April 15, 2013 Middletown Township Committee Meeting

April 15th just wasn't tax day in Middletown, it was also the day that the Township Committee held its monthly meeting. The meeting wasn't very long, it lasted only 50 minutes and all members of the Committee were present except Tony Fiore, who wasn't present to vote on an ordinance to comply with the new flood height levels. The ordinance passed unanimously.

Various public hearings were held, one such hearing was to increase the Municipal Budget appropriation limits and another was on an ordinance that was introduced to borrow $1.5M to fund the construction of one artificial turf field and a natural grass field for the sports teams to use. Committeeman Settembrino stated that the increase in field use fees will be used to pay off the bonds, making the construction of the fields revenue neutral.

An agreement was reached with Sloan Kettering to pay the Township about $190K in the first year of owning the facility at Exit 114, on Red Hill Road. That fee will increase at the rate of the annual tax increase. The Committee considered this a great deal since Sloan Kettering is a non-profit and is not required to pay property taxes on the first 5 acres of property owned.

A small controversy arose during public comment (about 33 minutes into the meeting) when a resident asked the Committee why he could not bring his children to Bodman Park to play and to get some exercise. He lives by the park and pays his taxes to use the facilities the town has to offer, he stated. The resident said he was told by Bob Banta, in the Recreation Department, he could not use Bodman Park because it was permitted by a soccer league (which doesn't make much sense). Mr. Banta told the resident that because his children belonged to a different league (why should that matter?), he could take his children to Nut Swamp Park. The resident said that he uses the park when there are no leagues in the park and is still told he can not use the park. He asked why, as a taxpayer, the park is not available to everyone in town to use, especially one that is just blocks from his home. The mayor asked the resident to speak to him after the meeting to get his contact information. The mayor said he knew Mr. Banta and would speak to him to get his side of the story before providing the resident with a response.




As always, you can download a copy of the meeting agenda that contains the discussion items and the proposed resolutions and ordinances that were voted on or presented during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. Attached to this agenda is also the monthly bill list, so that everyone can see how the Township is spending our tax dollars