Township Committe Dicusses Parade Costs

The Township Committee said it would conduct research into the costs involved with holding the annual Fourth of July parade, in response to a letter from the Fourth of July committee saying that the parade might be cancelled in 2011, at its meeting on Tuesday night.

Mayor Jim Sandham said the committee was notified of the possibility of cancelling the parade at the township committee's Nov. 30 meeting and that he had invited members of the Fourth of July committee to attend Tuesday's meeting to explain their rationale.

"We wanted to understand and see if it's just a budgetary issue and if we could overcome that issue," he said.

In a letter to the township committee, read by Fourth of July committee member Dorie Berman, committee chair Irwin Paster said that the decision to forgo the parade was made solely because of economic difficulty born of a township decision to no longer fully fund police and public works employees to work the parade.

"The reason for our original letter saying there might not be a parade is purely financial," he said. "In the past, the township has funded the cost of police and department of public works [employees for the parade]."

According to Paster and Township Administrator Frank Bastone, the police department took a pay cut for the 2010 parade, accepting time and half for police officers involved in securing the parade as opposed to regular overtime. Paster said that, while the gesture on behalf of the department was appreciated, "It would be presumptuous to assume this would be the case every year."

Bastone said that the cost of having police and public works employees manage the entire Fourth of July weekend, including the parade, was anywhere between $33,000 and $40,000 in 2009.

Committeeman Art Daughty said that, without getting the right numbers from the police department for the costs of just the parade, he would feel uncomfortable speculating on the specific price tag on the parade.

"A lot of people have to come in on overtime," he said. "There are a number of officers on duty when the parade occurs.  I wouldn't hypothesis on the exact amount, but we can make a decision next meeting with the right numbers."

Mayor Sandham told Berman that the committee would contact the police and public works department for exact numbers and make a decision on if the committee can help fund the parade at its next meeting. Berman stressed that a decision should be reached as soon as possible.

"January is pushing it," she said.

The Township Committee's next regular meeting is scheduled for Jan. 11.