Mayor Daniel J. Reiman

2011 State of the Borough Address

March 8, 2011

Memorial Municipal Building

61 Cooke Avenue

Carteret, New Jersey 07008

Introduction

Good Afternoon and welcome once again to our Memorial Municipal. It is my privilege and duty to stand here before you today and to report on the affairs of our town and the annual state of our Borough.

Let me first recognize our local governing body; the duly elected members of the borough Council- led by Council President Vinnie Bellino, Council members Susan Naples, Randy Krum, Skippy Sitarz, Jorge Diaz, and Dennis DiMascio.

Pastor Stahle thank you for participating in today’s ceremony. To all of our dept heads and borough staff thank you for your service to our community and your commitment to our residents and this administration.

Honored guests and visiting dignitaries’ thank you for the support that you give Carteret and its residents. It is an honor to have you here with us.

Budget

2010 presented many challenges for towns across the state.

Municipalities faced then and into the foreseeable future increasing pressures brought about by the state government’s legacy of reckless spending and out of control bureaucracy.

In spite of these challenges, the Council and I were able to navigate a course for continued budget reductions, downsizing, and financial discipline, further stabilizing local property tax rates, and coming in below the 2% levy cap law.

Governor Christie has chosen to adopt a slash and burn approach in dealing with New Jersey’s Budget shortfall.

He proposes indiscriminate cuts with no regard for the real life impact of his actions.  Carteret suffered nearly four and one half million dollars in cuts at the hands of the Christie administration last year alone.

Two and a half million dollars of taken directly from Carteret’s children through a reduction in state aid to our schools. Have no doubt this means fewer programs, less teachers, larger classroom sizes and higher school taxes state wide.

Please understand that Governor Chris Christie has balanced his budget by sacking working-class towns like Carteret – and on the backs of taxpayers like you and I while providing tax cuts for the richest new jersyans.

The state’s approach has been to just simply not pay their bills; imagine if you or I as homeowners decided we would stop paying our mortgage, or utility bills, or continues to use a credit card without care for the total outstanding debt because we had no intention of ever paying those bills.

This wholesale fraud at the state level is nothing new, but the day of reckoning is now upon us.

Locally the state increased our Pension and Healthcare costs for employees and retirees by over $900,000 last year  and those 2 items will increase an additional $7500k this year despite the fact that Carteret’s overall budget has been reduced by close to Two million since 2009.

While taxpayers across New Jersey continue to see double digit increases, Carteret residents realized a net property tax reduction in 2010.

This was accomplished with a municipal budget that was lower than the year before.

And while the Governor’s cuts have translated into new pressure on our local tax base, our administration has stayed the course of disciplined spending that began the day we took office.

To date, we have eliminated dozens of municipal positions, with over a 20% reduction in staffing. This represents a focus on downsizing that was seeded long before the State administration voiced the need to streamline government.

Our municipal employees began paying towards their health insurance long before the state mandate. And in many instances pay above the state’s required contribution.

Cutting costs alone cannot close budget gaps blown open by reckless cuts in state funding.

As part of our program to generate new sources of non tax revenue, the Borough has subleased space in our finance dept to investors savings bank, in  a one of a kind public-private partnership.

We have also leased vacant space in our public works dept to multiple cellular communication companies, and we are looking at many more creative ways to bring in additional revenue.

Our administration also entered into a redevelopment agreement with Kinder Morgan, authorizing the reutilization of 14 acres of “Brownfields.”

This allowed us to create close to one hundred ongoing union construction jobs in the private sector and will provide over $30 million in taxes to the borough over the next three decades.

In 2010 we were proud to announce a range of grants for non-profit and faith-based organizations. With over $50,000 in Community Block Grant Funds earmarked for capital improvements to their facilities, these non-profit and faith-based organizations were able to make many needed capital repairs.

Since the beginning of my administration, we have been awarded more than $1.5 Million in federal C.D.B.G. funding that we have applied towards community development improvements around town.

These dollars are now in jeopardy as Washington politicians and the new Congress would rather extend tax breaks and loopholes for the richest 1% of Americans instead of funding programs that help working class Americans. We call upon our congressional leaders to fund the CDBG program.

Redevelopment

If anything can showcase Carteret’s economic renaissance, it’s the arrival of PC Richards corporate and retail center in West Carteret this past fall.

The product of a $100 million redevelopment agreement with the Borough. Making use of underperforming “Greyfield” properties, Richard’s constructed their new warehouse & retail supercenter under a PLA using union construction labor and they are now open for business. This has been a great addition to our west Carteret commercial corridor.

