan. 1.

Roseff said he supports the road program. However, he said a $900,000 program, with a $100,000-$500,000 increase per year, would be a 1-4 percent increase in taxation. He said he would like to use the new DPW equipment to give the roads more life.

Additionally, he said, costs were reduced with a better health plan for the police department, and he would like to see more than a half percent tax reduction for residents, especially with N.J.’s taxes rising everywhere.

Roseff also wanted to see reorganization of personnel, more shared services instead of a full-time employee in the building department, a garbage contract with neighboring towns to keep costs down, and postponement of the fire truck, which would be the fourth in four years.

Sabatini concluded that the CO Johnson Park is in progress, along with the cost. They will review the 10-year capital road improvement program, the municipal building is going forward, and they will develop a technology plan for 2021.