TINTON FALLS – After renegotiating new terms, the Borough Council approved a resolution allowing it to re-enter into a Shared Services Agreement (SSA) with the Borough of Eatontown for municipal court services.
The borough terminated its shared services agreement with Eatontown on Feb. 7, according to the council agenda.
Mayor Gerald Turning said borough officials chose to terminate the previous agreement because of personnel conflicts, as well as the cost of terms of the pact.
“We also felt that the borough was not paying us enough for the expenses to use our court and staff, so we decided to terminate the agreement and walk away. Two to three months later we decided to renegotiate our agreement with them. … The only major change with the agreement is how much the borough will be paying us. All the other terms are pretty much the same,” Turning said.
The council approved the resolution at its June 13 meeting at the borough’s municipal center.
The SSA will allow Eatontown to continue to use the borough’s municipal building courtroom, court offices and share administrative employees, facilities and equipment, according to the council agenda.
Previously, Eatontown was paying the borough an annual payment of $125,000; $20,000 for the cost of postage, certified mailings and correspondence; and an additional $10,000 for overtime. Under the new agreement, Eatontown will pay the borough an annual payment of $275,000; $20,000 for the cost of postage, certified mailings, correspondence; and $10,000 for overtime, according to Turning.
“[Eatontown] recognized the financial burden that was put on us to let them use our municipal court and court personnel was greater than anticipated,” Turning said.
The agreement is a three-year contract that will be implemented on Aug. 1, according to Turning.
Eatontown will maintain the right to appoint its own judge, prosecutor and public defender, according to the council agenda.
The council also approved an introduced ordinance that, if passed, will allow high ranking officials at each of the borough’s volunteer fire companies or emergency medical services (EMS) to submit a list of their volunteer personnel to Borough Clerk Maureen Murphy,once a year.
If the ordinance passes, it will amend a section of the borough code which states that the chief, captain or president of each volunteer fire company or EMS must submit a list of the names of their volunteer personnel to the clerk, according to the council agenda.
“The purpose of this ordinance is to increase efficiency and incentive for more people to volunteer. The list does not change that much so instead of making them send me a list of their volunteers on Jan. 1 and July 1, they will only have to submit a list once a year,” Murphy said.
The ordinance came at the request of Murphy, according to the council agenda.
The borough has four volunteer fire companies and two EMS that include: Tinton Falls Fire Co. No. 1, Wayside Fire Co. No. 2, Pine Brook Community Hose Co. No. 3, Northside Fire Co. No. 4, Tinton Falls EMS North and Tinton Falls EMS South.
The next reading for this ordinance will take place on July 11 and if it passes will take effect on July 31, according to Murphy.
For more information, visit www.tintonfalls.com/2017-MeetingsAgendas.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
