Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Solar Project Process Lacking Transparency

Moorestown Democratic candidates for council question the process for selecting an engineer for the proposed Solar Project.

What would you think of your Council in Moorestown if you knew they spent in excess of $80,000.00 for a study of solar projects? And that none of the Council members had either read or were familiar with the report generated from that study? 

Now, what would you say if you learned that on top of not reading the report, Council moved forward without any bid or professional scope of work, giving a no bid contract to a different engineering company for a second solar study without even contacting the original engineer?  

Well, that is what happened at Monday night’s council meeting . . .  and more.

When Councilman Greg Newcomer objected to the” lack of  process” regarding the selection of the second engineer, he received no explanation as to why this engineer was picked, why there was no scope of work, what the costs might be.  

Even more curious was the statement by the Township Manager that this no bid contract was awarded to an engineer whose name always “pops up” when it comes to solar projects. 

Find out what's happening in Moorestownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As it turns out, this engineer, Maser Consulting P.A., routinely gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to municipal candidates across the State of New Jersey and, in all of the State disclosures of the public work this engineer has done – which is very substantial – there is not one mention of  a solar project!   

We tried, just for the sake of argument, to conduct a search for “New Jersey Solar Projects” and ironically Maser Consulting did not come up at all.  This raises serious issues. 

Find out what's happening in Moorestownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

First, the utter lack of transparency  in the selection process of a professional vendor. 

Second, the series of missteps by Council and the clear failure to analyze and understand the project. 

Third, the failure of Council to properly scope work  and seek competing bids. 

And last, the continued waste of taxpayer dollars resulting from one consultant after another being paid to perform the same task  – particularly when the results are not even being utilized.

This is disturbing to say the least. Under Council’s current approach, they carelessly waste our taxpayer money without a thought.

Now for the topper.  Council mentions a “brownfields site” upon which they intend to construct this project.  One can only assume this is the New Albany Road Superfund site, the old Jet Pulverizer site. 

The problem is, Moorestown does not own this site and there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid municipal taxes due on the property as well as a Superfund lien of over $500,000, with priority over the municipal taxes. 

Further the township has been trying to negotiate to acquire the property for years with no success.   Really?  A solar project on a property the town does not even own and has been unable to get title to for years? 

Finally, the proposed solar project would cost as much as $9,000,000! 

In a town where we are cutting essential services, our Council’s time would be better directed to more pressing issues including: improving our downtown -  maybe by hiring a Main Street coordinator, or fixing the Second Street parking nightmare, or fixing our water/sewer infrastructure. 

Instead, they are willing to waste taxpayer money on a potential project they don’t understand and currently we can’t afford.  There are plenty of reasons to look at solar energy but, like everything, it must be well planned, considered, and not done in a haphazard way.

So, what does all of this mean?  It means your elected officials are failing you.   THERE IS NO TRANSPARENCY. 

It means that Council is wasting money, that they don’t understand and digest information before they make decisions, and the whole process is part of half-cocked efforts to convince citizens they are doing their jobs while backroom politics are driving their actions. 

Angry yet?  This is just scratching the surface of activities that hurt the town and cost taxpayers money. 

All the while, Council feigns concern for the Moorestown taxpayer.  The current Council is out of touch.

If this strikes a chord with you, call your Council members and ask them how this is happening in our town.  We can do better and we should - for the sake of people and not for the sake of politics!

 

Edmond George and Elizabeth Endres

Democrat Candidates for Council



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here