Accusations Fly Over Rec Center Funding Votes

Council members squabbled Monday over the wisdom of a recent vote to borrow approximately $4.1 million in short- and long-term bonds to pay off the Madison Recreation Center land and sports fields.

Councilman Ben Wolkowitz, in his report as a liaison for the finance committee, called a recently sprung idea (and the cause of a ‘no’ vote on one bond measure) to use available funds to pay for the fields poorly timed and inconsistent with work that has unfolded throughout the course of the year, including meetings with Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating Agency that declared borough credit AAA stable.

Toward the end of the meeting, Councilman Robert Catalanello responded to Wolkowitz’s claims, saying they were laden with misinformation and half-truths.

The town approved a measure to borrow approximately $4.1 million in short- and long-term bonds in July. However, two ‘no’ votes were cast on a resolution to borrow $1,263,000 for the installation of the fields at the rec center, to be paid over 15 years. Councilwoman Astri Baillie called one ‘no’-vote (Catalanello’s) a political move.

Though the measure was passed, another ‘no’ vote came from council member Jeannie Tsukamoto, who suggested that borrowing less “makes good financial sense.”

However, Catalanello maintained that the fields could be paid by using available funds in a ‘fund balance account.’

Other members were assertive by saying that funds in that account should be used for capital projects, such as roads, pump stations and work at the sewage treatment plant Madison uses. They indicated that borrowing now could help the borough get favorable interest rates, in a time that’s seeing municipal interest rates at historical lows.

In what Wolkowitz believed would be a “ceremonial vote,” the resolutions passed, (including another to borrow $2,888,000 for the land acquisition of 49 acres, to be paid over 20 years) but Catalanello suggested the fund balance utilization of about $2 million, instead of issuing more debt.

However, Councilman Bob Landrigan said in the July meeting that it’s more logical to make debt payments with open space funds while using available funds for other projects.

Catalanello agreed with the statement, and said he’d drop the assertion if the council agreed to commit funds to the capital projects instead of using it to plug holes in the operating budget.

The issue of timeliness became the largest concern that council members Wolkowitz and Baillie had with Catalanello’s statement, which carried over to Monday’s meeting.

“A combination of misinformation, bad analysis and outright distortions made (the July 22 vote) anything but the pro forma vote I had anticipated,” said Wolkowitz.

To ‘those’ he said that claimed the borough should not issue bonds but rather pay for at least the fields with some unused dormant money in the borough’s coffers, he said, “Not sure why the fields and not the land was the focus, since the land is bonded longer, at a higher interest rate, and will therefore incur a larger interest expense over the life of the bonds. But much about this discussion makes little sense to me.

“The last minute springing on the council of new approaches to problems that have been discussed endlessly is not productive nor in my opinion the way I believe this council should conduct its business,” concluded Wolkowitz.

Mayor Bob Conley interrupted the report to advise Wolkowtiz to utilize the committee time for reports only, not ongoing issues.

Toward the end of the meeting, an agitated Catalanello waited to speak, but then said that the charges from Wolkowitz were “half-truths” when there are explicit “rules on how to treat each other (on the council).”

“I insist for the opportunity for rebuttal,” he said. “…It’s a misstatement of facts on the record. The councilman called in (Wolkowitz phoned into the July meeting while on vacation), and said he couldn’t hear it, and tonight he proved it…Do I just sit here for the next meeting when I can make a statement?”

Township attorney Matthew Giaccobe said that his July 22 statements were on the record.

“You made a statement, on the record,” said Giaccobe. “They speak for themselves and are memorialized in the minutes.”