Should Mahwah Sell Advertising To Make Money? [POLL]
Other ideas presented to the town council include adding solar panels to municipal buildings and reducing garbage and recycling pick-up
Would you want to see advertisements at Continental Soldiers Park or Commodore Perry Field if it meant saving some money on your taxes?
Using municipal space to generate potential advertising dollars was one of a few revenue-generating suggestions made by resident Pete Cassotis at a Mahwah township council meeting last Thursday.
“I know with all of the talk about the [2% tax cap] and needing to save money, I think [we should] start looking into some of these things,” he told the council. “Every little bit helps.”
Cassotis’s other suggestions included reducing twice-a-week garbage pick-up from six months of the year back down to four.
Cassotis suggested bumping the schedule back down to only four months of twice weekly pick-up, and also cutting the number of times recycling is picked up every month.
Business administrator Brian Campion said the council will “definitely be looking into” cost-savings measures with garbage and recycling pick-up in the upcoming budget cycle.
The council seemed most receptive to Cassotis’s third suggestion, to look into adding solar panels to municipal buildings.
Cassotis asked the council to revisit a proposal from last year that would add solar panels to town hall, the police station, fire houses and other municipal buildings.
According to a NorthJersey.com article, the Sustainable Mahwah group advocated to add the panels before a tax incentive expired last December. The council did not go for it because it wanted to see a more in-depth analysis of the cost savings, the report said.
Councilman Harry Williams said Thursday the council should once again entertain the idea of adding solar panels, suggesting Sustainable Mahwah return to make another presentation to the council. Though he said the tax incentive considered last year is no longer applicable, there “may be something else there.”
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In This article
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Continental Soldiers Park
550 Ramapo Valley Rd, Mahwah, NJ -
Commodore Perry Field
70 E Ramapo Ave, Mahwah, NJ -
Concerned Parent/Taxpayer
8:03 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Not sure selling advertising is going to make a dramatic impact. I believe the high school had a similar plan I don't know that there are many companies that paid to hang a sign at the football field. If this would generate in the hundreds of thousands it should be considered.
As for garbage pick up, it should be twice a week all year round.
Solar would have been a great idea when the tax benefit was there. This would have allowed the town to get the solar panels for free. The township wouldn't have seen the full savings but you typically see a 50% reduction in electric costs. This is another example of the council's indecision costing the taxpayers money. This solar idea should have also been considered by the school system but they are not in the business of saving taxpayers money.
Andy Schmidt
9:15 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Agreed!
The recent history of inaction by the current council has been painful to watch (they couldn't even fulfill their commitment to come up with a working solution for something as basic as the campain sign issue, when they had a FULL YEAR to do so).
Of course, with the exception of the Crossroad Mall -- where they felt it was crucial to FIRST lock the township into a deal that disagrees with our master plan, and THEN poll the residents.
Ralph
9:44 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
A little fiesty today Andy? But I cant disagree with what you said. Forget advertising, it will make the town look worse then the political signs but at least the signs will come down eventually. Leave the garbage and recycling pickup the way it is but look to renegotiate the garbage pickup price or work with adjoining towns to put in one bid for all the towns at a reduced rate. Solar Panels well of course a great idea to save energy costs that was not fully looked at when it made sense to do it but we do in fact need to revisit. Lets get people on the council who want to make decisions and yes Andy the sign ordinance is a prime example of indecision on their part which was easy to do but they were afraid to do it the right way. You can thank John Speich and his so called committee who took 2 years to look into that one without providing any answers to the sign issue. So Andy 2 weeks away, who are you voting for?
Ralph
11:23 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Fair enough Andy. Looks like this is one question where we do not have a disagreement. Incumbents should run on their record like it or not and I agree that we have not seen anything like that during this campaign either from the Mayor's side or the council side. Concerned brings up an excellent point about Roth. So by saying you are not for the incumbents, does that mean you are voting for the other 3 candidates? What are your feelings about them after listening to the Library meetings?
Andy Schmidt
11:45 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Hi Ralph,
well, let me say:
I am confused about one council candidate who is MIA,
I feel good about one new candidate whom I have since also met, and
I am on the fence on one of the incumbents.
Right now, it's quite likely that I may NOT cast all THREE available votes. I may vote only for those candidate(s) for whom I feel NO reservations.
