At last nights town council meeting John McCormac presented his proposed budget (it's up 5.8%, which equates to approximately a $125,000,000.00 (yeah $125 MILLION) budget for this year. The town council still has a few weeks to look the budget over, which is good because, reportedly, there has been a delay in shipping the new and improved town council rubber stamps.
Anyway, the mayor and his cronies assured everyone the solar panels are generating revenue and the debt should be paid off in 6 to 8 years. Then the profits go into the township's coffers. As an aside, that is an interesting boast, since the $600/SREC contract the township had with Hess ended in May 2012 and the June 2012 quote on SREC's is $316.19 (see http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/project-activity-reports/s...).
Also, the miniature golf course has generated $43,729.67 in revenue between April 24 and August 5, 2012. But it is unclear what portion of that amount is left after debt service, maintenance and new hire salaries.
When asked how the new skateboard park in Colonia was coming along, Mr. Landolfi, the mayor's left-hand man (at least at the Administration's council table) repeatedly informed everyone "it's under construction". But for whatever reason, Mr. Landolfi couldn't or won't give an estimated completion date for the park.
While not ending things on a sour note, the mayor assured everyone the additional $30,000.00 added to the marketing contract awarded to 20 Lemons (see: http://topsy.com/twitter/20lemons), to promo the Community Center, was done in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations. Still, one might wonder who did the initial screening of this bidder and what they showed in the way of qualifications.
Once again, the mayor has called on anyone and everyone to come forward with any meaningful suggestions they may have as to how to trim this year's budget. Surely, at only 3.8% over the "cap", there cannot be any pork left in that barrel, or is there!
