During Monday's meeting of the Mendham Township Committee, Mayor Sam Tolley and his colleagues did not take any action on the most recent meeting of the mayors and their expanded group to discuss the regional board of education matters, as they chose to wait for the minutes of that meeting to be available.

They did however, discuss taping the meetings going forward.

"I offered to the group that Mendham TV could tape the meetings for the cost of $750," Tolley said. "When it is split among everyone it really would come down to a nominal fee."

According to Tolley, the suggestion was not met with much enthusiasm, specifically from Washington Township Mayor Ken Short whose municipalty, along with half of Chester, does not get Mendham TV.

"Which is a reasonable concern," Tolley said.

Committeeman Frank Cioppetinni, who attended the last regional school meeting, said it was crucial that they are taped. 

"I attended the last meeting and I have to tell you I am concerned. I thought it was an excellent meeting but it did not appear there was anyone taking minutes." Cioppetinni said. "And the moderator was like an attorney leading the witness."

Cioppetini said he was keeping a tally of some of the options being put together for study and his tally did not match what the moderator's final score was. Tolley said looking into more options for filming was a good idea.

"I strongly agree these meetings should be taped," Tolley said.

The committee asked Denis Deegan, who was there filming the committee meeting as a volunteer for T.A.G. (Transparency and Accountability in Government) if using them to record the next regional meeting was possible. 

Currently T.A.G. films all committee meetings and those not running on Mendham TV are available in the Mendham Library. Deegan was estimating, but came up with a figure somewhere around $250.

"So if we did some fundraising and came up with $300, could you do it?" Cioppetinni said.

"I would have to check and see if we had volunteers available, but in theory we should." Deegan said.

The committee agreed further exploration was needed, but it seemed to be a solution everyone could live with.

"Not everyone has Mendham TV, but everyone has access to a DVD player," Tolley said.

"So now we can pass the hat and try to get this done," Cioppettini said.

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