Showing posts with label Township of Middletown Sewerage Authority (TOMSA). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Township of Middletown Sewerage Authority (TOMSA). Show all posts
Sunday, October 18, 2015
October 5, 2015 Middletown Township Committee Meeting
At the Oct.5th workshop meeting of the Middletown Township Committee, the Committee heard reports from TOMSA and the Housing Authority as a requirement in the state Best Practices program. Also an ordinance to set fees for activities at Poricy Park was adopted. Also a presentation was given by the Police Department on the status of local pawn shops and how the police are trying to have them comply with a new program to tract potential stolen goods that may have been pawned at their shops
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.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Patronage is one thing. Not doing the job – and getting paid – is another
by Linda Baum
Assume you are hired to take the minutes at a meeting but you don’t show up. Should you – can you – still do the minutes? Should you be paid for it?
The Middletown Sewerage Authority thinks so. The public agency paid their recording secretary, Marie Schillberg, $150 to prepare the minutes for the March 2014 board meeting, but she wasn’t there.
The Authority doesn’t audio record its meetings, which means you have to be there to know what was said. So how did Ms. Schillberg do the minutes? Someone else who was present simply told her what the votes were and who attended. That’s it. There was no record made of the meeting discussion.
It certainly demonstrates what passes for official minutes by the agency if someone doesn’t even need to be present to do them. Noteworthy, however, is that the March minutes are no different from those for any other month. Except for the date, attendance and list of resolutions, the minutes for each meeting are substantially the same. You can find them on the public documents page at www.tomsanj.com.
Ms. Schillberg, whom research shows is the spouse of former municipal court judge Robert Schillberg, was appointed as the Authority’s recording secretary in 1999 when her husband was sitting on the bench in Middletown and the Authority’s then-director held a seat on the Township Committee. The appointment resolution (Res. 67/99) is the shortest I’ve ever seen at just 20 words, with no mention of salary, duties or term of service.
I’ve asked the Authority’s board members many times what they feel the role of the recording secretary is, but they don’t respond. They have yet to add substance to their minutes and still don’t require their recording secretary to take notes at meetings, though supposedly that’s the job she was hired to do.
Typically, Ms. Schillberg sits for the majority of each meeting with her hands folded or in her lap, pen down, as seen in the photo here. Further, her presence or absence should be part of the official record, but there is no mention of her in the minutes for any meeting.
As a public agency, the Authority is legally required (per the Open Public Meetings Act) to meet a certain standard with regard to the record keeping for its meetings, and therefore responsibility here lies with the Authority and its board. They need to take corrective action and should have done so a long time ago.
Assume you are hired to take the minutes at a meeting but you don’t show up. Should you – can you – still do the minutes? Should you be paid for it?
The Middletown Sewerage Authority thinks so. The public agency paid their recording secretary, Marie Schillberg, $150 to prepare the minutes for the March 2014 board meeting, but she wasn’t there.
The Authority doesn’t audio record its meetings, which means you have to be there to know what was said. So how did Ms. Schillberg do the minutes? Someone else who was present simply told her what the votes were and who attended. That’s it. There was no record made of the meeting discussion.
Ms. Schillberg, whom research shows is the spouse of former municipal court judge Robert Schillberg, was appointed as the Authority’s recording secretary in 1999 when her husband was sitting on the bench in Middletown and the Authority’s then-director held a seat on the Township Committee. The appointment resolution (Res. 67/99) is the shortest I’ve ever seen at just 20 words, with no mention of salary, duties or term of service.
I’ve asked the Authority’s board members many times what they feel the role of the recording secretary is, but they don’t respond. They have yet to add substance to their minutes and still don’t require their recording secretary to take notes at meetings, though supposedly that’s the job she was hired to do.
Typically, Ms. Schillberg sits for the majority of each meeting with her hands folded or in her lap, pen down, as seen in the photo here. Further, her presence or absence should be part of the official record, but there is no mention of her in the minutes for any meeting.
As a public agency, the Authority is legally required (per the Open Public Meetings Act) to meet a certain standard with regard to the record keeping for its meetings, and therefore responsibility here lies with the Authority and its board. They need to take corrective action and should have done so a long time ago.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
New TOMSA service fees on July 1
by Linda Baum
The charge for residential sewer service is increasing from $70 to $75 per quarter effective on July 1, 2014. The commercial service rate is also increasing, from $4.67 to $5.00 per 1000 gallons. The increases are per Resolution 32-2014, adopted at TOMSA’s April board meeting, and are expected to bring in an additional $520,000 in revenue annually.
Reminder: Residents with an automatic bill payment setup may need to update the amount of this recurring charge.
Friday, April 25, 2014
March 17, 2014 Township Of Middletown Sewerage Authority Meeting
For those that may be interested here is the latest video available from the meeting of the Middletown Sewerage Authority (TOMSA). I haven't had time to watch but I intend to over the next few day.
Monday, February 24, 2014
February 19, 2014 Middletown Township Sewerage Authority Meeting
Here is a video from the February 19th meeting of the Township of Middletown Sewerage Authority (TOMSA). It's quite a bit longer than the previous video posted of the Middletown Library Board of Trustees meeting that took place the same evening. I haven't had time to watch the full video yet and hope to get back to it later.
The meeting opened up by nominating officers for the coming year and nominating/appointing/approving of various vendors and contracts. The board had to go into executive session within the fist five minutes of the meeting to discuss a few appointments.
Interestingly, TOMSA board member Tom Stokes wasn't in attendance. He happens to be a snowbird during the winter months and phones in for meetings, I really don' see why this is allowed. How can he perform the duties of his position if he is out of town for a good part of the year?
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