Candidates talk taxes, planning and sprawl
GOP candidates to vie against Dem incumbent for two open seats
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE — Committee candidates took the time to discuss the township’s most important issues this week.

Democrat and incumbent William Nurko will square off against Republicans Ramin Dilfanian and Steven J. Sico in the November election for the two open Township Committee seats. Committeeman Chet Halka decided not to run this year for re-election.

When asked why he decided to seek re-election, Nurko, 60, said, “I decided to run again to try to keep my hand in the process of how Millstone continues to develop as a community.”

Nurko, who has lived in Millstone his entire life, said the three most important issues facing the township are “taxes, taxes and taxes.”

According to Nurko, “The way the values of homes have increased and the costs associated with the needs generated, such as schools and education, municipal services, recreational opportunities, and preserving farmland and open space, a homeowner’s tax bill becomes a highly significant item.”

Nurko said that if elected, he would try to address the issue of taxes by remaining active with the township’s Economic Development Council.

“The council investigates and develops creative ideas for attracting suitable ratables to the municipality,” Nurko said.

“Also, having been instrumental in bringing the first business administrator to the township,” he said, “I will continue to support him as he directs efforts to make all aspects of municipal government operations and services more efficient and economical for our residents.”

In addition, Nurko said he would continue to stress to state legislators the need for immediate tax reform to help all New Jersey residents.

Nurko said Millstone is currently undergoing a “well-executed” transformation.

“Coming from a time when Millstone was a very rural area to what it is now,” he said, “and having witnessed many changes, even though we desire to have it remain the same rural community we have grown to love, I think the way Millstone has grown is far superior to some of our surrounding neighbors.”

Nurko added that he would “like to bring balance to the Township Committee” and “ensure [that] the voices of all sides are represented on the dais.”

When asked about how he has already served the community, Nurko said, “I started my community service back when I was in grade school. I spotted aircraft for the civil defense program from a structure [now long gone] near the old Perrineville school.”

In his adult life, Nurko was appointed to the Millstone Township Planning Board in 1984 and served on it continuously through 1999, when voters elected him to the Township Committee.

Nurko began his first term on the committee on Jan. 1, 2000. Voters re-elected him in 2002, and he served as mayor in 2003. He has also served the community, he said, by assisting the township’s Department of Public Works with snow removal.

Nurko, a mechanical engineer, has worked for several manufacturing organizations. He is retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve with more than 25 years of service.

“Having been raised on a potato and grain farm in Millstone,” he said, “my hobby is gardening.

“I am married,” he said, “and my lovely wife, Clara, and I have two grown, married daughters and one cute 2-year-old granddaughter.”

Dilfanian, 37, a Millstone resident since 2000, lives with his wife, Eva, and their 4-year-old son. The independent consultant for Computer Neural Networks is also a math and science teacher who recently taught at schools in New York City. He said he is currently on sabbatical completing his doctoral thesis. A commander in the 3rd Brigade, 98th Division, U.S. Army Reserve, Dilfanian completed his second tour of duty in Iraq in December.

When asked about his community service, Dilfanian said, “Currently, I am an active member of the Millstone Veterans Committee. I am also active with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Computer Sciences; the American Federation of (Mathematics) Teachers; the 82nd Airborne Division Association, New Jersey paratroopers, North Jersey Chapter; the American Legion; the Veterans of Foreign Wars; and the National Eagle Scout Association.”

Dilfanian said he decided to run for Township Committee because he would “like to see the momentum of positive reform continued.

“We have seen major reforms in the fiscal and organizational management of our township during the past 14 months, and this has helped eliminate waste and mismanagement,” Dilfanian said.

“I feel I can bring a new perspective to the committee to keep the reform agenda moving forward,” he added.

Dilfanian said he would work to ensure that the municipal tax rate would not increase.

“I feel that only when our Township Committee is composed of members not beholding to special interests can we be guaranteed the interests of the residents are the first priority,” he said.

When asked what he considered to be the township’s most pressing issues, Dilfanian said, “Taxes, sprawl and quality of life.”

If elected, Dilfanian said he would try to address each of these issues.

“Our taxes are increasing due to poor fiscal planning and ineffective management in the past,” Dilfanian said. “The financial reforms put in place last year, and the commitment to pay off debt, are vital to keep our taxes under control.”

Dilfanian said he would be more aggressive in trying to partner with neighboring municipalities, the Board of Education and county officials in order “to reduce waste and to control taxes.”

With regard to sprawl, Dilfanian said if he was elected, he would work to put proper planning in place now to address what the township will look like in 20 years.

“Poor planning in the past has also resulted in sprawl, which has a negative impact on our rural quality of life,” Dilfanian said.

Sico, 35, has lived in the township since 2003. The attorney with his own practice in Woodbridge has two children with his wife, Eleanor.

When asked about his community service, Sico said he currently sits as a member of the Millstone Township Zoning Board of Adjustment. He also volunteers with the Woodbridge Chamber of Commerce, the Police Athletic League and St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Perrineville section of Millstone.

Sico said he decided to run for office because he feels the township needs to “implement a long-term plan for ratables.”

“I also wish to see Millstone obtain fair representation on the Allentown Board of Education, as our children make up over 50 percent of the students at Allentown High School,” Sico said with regard to the township’s send-receive program with Allentown, since Millstone does not have its own high school.

Sico said he moved to Millstone for the rural quality of life and for low taxes.

“As a relatively new resident,” Sico said, “I feel I should do my fair share to protect our lifestyle and help stabilize our tax rate.”

When asked what he perceives as the three most important issues facing the township, Sico said, “Taxes, planning and fair representation on the Allentown Board of Education.

If elected, Sico said he would put together a comprehensive plan to maximize the township’s ratable base on its highway corridors “without turning Route 33 and [Route] 537 into another Route 9.”

Sico also said that solid, long-term planning would maximize the tax return from the township’s highway corridors without destroying residents’ quality of life and creating permanent traffic problems.

“If we allow the corridors to be developed piecemeal, we will never maximize anything but traffic,” Sico said.

Because Millstone students make up more than half the student body at Allentown High School, Sico said, he would demand that the township’s representatives in Trenton take legislative action to allow fair representation on the Allentown Board of Education.

“We must be given equal representation in setting the budget for the high school,” he said, “since we are paying the tab.”