Mtown News Flash 6-29-12: WATER EMERGENCY and other news

URGENT -  Due a severe water main break all outdoor water use is restricted immediately. Only use water when necessary. Conserve all water. Read about it .... Here  and Here

Child Safety Seat Checkpoint, Fri, June 29 2:00-7:00 pm
Police officers trained as child passenger safety technicians will assist motorists with proper child safety seat installation as well as proper positioning and harnessing of a child. Checkpoints held Police Headquarters, 1 Kings Hwy. No appointment needed. Free and open to the public.

The program is funded through a grant from the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety. Please remember state law requires that all children below the age of 8 years or less than 80 lbs. in weight must be seated in a child restraint system. Contact the Traffic Safety Bureau at 732-615-2045 for details.


Movie Series and Food Drive - 1st Show Fri June 29, 9 pm
The Free Summer Movie Series & Food Drive, hosted by Shore Flicks, LLC will be showing monthly movies in township parks. Please help support local food banks by bringing a donation.

• June 29, 9:00 pm - Croydon Hall, 900 Leonardville Rd, Gremlins (PG)
• July 28, 8:45 pm - Normandy Park,600 Nutswamp Rd, Honey I Shrunk the Kids (PG)
• August 31, 8:00 pm - Tonya Keller Community Center, 50 Bray Ave, Hugo (PG)

A Special thank you to all our sponsors: JCP&L, Saker ShopRites, Provident Bank, NY Waterway, WAWA, Lincroft Village Dental Care, Carpets With A Twist & Colonial American Bank. In the event of inclement weather, movies will be canceled. Call the Recreation Department at 732-615-2260 for more information.


Middletown Begins Single Stream Recycling July 2
Middletown residents will be freed from sorting recyclables this Independence Day as the township transitions to single stream curbside recycling.

Starting Monday, July 2nd the practice of collecting glass, plastic and metal containers in one pick-up, then newspapers and cardboard in another pick-up several weeks apart will come to an end. All permitted recyclable materials can be put into the same containers. Recycling will still be collected twice a month, but residents can put all their recyclables out each time, Mayor Anthony Fiore announced.

The switch to single stream recycling is part of new garbage and recycling collection contracts with Republic Service/Marpal Disposal and Future Sanitation. The five-year contracts will save the township nearly $500,000 compared to the previous contracts, the mayor said.

“It’s a real win-win situation. Under the new contract the township will be able to reduce costs and increase services,” the mayor said. “In addition to the convenience and environmental factors, single stream recycling will make the collection process more efficient, cut costs and generate new revenues.”

With single stream recycling, ALL cans, plastic containers, bottles, jars, cardboard, newspapers, office papers & mixed papers (junk mail, magazines, coupon inserts) can be placed into the SAME containers. There is NO change to the collection schedule. All recyclables will be collected twice a month based on the existing schedule by zone, said Public Works and Engineering Director Ted Maloney. He noted the maximum weight per container is 50 pounds. Read more


Meet the Mayor at the Library July 2
Middletown Mayor Anthony P. Fiore will host Meet the Mayor nights at the Middletown Library, 55 New Monmouth Road, from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm July 2 and July 16.

Residents are invited to stop by to discuss issues related to Township government. Meet the Mayor nights replace regularly scheduled office hours at Town Hall on these dates. The Mayor generally holds office hours at Town Hall on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month, excluding federal holidays. Residents can also reach the Mayor by calling his office at 732-615-2024 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.



Middletown Day Community Showcase
A new feature at Middletown Day will be the Business and Community Showcase. Middletown Businesses, Schools, and Community Organizations are invited to set up a booth at the fall festival to help us showcase all that makes Middletown special. Businesses will be provided a 10’x10’ booth space for a fee of $250 (Booth space is free for sponsorships of $500 or more). A free 10’x10’ booth space will be provided to 501c3 Middletown organizations. Middletown schools may also reserve one free space per school. Download application. Call Recreation at 732-615-2260 for more information.



Vote for the MAC
Monmouth Health & Life Magazine is hosting its Annual Best of Monmouth County 2012 Awards. Please vote for the Middletown Arts Center in the categories of "Dance Lessons" and "Theater." Voting ends August 1st.


http://www.monmouthhealthandlife.com/Monmouth-Health-Life/Best-of-Monmouth/

2011 Homestead Rebate PTR Deadline Extended
The Division of Taxation has EXTENDED the filing deadlines for 2011 Property Tax Reimbursement (PTR) and Homestead Benefit applications from June 30, 2012 to October 19, 2012. Members of the public who need assistance can call the Property Tax Reimbursement Hotline at 800-882-6597 or the Homestead Benefit Hotline at 888-238-1233.


Save the Date!

