Public Information Meeting

The township has scheduled the Public Information Meeting about the new and old municipal buildings for December 19, 2022 (see township website for details). Earlier, Mayor Moore explained that the committee would consider all options, answer all questions “100%” and accept citizen input.  

The difference between what Mayor Moore said will happen and the committee’s secrecy about their building plans so far, makes it feel like the Public Information Meeting will be a big reveal, like a reality TV show. 

So far, after more than a year of work, the Committee has kept its discussions about the municipal buildings private. It hasn’t published any information. 

There are no sketches, plans or alternatives for a new building or the old building. The committee’s two-page analysis dated November 21, 2023, indicates the need for a 10,000 square foot building. However, the committee has not publicly discussed this analysis. The committee won’t even clarify what the correct date is. Also, there are no reliable cost estimates for a new building.  

CFO Rodney Haines explained in early 2022 that Tabernacle has bonding capacity of approximately $15 million. But it’s hard to get a real estimate for the cost of a new building because there’s been no public discussion. The closest we can get is a guesstimate of somewhere between $5 million to $10 million.

The committee also hasn’t publicly released any studies, sketches, plans or alternatives, or had public discussions about old town hall or the old town hall property. Ten months ago they got an engineering analysis of the septic system for old town hall. That study hasn’t been publicly discussed either.

No Questions Answered For Fifteen Months

Over the last year, the committee hasn’t answered any questions about old town hall or new town hall.   

We do know that the township signed a contract to buy a 19-acre flag lot at 144 Carranza Road for $500,000. They’ve spent about $100,000 more in studies, surveys, legal fees, etc.. The contract calls for settlement by December 30, 2022. The committee hasn’t publicly discussed this land acquisition. The information is buried in a public filing.  

The committee won’t say what they plan to use the 144 Carranza Road property for. They wouldn’t answer that question at the December 12 meeting. They were asked a few months earlier and said they didn’t know yet. Surely, if they’ve obligated Tabernacle to spend about $600,000 and are days away from settlement, they ought to know by now. They just want to keep it secret. 

At the December 12, meeting, after the committee returned from executive session, Mayor Moore said “…can I have a motion to authorize the attorney to negotiate for purchase of real property in accordance with the parameters discussed in executive session.”  The committee adopted the motion.

They Didn’t Say Which Property Or Why. That’s A Secret, Too. 

It’s astonishing that 15 months after receiving their architect’s report that details the structural deficiencies of old town hall, and presents multiple options, the township committee hasn’t yet developed a plan. Even the 19-acre property on Carranza Road that the committee is about to buy doesn’t have a plan that they can talk about. 

As for the new, unnamed property that, on December 12, 2022, the committee wants to buy, what is the property and what is the plan? Why has this option suddenly popped up more than 15 months after the architect’s report.

Maybe they’re trying to buy the old town hall property from its owner, the Junior Mechanics, after letting the building become uninhabitable?

Still No Plans For Old Town Hall Or New Town Hall?

This committee has chosen a very odd way to plan a municipal building. There’s little here that requires such extreme secrecy. Most towns don’t live in closed session for these civic projects as Tabernacle does.

Typically, towns actively engage the public on projects like these. They’ll have ongoing workshops, announce determinations along the way and readily answer questions. After all, a municipal building is an expensive and long-term public investment funded by taxpayers. The municipal building is also a source of civic pride. It’s no accident that Tabernacle’s Old Town hall is on the main corner where everyone can see it.  Tabernacle’s official township blanket contains an image of Old Town Hall!

No Public Outreach

Our committee hasn’t done any outreach; hasn’t had any workshops; and hasn’t solicited any input over the past 15 months. It hasn’t released any information and won’t answer basic questions. It likes to do all of its public business in closed session.

Typically, towns also set up an official website to post current information; receive public input and make announcements. Tabernacle didn’t set up a website until a few weeks ago; more than a year after the committee started this project.  

Tabernacle’s website is, essentially, empty even though the Public Information Meeting is two days away.  Although the website says “Please check this site for the most recent and up-to-date information,” there’s no information there. Nothing is there except the announcement about the Public Information Meeting.  

Little about the committee’s handling of this project or its set-up of the Public Information Meeting suggests that the committee wants to get public input and consider it seriously; or consider all options or answer all questions “100%.”

Certainly, the committee hasn’t shown interest in getting public input yet.  

Set-Up Of The Public Information Meeting

The set-up of the meeting doesn’t look like they’ve changed their approach. The committee will only answer pre-submitted, emailed questions. The committee won’t take live questions. So there’s no way for anyone to follow up if the committee or professionals say something that deserves further discussion.

According to its announcement, the committee’s reason for only taking written questions is “…to answer as many questions as possible in the allotted time.” That’s idiocy. The committee’s goal should be to answer all public questions, not to finish the meeting within a short time frame that they’ve selected. If it takes three or four hours to answer public questions, that’s okay, this is an important and expensive project. It’s their job.

If they answered questions over the last 15 months, held other public meetings on this project and responded to public comment at regular township meetings, a lot of questions would already be answered.

Meeting Time

Another reason to question whether the committee really wants public input is that this meeting begins at 6:30PM, an early hour for many families. Committee members said that they chose this time for their own convenience. 

Public Comment

The committee didn’t even want to take public comment at the public information meeting. I reminded committee members that the law requires a public comment period at all public meetings. 

Public comment is from 8:00PM to 8:30PM, and is limited to two minutes. Two minutes is a very short time to make comments about this complex, expensive and important project. The committee adopted a two-minute limit at a regular meeting after Committeeman Mark Hartman said that people don’t have much to say after two minutes. That’s an ironic comment from a committee that rarely is able to discuss any topic, especially town hall.  

What happens if “hundreds of people” show up as Administrator and Clerk Mary Alice Brown said would happen, and they want to comment? Will the committee cut public comment off at 8:30? That’s neither right nor legal. 

Will the committee substantively respond to public comment? They said they’d respond to pre-submitted questions. But they didn’t say if they’d reply to public comment. They rarely do.

The meeting promises to be informative. How could it not be, given all of the information that they’ve been withholding?  

It’s looking more like a meeting where the Mayor or his spokesperson will announce what they’ve already decided rather than a meeting to seriously consider public input and all options. I hope I’m wrong about this. But if they’re just announcing what they’ve already decided, why bother with a special meeting?

Committee Members Don’t Deserve A Raise

Committee members don’t deserve the $2,500 raise they gave themselves given the way they’ve handled the town hall project. At least it shows that they can hold in-person meetings, like almost every other township has been doing for a long time.