This year, CHADCO, the Borough’s nonprofit housing corporation, will complete a project that started construction last fall, when in the next few months we open the Commander George Lisicki veterans housing apartments on Washington Avenue.

These specialized units, constructed with County HOME funding, are being built with the latest in green technology and renewable resources.

Through this project we are not only helping veterans with decent, affordable housing, but we are doing it as part of the revitalization of our Washington Avenue corridor.

On the environmental front, we took another leap forward in our quest to recapture the Borough’s older industrial waterfront.

Through our legal pursuit of environmental claims against Dupont Chemical, they have agreed to clean up their long contaminated waterfront properties.

This was a significant win for Carteret’s taxpayers and for the environment.  Not only has DuPont committed to faster cleanup of their own contamination, but they will also assume responsibility for remediating the massive waste pile created on their property by JNC Corp’s illegal dumping.

Our lawsuit made it clear that Carteret will hold polluters accountable for sites that blight our community and erode our tax base.

Separate and apart from this litigation, DuPont Chemical has agreed to donate 5 acres of land along the Arthur Kill waterway for our ongoing revitalization.

Dupont will also be responsible to remediate this property which will become the home of our new ferry terminal.

In order to construct the new terminal facility; we will soon begin to draw down part of the 5 million dollars in dedicated federal funding to finalize designs and prepare for construction of this regional intermodal terminal.

Waterfront

The waterfront revitalization has been one of Carteret’s greatest success stories.

We recently announced that the extension of Veterans Memorial Fishing Pier at waterfront park has begun, giving form to a 700’ pier extension.

While the pier extension itself will present a new resource for recreation, it will also make way for the future marina at the park.

In fact Earlier this year, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection awarded a $4.9 million grant towards remediation efforts along our waterfront.

The award will make possible the remediation and dredging of a portion of the waterfront cove, representing the first step in the establishment of our marina. With permits pending we anticipate beginning the dredging of the cove by the end of this year.

Capital Improvements

In 2010, we announced $1.7 million in improvements along the Peter J. Sica Memorial Industrial Highway.

Through joint funding awarded by Middlesex County, improvements to two major intersections have been completed and we now await the official transfer of the highway to Middlesex County; our gift to them!

Quality of Life

Just this January, we announced that Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital of Rahway would bring its decades of healthcare experience and professional staffing on board to breathe real life into our long-anticipated Fitness and Wellness Center.

Offering more than fitness expertise, Robert Wood Johnson presented to us a business plan that portrays a multi-faceted, progressive center for healthcare, fitness and physical rehabilitation.

Evolving with the latest trends and technology in the field, and serving the greater area with healthcare professionals and rehabilitative facilities, the RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center at Carteret  will make our facility above and beyond the traditional exercise club. We look forward to this facility opening in the coming months.

Working with the FMBA Local 67 this past fall, we introduced “Operation Fire Safe,” a community oriented program that allows residents to improve the level of fire safety and prevention in their homes.

Since its inception, resident homeowners have been invited to register for in-house fire safety inspections, qualifying for free smoke detectors, Carbon Monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, or fire safety ladders as needed.

Our own Fire Department personnel are performing installations, inspecting existing fire safety equipment, and guiding residents through Exit Drills in the Home.

Successful with a number of grant applications and rebates we moved forward with acquiring hybrid vehicles for the police department.

In this climate of ever rising gasoline prices hybrids can provide an annual savings of $20,000 in fuel costs, and we will soon add additional hybrids to our police fleet.

On the topic of renewable energy, I joined with the Chairman of Koch Skanska in September to officially open a 426 kilowatt solar array, consisting of 1600 solar panels, on the roof of their 15 acre Carteret facility.

The $2 million investment in solar technology will generate close to 95% of the energy needs of their steel fabrication plant, which has called Carteret home since the 1950’s.

Parks

With all of our ongoing improvements in town, none have been more visible or have had a bigger impact on our quality of life then our parks and recreation projects. As of now, my administration has secured and expended $38 million in grant funding for park improvements alone.

It was a great pleasure to have some of Carteret High School’s athletes joins us last October for a groundbreaking ceremony where we began the complete reconstruction of Sullivan Field.

This project is now nearing completion and should be open in the coming months.  We were fortunate to receive support from the Middlesex County Open Space Trust Fund to facilitate this project.

