September 15, 2010
BY JEFF SISTRUNK
For The Herald
SPARTA — The Township Council unanimously approved an ordinance reorganizing the Parks and Recreation Department during a regular session Tuesday night.
Under the new ordinance, the department will be split into two separate entities within the Community Development Department — the Division of Recreation and Senior Services and the Division of Parks.
The measure is a revision of a previous ordinance that was repealed by the council in August.
The first ordinance, which passed in April by a vote of 3-2, was a cost-saving measure that restructured the Parks and Recreation Department. Among other things, it eliminated the position of the director of parks and recreation to save about $120,000 annually in salary and compensation.
A group of concerned citizens who thought the ordinance would sharply curtail recreation programs in Sparta drafted a petition to repeal and collected the necessary signatures in June.
If the council had let the original ordinance stand, it would have gone to a fall referendum, which would have cost between $18,000 and $20,000.
The new ordinance is largely the same as the original and only features minor tweaks. It does not reinstate the position of director.
Jesse Wolosky, a Sparta resident, said he didn’t have an issue with the council’s restructuring of the department but insisted that the council did not act lawfully in its response to the petition. He said the council didn’t take the appropriate actions to repeal the ordinance within 20 days after the petition was authorized.
“Frankly, the council is circumventing the law here,” Wolosky said.
Thomas Ryan, the municipal attorney, said he thought Wolosky was confused on his facts and didn’t understand the process. Ryan said the fact that the council introduced the ordinance of repeal within the 20-day time frame was sufficient.
“To say that the council is not acting within the law is grossly presumptuous,” he said.
Mayor Scott Seelagy said he would research Wolosky’s arguments.
The council also voted unanimously to appoint David Troast to the position of township manager. He will replace Henry Underhill, who resigned in May.
The council unanimously approved a measure to increase residents’ solid waste fees from $60 to $75 over the next two quarters to make up a budget shortfall of $137,000 in solid waste management.
Troast said the shortfall is attributable to a recent increase in tipping fees at the county’s landfill. This creates a trickle-down effect. Blue Diamond Disposal, the company that provides public garbage service to Sparta, has seen its operation costs increase, and it is within the bounds of its contract with the township to raise customers’ fees to make up the difference.
Despite the slight increase in solid waste fees, Seelagy said that residents’ annual costs will still be much lower than if they used private garbage services.
