Suraci Appointed Mayor for 2012

The unanimously selected Carl Suraci and Gloria McCauley to serve as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, in 2011 during its annual reorganization meeting Tuesday night.

It will be Suraci’s second term as Hillsborough’s mayor; he served a year-long term in 2006. Suraci and Committeeman Bob Wagner are up for re-election during this year’s elections.

Suraci expects to undertake many duties during his second appointment to the post, but acknowledged that the committee’s joint efforts bring many projects to completion.

“Some of the success we have here really is the collective efforts of this group that bring to fruition the projects that are in the best interest of the taxpayers,” Suraci said.

Among his first priorities will be finishing the municipal building’s roof, heating ventilation and air conditioning and solar project. The $2 million project began in 2011, as a focus of then-mayor McCauley.

Under the agreement, Siemens, the township’s Energy Service Provider, would own the solar panels and would sell the energy generated to the township to meet the building’s needs. Siemens could sell the extra energy to outside customers for additional money, according to the agreement.

Work on the roof replacement portion of the project began in December, and about half of the work on replacing the roof has been completed. Suraci expects to see the solar panels installed this spring, he said.

Redeveloping General Services Administration Depot, located on Pleasant View Road, in order to turn it into a park, is another priority for his year as mayor, Suraci said. The project began with the township and county’s joint purchase of the site in 2006.

“The first priority was to basically prevent a developer from putting up houses,” Suraci said. “Now, I’d like to see us move forward and that into a first-class recreation area.

The project includes a rolling development plan that allows the township to develop portions of the depot as the environmental remediation progresses. If the plan advances as scheduled, Suraci hopes to see a set of baseball and softball fields open by the upcoming summer season.

“The plan is to do a rolling development,” Suraci said. “As a section gets cleaned up, we’ll work on developing it. Obviously, we are going to need to get the approvals from the DEP.

“I truly believe that we can have our next set of ball fields completed by the 2012-2013 season,” he added.

The plan also includes a 48-acre section that is reserved for retail development. The township hopes to clean that portion of the property and sell it do a developer.

As with years prior, the township budget remains a challenge for 2012. Suraci, who served as Finance Liaison, noted the committee’s history of budgets that are under the state-set two percent cap.

“I definitely think it’s do-able to put together the same type of budget,” Suraci said. “Over the last three years, we’ve limited it to one percent growth. I fully expect them to develop a budget that will live within our means while providing the same level of service that people expect and deserve.”

Still, uncontrolled budget costs from insurance premiums and other payments, and other unknowns will remain a challenge.

“It’s always going to be forming another budget that balances the needs of the community with the current economic conditions,” Suraci said. “We are going to have to wait to see what some of our state aid is going to be too. That will always be a driving force.”

Suraci expects to investigate more shared services agreements, though township has no potential agreements in the works. Any agreements will require research to determine feasibility, Suraci said.

“What’s really key is you have to find someone who has excess capacity in some area,” he said. “That’s one of the greatest challenges, finding someone with excess capacity in some area.”