January 2012

Dear Residents:

Each year, the Mayor is charged with reporting on the state of the Borough and reviewing the past year. The following are comments that I made at last night's Organization Meeting of the Lincoln Park Borough Council.

I am also happy to let you know that Mark West, a life long resident of Lincoln Park and 23 year veteran of the LPPD, was sworn in last night as our new Chief of Police.

I wish you a happy, healthy and wealthy 2012. Enjoy reading the Year in Lincoln Park in review.

Sincerely,

Mayor David Runfeldt

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State of the Borough Address

2011 was a year of many ups and downs in the Borough of Lincoln Park. As usual our town and it's residents responded in a way in which the high points far outnumbered any low points we may have experienced.

2011 started with one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record in Northern New Jersey. There was one stretch of time in which snow was on the ground for 54 straight days. Melting snow and frequent severe rain storms in spring lead to major flooding along the Pompton and Passaic Rivers once again...excuse me twice...as near record flooding occurred in both March and April.

Record temperatures and heat waves through the summer and the intense storms that followed led to one of the rainiest summers, including the wettest month of all time...August. Of course, that month ended with the arrival of Hurricane Irene and the actual record flooding that followed. Irene was followed closely by Tropical Storm Lee which exacerbated the flooding once again.

Let's not forget that thrown in between the record high and low temperatures, snowfall, rainfall, hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding we had a just a little bit of an earthquake that was felt by many people here in Lincoln Park. And just for good measure, a freak snowstorm that threatened to cancel Halloween...that's right Halloween...dumped nearly a foot of snow, toppled trees and power lines and left some residents without power for several days.

No, Mother Nature was not kind to Lincoln Park, or much of the United States in 2011. I can only hope that she is much nicer to us in the coming year.

Although the weather and several natural disasters were obviously among the low points last year, there is always a silver lining to be found. The newly revamped Office of Emergency Management responded to each and every event in a nearly flawless manner. As this was my first year as OEM Coordinator I would like to acknowledge Ron Wenzel, Mike Runfeldt and Nick Pappas in the newly formed Training and Operations divisions of OEM for insuring a professional, safe and efficient response to these disasters. Others that deserve recognition out of OEM are Tom Piorkowski, Sarah Siroka, Chrissy Cussick, Kevin Reardon, Sean Canning, Malcolm Chamalian and every person on the Community Emergency Response Team for their efforts in the wake of the devastation we had. After just one year, Lincoln Park OEM is quickly becoming the model for municipal emergency management.

Acting Chief Mark West and the Police Department deserve credit for the fine job they did during each storm and do every day in serving and protecting our community.  Chief Sue Van Orden and the men and women of the LPFAS were instrumental in providing emergency medical services during the floods and always.  Chief Sal Marino and the volunteers of the LPFD provided aid to residents during the storm including water evacuations, fire suppression and community assistance.

The men and women of our emergency services deserve the highest respect and gratitude from our community. In addition to the volume of calls for service and assistance, it is worth noting that there was no loss of life or even injury to an emergency responder or the residents they assisted during any of the events.

There have been other notable consequences of the severity of the disasters we experienced this year. Now, more than ever, there is an understanding and desire to find a regional solution to the flooding that has plagued every one of us who resides in the Passaic River Basin all too frequently. There is a great desire on the part of residents, local officials and state and federal officials as well to see that answers are found. I implore everyone to not let up for one moment...to continue to push to the forefront to demand answers and more importantly ACTION on mitigating this damaging, demoralizing and expensive dilemma.

2011 has also seen the retirement or departure of several borough employees who have given years and years of service to our town. Ellen Ross, Pat Pignatelli, Police Chiefs Sundberg and Andrascik, Penny Maida-Smith, Sean Canning and Skip Tintle have all moved on to the next part of their lives and careers and they are wished well in their future endeavors. Although accounts reported in local newspapers give the impression that there is an exodus from the borough, the truth is that much of it has been a thoughtfully calculated and intended succession plan to deal with rising...salaries, benefit costs and property taxes. The borough can anticipate salary savings of over a half million dollars as a result of attrition, combining job responsibilities and sharing services of these departing employees.

In 2011 Lincoln Park Police Department received National Recognition as one of the few departments in the state to achieve Accreditation from The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. All of the personnel involved in reaching this goal are to be commended for their efforts in striving to make a better PD in Lincoln Park.

During the past year the efforts of the Mayor's Wellness Campaign have led to many recreational and fitness opportunities for our residents. Private donations to the Mayor's Wellness Campaign and Recreation Department from concerned citizens have helped us to purchase new playground items at the Lanes Field which has never had a playground before and at the Community Lake where a total remake of the playground occurred this year. The MWC also saw the installation of exercise stations around the borough's walking track, the running of our 5th Annual 5K race and the first ever Lincoln Park Triathlon. Unlike past events where planning of these events was handled in house, the triathlon was planned by town residents who gladly volunteered their time when I asked for their assistance. Special thanks go to Tom Harsley, Mike Forde, Leah Symmons, Sue Volante, Amy Seise, Gary DeSantis,

One of the most notable accomplishments of 2011 to happen in town was the fact that administration, borough council and I were able to formulate and approve a budget which had, for the second year in a row, a spending decrease. In addition, the 2011 budget not only met the Governor's newly imposed 2% levy cap, but actually provided a decrease in the amount of taxes we collected from most residents. Yes it was a small decrease, but it was, in fact, a decrease. My goal for this year will be to once again present a fully compliant budget to the borough council which will provide the maximum amount of services for the minimum amount of cost. I anticipate that the current sitting members of council will once again be looking to balance these services and costs to keep property taxes down as we move into the budget process for 2012.

As usual, the truly unsung heroes throughout the year are the employees of the borough. Most of these men and women, from the most senior to the low one on the totem pole, work tirelessly each and every day to make sure that the quality of life here in Lincoln Park is as good as it can be. Last year's Department Heads Kerry Geisler, Tom Piorkowski, Sal Marino, Janet Cassidy, John Wozinack, Mark West (who will in a few minutes become half of our first Father/Son Police Chief in town), Penny Smith and Sean Canning have been a team that has provided the residents of Lincoln Park with a tremendous level of service and protection. I would like to take a moment to thank Mr. Canning for his desire to make this a better town and for putting my ideas into action. I am looking forward to having the same quality of administrator as Perry Mayers joins us next month. I would like to especially thank our CFO Kerry Geisler for generously donating her expertise and time, at no extra cost to the borough, for filling in as interim Administrator for nearly 2 months to fill the gap between Sean's departure and Perry's arrival.

To each of the members of the borough council, I thank you for your past service to our town and the service which you are about to provide in the coming year. Lou, thank you for your time as Council President these last two years, they have truly been great years for everyone you represent. Ray, congratulations on stepping back into the President's seat. I wish you much success this year and I am looking forward to working with you to continue to improve the quality of life and sense of community in our great town.