The merger of the municipalities, approved by Borough voters this past November, will take place at the beginning of next year. Much of the cost savings from consolidation are predicted to come from the merger of the two police departments.
Bonnie Goldman, the judge for both municipalities, said that there currently are two court administrators but that there can only be one following consolidation.
“There will be one court administration ... and as opposed to los[ing] that second court administrator, that person should be in the position of a deputy,” she said.
The Princeton Recreation Department also expressed concerns about future staffing levels. Ben Stentz, executive director of the Princeton Recreation Department, said that some of his staff will have to move to a different department due to consolidation. “Personally, I think that is a mistake,” he said.
Transition Task Force members Mark Freda and Dorothea Berkhout noted that, under the current consolidation law, the Township and the Borough do not have the authority to make decisions about personnel changes. This could be potentially problematic, they explained.
“You can’t expect [employees] to wait until November to find out if they get a job or not next year,” Freda said.
The task force subcommittees for court, health, recreation and human services and the Princeton Senior Resource Center presented the expected effects of the consolidation on their respective areas.
However, officials from the health and human services subcommittees and the Princeton Senior Resource Center said the departments under their review were already consolidated in one way or another.
“Well, we are already consolidated, and I am an office of one,” said Cynthia Mendez, director of the Human Services Commission and Department. She noted that the office might become relocated following the merge, however.
Princeton health officer David Henry explained that the health agencies of the Borough and the Township consolidated 35 years ago.
Susan Hoskins, executive director of the Princeton Senior Resource Center, said that her agency is in reality an independent nonprofit. However, she explained that her office works as a “joint municipal agency.”
“I’m assuming that there is not going to be a large impact on us,” she said. “I’m hoping we don’t lose our building.”
Stentz, of the Recreation Department, which has not yet merged, said he didn’t “see an impact on the way we do our programming and how we run our facilities.”
The Task Force questioned Henry on the potential effects of the upcoming move of the University Medical Center at Princeton to its new Route 1 facility.
Henry explained that his agency is working with UMCP to assure that “there is very good access.” He added that the hospital had offered to provide transportation or cab vouchers for patients who have no other means to get to the hospital.
“We will have little or no births in Princeton. Since we’ve been having 2,000 births a year, those certificates will have to be maintained,” Henry added.
Following the presentations, the Task Force proposed new members for the Public Safety, Public Works and Joint Finance Committees.
The University will provide two liaison members to the public safety subcommittee, said Freda, chairman of the Task Force.
The next Princeton Transition Task Force meeting is scheduled for March 7.
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