HOLMDEL – Members of the Holmdel Township Committee have introduced an ordinance that will, if adopted, allow certain individuals to be hired as entry level law enforcement officers without taking a written examination.
During a meeting on Nov. 9, Mayor Greg Buontempo, Deputy Mayor Cathy Weber, Committeeman Tom Critelli and Committeeman D.J. Luccarelli voted “yes” on a motion to introduce the ordinance.
Committeeman Prakash Santhana was absent from the meeting.
The ordinance will have a public hearing and a possible vote for adoption during the committee’s Nov. 23 meeting.
According to the ordinance, a new state law allows law enforcement agencies to hire entry level officers without requiring the individual to take an examination if that individual has successfully completed a full basic training course at a school that has been approved and authorized by the New Jersey Police Training Commission.
Business Administrator Cherron Rountree said Holmdel is a civil service municipality and previously when hiring a police officer, received a list of qualified individuals and had to hire one of the top three individuals on the list.
She said the ordinance the Township Committee has introduced will provide municipal officials with an option when hiring entry level police officers.
All applicants who seek appointment to the Holmdel Police Department are required to successfully complete a physical, mental and psychological examination.
All qualified applicants for the position of police officer will be classified in the following classes: residents of Holmdel; other residents of Monmouth County; other residents of New Jersey; all other qualified applicants, according to the ordinance.
In other business, Buontempo congratulated Rocco Impreveduto for his victory in the race for a three-year term on the Township Committee. He said he looks forward to having Impreveduto join the governing body.
In the 2021 general election, according to unofficial results posted online by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, Impreveduto, a Republican, defeated Democrat Rahul Diddi. As of Nov. 10, Impreveduto had received 3,995 votes and Diddi had received 2,461 votes.
Critelli, who did not seek re-election, will conclude his service on the governing body at the end of December and Impreveduto will join the Township Committee during its reorganization meeting in January. His term will run until Dec. 31, 2024.
And, Buontempo thanked voters for supporting three public questions that were placed before them in the recent election:
• Voters authorized an increase in the local open space tax rate that generates funding for the acquisition and preservation of open space parcels in Holmdel.
“This will result in about a $70 increase for the owner of a home assessed at the township average, but it will generate millions of dollars over the next few years for land preservation purposes,” the mayor said.
• Voters authorized an increase in a retirement benefit that is provided to Holmdel’s volunteer first responders.
“I could not be more grateful to the voters” for supporting the increase in the retirement benefit for local volunteers, Buontempo said.
• Voters authorized the formation of a charter study commission whose five members will, over the course of nine months, examine Holmdel’s current form of government.
If the commission members recommend any changes in the township’s form of government, those recommendations would be subject to a public referendum.
“I am excited the voters agreed to have a charter study commission look into this. I believe our mayor should be directly elected,” rather than appointed by the five members of the Township Committee, Buontempo said.
Finally, Chief Financial Officer William Antonides reported that representatives of Moody’s Investors Service recently completed an evaluation of Holmdel’s operations and determined the municipality would maintain its AAA rating.
