Point Boro: "Point Beach Can Have Their Court Back"

Point Borough agrees that Point Beach should be able to move its municipal court operation back to Point Beach Borough Hall.

But details still have to be worked out, said Borough Administrator David Maffei after Tuesday night's Borough Council meeting. He said he'll meet with Point Beach Business Administrator Chris Riehl to fine tune the plan.

"But everyone is in agreement that the court go back to the Beach," Maffei said.

There was no public discussion or vote during the meeting because the plan is still in the works.

Point Borough will continue to have its own municipal court in its own Borough Hall on Bridge Avenue.

Point Beach, at a recent council meeting, agreed to send a signed agreement to Point Borough urging them to allow Point Beach to take its court back.

The 2010 contract was for three years, so it can only be undone if both boroughs agree to that.

Point Beach's municipal court moved from Point Beach Borough Hall to Point Borough in 2010 as part of a shared services contract between the two municipalities that also called for the towns to share a municipal court judge and administrator.

The Point Beach police department has complained that the plan was hatched without their input and has forced them to send full-time police officers and detectives over to Point Borough during court sessions.

Police Chief Kevin O'Hara has said court cost his department $20,000 in overtime last year.

Maffei said that because the process of moving the court back to Point Beach is "cumbersome," in that it requires both towns to agree on a revised contract and get approval from Superior Court Judge Vincent Grasso, sitting in Toms River, the Borough wants to make sure that any changes are done at once.

He said the towns have to make sure they provide for expenses such as salaries, manpower, supplies, telephones, equipment, postage and that the change is planned efficiently.

Mayor William Schroeder said after the meeting that he and other Borough officials started re-evaluating the court situation in January 2011, which is when he was sworn in as mayor. He said the boroughs had two meetings regarding having the Point Beach court move back.

"We're all in agreement on it," he said. "Personnel will still be shared. It will be exactly the same except the location. Hopefully, we'll have more information at the next council meeting."

The next meeting is March 6.

In February 2011, Schroeder said that elected officials who pushed the plan in 2010 did not let court staff plan how it would work.

"There were people who put together the court plan and told the employees running it, 'Make it work,' " he said. "And that's why it doesn't work."

Schroeder had said at the time that both boroughs were talking about changing part of the court operation, but that details were not finalized.