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Town To Float $1.2 Million In Bonds For Parks, Police
By Catherine Galioto
The township hopes to pump $1.2 million in bonds into circulation to pay for three major upgrades: township parks, police communication and the municipal building.
The bond approvals are spread over three separate ordinances the township council is considering at its November 20 meeting.
The largest project is a mandatory police communication upgrade, which comes with a $1.04 million price tag.
"This is going to fund an upgrade to police scheduling software," township administrator Scott Pezarras said. "It's the brains of the Police Department."
The existing system is 15 years old. This year, the vendor announced it would no longer support the technology the system runs on, Pezarras said.
"It's totally outdated," he added. "This bring us up to the 21st century."
The total amount will fund a three-phase project, done before 2009. It includes the new communication system, a tower and digital upgrades, Pezarras said.
Currently, the communications system is analog and Unix-based systems run the dispatch, he said.
"We definitely want to make sure the Police Department has this up and running," Council President Stephen Acropolis said. "It's our responsibility."
A second bond ordinance focuses on other Police Department issues.
For $70,000, the township is seeking bonds to pay for a renovation of the municipal building on Chambers Bridge road. As the main offices for the township, varied departments are all working out of the same building. The tax collector, the municipal court and the recreation department also work out of the same building as the police department.
"Space in the building is at a premium," Pezarras said. "We're splitting at the seams."
Specifically, the Police Department is moving into a downstairs section of the municipal complex. The $70,000 is to move departments and reconfigure space, he said.
"We're going to start the process of revamping downstairs where the recreation department used to be housed," Pezarras said. "Hopefully, we'll have some areas the Police Department can move some of their operations to downstairs."
In addition, the township needs to better comply with state rules giving separate areas to municipal courts and the Police Department, he said.
The final set of bond notes the township hopes to approve is for a $114,950 project upgrading parks in Brick.
"Parks have not been updated or touched from probably late 1980s, early 1990s," Pezarras said. The money will be divided among the township park areas, but is not for construction of new parks, he said. "We need improvements to come into compliance with new recreational standards for insurance purposes."
At this point, the projects need designs and recommendations, and the money is earmarked for those purposes, he said.
The council voted unanimously on each of the bond ordinances, and scheduled a final vote for the November 20 meeting, where a public hearing on each of the three laws is also on the agenda.
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