BY MARC LIGHTDALE - Northern Valley Suburbanite
The Cresskill and Demarest governing bodies have passed resolutions to share services.
“We’re starting out by providing ways to store their salt,” said Cresskill Councilman Keith Brassel in reference to Cresskill’s salt shed.
Cresskill Mayor Benedict Romeo said the Borough is looking into ways of gaining county and state grants for shared services. This comes at a time as increasing pressure mounts for many local municipalities to join together for services to increase efficiency, based on an emphasis from the state.
Romeo said that the two boroughs are similar in population, which makes sharing more sensible. Demarest’s population is more than 5,000 people and Cresskill has about 7,800, Romeo said.
“I have a very good working relationship with the mayor and council of Cresskill,” Demarest Mayor James Carroll said. “We have been ahead of the curve in terms of shared services with the DPW, with the purchase of gas and what have you. We will continue to explore avenues to continue what we have doing. We are committed to doing the most we can for residents at the least cost.”
In response to sharing police dispatch and other suggestions, Carroll said that everything “is on the table.”
“We’re in tough economic times. Consolidation and regionalization will save us time and continue the high quality of services,” Carroll said. “If it doesn’t make financial sense we won’t do it. Saving money is the key.”
Cresskill is undertaking a study being done right now by expert consultant Joseph Martin, who is also Verona Township’s manager, into ways in which both Demarest and Cresskill can utilize shared services, Romeo said.
“He is a freelance consultant who happens to be an expert in different fields,” Romeo said. “We have used him on the Board of Education budgets. He knows budget and municipal law. We have used him in the past.”
Kevin Terhune, superintendent of the Department of Public Works, said his department is helping by allowing Demarest to use Cresskill’s salt shed so that Demarest does not have to build its own. Shared services could become more commonplace between the two towns. Equipment such as a sewer flushing machine could be purchased so that both municipalities could share its usage. It’s a piece of equipment that ejects water in order to clean out sewers.
This appears to be the wave of the future, Terhune said. “I think the government is being forced to look at this,” Terhune said. “Time will tell if it works. We are exploring different options to see if there could be sharing. There is gray area because nobody knows how it will work.”
Terhune said that there is state pressure with mounting property taxes in municipalities being “the way they are” and a “tight economy” to do more shared services.
Romeo said there are certain ways that the two adjoining boroughs may share in the future — salt, buying equipment, leaf machines and dumping machines. Cresskill Police Chief Ed Wrixon said that sharing police dispatch is a possibility.
Demarest vehicles currently use the gas pumps in Cresskill, Romeo said. Demarest shares the cost of maintaining them, Terhune said. Other potential ways of sharing services in the future include sharing recreation facilities and ball fields, Romeo said.
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