Residents say town's curb program is unfair
Old Bridge program replaces curbs; does not install new ones
BY MARLENE CANTY
Staff Writer

"There simply isn't enough money in the budget to even think aboutsomething asmassive as giving everyone a curb who doesn'thave one." - Jim Phillips mayor

OLD BRIDGE - Contention over the township's annual curb replacement program turned a private discussion into a public dispute last week.

The discussion arose from residents' complaints that a section of their street was getting curbs replaced, courtesy of the township, while their uncurbed section will remain without. The township's program only provides for replacement curbing.

Township Councilwoman Lucille Panos said it does not make sense to curb part of a designated street and leave some blocks uncurbed.

During Monday's council meeting, Panos accused Mayor Jim Phillips of "backpedaling" on the issue, saying that before the meeting the mayor privately agreed with her on the issue.

"He [the mayor] agreed with me aesthetically that it didn't make sense to curb part of Madison Avenue and leave the first two blocks [uncurbed]," Panos said.

An argument erupted during the meeting when Phillips said the decision had to ultimately be decided by the council members, noting, "There are miles and miles of uncurbed streets in Old Bridge, far more than our present budget can accommodate.

"So you tell me, councilwoman, who decides which residents get curbs and which do not," Phillips asked Panos.

Phillips said he had asked Panos to bring the issue up in full session so it would not appear policy decisions were being discussed and decided behind closed doors.

The current curb replacement program was already in place before the mayor took office in 2004, and targets a specific number of streets each year to be recurbed after the township contractor breaks up and removes the existing curbs.

William Zajaczkowski, a resident of Madison Avenue for over 30 years, said the problem is the result of the fact that the township's earlier developers were held to no particular standard by the township in this regard, and built homes without being required to put in curbs.

When later developers came in and constructed homes with curbs, at times on the same streets as older homes, the result was a town in which everybody paid taxes but not everyone received the same benefits.

"If we are paying for something, shouldn't we all get it?" Zajaczkowski asked during the council meeting.

According to a memo from Township Engineer James E. Cleary, the problem of putting in curbs where there are presently none may be more complicated than it seems. Cleary suggested that implementing a program of constructing new curbs could bring about drainage problems and result in "ponding."

The memo also suggests that in instituting new curbs it would be necessary to extend existing storm sewer systems to collect the water and prevent flooding.

According to Phillips, the problem comes down to money.

"There simply isn't enough money in the budget to even think about something as massive as giving everyone a curb who doesn't have one, so my question is how do I select who gets one and how do I pay for it?" Phillips asked.

Township Finance Director Himanshu Shah said the program dates to around 1994, and has grown from an annual expense of about $500,000. The project, which now includes drainage work, cost $900,000 during the last fiscal year. For the new fiscal year, $1.3 million has been budgeted.

But according to Zajaczkowski, the issue goes deeper than aethetics or storm sewers - it borders on a safety hazard.

"Traffic in the area 30 years ago was minimal at best because the overall population was sparse," Zajaczkowski said. But today on certain streets and main thoroughfares traffic is relatively heavy, and without curbs speeding cars can wind up on residential lawns as they turn corners.

Kids playing in front yards and residents tending to gardening on corner properties could be in jeopardy from traffic speeding through, Zajaczkowski said.

Joe Criscuolo, assistant township business administrator, said the issues are revolving around policy and the bond counsel.

"The present policy limits the program to the replacement of existing curbs," Criscuolo said, noting that the policy dates back at least to the Barbara Cannon administration.

The bond counsel issued a bond ordinance and the township borrowed the money through that ordinance to execute the replacement of a very limited number of already existing curbs.

Asked about possible solutions, Criscuolo said, "Our job as administrators is to carry out what the council votes into being, to carry out whatever is the existing policy."

Zajaczkowski feels he has a viable answer to Phillips' question about who should get new curbing.

"I think the town should do a study to determine traffic patterns and then pinpoint those streets that have the most traffic most of the time," Zajaczkowski said. The township, he added, could start by curbing the corner properties in those high-traffic areas.

And how would the township pay for it all?

"The problem began with developers that weren't required to build curbs for the properties they were constructing," Zajaczkowski said. "Why not require all new developers to take a certain number of the designated high-traffic streets and as a condition of doing business with the town, put in a certain percentage of the curbs.

"With all the new development going on, I bet if every new contractor were required by the town to create curbs in some of the designated areas it wouldn't be long before a good percentage of Old Bridge citizen's had curbs, and then more residents paying taxes might feel that they were getting something for their money," Zajaczkowski said.