Sat, Jul 7, noon – Jazz and Blues Fest, MAC
Thurs Jul 12, 7p.m Summer Concert – Jennifer Mylod, MAC
Mon, Jul 16, 4:30 – 6:30 pm – Mayor at Main Library,
Fri, Jul 20, 2:00–7:00 p.m. – Child Safety Seat Checkpoint, Town Hall
Thurs, Jul 26, 7:00 p.m., Summer Concert: The Del Angels, MAC
Sat, Jul 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Child Safety Seat Checkpoint, Town Hall
Sat Jul 28, 8:45 p.m. – Summer Movie – Normandy Park
Fri, Aug 3, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Child Safety Seat Checkpoint, Town Hall
Thurs, Aug 9, 7p.m. – Summer Concert: Funktion 11, Croydon Hall
Thurs, Aug 23, 7p.m. – Summer Concert: RB Express, Croydon Hall
Fri, Aug 24, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Child Safety Seat Checkpoint
Fri, Aug 31, 8:00 pm – Summer Movie, TKCC
Sat, Sept 29, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m – Middletown Day 2012, Croydon Hall


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An Open Letter to Middletown Residents From Carol Fowler

I am a mother of two whose family goes back four generations in Middletown and whose children were educated in our Middletown schools. For the first time in my family's history, I see families being priced out of our Township, because of our soaring taxes. As our incomes have remained flat, we have seen steady, significant municipal tax increases exceeding 40% in the last 6 years. If you believe every municipality has experienced these increases, think again. While many of our surrounding towns have had minimal or no increases in taxes, over the last six years, our elected officials have burdened our citizens with a dramatic tax increase unmatched by our surrounding communities. Many members of the next generation of Middletown children cannot afford to live here. Poor management of our local government produced these unnecessary tax hikes. I am running for office to reverse this trend.

We must start by reducing taxes by cutting our debt, which has mushroomed over the last decade under the current regime from $48million to $72 million. Over the last decade, our Township Committee has overspent its way through an $8 million dollar Arts Center, bonded for $2.5 million for turf fields for our kids that disappeared somewhere in the Town’s budget, and paid the same politically connected engineering firm to work on every Township engineering project without competitive bidding for the last 30 years or more.

We must also cut spending, consolidate services with the Board of Education and neighboring towns and look for partnerships with private and non-profit entities. We must continue the trend initiated by the efforts of my Democratic predecessors Sean Byrnes and Patrick Short to privatize more of our brush collection, and open up our professional contract awards to competitive bidding. For the last few decades, I've been an executive officer of our volunteer first aid squad. I've recorded many business meetings and, when a purchase is necessary, three bids are sought and then voted on. Why can’t our Town do the same for professional services that cost taxpayers well over $1,000,000 per year?

These steps are easy to grasp, but have eluded the current regime, because these steps would threaten the cozy, lucrative relationship enjoyed by the professionals retained by our elected officials to serve this Township. You may not be aware of how your Township is being run, because the Township Committee steadfastly refuses to televise its meetings. If you visit the websites of similar-sized or even smaller municipalities (e.g. East Brunswick, Rahway), you will find complete coverage of their regular meetings, where any citizen who wants to can see how their tax dollars are being spent. What do we have to hide? How come we broadcast events form the Arts Center, concerts in our parks, but not our Town meetings?

Walking our township, I've seen with my own eyes that we have seniors who can barely afford to purchase food, as well as victimized homeowners who lose everything when a tropical storm sweeps through, with no solution in place to their long time flooding predicament. Our town's Senior Center has a very good food program, yet the recreational side of it is not as attractive to seniors, who pay a nominal non-resident fee to attend the more enjoyable Keyport Senior Center. Why can't we have equally attractive senior programs at our own Center?

I want to restore this town to what it was — a reliable and affordable place to live. But I also insist that we keep in step with what our neighboring communities offer to residents. Our recreational facilities and our overall Recreation Department lag far behind the thoughtfully planned recreational centers available to resident of townships far smaller than Middletown. When elected leaders take your hard-earned money for taxes, you need to know that they will spend it wisely. The current regime has failed miserably, and I hope you will consider a vote for change.

Carol Fowler

Middletown Democratic Candidate for Township Committee

Taxpayers First ??? Not in “Your Middletown”

by guest blogger Linda Baum

If you’ve been driving anywhere in Middletown, you can’t miss the big red and white signs that claim Mayor Fiore puts “taxpayers first”. That’s been the line for years now. That the Republican majority continues to use it shows their arrogance. Sadly, they have managed to keep so many of us in the dark.

