Millstone gets past sour year
2008 marked with COAH plan controversy and infighting
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer
Acontroversial Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) plan and animosity among Township Committee members dominated Millstone news in 2008.

In January, Mayor Nancy Grbelja and Deputy Mayor Robert Kinsey were appointed to their respective roles for the third year in a row. Michael Kuczinski was also sworn in to replace former Committeeman Ray Dilfanian, who resigned in Dec. 2007.

In the first of many squabbles over the year between Grbelja and Committeeman Elias Abilheira, he voted against a salary ordinance at the meeting, saying salaries are "so much higher than those of similar towns." Grbelja said her research indicated that Millstone's salaries are not out of line with salaries in other municipalities of similar size.

Approximately 600 acres of land were preserved with bond ordinances introduced at the Jan. 16 Township Committee meeting. The township preserved the 116-acre Wong property on Stagecoach Road, the 166-acre Hom tract on Battleground Road, the 30-acre Peter Nurko farm on Parkside East, the 35-acre Boyken property, also known as Four Winds Farm, on Stagecoach Road, the 49-acre Kenney farm on Stagecoach Road, and the 164-acre Lee farm on Red Valley Road. While the township bonded for $12 million to cover the costs of preservation, Kinsey said that once the township closes on the properties, the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC) would reimburse the township for $4.4 million and the state Green Acres Program would reimburse another million dollars.

An argument between Abilheira and township Republican County Executive Committee (RCEC) Chairman Steven Lambros started during the public portion of the Jan. 16 meeting and continued in the hallway after the meeting adjourned. With raised voices, each man accused the other of being a liar. Abilheira brought up the issue of Grbelja receiving an envelope containing $3,000 cash prior to her 2006 reelection. Abilheira also ran on the Republican ticket for re-election that year. Lambros said Kinsey, also a Republican, gave the money to Grbelja, which Kinsey confirmed. Lambros said that after he told Kinsey that the RCEC could not accept cash contributions, he returned the money to Kinsey, who later wrote a check. According to Election Law Enforcement Commission reports, Lambros certified Jan. 1, 2007, that Kinsey contributed $3,000 to the RCEC on Oct. 19, 2006, and that Grbelja also contributed $1,000 to the RCEC that day. Abilheira alleged that no chairman or elected official would consider it legal to give or take $3,000 in cash. Lambros told Abilheira that he was very sorry for having supported him for the governing body.

For the first time in four years, Millstone Township voters approved the fire district budget. Dave Markunas, a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners, said the turnout for the Feb. 16 vote was the largest in the district's history, with 347 voters and 19 absentee ballots. As a result of the budget passing, a homeowner with a house assessed at the township's average of $351,786 has to pay an extra $38.70 per year in local fire taxes.

Four out of five members of the Township Committee revealed this past year that they have health benefits that the municipality pays for and that they don't want to give them up. Only Kuczinski does not take benefits. According to township documents, Abilheira's and former Committeeman Steven Sico's health benefits and self-insurance cost the township $22,476 each last year. Grbelja's plan cost the township $9,020 and Kinsey's totaled $15,291. A new plan for 2008 lowered costs significantly, with Abilheira, Kinsey's and Sico's plans each costing $10,765 and Grbelja's costing $4,306. An in-house pharmacy plan cost $2,100 each for Abilheira, Sico, Kinsey and Kuczinski while Grbelja's costs $1,000. At the Feb. 20 meeting, Abilheira made a motion to remove health benefits as an option for committee members, but it was not seconded. Grbelja said that any member of the committee could waive their benefits and gave Abilheira a waiver form, which he decided not to use.

A Novad Court residence was removed this past year from an ordinance authorizing the township to acquire certain properties for Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) requirements. Township Attorney Duane Davison said that when the ordinance was introduced, Mr. and Mrs. Vidvud Dikert expressed concerns about making plans regarding their home and having enough time to get legal advice. They took issue with the eminent domain language used in the ordinance. Davison said the Township Committee had stated it would not take a person's home through eminent domain in order to satisfy COAH obligations.

