Point Boro, Beach May Need More Time to Decide Possibly Sharing Construction Official

An agreement for Point Pleasant Borough and Point Pleasant Beach to possibly share services done by Construction Official Michael Gardner will be discussed in closed session by both councils in separate meetings on Tuesday night.

However, they may not vote on the matter since details are still being hammered out.

Point Pleasant Borough Mayor William Schroeder had said last week that he thought both councils would vote for the agreement on Tuesday night.

However, on Monday afternoon, he said it's going to take more time.

"My intention was for a vote on the 15th, but it hasn't come to that yet," he said. "I thought we'd be further along by now, but we didn't get the agreement yet."

Like Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Vincent Barrella, Schroeder said that the agreement is not yet in writing.

Schroeder said the Borough Council will discuss the issue in executive session and may vote on it if council members have enough information and want to take that step.

Schroeder said he hopes the borough attorney has a written agreement for the Tuesday meeting.

Barrella said on Monday that he did not put the matter on the council's agenda because the Beach does not have a written proposal yet.

"We need to know three things," Barrella said. "Who does Mike Gardner work for, what's his salary and how many hours would he be working for the Beach? We don't know that yet. We're only going to do this if we save money and if it works out for the Beach.

"We've talked about this a lot, and I like the idea of a shared services agreement, but we need to see it in writing," he said.

Schroeder had said last week that the proposed agreement may involve other employees who all need to be given advance notice in compliance with civil service regulations.

"We're not laying anyone off," Schroeder had said. "Mike Gardner and the employees designed the plan, and they're happy with it.

"We're expanding services and saving money," he said.

He said he did not yet know exactly how much money would be saved.

"I haven't seen the final numbers yet," he said.

"But this will save money, increase revenue, it's good for the town and good for the people," he said. "It's a good deal. It's all working out really well."

Gardner could not immediately be reached for comment.

Point Pleasant Beach Administrator Christine Riehl had said last week that Gardner; Fred Potter, his union representative; Barrella and Councilman Tim Lurie, the council's liaison to the construction department, had a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the proposed shared services agreement.

Riehl said on Thursday, "We'll only do this if it's beneficial to Point Pleasant Beach, if it saves money."

When asked how much money the agreement would save, Riehl said, "I would rather not say."

Riehl said officials aren't sure yet how a potential shared services agreement would change Gardner's current working arrangement since he already works for both boroughs.

"There are a couple of different scenarios that we're looking at," she said, adding that other Beach employees' jobs and schedules would be unaffected.

Gardner currently works 32.5 hours per week for the Beach at an annual salary of $106,000 and about 10 hours per week for the Borough at an annual salary of $34,000, Riehl said.

Barrella said he will only support a plan "if the Beach retains control of its own department."

Barrella said on Monday that last year's proposal to make a change regarding the construction department was not a "shared services agreement."

"That would have been a consolidation," he said.

"That proposal was for all Beach employees to be fired, then some would have been re-hired by the borough," Barrella said.

"And some Boro employees would have been fired. The Beach would have lost all control over its department. And if the deal didn't work, there would have been no easy way to unwind that. I was not in favor of us losing control," Barrella said.

"What we're talking about now is a shared services agreement, not a consolidation," he said.

Last year, some officials thought the proposal was a good one that would save money and streamline operations.

However, others said it was rushed, poorly-conceived and unfair to employees.

"Last time they were going to eliminate half the department," Schroeder said. "We're not doing that."

And last time it was not the employees who planned the changes, unlike this time, he said.

Councilman Chris Goss, who has been part of some of the discussions, said in a recent interview, "Talks started recently, but it's an extension of something that's been going on a long time."

Both boroughs are also talking about possibly partially changing the shared services agreement put into place last year for municipal court, said Goss, Schroeder and Barrella.

"It's subject to review, restructuring and tweaking," Barrella said, adding he has had concerns about how the plan has increased police overtime costs and generally not worked well.

When pressed for details on what should be tweaked, Barrella said, "Those recommendations need to come from the professionals running the court, such as the court administrator and the judge. It wouldn't make sense to make changes without getting their views."

The Point Pleasant Beach Municipal Court was moved to the Point Pleasant Borough Hall, which was also a controversial decision with many detractors.

Schroeder is one of them.

He said elected officials who hatched the plan 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."

Both boroughs are talking about changing part of the court operation, but details aren't finalized, Schroeder said.

They would have to be approved by both councils and Superior Court Judge Vincent Grasso, he said.

Goss said the shared services agreement for the court was "rushed."

"The Beach has to pay detectives overtime, about $30,000 to #35,000 per year, to send them over to the Municipal Court in the Borough," he said. "No one thought about that."

"And the special police officers who work in the summer have to go to the borough Municipal Court to punch in and then go back to the Beach," he said.

"I can't tell you exactly what the plan is going to be because I've heard 10 different variations," Goss said. "But we are talking about it."