2013 A Year of 'Completion' for Chester Borough, Mayor Says

After nine months of 2013, Chester Borough has accomplished plenty, from finalizing a new PBA contract to sharing court services with a nearby town. Mayor Bob Davis outlines the town's accomplishments in the following letter to the editor:

I wish to first congratulate Mendham Borough on achieving the status of number one in the State for “Best Place to Live in New Jersey” as recognized by New Jersey Monthly!  In our region Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Chester Township and Chester Borough were all identified as being in the top 40 places to live in New Jersey. That is a tribute to the residents, the volunteers, the DPW’s and the leaders that have set the goals for our communities. 

The year 2013 has been a year of completion of agreements and projects for Chester Borough started in past years including the following major items:

The Joint Court agreement with Mendham Borough has been approved by both municipalities and will result in lower costs for both Mendham Borough and Chester Borough. This agreement will bring the Mendham Borough court appearances to the Chester Borough Municipal Town Hall Court Room starting January, 2014. The sharing of the cost of personnel to prosecute, judge and administer along with the savings by sharing the security with this ten year agreement should save Chester Borough over $400,000. 

Chester Borough and the PBA representing the Chester Borough Police have recently settled a new four year employment contract. The Governing Body accepted the PBA’s offer which includes a 12 step (12 year) progression from starting pay to top pay grade. This is a change from the previous 4 steps (4 years) to top pay grade. The PBA further offered a lowered initial start point at $44,000 and zero pay increase for the four year period at all step levels including the top step. The agreement further freezes longevity pay for the one receiving officer and eliminates longevity for the balance of the department. The agreement allows for an enhanced fixed rate for all officers working extra duty which is typically paid by the utility companies that serve Chester. The police officers will also now contribute more each year toward their health benefits in accordance with the State Statute.

The former Municipal Building at 300 Main Street will be vacated by our Police Department shortly. Our DPW employees have been building out new offices for our Police at the 50 North Road Municipal Building. This in-house project should be completed in September at a significant savings over our original architect’s estimate. We look forward to the completion of this project which will give our Police badly needed new space and it will bring all of our Departments under one roof.

One acre of the two acres at 300 Main Street is currently under contract to be used toward meeting our Affordable Housing requirements established by the State. The current plan is for Homeless Solutions from Morristown to build an architecturally-appropriate eight unit rental building. We are also under contract to purchase the site known as the Little Italian Kitchen which sits along Route 206 just north of the Main Street intersection. Community Hope, Inc. has contracted with us to build a 4 bedroom group home for disabled residents. The Borough is awaiting COAH spending approval before moving ahead with these projects. Funding for the projects was derived from Builders’ Development fees already collected.

We continue to review the repair and repaving of our streets in the Borough. We recently received an $80,000 grant to repave Old Gladstone Road which will be scheduled for 2014. We are also completing engineering work and preparing to go out for bid to fix the crosswalks on Main Street and the paving of Mill Ridge Road. The other road projects we have contemplated are on hold until 2014 due to the need for more capital funds to complete all of the roads currently in need of repair and improvement.

The solar project to be built behind our offices at 50 North Road will provide 100% of the electricity needs for our Municipal uses. The project, slated for 2013 construction has been delayed due to a contract dispute between the contractors and Morris County. This installation, which should have a 15 year life, should save us up to $200,000 in electricity costs once completed. Since the Borough will not own the solar panels, there is no capital cost to us.

We continue to support our first responders the Police Department, First Aid Squad and Fire Department as to their capital needs for equipment. We are also continuing the process of upgrading our Municipal Offices at 50 North Road with specs being competed for the HVAC system improvement so we can have better control and a new cost-efficient system.

On a financial note, as we move along with the current weak economy we continue the goal of stabilizing our reserve surplus in order to cushion the Borough against unpredictable events, lower tax collection rates, state mandated cost increases and the continuation of the 2% Tax Levy Cap. During the recent two years, we have stabilized the surplus account from the previous years’ declines.

Over the last two decades our General debt has been financed primarily with Bond Anticipation Notes which roll over each year. During 2012 we finalized the bonding of our debt into a long term fixed rate utilizing the AAA rating of Morris County in order to level our payments and reduce the risk of potential future interest rate changes. The Chester Borough Municipal debt levels over the recent two years have been reduced by over 16%. 

Significantly, the debt we have is tied to our sewer utility, the interactive pool addition, the annexing of about 2 acres to Grove Street Park, capital projects including Grove Street Park improvements, the revenue generating Field House, the sidewalk project and the purchase of the Municipal use portion of the property at 50 North Road. We look at these expenditures as an investment in the safety and value of our Borough to benefit the residents for many decades to come.

Our employees and all first responders continue to be a great asset to the Borough. Over the last three years the snow storms and hurricanes have come and our first responders and employees have done a remarkable job at keeping our roads open and us safe. The Mayor and Council wish to once again thank them for all they have done during the recent years in keeping us safe and maintaining the Borough to the standards we have set.

Sincerely,

Mayor Robert Davis