PAY TO PLAY - AGAIN (with a nod to the Livingston Patch for the great title)

Field usage fees have once again reared its ugly head.  Although the various organizations which are the big users of these fields have been polled regarding usage fees, and have had numerous discussions regarding the potential for fees, and theoretically have bought into the need for these fees – now there is apparently ‘push back’ on the actual implementation of field usage fees.  Given the need to implement these fees to help defray the growing cost of field maintenance and the negative response being received from the organizations impacted, there will be a meeting called of the ‘stakeholders’ in the fields (e.g., Livingston baseball, softball, football leagues, Township groups – Cerbo, Temple softball, etc.) to further discuss this issue. 

Also up on the 9/26 agenda was the review of the Vision 20/20 survey to be disseminated to the town.  Vision 20/20 is a town-appointed committee whose purpose “is to create a vision for the Township of Livingston that will improve the quality of life for the community, its residents, and businesses.”  I’m all for quality of life; I am obviously a Livingston resident as well.  However, given costs are rising, and we are trying to hold taxes down, rather than asking what more we should be doing for the Township, why not see what services might be cut back or charged a fee to use?  This, in fact, was the very sentiment raised to me by a member of the Vision 20/20 committee.  As the most basic Township expenses are rising (e.g., wages, benefits), and given an incredibly robust service offering we currently have, we have to realize that, while it is good to plan for the future, we may not be able to accommodate new services (or even maintain old ones) in the short term.  I do applaud the work that the committee has done and look forward with interest to the results from the survey.

Finally, I read with great interest the Zoning Board of Adjustment Annual Report for 2010.  The report provided a summary of the variances for residential lots and use variances requested.  It also made a recommendation regarding reviewing the accessory structure (e.g., garages, pool houses) provision – which engendered some lively discussion about 4 car garages.

The regular meeting gave me a sense of real satisfaction – we were giving citations honoring the 6 Essex County Senior Citizens Juried Art Show winners who were Livingston residents (the most winners from one township at this show) as well as the 2011 10-year-old National Little League Williamsport Team.  The art show winners shared with us information about their winning pieces or their art in general and the kids were just great!  I don’t remember the last time I saw so many ‘paparazzi’ in the room.

The rest was primarily housekeeping – including two change orders for road reconstruction/ resurfacing that were due to the increase in the cost of asphalt and passing a legislative appropriation in order to get $450,000 in funding from a Green Acres matching grant.