Building Dept.'s Pact With Chatham May Change

The Borough of Madison’s Land Use Division discussed during Saturday morning’s public budget hearing at the municipal building its budget requests while stating its goals after a successful 2011.

Chief among those goals for the Land Use Division is to continue to generate revenue for the borough.

“Revenue is extremely important to bring into the borough,” Councilman Don Links said. “I’ve asked [Borough Engineer Bob Vogel] and met with Bob last week to also do a presentation today to tell us a little bit about 2011, as well as to give a forward view of 2012.”

A major part of the Land Use Division’s success last year was the Department of Building Construction’s ability to process land use permits. Between Madison and Chatham, which is part of a shared services agreement, the department issued 1,542 building permits and completed 5,188 inspections between the two towns in 2011, all while collecting $1,248,025 in fees and penalties.

“That’s extraordinary. That’s more than we’ve ever done before, and it was done during a period where we have an economic recession,” Vogel said. “I’m quite proud of our building department group for doing what they do and coming together to get those permits processed.”

One goal for 2012, however, is for the borough to modify its agreement with Chatham to better reflect the amount of work it does in the neighboring community. The original agreement between the municipalities originally called for one-fifth of the building department’s time to be spent in Chatham, with the rest dedicated to taking care of Madison-related issues.

“It’s important that we get a date from them, say, by March 1 at the latest,” Councilman Robert Catalanello said. “If they don’t think it’s worthwhile to change the contract, we should probably just notice them. If the contract was written, we’re supposed to spend 20 percent of our time there and we’re spending much more than that, I want more money or I don’t want the contract.”

Added Borough Administrator Raymond M. Codey, “We haven’t incurred any additional costs, but the question is, ‘are we assisting our neighboring community more than we’re serving our residents?’”

Vogel also stated that a goal of his division is to continue to be business-friendly and efficient. The borough was able to achieve this in 2011 due to its effective use of technology and efficient operation of its land use boards, such as the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment, under the supervision of Planning Board Administrator Fran Boardman.

“Demand for building and construction in this town has not waned one bit during the recession, which is good,” Vogel said. “It’s good for us all.”

More businesses in town means more revenue, which is something that is not lost on the Land Use Division nor the Borough Council.

“I think it’s important for us always to go back and look at that we need to continue to be more business-friendly to encourage new development efforts,” Councilwoman Jeanne Tsukamoto said.

Added Vogel, “Madison’s been very lucky that we haven’t had a lot of boarded up buildings. We have a lot of business interest downtown. Educating them on how we do our business and walking them through that process is a huge win.”

Vogel’s department can also save the borough money down the line by planning out its capital projects well in advance. This can be done mainly through the borough’s Capital Project Review Committee, which takes a look at the borough’s capital projects in an effort to avoid potential construction or engineering issues.

“As times get tighter, it seems the propensity for change orders to be filed by contractors has gotten greater,” Vogel said. “What we’ve tried to do through the Capital Project Review Committee is try to get capital projects done way in advance of the budget. If we have six months, nine months or a year to look a project before it goes out for bid, the potential to have small issues taken off the table in terms of design issues is far increased.”

Overall, 2012 looks to be business as usual for Madison’s Land Use Division.

“For next year, I think we’re wise to continue the course of what we do,” Vogel said. “I think we do it well, and I don’t think we do it at a huge cost.”