Mayor's Message
Mayor Sarah Neibart
Mayor’s Address – 2024
Good Evening, Everyone, and Happy New Year!
I first want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to all of you who are here live in-person and those attending via zoom - residents, family, friends, our first responders, professional staff, and the many elected officials. Welcome to Mendham Township’s 2024 Reorganization Meeting!
As you can probably tell this is not our Town Hall Building…our 100 year old town hall and library building is in the process of getting a much-needed rehabilitation. And over the last year and a half, the Mendham Township School District has graciously let us use their facilities for our meetings. We are very grateful.
On behalf of the whole Township Committee, I want to congratulate Committeewoman Duarte on her re-election to the Committee. I also want to thank our Administrator and CFO Jason Gabloff, our Township Clerk Karen Orgera, and Township Attorney John Mills for putting everything together for tonight. And Rabbi Herson - thank you for providing those much needed and meaningful words of reflection to set the tone for our meeting.
Tonight - is not about the five of us up here. It’s about the individuals we are swearing in to protect the safety and health of our community, the volunteers that go above and beyond to ensure Mendham Township remains the best place to live, work, play, and retire, and the professionals who assist in carrying out the vision of our five-member dias.
So before I continue, can I please get a round of applause for all of them.
2023 was a great year for Mendham Township -
- Despite state unfunded mandates and increased health benefit costs, it was the 4th year in a row of no municipal tax increase.
- We accomplished this while maintaining our debt paydown schedule.
- And I am proud to say that we also maintained our AAA Rating.
- Additionally, we were able to expand our road program and pave 3 miles of road.
- We kicked-off the town hall and library building renovation project.
- Opened the new police station to the public.
- We received $25,000 from DEP for stormwater Improvements as well thousands of dollars of reimbursements from FEMA.
- Our Township completed and got approval for our Forestry Management Plan and began seriously tackling our Ash Tree Problem.
- After 39 years, our Mendham Township Police Department solved the Baby Mary case.
- We have continued the process of migrating our files to a digital database so they are more accessible.
- The Township Committee demonstrated our commitment to transparency and resident input while working on the Mosle Lighting Project and the letter to the Morris County Agricultural Board regarding the Backer Brewery Proposal.
- And Finally, the committee was elated when the Morris County MUA came to the Township with the opportunity to switch from dual stream recycling to single stream recycling at no extra cost.
I want to commend our professional staff, Police Department, Township Committee, and Mayor Nick Monaghan for such a successful year. Nick - we are grateful for your steadfast leadership, hard work, and dedication to our community.
We are a committee of equals - We are a team charged with the responsibility of serving the community together. All of us have initiatives that we are personally focused on and I am sure you will hear some of them later tonight, but something that I think we can all agree on is our desire to get more people involved and engaged with the Township Committee. And though sometimes, it feels like pulling teeth, this year we received a record number of applications for committees, and in response - Committeewoman Moreen recommended that we increase the allowable number of alternate appointments to working committees and boards. So, I am delighted to announce that in 2024 we will have more people serving our community than ever before.
As we begin 2024 and kick-off the municipal budget process, we find ourselves in a hard economic environment, given the statewide mandates for increased insurance premiums and stormwater maintenance as well as the cost of funding pension benefits. This year, the Township Committee and Finance Committee will need to navigate those rough waters while also putting an increased focus on establishing a long-term, comprehensive capital plan with buy-in from every township department and committee.
If you have driven around Brookside lately, you know we have some ongoing projects that need to be completed. And though, over the last few years, we have invested a lot in our aging infrastructure, more needs to be done. As we complete this stage of construction projects, we need to monitor each building's energy efficiency and create sustainable maintenance schedules. We also cannot forget about our existing buildings and property - we need to invest in them to ensure their longevity. Overall, we need to take better care and inventory of our spaces, not just for the next couple of years but for the future.
In that spirit, I would like to re-open the 2017 Equipment and Facilities Ad Hoc Report. To have the report reflect the infrastructure changes in the Township over the last few years but also to see if there is an appetite for increased shared services and collaboration between our neighboring towns.
A long term capital plan, an updated equipment and facilities report, and finally an updated Hazard Mitigation Plan - that our Mendham Township Office of Emergency Management has been working on with the county - will provide a roadmap on where we should be investing future dollars.
Finally, for those who know me, you know I am deeply passionate about Parks & Rec.. Our Recreation Director and Recreation Committee have done a great job of increasing programming since 2020, but something that I know David has mentioned to me is increased programs and advocacy for our Senior population. I truly believe we need to invest in those who have invested in us.
These are just a few of my initial thoughts, and I know I don’t have all the answers, but I was hoping that each one of you would be part of the conversation. Our next meeting of the Township Committee is on January 18th and I was hoping to have part of that meeting be a working group format so we can hear from the public on any initiatives or ideas that you all have for the Township Committee.
Thank you again for coming this evening.
It is my honor to serve again as Mayor of Mendham Township… I promise to put all I can into serving this community along with my colleagues on the Township Committee to make 2024 a great success!