Vernon council removes tree grant administrator

VERNON — The Vernon Township Council on Monday replaced the administrator of the township's tree replacement grant despite a public outcry protesting the change.
In a 3-2 vote, the council voted to remove Environmental Commission Chairperson Beverly Budz as administrator of a Department of Environmental Protection “No Net Loss” grant totaling $354,960 and appoint Michael Cheski to oversee the remainder of the project.
The township has already received approximately $72,000 of the grant money under Budz, who helped secure the funds nearly two years ago. The grant is meant to reimburse the cost of planting and maintaining 1,200 trees to replace those lost in the construction of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline three years ago. The funds were set to be distributed in five phases.
In its resolution making the change, the council said there were “certain problems with the administration of the grant thus far” including “inconsistencies” related to compensation awarded to Budz, improper purchasing procedures and “problems relating to the State Forester.”
Budz already received $3,000 for writing the grant and stood to be paid a total of $6,000 for the writing and managing of the project.
In a Facebook post last week, however, Mayor Harry Shortway said Budz failed to provide him with a written contract detailing the payment requirements related to her involvement with the grant and was unable to meet with the township's business administrator and attorney to review the matter. Shortway also said in securing trees for the project, Budz failed to comply with local public contract law that specifies the project must either be put out to bid or be completed through a purchase made under a state contract or similar cooperative.
Shortway said in the post he believed the replacement of Budz to be “completely justified and required by the law.”
Budz on Monday alleged the council was denying her due process in refusing to discuss the issues surrounding her replacement in public. Prior to the council's April 11 meeting, Budz said she received a RICE notice and requested the issue be discussed publicly at the council's next meeting.
A RICE notice is a document that is required to be issued to township employees and volunteers before government entities can discuss personnel issues, such as the termination of employment or evaluation of performance. The notice gives the affected party the right to request a public hearing.
Budz said the exact issues surrounding her administration of the grant money were never made clear to her and accused Shortway of dodging her attempts to schedule a meeting on the issue.
Budz also questioned the selection of Cheski as her replacement. Budz said she never sought to write the original grant, but was forced to in the wake of Cheski's sudden absence ahead of the grant's original deadline.
Several members of the public offered their support for Budz, including former Vernon Mayor Victor Marotta, who said none of the things Budz had been faulted with were her responsibility.
Marotta said the responsibility for the alleged errors in the administration of the grant lay with him and noted he was the one who negotiated the original contract with Budz to write and administer the grant. Marotta said it was “quite clear she has lived up to her responsibility” and said the council's removal of Budz as administrator represented the breaking of her contract.
Aside from protests voiced by Councilmen Patrick Rizzuto and Dick Wetzel, the council declined to discuss the issue publicly before the resolution was passed. According to the text of the resolution, Cheski will serve as grant administrator at no cost to the township.
Though she has been removed as administrator, Budz told the council she will be monitoring the grant's progress going forward.
“You can take me off watching the grant, but you can't stop me watching after the trees,” Budz said. “The minute that I see that they're not being tended to...I will report you to the State of New Jersey. I have pride in that grant and those trees and I will be watching out for them.”
The council also approved the township's 2016 municipal budget. The approval came despite allegations from some members of the public that the document was padded to accommodate Shortway's interests and could be cut further.
Shortway denied the budget included any superfluous funds after being questioned by Councilwoman Sandra Ooms.