Manchester Council Reorganizes, Sets 2015 Appointments

(Councilman Brendan Weiner takes over as council president in Manchester for 2015. Credit: Karen Wall)

As the New Year gets into full swing, the Manchester Township Council met Monday morning to get started as well.

Councilmen Brendan Weiner and Craig Wallis each were sworn into new terms on the council. Weiner, who is serving his third term, was elected council president for the year. Wallis, who was first elected to the council in 2005, was council president in 2014 and took a seat on the dais to Weiner’s left.

Councilman James Vaccaro was voted council vice president.

The council approved the following meeting dates for 2015, at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays except where noted: Jan. 26; Feb. 9; Feb. 23; March 9, March 23, April 13, April 27; May 11, May 26 (Tuesday); June 8; June 22; July 13; July 27; Aug. 10; Aug. 24; Sept. 14; Sept. 28; Oct. 13 (Tuesday); Oct. 26; Nov. 9; Nov. 23; Dec. 14.

The council also approved a lengthy list of professional appointments. Most of them were reappointments from 2014, but there was a new one among them, added as a result of recent actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission: financial advisor.

At the end of 2014, municipalities and school districts in many areas were left scrambling to ensure their financial filings on municipal bonds issued for things such as major repair or construction projects reflected changes -- even those that occurred after the bonds were issued.

“The Continuing Disclosure Agreement requires that issuer to file annual financial information and notices of certain material events with the Electronic Municipal Market Access, or EMMA, an electronic information repository system maintained by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), which is accessible to all investors on the internet,” according to an article on the issue of municipal bonds on the SEC website.

Towns and schoold districts were filing their financial reports, but weren’t always reporting things that may have affected how an investor viewed the bonds. The SEC began cracking down on those filings last year, and New Jersey’s downgraded credit rating -- which had a trickle-down effect on towns -- created confusion as towns and districts tried to ensure they had not violated SEC rules -- intentionally or not.

An outgrowth of that problem, however, was the SEC’s insistence that towns and school districts use a financial advisor to handle their bond issues.

“When you bonded for something, you were always able to use your town’s auditor to handle them,” said Diane Lapp, Manchester Township’s chief financial officer. “Now we can no longer do that.”

The financial advisor Manchester has selected for 2015 is Acacia Financial Group of Marlton.

Other professional appointments:

• Township attorney: Dasti, Murphy, McGuckin, Ulkay, Koutsouris & Connors.
• Utilities attorney: Dasti, Murphy, McGuckin, Ulkay, Koutsouris & Connors.
• Bond Counsel: Gluck Walrath LLP
• Township Engineer: Maser Consulting.
• Township Planner: Maser Consulting.
• Township Auditor: Joseph Faccone of Samuel Klein & Co.
• Municipal Prosecutor: Kim Pascarella, Esq. and Joseph Coronato Jr.
• Conflict Municipal Prosecutor: Steve Zabarsky, Esq. of CItta, Holzapfel & Zabarsky
• Municipal Public Defender: Matthew Sage, Esq.
• Conflict Public Defenders: Anthony Pagano, Esq. of Heagan, Pagano & Seems, and Colleen Dolcy, Esq. of Rumpf, Reid & Dolcy
• Emergency Management Coordinator: Art Abline
• Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator: Marisa Wilkins
• Medical Services: Meridian Occupational Health
• Municipal Labor Counsel: Guy P. Ryan, Esq.
• Counsel of Affordable Housing: Gilmore & Monahan
• Public Agency Compliance Officer: Maureen Kumitis
• Engineer -- Water & Sewer: Remington Vernick

In addition, the council approved the appointments of Vaccaro as a Class III member of the township Planning Board, and of Councilman Charles Frattini to the Open Space Advisory Committee.

The council also approved an annual salary of $35,000 for Mayor Ken Palmer. Palmer and Weiner, as council president, also made the following appointments:

Mayoral Appointments

To the Planning Board, Elaine Baumeister, Bill Foor, and Joan Brush, and Archie Miller as first alternate and Steve Bates as second alternate.

To the Zoning Board of Adjustment, Felicia Finn, Henry Glen, and as first alternate, Ryan Maloney.

To the Environmental Commission, Bill Foor and William Cook.

Council President Committee Appointments

Finance Committee – Councilman James Vaccaro; Councilman Sam Fusaro

Emergency Management – Councilman Craig Wallis

School Liaison – Councilman Craig Wallis

Joint Base Committee – Councilman James Vaccaro

Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com.

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