EMERSON, N.J.—Mayor Danielle DiPaola and the borough’s two new councilmembers addressed the 117th Annual Reorganization Meeting of the Borough of Emerson on Jan. 4, with the mayor reporting on an uptick in Covid-19 cases—and progress toward permanently funding more than $6.8 million in debt that had been issued over the past five years.
New members Michael Timmerman and Carl Carbo, who replaced Jim Bayley and Pat Dinallo, spoke of their pride in getting to serve the “Family Town,” and thanked their families and other supporters.
DiPaola reported on positive cases of Covid-19 for December 2020: In the borough, there were 142 positive cases in total: 125 in residential homes and 17 in long-term care facilities.
For the first four days of January, she said it was reported that Emerson already had 22 new positive cases: 16 in residential homes and six in long-term care facilities. “So, I will once again urge you again to wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands, and if you are sick, please stay home,” she said.
She also discussed the great demand for vaccines, and said, “There are no plans for the Borough to distribute any vaccines to the general public. If and when that happens, it will be reported through the Office of Emergency Management and all residents will be notified in advance.”
Taking an overview of the past difficult year, she said “Here at home the borough has continued to move on in as normal a fashion as possible, considering our many losses. We grieve with all of the Emerson families who have lost a loved one in the past year and continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers.”
She said of the financial health of the borough, “2020 was challenging in many ways. While COVID-19 made its presence known in March of 2020, at that point, there were still many uncertainties regarding the virus, and the long-term impact is still to be determined.”
She said, “It was determined that it would be in the best interest of the borough to enact a spending moratorium for all departments, boards and commissions. This moratorium has allowed the Borough to cancel approximately $47,000 of unused funds and place them directly into surplus.”
Surplus is a tool used to offset tax increases.
“The moratorium also facilitated less spending by the borough which resulted in only 92% of the 2020 budget being expended, a savings of $139,000 to the taxpayer,” she said.
Aside from Covid-19, the borough began the process of permanently funding more than $6.8 million in debt that had been issued over the past five years, she said.
“We held a competitive sale for $6,820,000 general improvement bonds. The borough received several bids and the lowest responsible bidder afforded us a net interest cost of only 1.184%. These bonds will mature over 12 years, with interest rates ranging from 1% to 1.50%,” she said.
“Initial projections were higher but because of competitive rates, market fluctuations and the unknown impact of Covid-19, the actual payment will result in the borough paying $565,700 of interest over the life of the bonds, a net savings to us of over $629,175 compared to what was originally anticipated,” DiPaola said.
She lauded fiscally responsible planning that led to the borough maintaining a Standard and Poor bond rating of “AA+.”
She said, “Another tool which afforded the borough a savings was the diligent accounting of all funds expended due to Covid-19 by all borough staff and our OEM coordinator. I am pleased to announce that the borough was able to recoup 100% of all expenses which were deemed eligible, a savings of $204,007.22.”
Other goals met; Borough Hall project advancing
DiPaola touted the borough reaching its 2020 goal of livestreaming meetings of the governing body.
“This fulfills a promise of making our borough more open and transparent to our residents, an issue I’ve always felt very strongly about.”
She said “The Borough Hall project is finally moving forward and will allow us to preserve our historic building while creating much needed space for our police, ambulance corps, municipal courts, and public meetings.”
The governing body made the repair of the firehouse floor and fire escape a priority and finally succeeded in accomplishing this much-needed project, she said.
“Not only has this problem been resolved, but it came in under budget,” she said.
She added, “We continued to do more with less by working together with the Borough of Upper Saddle River in a shared services agreement to purchase a tree truck to prune, trim and maintain many of our own trees for years to come. This shared service will allow us to save money in our budget while still providing a quality service.”
DiPaola said, “Over the last two years Emerson has been able to repave 60% of our roads and will continue with our road program this year to continue to maintain the quality roads our residents expect.”
She said, “This year you will see many projects beginning in the Borough, and listed the downtown redevelopment project, assisting American Legion members in order to facilitate a new meeting room and additional housing “which may contribute to meeting our affordable housing obligations.”
She said “the previously awarded grant for streetscape improvements to the Kinderkamack Road corridor to the Westwood border is scheduled to move forward.”
DiPaola praised efforts from the dais that provided “a parade for high school seniors who thought they would not have an in-person graduation.”
She was proud of the unity service “to support the Police Department during a turbulent time.”
And she said “We continue to hold our annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony and we have done all this while maintaining social distancing but at the same time keeping everyone together”
Projects in the hopper, and praise for volunteers
Projects that the governing body looks to accomplish this year include the banner program for borough military veterans; a snow shoveling program for seniors in need; a senior bus program in partnership with neighboring municipalities; and “exploring all opportunities that we can using Open Space tax dollars to continue to enhance our community.”
DiPaola made special mention of the borough’s many volunteers:
“Dealing with Covid-19 this [past] year, our volunteers have gone above and beyond what they signed up for, to help our residents. For all our other volunteers who have volunteered for a board, help coach our kids, kept our environment cleaner, helped with our library or on our Land Use Board or our Shade Tree Commission or our Health Board, thank you!”
She said in 2020 “Our Family Town came together to help three families who were able to get out of their [destroyed] home safely because of our Emerson Fire Department. I look forward to working with you and the rest of our governing body to continue to provide the service that our residents in our borough deserve.”