Squan DPW Proposes $1.7 Million Budget

The Manasquan Department of Public Works is asking the Borough Council for a $1.7 million operating budget in 2012.

At the council’s budget work session on Saturday, DPW Superintendent Tom Nicastro and Borough Administrator Joseph DeIorio presented a line-by-line budget request, breaking down the needs of the department into several categories.

Public parks and playgrounds, waterways, water and sewer, roads, vehicles and salary and wages all factored into the discussion, with needs totaling $1,665,921.

While several requests remained identical to the DPW’s 2011 budget, Nicastro and DeIorio said that because of the way recent major weather events — the blizzard of late 2010 and last summer’s hurricane — the borough had to take extra steps to better prepare itself for any future storms.  

Therefore, the DPW suggested the borough purchase a portable generator, which could prove handy in a similar weather situation to Hurricane Irene, Nicastro and DeIorio said.

A generator could prove essential in keeping plumbing systems operating, as the borough lucked out in escaping a sewerage backup catastrophe that could have occurred during the hurricane, DeIorio said.

Councilman Michael Mangan agreed that the storm was a "wake-up call."

Nicastro said that a generator would cost about $50,000, and an electrical system upgrade necessary to fuel the generator would be an additional $50,000. These two items, if approved, would be a package deal, as the generator cannot run without the upgrade, he said.

The DPW is also suggesting the purchase of a pick-up truck and a masonry dump truck, estimated at a total cost of $93,000.

Out of the DPW's fleet of vehicles, about half are beyond their useful years, Nicastro said.

The vehicle inventory is "getting older," DeIorio said, but the town is trying to use them "until they run out of steam.”

The DPW could use an additional all-wheel drive vehicle with a "six-yard dump," Nicastro said. That would bring the department to four large dump trucks, he said.

But Mayor George Dempsey pointed out that a storm like the blizzard usually occurs "every 20 years," and suggested a two-wheel drive, less expensive vehicle.

Nicastro said a two-wheel drive vehicle would be "useless" in a major weather event. And DeIorio added that the DPW was not trying to use the storm as a crutch, but that the presentation was a way to make the public aware of the department’s needs.

Nicastro said that though the storms "shell-shocked" the DPW's normal operations, and cost some extra money in overtime and supply costs, "everything else is right in line with what is normal.”

Other needs discussed included a shuffleboard mat to go over a badly-cracked shuffleboard surface in Curtis Park.

Nicastro said that repair efforts to remedy the damaged surface have not been effective and shuffleboard is very popular with seniors in town. Such a mat, which several council members and the mayor expressed interest in seeing more information about before making a decision, could run $2,100, he said.

A light for security purposes in Curtis Park was also listed as a suggested need, to help borough police deter potential vandalism in the park after dark.

The mayor and council also discussed nailing down the nature of such a light, as a way to truly help the police do their job and not have the unintended effect of simply illuminating the park after dusk.

The idea of a motion-activated lamp was one idea discussed, before mayor and council decided to get more information on the idea directly from the police department.

Nicastro also detailed a "picnic-table replacement plan," to replace aged tables in public areas of town that are each at least 20 years old.

Fatiguing metal is causing some of the tables to become a hazard, Nicastro said.

When asked by Councilwoman Patricia Connolly, Nicastro said that the tables are very popular with people in town and get a lot of use. The plan would run a total of $1,400 to replace two this year with rubberized metal, mesh-topped tables, he said.

As the budget work sessions serve as guided discussions of what every town department needs, no action was taken on any suggestion.

Budget work sessions resume next Saturday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. in Borough Hall.