Evesham Town Council Meetings 5/8 & 5/17/2018 - Municipal Budget, Kings Grant, and Faulty School Enrollment Conclusions


Note: I was unable to attend either of the most recent Town Council meetings.  I watched them both on video, which is not the same as attending in person.  The audio wasn't always good, and I couldn't always tell who was speaking - so much of this will just be bullet points rather than narrative.  But since I did listen to the them both, I wanted to document them for the record, to make the blog complete.

The meeting began with Mayor Brown noting that Evesham was just recognized in SJ Magazine as the #1 town in South Jersey, and gave out a lot of thanks to 'the team' and the hard working members of the town.  The article is a great recognition for the town and I would recommend that everyone read it.

Next there was a presentation to the town from Steph Morrison, though I am not sure what company she was representing.  The item was not on the agenda and I'm not certain she said where she was from.  She presented a donation of up to $15,000 for the town to purchase a Sun Shelter, a 20 ft by 20 ft awning to help protect against skin cancer, which would be installed at a location the town could choose, presumably at one of the sports fields.  If anyone know who made this generous donation, please email me at MarltonNeil@yahoo.com and I will update the the blog!

Proclamations:
There were 4 proclamations at the beginning of the Town Council meeting

  • The Marlton Girls Travel Basketball 8A team was recognized for their recent championship
  • Bakanas Flowers, located in Allison Shopping Center, was recognized for their 50th Anniversary
  • A proclamation was read by Mayor Randy Brown declaring May the New Jersey Brain Tumor Awareness Month.  Mr Brown lost his father to a gleo blastoma in 2000, so this cause is near and dear to him.
  • A recognition of National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 1, 2018
At this point, there was a presentation given by Director of Finance Tom Shanahan and Township Manager Mike Barth on the 2018 Municipal Budget.  At some point in the future, I hope to have a longer post delving deeply into the town budget, but for this report, I will be summarizing the presentation they gave.  The PowerPoint presentation is available at the town website.

  • The municipal tax rate is decreasing from .430 to .427.  For an average home in town, that amounts to a decrease in yearly taxes of $6.38.
  • $300,000 increase in revenue due School Resource Officers placed in all schools being reimbursed in full by the school district
  • $250,000 increase in a grant money from the State for Brick Road, which was not listed in the originally introduced budget
  • Evesham sends out surveys to new residents after they have lived in Evesham one year.  Survey results show a high quality of life (97%), a high degree of satisfaction with services (88%).
  • "Evesham Township has consistently rated highly among a wide range of regional and statewide benchmarks for low cost government"
  • Evesham ranks lowest in per capita budget expenses for the 10 largest townships in Burlington County, and well below the Burlington County and NJ averages.  
  • Evesham had the lowest increase in average assessed taxes for the 10 largest townships in Burlington County
  • Evesham's debt is currently at $60.1 million dollars
All resolutions (which are available on the town website) passed with a 5-0 vote, with the following exceptions:
  • Ordinance 10-5-2018 - this is to allow the rezoning of land behind Bradley Funeral Home, between Route 73 and Executive Drive.  During public comment, Rosemary Bernardi asked about the density of housing allowed on the 8 acre property.  Town Planner Leah Furey noted that due to wetlands, only 2.5 acres of the property are actually developable, and they are expecting somewhere between 60-70 units.  That is all subject to normal development process, Fair Share requirements, and Planning Board votes.  Ms Bernardi also noted that Mr Brown abstained when this item came up last month and asked if he would be abstaining again.  Mr Brown declined to answer.  The ordinance passed 4-0-1, with Mr Brown abstaining.  (At the final public comment at the end of the night, Ms Bernardi returned to the podium to ask why Mr Brown abstained and asked whether he had a financial interest in the project - Mr Brown declined to answer.)
  • Resolution 162-2018 passed with a 4-0-1 vote, with Mr Brown abstaining.  This resolution was for a 68 unit Affordable Housing project on Stow Road
After the votes, there were discussions regarding Kings Grant and the KPMA - the homeowners group and the management company of Kings Grant.  I first wrote about this back in October.  While there were a lot of speakers, this was just to be a preliminary discussion.  It would appear there are two issues at hand, with the residents of Kings Grant asking the town if the town can assist with their legal issues:
  • Whether the current homeowners associations can leave the Kings Grant Management Association 
  • Can Kings Mill, a homeowners association who left KGMA previously, recover the $600,000 that KGMA did not return to them when they successfully left.
I am not going to go into further detail because there will be a special Town Council meeting on June 5th at 5pm to discuss the issue.  All the Kings Grant Homeowners Associations should have a representative there, and members of the public are invited to attend (though there are only 200 seats available).  I hope to attend that meeting and report afterward.

