Joint Court, Fire Dept. Could Further Expand Shared Services

Can Madison sell other towns on sharing services? Borough officials are going to find out.

"The is a growth area," said Borough Administrator Ray Codey. "It already provides a number of services to Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Butler and Morris Plains."

, the borough has outsourced its animal control services to Millburn and Livingston. 

"The department will net $90,000 on revenue [this year], on a positive swing of $120,000 including outsourcing of animal control," said Codey.

The Board of Health could also be taking over additional health services for other towns.

Elsewhere, the borough could explore the possibility of expanding the joint court.

"We are comfortable with how the joint court is running," Codey said. "February 1 will mark the one-year anniversary. We will revisit the situation and see if [expansion] is appropriate." 

Any expansion would have to be approved by the Joint Court Committee of Madison and the three other participating towns: Chatham Borough, Chatham Township and Harding.

The municipalities said that the joint court in operating costs in 2011.

The could be another source of increased municipal revenue.

Codey said the borough has been marketing the department's expertise to other towns. Madison just concluded a contract with Colgate-Palmolive for confined space rescue worth $7,500 a year. These highly technical services apply to rescue and recovery of victims trapped in confined spaces such as underground vaults, storage tanks and sewers.

Officials are also looking at expanding construction office functions with Chatham Borough, Codey said.