U.F. Planning Board taps new appointee as chair
New leader says recent master plan revisions require discussion
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - In a close vote, the township's Planning Board elected a new chairman at its first meeting of the year.

The board voted 5-4 to elect newly appointed member John Mele as its chairman. Mele previously served on the board for many years and as mayor in 2004.

Prior to the voting, longtime Chairman Richard Stern said he would like to retire from the position and nominated Douglas Raynor for the role. Raynor said he had to respectfully decline the offer due to personal reasons and then nominated Stern for the role.

"I guess I'll have to accept," Stern said.

However, Committeeman Robert Faber nominated Mele to serve as chairman, and Mele defeated Stern when the board cast its votes on the issue.

Board members Faber, Mele, Dianne Kelly, Jeff Doherty and Mayor Stephen Alexander voted for Mele while members Raynor, Stern, Bob Freiberger and Richard Bullock voted for Stern.

Mele thanked the board for giving him the opportunity and said the board would have a lot of work ahead of it this year. He said issues concerning the township's Council onAffordable Housing (COAH) requirements would require a great deal of discussion, as would the previous board's December 2007 revision of the township's master plan.

After the vote for chairman took place, the board then unanimously voted to reelect Raynor as vice chairman and to elect new alternate member Jeff Ferrier as assistant secretary.

The board reappointed Glenn Gerken as its engineer. Stern commented that it would be a burden to the taxpayers for the board to even consider hiring another engineer, since Gerken also serves as the township engineer.

The township will continue to advertise to fill the positions of township planner and board attorney. Township Planner Mark Remsa notified the board at the end of last year that he did not want to be considered for reappointment. Longtime Board Attorney Frank Armenante had indicated that he wanted to keep his position. However, because the board's votes fell along the same lines as they did for electing a chairman, the board will be conducting interviews for the job. Armenante can interview for the position.

Alternate J. David Holmes commented that the board should keep the same professionals it had last year to ensure continuity from one year to the next.

Freiberger noted that Gerken had served the township while also working for other companies including Birdsall Engineering of Eatontown and Schoor De- Palma and CMX, both of Manalapan.

The township will not use the fair and open process to appoint a planner and board attorney. Alexander said that since the municipality's pay-to-play ordinance is more restrictive than state guidelines, the township would use an alternative method to hire a planner and an attorney.

Planning Board Secretary Susan Babbitt said a fair and open process would require bidding. She said new rules in the fair and open process mandate that the township's administration receive an applicant's campaign contribution information 10 business days before officials conduct interviews to fill the positions. She also said the township could not conduct interviews before the board's next meeting on Jan. 22.

Alexander said that when the Township Committee and Planning Board interviewed planners in 2005, they held meetings with candidates on a Saturday. He further noted that committee and board members sat in separate rooms while candidates went back and forth between them. Alexander said that the township would use a similar process to interview candidates in 2008.

The township will also advertise for attorneys and engineers to be used by the board in the event that its professionals have a potential conflict of interest with any issue.

Information about the positions will be posted on the township's Web site www.uftnj.com.