Casting all three votes just because I CAN, but including candidates that I'm not really certain about, means that I would make it HARDER for "good" candidates to end up with the most votes.
Ralph
12:00 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Have you personally met all of the candidates. I have met all but one (the MIA) and I am impressed with the other 2 newcomers. I hope the people vote in the 2 new ones I have met and the 3rd seat is still up in the air. What we do need is new fresh ideas and people who will fight for what is right.
Concerned Parent/Taxpayer
10:43 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Well said, Andy! I have been wondering why John Roth who should be known as the "Face of the Crossroads" has not been mentioned with it at all this campaign season. It's funny, Crossroads really has not been spoken of, I guess because of all of the lawsuits, but the non-imcumbents should be using it to their advantage. Let's think back to John Roth's time as Council President when he was quite rude to any resident stepping up to the microphone and being argumentative at the same time. His campaign is based on what he accomplished 5 to 8 years ago but what have you done for me lately? Oh yeah, blindly approved an ordinance change to allow the Crossroads which will change Mahwah forever. Where are the Stop the Mall people about this?
Andy Schmidt
11:37 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Y'know the sad part is, that I am willing to accept people's observation, that Mr. Roth is indeed very well prepared for meetings, very effective in reviewing and advancing issues, etc. I have NO basis to doubt his intellect and abilities!
But, what am I to do with a candidate who indeed IS very effective in advancing issues, but that are NOT in my best interest - and is equally effective in blocking/tabling issues that I feel WOULD have been in my best interest?
Hank
11:50 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
nobody is afraid of the Mall People they have no clout. They pulled out every stop with petitions,advertising, mass protests at meetings, to win the referendum.
It turns out that with all that effort they could only come up with a slight margin above regular voters who did not put up one pro mall sign.
They have a crazy ball field lawsuit that is the town joke.
Maybe you better call them.
NDW
6:34 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Only one person has ever accused John Roth of being rude as a Coucil President, that would be you and Lisa Digiulio, when she tried to intoduce motions out of turn or was pandering to a crowd. Come to think of it wonder what your real name is???
Concerned Parent/Taxpayer
7:46 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
NDW
Your statement is completely false. I'm sure you can still listen to council meetings from that time and hear the rudeness. Lets not start with the "real name" thing or I could do the same with you. Lets just have a normal conversation.
Concerned Parent/Taxpayer
12:07 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Hank, I agree but disagree. They did have enough clout to get 50.9% of Mahwah to vote against the Crossroads. I do agree that they may have lost their focus.
Hank
2:11 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
If I was a politician I would look at it that the Stop the Mall group spent countless hours and energy for many months to get people to see their view. and get out to vote. Their message saturated the town. At voting time, all they could come up with is 2,500 or so people. I could assume that only 2,500 people don't want the mall not 1/2 of Mahwah. The other 2,500 who voted for the mall have no organization and are just voting their individual feelings. I would assume that there are a heck of a lot more of those people in town because I could probably add way more if there was a similar effort made by a pro mall group.
Nick
4:35 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Or, Hank, you have people like me who lived through the fiasco that is the Palisades Mall in W. Nyack, and know that rushing to be for or against this project is a waste of time. Make no mistake, it will be built, and there will be many broken promises about benefits to the town's coffers and improved road conditions. It will be built above it's approved size and scope. And when it is all said and done, most of the people against it will line up to shop there anyway. The future of this project is pretty well told in this article: http://www.lohud.com/article/20080406/COLUMNIST/804060383/Mall-foe-s-deepest-fear-political-corruption
Mark Case
6:52 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Concerned taxpayer??? For 20+ years Digiulio voted to approve her own health care benefits at a cost of about $20,000 per year. That's $400K in benefits and $140K in salary! She casts votes based on who shows up at mettings and reads crowds really well. Yes she plants mums every Fall. Inch deep mile wide! And you have no problems with this waste of money???
Concerned Parent/Taxpayer
7:40 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Hi Mark,
I'm not sure if your numbers are exactly correct. I don't know that insurance cost $20,000 20 years ago but I do understand your point. But don't forget I'm sure there have been other council members through her terms that have also taken the benefits, too. But I'm assuming your talking about the most recent incident in which she refused to deny town benefits. I agree that since she has a full time job, there is no reason to have the town pay for her benefits. I also agree with you on how she reads crowds. We need new leadership through and through if this town is ever going to prosper going into the future.