A road work sign in Toms River, N.J., April 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)
A normally-routine vote by the township council to adopt the annual capital budget has set off a war of words between warring political factions in town, while improvements such as roadwork and the replacement of public works and police vehicles are off the table until the matter is decided.
The capital budget, a bonding measure which funds long-term improvements to infrastructure and the purchase of various types of equipment, was introduced earlier this year. The capital plan calls for $14,700,510 in total projects, of which $13,999,000 would be bonded. Under state law, the passage of the capital budget requires a supermajority of the township council to support it – in Toms River’s case, five out of seven voting members of the council. At a meeting last week, however, the capital plan was statutorily defeated, as the council voted 4-2 in favor of adoption, just missing the supermajority requirement. Councilmen Dan Rodrick and Justin Lamb both voted against adopting the budget, while Councilman David Ciccozzi, who normally voted with the majority, was absent from the meeting.
The rejection of the capital budget by Rodrick and Lamb, once political allies who have drifted apart over the past year, comes as Rodrick is seeking the Republican nomination for mayor – representing one of three GOP factions running slates of candidates in June’s primary election. Both Rodrick and Lamb cited the inclusion of $1.5 million in the capital budget, the township’s share of a $5.6 million grant to improve traffic flow in the downtown area, as the reason they opposed the plan.
The two members of council have both strongly opposed to what they see as over-development in the downtown area, especially a 10-story high rise building that has already received approval. Additional plans to redevelop the Boatworks building and portions of Huddy Park have been put on hold after facing some opposition at council meeting last month. The “downtown loop” traffic project is part of the wider effort to revitalize the area and redesign the traffic patterns linking several downtown streets as well as the crossing of the Toms River from one side to another for public access.
The larger problem, Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill has said, is that the rejection of the budget also means the township’s annual spending on road paving and other routine replacement of old vehicles and equipment is off the table, at least temporarily. The vote spurred a number of dueling press releases issued by officials representing the various factions currently doing battle over the GOP nomination process.
“The political grandstanding by Councilmen Rodrick and Lamb is putting lives and property at risk,” Hill said. “These two political hacks never leave campaign mode and are always scheming for headlines. They are not serious about serving the public but rather are only self-serving. Their most recent action has real negative consequences for the residents of Toms River.”
Lamb responded in kind with his own statement, accusing Hill of being a “tax and spend” mayor whose proposed capital budget is a “scheme to drive up debt and smuggle a Trojan horse of unwanted downtown development onto the township’s books.”
Rodrick said at the meeting that his opposition was limited to the downtown traffic loop plan, while Geri Ambrosio, another candidate in the GOP mayoral primary, also issued a statement opposing the capital budget.
“We shouldn’t be surprised that Mo would sneak expenses for his obscene overdevelopment plans into the bond ordinance,” said Ambrosio, adding that Toms River’s designated redeveloper for the downtown area is a “democrat developer,” the Capodagli Group, based in Linden, that acquired township land for “pennies on the dollar.”
What Happens Now?
The $13.9 million bond ordinance included $1.5 million for the township’s share of the “downtown loop” traffic improvement project. The federal government has agreed to pay $5.6 million towards the project if the township participates, however with the budget being defeated, Hill said the federal grant is at risk “because of the reckless actions of Councilmen Lamb and Rodrick.”
Most of the capital improvement budget funds local road maintenance and paving projects, with another $3.3 million going toward items including an F-450 dump truck, 10 police cars to replace old vehicles being retired, three “robo-truck” garbage collection vehicles, a street sweeper, a roll-off truck, plus John Deere tractors and a number of smaller pickup trucks, plus a snow plow.
The downtown traffic grant, which was awarded to Toms River in 2018 by the U.S. Department of Transportation, will create a loop between the Garden State Parkway and waterfront business district by elevating and reconstructing Herflicker Boulevard as a one-way complete street, converting Water Street to a one-way complete street, and making roadway improvements and upgrades on connecting roadways. The project also upgrades the roadway and elevates Herflicker Boulevard to limit flooding – qualifying it to be used as an evacuation route during flood events. The project also improves multi-modal connectivity to the Toms River waterfront district, where the bulk of redevelopment is planned.
“The people of Toms River are upset about what’s being done to their town,” Lamb said. “Mo’s twin 10-story towers are modeled after a massive Hackensack project and they’re completely incompatible with our town.”
The next township council meeting is scheduled for April 26. Assuming Ciccozzi is present along with the six other council members, the budget is likely to pass with the required supermajority. But Hill said the nearly month-long delay could end up costing taxpayers.
“We lost the prime months of April and May for road improvements,” Hill said. “Fuel prices always rise in the summer and oil prices are on the rise again, which increases the cost of asphalt. We may not be able to repair all the roads we planned to fix this year. Rodrick and Lamb have really hurt the taxpayers with this stunt.”
Hill said he will ask the council to introduce a new capital bonding ordinance at the next meeting, but some road paving and elevation projects could be pushed into 2024.
