Tinton Falls’ goal for 2012: attract jobs

Borough Council President Gary Baldwin (right) congratulates Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera after Skudera delivered the State of the Borough address during the Jan. 17 council meeting. TINTON FALLS — The borough will establish an Office of Economic Development to attract new businesses and jobs, Mayor Michael Skudera said during a State of the Borough address on Jan. 17

Skudera said the new office would streamline the process of helping companies locate in Tinton Falls and focus on attracting jobs to the borough to offset those lost due to the closure of Fort Monmouth.

“Even though Tinton Falls lost a lot of jobs with the closing of Fort Monmouth, we are working to bring jobs back,” he said. “Companies are moving to our borough because we have a low tax rate and offer great services.

“We have created an environment that attracts businesses and promotes economic development, he added. We need to literally create thousands of jobs to offset the closing of Fort Monmouth and attract companies large and small that offer high-paying jobs.”

Skudera expanded on the new office in an interview last week, explaining that the focus will be on facilitating the process of opening or relocating a business in Tinton Falls.

“We are going to create that under the mayor’s office,” Skudera said. “I am going to be utilizing existing employees but we are going to be working with planning and zoning.

“We want to make sure we weed out any red tape and try to promote ways to have businesses [locate in the borough] without any stumbling blocks,” he added. “Having this is going to hopefully bring in more business.”

Skudera also said that the office would be created within the next few weeks under executive order.

During the nearly 30-minute address, Skudera mentioned numerous borough achievements he is proud of, as well as goals for the coming year.

A key accomplishment he cited was the Open Space acquisition of a 75-acre property off Wardell Road that had been slated for development.

“This land was already approved for hundreds of new homes that would have added hundreds of children to our schools,” he said. “It would have substantially increased taxes by millions of dollars.”

He also said the 100-acre solar farm planned for a housing development on Shafto Road will save the borough money.

“By rezoning a large tract of land we were again looking out for our schools,” said Skudera, whose term as mayor runs for two more years. “Instead of adding several hundred more children and millions more in new taxes, we attracted a 100-acre solar farm.

“This solar farm will contain about 85,000 panels and will generate the equivalent energy to power nearly two-thirds of the homes in Tinton Falls,” he added. “This project will also create hundreds of highly skilled union and professional jobs right here in our borough.”

Skudera said he is also proud of the way the borough managed during a down economy and bounced back from a poor financial situation.

“We inherited a budget that had too much spending and a historically low level of cash reserves,” he said. “My administration faced enormous challenges from day one but took them on because the stability of our borough depended on it.

“We took many measures to cut spending and reduce costs including cutting department budgets by as much as 30 percent,” he added. “Union contracts had to be renegotiated, salaries were reduced and the borough was reorganized and restructured.”

Other accomplishments Skudera cited include decreasing the budget and keeping salaries for borough employees flat in 2011.

In addition, he said the decision to move the borough’s general election from May to November saved about $100,000 and increased voter turnout.

Skudera also mentioned park improvements, street and infrastructure improvements and a more efficient public works department as goals that the borough achieved in 2011.

One of the more trying times for Skudera in the past year was following the December 2010 blizzard when residents complained about the borough’s emergency management response.

In response to the criticisms, Skudera said he shook up the emergency management office and in 2012 he expects to improve emergency communications.

“We need to take our emergency communications to the next level,” he said. “We already have our own generators, our own computer servers and a high-speed data network.

“We need to take the initial steps and explore cutting-edge ways to provide and deliver a steady stream of voice and data to our fire districts, police department, emergency management crews and our Public Works Department even when other neighboring towns may be without power or cell tower service.”

One of Skudera’s 2012 initiatives is to have the council review every existing borough law to ensure that they are “clear and make sense.”

Skudera said that borough officials are currently working on the 2012 budget and will present it to the council and the public in the next few months.