2010 also saw the award of $480,000 in multi-parks funding from Green Acres towards the rehabilitation and new ADA accessibility enhancements at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Carteret Park and a new Ash Street Park.   

Education

We also utilized our parks to focus on community service through education and so last spring I welcomed the Carteret High School freshman class to a special event marking the beginning of the “Adopt a Park” program;

 a partnership between the Borough and school system where high school classes will spend a day improving a designated park.

The first installment of this annual program took place at Carteret’s Waterfront, which received a cleanup and facelift by the class of 2013.

$2.5 million boys and girls club funding

This past month I joined with High School Principal Lamont Repollet, and representatives of the Jewish Renaissance Foundation to officially welcome the Boys and Girls Club program to our high school.

This new after-school resource has been made possible through a multimillion dollar  grant under “21^st Century Community Learning Center” program established by President Obama’s Department of Education,

This program will foster the establishment of after-school activities and resources for Carteret High School students and their parents.

The program will to support academic enrichment opportunities for our children, helping students meet state and local standards in core academic subjects like reading and math,

and will offer students a broad array of activities that can complement their regular academic programs, and provide other educational and social services to the families of participating students.

$25k for Junior ROTC

Today, I am proposing to the Board of Education and the Carteret High School Administration the establishment of a Junior ROTC program at the High School,

and through a Business Partnership grant we can commit to $25,000 per year for a 10 year period to initiate and run this youth discipline and leadership training program.

 Borrowing from ROTC programs at the collegiate level, we can work to instill the values of civic leadership and military style honor and discipline in our young people.

UEZ

On the economic development front, to the shock and disappointment of many in the business community, Governor Chris Christie recently announced his intention to kill New Jersey’s Urban Enterprise Zone program, and to use these funds to balance the out of control state budget.

This will eliminate the reinvestment of an average of $1.5 million in local sales tax revenue in Carteret, and posing a serious obstacle to the continued growth of our business districts and that of UEZ’s around the state.

Since its inception the Carteret UEZ has provided over $5.5 million of sales tax revenue for Carteret projects, directed to create employment services, stimulate business, improve infrastructure, and provide for redevelopment opportunities.

To our residents and to the friends of Carteret – I encourage you to learn more about our local UEZ program – to understand the incredible tangible impact its many incentives have had on Carteret, and to voice your support of the program to our representatives in the state legislature.

Undaunted by such disincentives to local economic growth at the state level, we are pushing ahead with our own program of revitalization and job growth. 

ASA Apple

In 2011, residents can expect the completion of many redevelopment projects, such as ASA Apple’s new office / distribution center.

Additional Union trade construction jobs have been established through the project’s construction, and another 75 long-term jobs can be expected through the operation of the facility.

ASA Apple is one of many businesses that has grown with Carteret, and has become a part of our local economy. The new tax ratables will be welcome in the coming year, particularly with the growing range of revenue grabs proposed by Governor Chris Christie and the legislature.

Medical Arts

Moving ahead with the Washington Avenue redevelopment is a priority for 2011. 

Primary among these new projects is the planned construction of a new privately funded 12,000 square foot medical arts building.

This private development project will bring medical suites, in a modern state of the art facility, right in the heart of Washington Avenue to serve the health needs of Carteret residents and the region.

The Borough is also nearing completion of a redevelopment agreement with commercial bank for a new full service facility adjacent to the Rite-Aid Pharmacy on Washington Avenue.  Under a long term land lease the Borough will collect over $100,000 a year in rent in addition to taxes.

With these new construction projects and the additional retail ventures seeking to locate in this area, including a new neighborhood pharmacy, Washington Avenue’s economic revitalization will continue in earnest in 2011.   

Closing

In November, we were given the opportunity to hear from our residents – to get their input on the path we have charted for our community. I’m proud to say we received a resounding “YES” to the continuation of our progress – a YES to our efforts towards the redevelopment our formerly blighted areas – to a balanced budget – to better parks and recreation, to improved emergency services, a yes for community-oriented programs – an overwhelming YES for a better Carteret.

To those who have contributed to this incredible team, that have not only seen and overcome some of our greatest challenges, but challenged themselves through their commitment to our shared vision, I thank you.

To the residents and friends of Carteret, it has been and will continue to be an honor to serve my great hometown, and a great source of pride to have fostered so much of the positive change that is visible around town today -

I am pleased to report that the state of the Borough is good, even in these difficult times, and we expect our progress towards building a better Carteret to continue in 2011 and the foreseeable future.