Vernon dismantles Environmental Commission

VERNON — The Vernon Township Council on Monday dismantled the township Environmental Commission in a contentious 3-2 vote.
The decision came despite impassioned pleas and protests from the public and members of local environmental groups including The New Jersey Sierra Club and the The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions.
The end of the Environmental Commission came with the passage of Ordinance 16-16, which removed the sections of Vernon's Township code that referenced the commission's duties and laid out rules for appointing its members. According to the text of the ordinance, the Environmental Commission ceased to exist immediately after the measure's approval.
Councilwomen Sandra Ooms and Jean Murphy and Council President Dan Kadish voted to approve the measure. Councilmen Dick Wetzel and Patrick Rizzuto opposed the ordinance. Wetzel had previously voted in favor of introducing the measure at the council's May 23 meeting.
Though not at Monday's meeting, Mayor Harry Shortway said on his Facebook page he would “support the council majority if they decide to disband the (Environmental Commission).”
Shortway, who said he wants to streamline the township government, said in the past the Environmental Commission's duties can be assumed by the new Greenway Action Advisory Committee. The Greenway Committee is made up of three former members of the Environmental Commission, including two former chairpeople and two water professionals, Shortway said.
Leading up to the vote, nearly 20 environmental commission members and supporters mounted a more than hour-long campaign to sway the council's decision during the public hearing on the ordinance.
Some individuals accused the council of moving to abolish the Environmental Commission due to a personality dispute with Chairwoman Beverly Budz, who was recently removed from her position overseeing administration of the township's tree-planting grant. Commission supporters called the Council's effort to discontinue the Environmental Commission “reckless,” “absurd” and “vindictive.”
Ooms, however, said the public should give Shortway's vision of streamlined government a chance.
“Change can be painful,” Ooms said. “I think we need to respect Mayor Shortway and continue with the change he wants to bring on. With change comes reassessment, and we'll have to monitor. If his new way of approaching environmental issues doesn't work out then we'll have to reinstate it.”
At one point, the council was forced to take a short recess when tensions in the room overflowed and it could not move forward with proceedings. The council held its vote on the issue immediately after.