Caldwell Officials Battle Over Unused Capital Bucks

Caldwell Mayor Ann Dassing cast a tie-breaking vote Tuesday night on a move to re-appropriate $115,000 of unused capital funds to help pay off the borough’s debt.

The vote came more than three hours into Tuesday’s council meeting after several tense moments between council members with opposing views on what to do with about $185,000 of available money.

Council President Richard Hauser voted in favor of using $115,000 toward debt. As Chair of the Finance Committee he said, “We have a substantial gap [in the budget] to make up.”

Councilmen John Kelley and Frank Rodgers also voted in favor of using the money to pay off debt, while Councilmen Tom O’Donnell, Peter Murray and John Coyle voted against the move, each stating his own reason.

In Caldwell, the mayor votes only when the council is tied. “I thought Rich’s [Hauser] was a compromise,” Dassing said, “so I am going to vote ‘yes.’”

O’Donnell accused Councilmen Kelley of breaking a campaign promise to make repairing roads in the Cedars neighborhood a priority.

“If you are not going to address the streets of the Cedars, I ask you to apologize to residents now,” O’Donnell said.

Kelley later clarified his stance by saying, “I am 100% in support of getting these roads repaired in the Cedars.” But, he said, that discussion was for another night.

Councilman Murray said he felt not enough was known about this year's budgetary needs to re-appropriate the money, while Councilman Coyle voted against re-appropriating the money for debt service because he said money would still need to be borrowed for road repairs. 

"We're solving one problem to create another problem down the line," Coyle said.

Coyle presented a suggested schedule for road repairs that would address Brookside Avenue, Cedars Road, Gould Place and Knollwood Terrace in 2012. Those four streets are anticipated to cost in the neighborhood of $975,000. The town applied for a $294,000 grant for Brookside, but cannot guarantee the grant will come to fruition.

The governing body asked Borough Administrator Paul Carelli to get actual quotes for milling and paving Brookside, Cedars, Gould and Knollwood.

Oakridge Road, Overlook Road and Cherry Lane are tentatively scheduled for 2013.

The borough has yet to decide what to do with the remaining $70,000 culled from a list of projects that either never got off the ground or came in under budget.

The town needs $67,000 to pay half the cost of a new generator.