Save our Garwood DPW

Proposal put forth by the Garwood Mayor and recommended by Councilwomen Ann Tarantino which will have the Garwood DPW report to the Borough of Fanwood, NJ DPW and fire the Garwood Superintendent.

What you are not being told about the resolution to have the Garwood DPW report to Fanwood.

 The Garwood DPW contract ends this year leaving the future of the DPW unknown.
 It would fire Garwood’s DPW Superintendent for the last ten years, Fred Corbitt, and replace him with 10 hours of part-time supervision by Fanwood’s Superintendent.
 Garwood’s DPW workers would then report to Fanwood’s Superintendent. Our men would have to get his approval on everything.
 Garwood will have to pay Fanwood $40,000 a year with a 2% increase every year for 10 hours of supervision and the privilege of sharing their DPW equipment.
 The equipment the Garwood DPW would “benefit” from is already available from the county.
 Currently, if Garwood were to damage any Fanwood equipment it is using, we would have to pay for it all.
 Licenses, permits, inspections, etc., are to be approved, or denied, by the Fanwood Superintendent.
 Fanwood decides who gets priority use over their equipment.
 NOT ONE municipality out of 565 in NJ has embraced sharing DPW Superintendent services because it does not work. Using the best DPW in the county as a lab rat is a risk we should not take.
Mayor and Council have a record of poor planning, tax & spending increases and a lack of transparency.
 Sara Todisco, Bill Nierstedt, and Ann Tarantino pushed to vote on the resolution 10 different times during the June 23, 2015 meeting without consulting the public and sneak this through before you had a say.
 They claim this proposal will save $70,000 a year in salary and benefits, yet a sitting Councilman collects benefits costing taxpayers close to $30,000 a year and he has not been asked to relinquish them.
 We were also told removing taxpayer funded Bulk pickup services would save $30,000 a year but our taxes have gone up every year, some years at a higher rate than Cranford and Westfield.
 They approved the 2015 Budget that included over $230,000 in excess spending; add to it the Board of Ed and County budgets and this amounts to over a 4% increase in our property taxes.
 We were told the Athletic Field Complex was under budget and would only cost $2,000 a year to maintain when it’s really costing us an extra $32,000 this year alone.
Our DPW and Fred Corbitt are collateral damage for the Mayor and Council’s out of control spending.

This year’s Budget is loaded with irresponsible and reckless spending.
 $100,000 to fix damaged sidewalks caused by trees the borough planted. The response is to plant more trees.
 $32,000 for Athletic Field Complex (AFC) Maintenance and Fence.
 $33,000 in debt service payments due to the AFC and neglected infrastructure projects.
 $7,000 increase to the Rec Dept.
 $23,845 initial cost for computer software.
 $17,000 increase for the Planning Board.
 $30,000 for Councilman Petruzelli’s health & dental benefits.
 $11,100 increase for the Municipal Clerk.
 $18,800 increase in Legal Fees.
 $17,000 increase for pension line items.
 $37,000 in Municipal Roof repairs that should have been covered by funds in the “surplus”.
 $90,000 increase for the Rahway Valley Sewer Authority because of a failure by the Finance Committee to understand and prepare for fluctuations in RVSA fees.