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July 14, 2018 – July 20, 2018
Tabernacle Passes Reduced Budget While Appointing Temporary CFO
By Mark Hatoff For the Pine Barrens Tribune
TABERNACLE—After three months of haggling, the Tabernacle Township Committee has finally adopted a 2018 Municipal Budget by a 3-1 vote, with nearly $80,000 in expenditures cut from its original figure and no resulting tax increase from the previous year. The budget resolution came about during a June 25 committee meeting, at which Township Administrator Douglas Cramer was also approved to serve as Tabernacle’s temporary chief financial officer (CFO) until a permanent replacement can be found for now retired CFO Terry Henry. The budget was set at $4,298,122, reduced from its original figure of $4,377,562. Mayor Joseph Barton, Deputy Mayor Stephen Lee IV and Committeeman Joseph Yates IV voted to pass the budget, while Committeewoman Kimberly Brown opposed it. Committeeman Richard Franzen was absent for the vote. The final figure is just a tad higher than the 2017 budget of $4,276,621. The amount originally contemplated would have been about two percent higher. Highlights of the original budget that made it into the final budget included a reduction in anticipated surplus from $672,101 to $656,498, a lowering of the amount to be raised by taxes from $2,861,926 to $2,798,089, and cuts in a number of line items. Among the changes from the previous budget were reductions in: • workers compensation insurance from $106,500 to $96,500; • public-safety/fire-department expenses from $116,500 to $110,500; • aid to the volunteer ambulance company from $35,000 to $12,000 (a subject of extensive discussion in previous meetings); • line items for maintenance of public buildings, grounds and other facilities from $143,300 to $133,300, and • funding for garbage and trash removal services from $425,000 to $420,000. I n a d d i t i o n , Ta b e r n a c l e’s c a p i t a l i mprovement f u nd wa s reduced f rom $75,000 to $35,000 and the reserve fund for uncollected taxes was cut from $131,279 to $130,839. There were, however, two areas where spending was increased. An extra $5,000 was budgeted for gypsymoth spraying and a contingency fund was
Photo Submitted
The latest plan for the first phase of the Good Farm Recreation Complex project.
Back to the Drawing Board First Phase of Good Farm Recreation Complex Scaled Down Based on Input from All Parties By Dominick Cella Staff Writer
SOUTHAMPTON—A plan for Phase One of a recreation complex project, slated for the 220-acre Good Farm in Southampton Township, was modified for a third time last week. In December 2016, Rakesh Darji, an Environmental Resolutions Inc. (ERI) engineer who works on behalf of the township, said Phase One would include construction of a ball field and a multipurpose field. A few months later, officials quietly modified Phase One to have it include construction of two ball fields, sideby-side, with the multi-purpose field spanning them. But due to “cost concerns,” now even that latter vision for Phase One has been altered.
“Phase One has changed a little bit based on some input that we have received from residents, stakeholders and the governing body,” said Darji to a standing-room only crowd gathered in the Robert L. Thompson Municipal Building on July 5 for a project update presentation. The new, scaled-down Phase One proposal includes the construction of just one multi-purpose field, a six-foot wide asphalt walking path circling the field, and an asphalt drive with a stone parking lot. “What we have is essentially very similar to the original proposal,” said the engineer who originally anticipated that the first phase of the project would be completed by fall 2017. Installation of an “extensive” stormwater management system and electrical infrastructure, as well as grading and
earth-work for future multi-purpose fields, will also be included in the first phase of project, Darji said. “This will make the fine-grading and seeding for additional fields (planned in the future) much easier, because the earthwork and infrastructure will already be finished,” he said. The first phase of the project still involves a 75-acre portion of the farm that sits close to Red Lion Road. The farm adjoins both Red Lion and Church roads. Da r ji reve ale d at la st we ek’s presentation that a $19,150 traffic study recently found that minimal road widening will be needed at the complex’s eventual Red Lion Road entrance. He said the road will be widened 10 ft. for 50 ft. on each side of the entrance See DRAWING/ Page 9
See BUDGET/ Page 9
INDEX Automotive................ 15 Business Directory.... 12 Community.................. 8 Dental Column............. 5
Farm Fair...................S1 Gardening Column.... 10 Health........................ 10 Hobbyist.................... 11
Local News.................. 4 Marketplace............... 14 Opinion........................ 7 Worship Directory........ 8
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