Taxes for the average Millstone homeowner rose $32 in 2008 due to the municipal budget, which amounted to just under $7 million. The spending plan was $372,571 less than the 2007 budget, which totaled almost $7.4 million and made the tax rate for municipal purposes just under 10 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Kuczinski and newcomer Fiore Masci ran uncontested in the June Republican primary for the two available committee seats. Kuczinski ran for the seat he was appointed to in January and Masci ran to replace Sico, who decided not to run for a second term. There were no upsets and both also won the November election.

Nineteen municipalities in the state, includingMillstone Township, filed an appeal challenging the new COAH regulations published on June 2. Millstone wanted to challenge its new obligation of creating 175 affordable housing units. The appeal focuses on COAH's failure to follow court direction when earlier regulations were partially set aside in 2007, violations of the Fair Housing Act and other unreasonable and arbitrary adoptions. Grbelja also noted that the township relies on private wells and septic systems as a factor in joining the lawsuit. The Township Committee passed a resolution to expend the $8,000 necessary for participation in the lawsuit and entered into a shared service agreement with Clinton Township for litigation services.

A sex offender residency ordinance, passed in 2005, almost had to be repealed, based on a recent court decision. At the Aug. 6 Township Committee meeting, Davison explained that a state appeals court ruled that municipalities do not have the power to adopt sex offender residency ordinances. He recommended repealing the township's sex offender residency ordinance so Millstone does not end up with litigation. However, by the end of the year an appeal by Cherry Hill, another municipality affected by the decision, had not been decided, so the repeal ordinance was not enacted in Millstone.

The Board of Education and Township Committee were at odds last year over who should pay the utility and maintenance costs when community groups use the public schools after hours. Grbelja said that the municipal budget accounts for 3.7 percent of residents' property taxes. She said the municipal budget operates on a shoestring, and the township has to deal with unfunded state mandates and possibly paying for New Jersey State Police coverage. Grbelja also noted that the state has reduced municipal aid.

"To have the Board of Education come back to say to us we want you to pay additional money for land and buildings you paid for is unconscionable," she said.

Kinsey also added that the township pays an annual debt service of $350,000 for the middle school property, which the township helped the school district buy.

Some township officials also stated last year that they believe building a new facility might be cheaper than paying to use the schools for recreation programs. Grbelja said during the Sept. 17 meeting that the school district would charge the township $45,000-$150,000 per year for facility use. Some members of the governing body said at the meeting that it may be more cost-effective for the township to build its own basketball facility at the new Lee Farm Park along Red Valley Road than to pay facilityuse fees to the school district. Grbelja said the Recreation Committee may discuss building a facility on a 6-acre lot at the Lee property.

The township decided at the end of the year that the bulk of the units it must create to meet its COAH obligation may go on a 32.8-acre tract near Route 33 and submitted a plan to the state for doing so to ward off any potential builder's remedy lawsuit. The land proposed for the 85 family rental units is located at the corner of Route 33 and Bergen Mills Road and would have commercial uses near the front, with housing in back and scattered around the site, according to Township Planner Richard Coppola. He said the property currently could have 150,000 square feet of warehouse or flex space. The Route 33 project would require a package sewage treatment plant.

"No public official is happy with this," Coppola said at the time. "The concept of sewer goes against everything you fight for."

A large crowd attended the Nov. 12 Planning Board meeting to criticize the proposed COAH development and sewage treatment plant.

Coppola said the sewage facility would be sealed and unable to expand.

Davison said that a treatment plant on the Route 33 site would not open the door for other plants to be created in the township, as it would solely be built to fulfill a constitutional mandate. Grbelja said no one likes the plan, but if the township does not submit a plan, "we will be screwed in every way we can."

Abilheira tried to submit a different plan for the township's COAH obligation.

After Abilheira presented his plan, Kuczinski said a lot of work went into the township's COAH plan and the governing body had no choice but to comply with the Dec. 31 deadline. He said he has faith in the township's professionals and asked Coppola if the plan is the best they could come up with. Coppola told Kuczinski that the plan is flexible and the best for right now, according to the committeeman.

"Elias Abilheira presented a plan a dollar short and a day late," Kuczinski said. "I want everyone to know he is not the caped crusader."

Coppola later deemed Abilheira's plans "not viable." The Planning Board unanimously approved its Housing Plan Element and Fair Share Plan at a special meeting at Wagner Farm Park on Dec. 16, and the Township Committee approved it in a 4-1 vote the following night, withAbilheira dissenting.