Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The 10-year-old company designed three of the top 10 sites in New Jersey, and will handle the upgrade for $7,000.
City Connections President and CEO Morris A. Enyeart will handle the upgrade of Galloway Township’s website for $7,000, Councilman Jim McElwee stated at the council meeting Tuesday night, May 14. McElwee was part of a three-person committee, along with Councilwoman Whitney Ullman and Councilman Brian Tyrrell, charged with helping select an outside source to upgrade the township’s website. Township Manager Arch Liston put out an RFP in February, and McElwee expressed concern that attaching a $10,000 limit to the RFP was akin to an invitation for high bids. The committee narrowed the search down to four candidates, and selected Enyeart. “I think $7,000 is well worth it to have a top notch site,” McElwee said. “We’ll be able to post anything …
Monday, April 1, 2013
The township has received increasing complaints of unattended trash over the last year.
Members of Galloway Township Council have been fielding complaints about trash and debris being left outside certain properties throughout the township for at least a year, and their complaints may soon be satisfied. “We have vacant and unoccupied houses where debris is left outside,” Councilman Jim Gorman said during the council meeting on March 26. “I think we should give people a certain amount of time to get rid of it, and if they don’t, we’ll do it and charge them or the bank or whoever owns the house. It’s bringing down the values of people’s houses.” “It’s not fair to the residents who live on that street,” Mayor Don Purdy said. “There’s trash, debris and broken glass. … I would consider putting a lien on the properties so the money…
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
There was discussion of the meeting being moved to March 28.
The second Galloway Township Council meeting of March remains scheduled for Tuesday, March 26, 6:30 p.m. at the municipal complex, the township announced Tuesday morning, March 19. Council discussed changing the date of the meeting to Thursday, March 28 at the last meeting, due to Passover beginning March 26. Council made no firm decision that night, and on Tuesday morning, Township Clerk Thalia C. Kay announced the meeting would remain scheduled for March 26. Township Manager Arch Liston is scheduled to introduce the proposed 2013 budget at that meeting. State aid to Galloway Township remained flat for the fourth year in a row, Gov. Chris Christie announced in February. The rest of the agenda will be determined later this week.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Incumbent Jim McElwee will be joined by challengers Michael Suleiman, Bill Montag and Cliff Sudler.
With exactly two weeks to go before the deadline to register for the primaries for the 2013 elections, the Galloway Township Democrats officially announced their four candidates for political office. Incumbent Jim McElwee will be joined by challengers Bill Montag, Cliff Sudler, and Mike Suleiman on what the party is billing as the “Restore Galloway” team, the party announced Monday morning, March 18. “I am excited to be joined by these three qualified and energetic candidates,” McElwee said in a release issued Monday morning. “Galloway will have a bright future with their leadership.” “The people of Galloway are sick of layoffs and lawsuits,” the Restore Galloway Team said in a collective statement issued as part of the release. “We need …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Most residents moved into their homes in 2006. Seven years later, they're still waiting to see repairs done on their streets.
Jay Patel has seen it before: a car turns off Jimmie Leeds Road onto Quince Avenue going too fast and –pop—their tire goes flat. Only in this case, too fast is 40 miles an hour, the speed limit. The flat tire is the result of a manhole cover sticking up above the rest of the street. And to say he’s seen it before is to say it happens about once a week. Patel’s lived on Quince Avenue since February of 2010. Within six months of moving in, Patel said he’d spent $1,000 fixing his car because the curb leading into his driveway was too high. Like many people on his street, he set up pieces of plywood to drive up into his own driveway. When it rains, the plywood floats away. Parts of the road also flood and hold water longer than normal because …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
He will also move to a five-day work week for the next 30-60 days.
Galloway Township Manager Arch Liston is seeking help in the form of an assistant, and on Tuesday night, Feb. 12, he announced he would move to a five-day work week for the next 30-60 days. Citing needs in the township that require his full attention, Liston announced at Tuesday night’s council meeting, he would move from his four-day work week to a five-day schedule, which will be a 20 percent raise in his pay. He says he will revert back to his schedule in June. He didn't specify which needs to which he was referring. Liston was named township manager last year. When he was named permanent manager in March, he took on the four-day work week to save the township money, as the employees were taking furloughs. Furloughs for employees have …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The tax auditor would serve four-year terms, beginning Jan. 1, 2013.
Galloway Township Council introduced an ordinance to attach term limits to the tax auditor Tuesday night, Feb. 26, and that would impact the current township auditor. The proposal calls for four-year term limits for the auditor, beginning Jan. 1, 2013. If passed, Township Auditor Leon Costello, who has been the auditor for over 10 years, would have to relinquish his position as of Jan. 1, 2017. However, there is no proposal for the limit on number of terms, meaning that Costello could return to his position after he has been absent for a year. The ordinance was introduced at the Feb. 12, 2013 meeting. When introduced, it called for three-year term limits and it wasn’t retroactive. At that time, council voted to table the matter, 5-2, with …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The RFP on the township's current website calls for proposals no greater than $10,000. Councilman Jim McElwee would rather the township not attach a price.
Galloway Councilman Jim McElwee is happy to see the township is redesigning its website to meet state standards, but doesn’t agree with an RFP on the website setting a price limit at $10,000. “We should just ask for blind quotes,” McElwee said. “I don’t want to get responses for $40,000-$50,000,” Township Manager Arch Liston said. “ … We may get a bid from someone for $3,000 that’s much better than a bid from someone for $10,000. I don’t expect to spend $10,000.” McElwee doesn’t expect to see too many bids below $9,000. He felt the township could’ve gone to someone in Galloway to redesign the website, rather than put out an RFP. He pointed to Joanna Westcott, from the Galloway Township School Disrrict, as an example of someone from the …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Council members will read from a list of 35 non-denominational prayers prior to the start of each meeting.
A new invocation policy is now in place in Galloway Township, just over three months after the debate over its absence first came into the spotlight. Galloway Council unanimously approved a resolution put forth by the committee nominated to draft the new policy Tuesday night, Feb. 26. “I’m quite happy to be presenting this resolution tonight,” Deputy Mayor and Committee Chair Tony Coppola said prior to Tuesday night’s vote. “It’s something we didn’t want to mandate, but we also didn’t want to be told we can’t have it.” Per the new policy, there are 35 pre-selected non-denominational prayers available for members of council to read on a rotating process prior to each meeting. However, the reading of a prayer isn’t mandatory, as council …
Friday, February 22, 2013
This suit is filed by a current police officer, who names the township, the chief, the captain and a corporal.
Galloway Township faces another high profile lawsuit, this time centering around the practices of its police department. On Thursday night, Feb. 21, the township released a copy of a lawsuit filed with the Superior Court of Atlantic County by current police officer Brian Tennant, the only African-American officer on the force since 2003. He claims he’s been subjected to racially diverse language since that year. He also claims he’s been subjected to retaliation from the department following the filing of a tort claim notice in 2011, including removal from the Atlantic County SWAT team. There is no dollar amount attached to Tennant’s lawsuit. The Egg Harbor Township resident who has been with the force since 2000 is seeking “economic and …
Red
7:28 pm on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Kudos to Mr. McElwee for taking the lead and making this happen. Having a website that does all that it should be able to do will continue to reduce costs to the township not only in regard to OPRA requests but also should reduce phone calls to township office employees because residents will be able to find information online. There is no "down" side to this kind of improvement. We are in the … more ›