Departing Council Members Honored by Colleagues

The new Moorestown council members will be sworn in on January 7.

Holding elected office oftentimes is not an easy job, and the three outgoing members of town council drew praise for their four years of service at their final meeting Monday. Just as they ran as a team four years ago, Mayor John Button, Deputy Mayor Greg Gallo and Councilman Mike Testa will leave council together at the end of this year. Though their tenure was occasionally marked by controversy, their colleagues, including fellow council members Stacey Jordan and Chris Chiacchio, lauded their service. “I challenge anyone who thinks it’s easy to come down and give it a shot,” said Chiacchio. “It’s called a political arena; it’s not called a political day at the park. So you have to have respect and admiration for anyone who comes down …

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Groundbreaking for New Town Hall Friday

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new municipal complex will be held at 10 a.m. Friday.

Five years after fire damaged town hall and more than a year after the building was demolished, the township will finally break ground on the new municipal complex. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the site of the new complex, across from the Moorestown Library. Mayor John Button said he expects construction to begin very soon after, possibly as early as Monday. "They'll put the fences up ... They have to take trees down," he said. "I think that kind of work will start up right away." During construction, much of the parking lot by the library and recreation center will be closed off. Library and rec center patrons will be able to use the municipal lot across the street, behind the Main Street shops. The township…

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Manager: $19M in Capital Projects Possible with No Tax Increase

Moorestown township manager Scott Carew says the township has enough revenue and savings coming its way to offset the many projects on its plate.

A rough sketch of Moorestown’s fiscal future shows it has enough money to complete most of its major capital projects—without having to raise taxes. After Councilman Mike Testa voted against a bond ordinance to fund improvements to the Church Street Recreation Center, claiming he needed to know what the tax impact would be, financial officer Tom Merchel prepared a budgetary outline laying out every financially significant project currently on the township’s plate. The sum total of the projects on the list—including $13.3 million for the new municipal complex, $690,000 for the rec center, and $1.4 million for Wesley Bishop North—came to $19 million. Township manager Scott Carew said, based on Merchel’s projections, that $19 million would …

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Letters to the Editor

Republican Candidates Blast Council on Open Space Spending

In a letter to the editor, candidates Phil Garwood, Victoria Napolitano and Pete Palko chastise three of the sitting council members for acting against the will of the voters.

To the editor: Monday evening, Mayor (John) Button, Deputy Mayor (Greg) Gallo, and Councilman (Mike) Testa once again showed their disregard for the voters and taxpayers of Moorestown by voting to spend $1,510,000 out of the Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, with the potential to take an additional $405,000. Like you, our team is deeply concerned about our town’s finances and its ability to attract families to our town, along with our ability to maintain the small-town feel and quality of life that we all enjoy. Without question, our parks and recreational facilities are an integral part of our town’s ability to attract new families. The improvement of parks and recreational facilities will remain a …

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What to Know for Tonight's Council Meeting

The ongoing athletic fields project debate finally (possibly) comes to a resolution.

Looking for a sneak preview of tonight’s township council meeting? You’ve come to the right place. The following is a sampling of what’s on the agenda: “It’s extremely frustrating to me that we’re being pushed into a corner on work I believe all of us has said publicly has to be done,” he said. “Why are we going to be scared off by a letter? … It’s our obligation to resolve issues, not just sit on them.” Button said he doesn’t consider the threatened lawsuit an “inordinate risk.” Councilman Chris Chiacchio, who has opposed the use of Trust Fund money, was brusque in addressing the impending discussion/vote Monday morning. “I’m disappointed. I wouldn’t ever have handled it this way if I were one of the other council members,” he said. “And …

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UPDATED: Liquor License Proposals Due Tuesday

Both PREIT and East Gate are expected to submit applications for no less than $1 million apiece.

Tomorrow afternoon the township will find out who's interested in buying liquor licenses, and how much they're willing to pay.  Proposals for Moorestown's six available liquor licenses are due tomorrow and will be opened at 4 p.m. at the township offices. Mayor John Button said PREIT, owners of the Moorestown Mall, and East Gate Square both picked up the necessary forms to submit proposals. The mayor was not aware of any other interested parties who had picked up forms. As part of the application process, the applicant has to make an offer for how much they'd be willing to pay for a license, according to Button.  PREIT has pledged, on multiple occasions, both privately and publicly, to pay $1 million apiece for four liquor licenses, as it …

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Rob Scott

11:24 pm on Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Front Desk, There'll be a full story first thing tomorrow morning.   more ›

What You Missed from This Week's Meetings ...

Town council discusses field lighting and reassessment marketing, while EDAC sheds light on the latest developments in the business community.

For those who couldn’t make it to Monday night’s township council meeting, there were a few items on the agenda that didn’t make it into a full story, but were nonetheless noteworthy. Here a few leftover tidbits from the meeting: The Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) also met this week, discussing several matters, primarily the possibility of establishing a Business Improvement District in Moorestown. But there were some other items on the agenda as well: Council’s next regular meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 9, in the IT room at Moorestown High School (enter the school from the side nearest the district administration building).

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Council Agrees to a Budget, Two Days from Deadline

Council members steered clear of fines from the state with the introduction of Moorestown's budget early Wednesday morning.

Budget breakdown has been added to the story. Click on the PDF, right, to access the document. As the hours passed and a state-mandated deadline loomed, the Moorestown Council finally introduced its municipal budget early Wednesday morning during an emergency meeting. Council approved the introduction of the $22.4 million budget, just two days before the state would have fined the members of council $25 a day after this Friday’s cutoff point. “There was some minor disagreements on cuts,” Carew said, “but the budget was passed unanimously by council.” Township manager Scott Carew said the budget will have a zero levy cap increase, and the tax rate will increase four-tenths of a cent per $100 of assessed property value. This translates into …

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Township Makes All Six Liquor Licenses Available for Bid

Moorestown Mall owner PREIT has verbally pledged to buy four licenses for $4 million. The township wants to see what else it can get.

While it faces a legal challenge to its restriction of alcohol sales to the Moorestown Mall, the township has decided to place all its available liquor licenses on the market and see what happens. When the township initially drafted an ordinance for the issuance of liquor licenses earlier this year, only four were eligible for proposals. The township is allotted six based on its population (one license for every 3,000 residents), but mall owner PREIT had only verbally committed to four licenses, and since PREIT is currently the only eligible bidder, the other two were left in limbo. Council passed unanimously Monday an amendment to the ordinance that puts all six out for proposal. The timing might seem curious to those who have been …

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Council Budget Discussion Gets Testy

If Moorestown Township Council doesn't introduce a budget by the end of next week, council members will face fines from the state.

After receiving a letter of reprimand from the state threatening fines if a budget isn’t introduced by next week, township council still couldn’t come to a consensus Monday night. Township manager Scott Carew said the state has threatened to fine each individual council member $25 a day if the budget isn’t introduced by next Friday, June 22. A plan presented by financial officer Tom Merchel would funnel $365,000 of revenue from the sale of liquor licenses into the general fund and impose a slight tax increase—$53 more for a home assessed at the township average ($529,800)—to balance the budget. But when it came time to approve the budget for introduction Monday, council split 3-2, with Mayor John Button, Deputy Mayor Greg Gallo and …

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