I suppose they should feel confident. Remember last year when our Republican-controlled Town Committee left you with the impression that a 13.4% municipal tax increase was just 2.8%? They had at their disposal all sources of communication coming out of Town Hall – the town’s own newspaper, press releases, robocalls, and a tax information sheet all delivered straight to your home and paid for with your tax dollars. You were probably scratching your head back then. And I bet, like me, for a while you were uncertain of your own basic math skills. And that was the idea – not to inform, but to mislead. That is not how you serve taxpayers. What they did was deliberate and dishonest, and completely self-serving.

The Republican party’s control over information in Middletown has gone on for years. If you have ever asked a question at a Town Committee meeting, you may have experienced that first hand, and it has never been more true than it is now that an all-Republican committee sits on the dais.

Residents have just two opportunities each month – the first and third Monday -- to connect with our representatives, but they don’t seem to want to talk to us. If you’ve been brave enough to stand at the microphone and ask nearly anything, you’ve most likely been made to feel like an annoyance. You’ve got just five minutes – that’s the rule. Use it or lose it, and no second chances after you sit down. If you aren’t satisfied with the answer you get, they may invite you to stay after the meeting when no one else is there to hear them. Or you can always try again at the next town meeting, if you don’t mind being scolded for being repetitive. I was, and my question went unanswered to boot.

It would be downright comical if it weren’t true. If you don’t believe me, then grab your popcorn and come down to Town Hall. You’ll have to catch the live show because town meetings aren’t televised in Middletown like they are in so many other towns. That’s for lack of funds, supposedly, but let’s see what the story is in 2014 when $200,000 in grant money becomes available from Comcast specifically for that purpose. What excuse will our Republican majority give then for continuing to keep us in the dark?

You won’t find much information about what was discussed at meetings in the Town’s meeting minutes, either. If you really want to know what happened, read “It’s Your Town Hall”, newsletter that are written by town resident Don Watson, who took it upon himself to attend town meetings and to keep others informed about what’s going on. If you want to be included in his distribution, send an email to Itsourtown@yahoo.com.

If taxpayers were really first, governmental proceedings would be accessible to all residents no matter what their schedule or ability to attend meetings, including those who are disabled or have limited mobility. And by the way, those folks are still waiting for the Township to fully comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Money is lacking, town officials say, among other reasons given for delays. However, since that law was enacted, our republican-controlled town committee has poured money into a host of costly unnecessary projects when better less-costly alternatives existed – the Pool Club and Arts Center are examples. Taxpayers are not only paying the debt for these purchases, but hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual upkeep as well.

And did you know that the town’s appointed engineer – the same firm now for 40 years –pockets about $1 million dollars a year in taxpayer funds awarded to them as no-bid contracts? Think how much tax relief could have been provided by putting those engineering contracts out to competitive bid. That’s money that could have been returned to you or used for other purposes. If taxpayers were really first, our republican majority would have done just that. Instead, members of that same engineering firm can be seen celebrating with republican candidates every year on election night. If it sounds like pay to play, that’s because it is. And you’re paying for it.

Somebody is first in Middletown, but not taxpayers. Not in a very long time. On November 8th, you can change that.

Middletown To Introduce Budget Wednesday; Is A 15% Tax Increase Possible?

According to Middletown Township's website the Township Committee will hold a special meeting on June 2, 2010 at 7 p.m for the purpose of introducing the 2010 Municipal, Utility and Solid Waste Budgets. The meeting will be held at the Middletown Arts Center, 36 Church Street, Middletown.

I am not making this up, I hear that the Municipal Budget looks pretty ugly and could contain a possible tax increase of 15% or more. But don't fret just yet, there is also a good possibility that the meeting will be postponed due to scheduling conflicts amongst committee members, a quorum may not be possible for Wednesday night.

But if the meeting does go on as scheduled, how could Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger and Deputy Mayor Tony Fiore even consider voting to introduce a budget with such a tax increase?

After all of his posturing and grandstanding about Governor Christie and his "Tool Box" while attempting to follow the lead of the governor by demonizing Middeltown's teachers and cutting the already defeated Board of Education budget by an additional $2 million dollars, after $11 million had already been stripped away from it by the governor, Scharfenberger would be foolish to think that residents would ever take him serious again on budget issues.

If this budget is introduced as is, the Middletown GOP will finally be seen as the tax and spenders that they really are. Remember last year Gerry and his friends raised the tax rate by 5.2% which pushed the tax rate up 16% over the past 4 years, can Middletown afford that kind of tax increase in just one year? I think not!

If this 15% figure is true (which it could be true due to the $5 million budget defect that exists) then Scharfenberger, Township Administrator Tony Mercantante and our new CFO Nick Transente will have some explaining to do and will have to come up with some very good answers as to why they weren't able to keep the increase close to Christie's proposed budget cap.