Special Town Council Meeting 5/17/2018

A short Town Council Meeting was held on 5/17/2018 with only one agenda item, Resolution 179-2018.  This was to authorize Phase 2 of the Kettle Run Road repaving project, from Braddock Mill Road to Bortons Road.  Both Phase 1 and Phase 2 are scheduled to take place over the summer while school is out.  There will be no widening of the roadway (though the edges of the roadway will be repaired).  The resolution passed 4-0 (Mr Zeuli was not in attendance).

There was also recognition and a proclamation for Bradley Funeral Home who are celebrating their 50th year in Evesham.

At the close of the meeting, Mayor Brown lambasted the school board and school administration yet again.   Currently enrollment is at 4,465.  He noted that Sundance predicted 4,466 for this school year, over-estimating by only one student.   "Planning Board, Council, Sundance was all correct with our number."

However, a closer look at the numbers shows the problem with that statement.  According to the Sundance report, shown below, it was estimated that during this school year, Renaissance Square would be sending 87 children to the school district.  Barclay Chase would be sending 79 children this school year.  Windingbrook would be sending 27 children this school year.  In actuality, all three developments are currently sending zero children to the district. This shows two things:
  • Sundance over-estimated children in Renaissance Square, Windingbrook and Barclay Chase by 193 children.
  • Sundance under-estimated children in the rest of town by 192 children.
The fact that in total Sundance is off by one student is due to coincidence, not accurate projections.



While Barclay Chase is nearing the time where residents can start moving in, construction has not begun on any of the residential units at Renaissance Square, so it would appear there will be zero students at the beginning of the 2018-2019 year as well.  It should also be noted that even according to Sundance, enrollment will decline after 2018.
Winding Brook development progress 5/20/2018

Mr Brown then noted that there were a few classes with 25 children more than 20 children in them.  (Updated 5/22/2018 after listening to the video again.)  Here is what I wrote last month after he raised the same point.

"Simple mathematical truths explain why there are classes with more than 20 students.    Regardless of how many schools are open, there will always be occasions when, for example, there are 64 students in a grade.  Do you make 4 classes of 16 students?  Or 3 classes of 21?  What if there are 42 students?  Do you make 2 classes of 21 students, or 3 classes of 14?"  Keep in mind that its not just student welfare you need to think about - changing from 3 classes to 4 classes to accommodate smaller class size will require another teaching professional  - an additional budgetary expense.

These mathematical issues would exist whether there are 6 or 7 elementary schools,

The only thing new this month was that both Councilman D'Andrea and Councilwoman Hackman joined in the dialogue. While it was still Mayor Brown leading the charge, they were willing participants in the diatribe -  you can view the 7 minute video for yourself.

Mr Brown closed the meeting looking directly into the camera and stating 'Numbers don't lie, people do.'  The only interpretation I can come up with for this statement is that he is stating that in his opinion, not only did the school board and/or administration make a mistake, but that they are lying.

I'll leave you with a quote from Mayor Brown from a few days prior to this meeting, when asked  why Evesham was voted #1 in SJ Magazine.

"What makes us a top town is an outstanding school system..."

While there was more after that, the first thing he noted was our outstanding school system. 



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