Planning Board Reorganizes

The township Planning Board reorganized Tuesday night, ending nearly two months of uncertainty about whether it would actually achieve a desired calendar year schedule in 2011.

Board chairman Andrew Kricun noted the amendment to switch the board's bylaws from an annual reorganization in July to one in January will not adversely impact current members' terms, as he and others had thought to be the case.

Board member Dennis Palmer, who did not attend Tuesday's meeting due to illness, expressed his concern the decision was politically motivated when Kricun moved to change the board's calendar in December.

It appeared at the time as if Palmer, a Republican, and all board members would see their terms cut short by six months with the move.

That is not the case, Kricun said.

"The good news is that the terms are not affected. When we had spoke about it in December," he said, "I was of the opinion based on some information that I had that it would actually adversely affect all of our terms—they would be shortened by six months.

"But they will not be. All of our terms will remain in effect and remain unchanged."

The board then unanimously voted to re-affirm its December vote to move to a calendar year schedule, effectively bringing the board in line with the schedules of the Township Council and Zoning Board.

Board solicitor Michael McKenna opined the board did not violate its bylaws by voting in December to move to a calendar year schedule, despite members not having been given three days prior notice of the proposal.

Palmer would have been one of three members most immediately affected by reduced terms since his is set to run through this June.

As the only Republican appointee of the three—public works director Len Moffa and Josie Washington are the others—he also was likely to be the only member to not be returned to the board by Mayor David Mayer, a Democrat, at the time of the Planning Board's Dec. 14 vote to move to a calendar year schedule.

At the Township Council's Jan. 3 reorganization meeting, Mayer re-appointed Moffa and Washington, not Palmer, to the board.

The board was to reorganize at its Jan. 11 meeting, which, along with its Jan. 25 meeting, was canceled due to inclement weather, following its 5-4 vote on Dec. 14 to move to a calendar year schedule.

The vote was decided along party lines, with five Democratic appointees supporting it, four Republican appointees opposing it.

But Palmer and his attorney, Steven Fabietti, protested the calendar switch through McKenna, asserting the move violated the board's bylaws since members were not provided written notice three days prior to the measure's introduction.

Township solicitor David Carlamere essentially asked the Planning Board to redo the vote due to the lack of notice. This time, board members were notified of the proposal.

In other news from Tuesday's meeting:

* McKenna swore in the board's newest member, Mike Jones.

* Kricun was unanimously returned to the board chairman post by his peers, then Jack Dunn was unanimously approved as vice chairman.

* The board approved the Courier-Post and Record Breeze as its official newspapers.

* The board's 2011 schedule was adopted. The board agreed to meet, if there are applications to require each meeting, on Feb. 22, March 8 and 22, April 12 and 26, May 10 and 24, June 14 and 28, July 12 and 26, Aug. 9 and 23, Sept. 13 and 27, Oct. 11 and 25, Nov. 22, and Dec. 13.