Authority to seek opinion of former judge

BRICK — Commissioners of the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority are hoping a retired Superior Court judge will provide an impartial opinion as to whether the authority's former chairman should be charged interest for sewer service provided, but not billed, dating back to 1986.

The commissioners unofficially agreed Monday night to see if James M. Havey, who retired last July after serving for 20 years as an appellate court judge and as a trial judge in Ocean County for eight years before that, would be willing to work for the authority. In addition to overseeing the interest issue, Commissioner John Ekarius said he hopes Havey will be able to help the commissioners draft an ethics policy for commissioners and authority employees.

The commissioners agreed to delay a vote on appointing Havey out of respect to authority Chairman Andrew P. Nittoso Jr. and Commissioners Salvatore Petoia and Joseph Veni, who were absent from the meeting.

Havey was hired last year by the Neptune Township Committee to decide whether four Neptune Township Sewerage Authority commissioners acted improperly when they hired James Monroe, the husband of then-Committeewoman Patricia Monroe.

Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher has said his office is investigating the circumstances involving the failure to bill former chairman Daniel F. Newman Sr.'s company, Pineland Plumbing & Heating, for nearly 20 years of sewer service but has not said when that investigation will be complete. Newman paid the nearly $10,900 bill on March 28, the same day prosecutors subpoenaed information regarding his account.

Although the authority's finance committee has agreed to discuss the matter once the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office completes its investigation, Ekarius said he believes the commissioners could benefit from a "clear and impartial approach."

"Everybody knows everybody here," Ekarius said.

It is for that reason that Township Councilman Stephen C. Acropolis said he believes the council should also hire an independent company to look at whether the township would benefit by abolishing the authority.

At the request of Councilwoman Kathy Russell, who has said she believes the authority should be abolished and absorbed by the township, Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli last week asked his staff to prepare a report on the financial issues surrounding a municipal takeover of the authority.

At the mayor's request, township Business Administrator Scott R. MacFadden said the report will include facts but not an opinion on whether the authority should be abolished. Information included in the report he will prepare with Township Attorney Scott Kenneally and Chief Financial Officer Scott Pezarras will include information about the procedure for abolishing a water and sewer authority, the impact the authority's debt would have on the township, and the financial impact a municipal takeover would have on the tax rate.

"If they seriously want to study the MUA and the best action to take, it would be wise to bring in an independent entity to make a recommendation," MacFadden said. "No matter what anybody says, I am sure there are people over there who believe any study I produce will be skewed, just like if they did a study of themselves, some people here might not believe it was impartial. An outside agency will give an unbiased, impartial view."

In 1996, a Brick Township Water Advisory Task Force was formed to study the feasibility of privatizing the authority. The following year, the task force, which included various professionals, as well as elected and appointed officials from both the Township Council and authority's Board of Commissioners, issued a report saying the township takeover of the BTMUA was not viable.

Also at Monday's BTMUA meeting, Ekarius asked attorney John Paul Doyle to issue an opinion on the portion of the authority's bylaws that state the chairman shall sign all vouchers and orders for the payment of money. Several commissioners and members of the Township Council have objected to Nittoso's decision to change the signature card at Commerce Bank so that he, rather than the authority's executive director, must sign the authority's payroll checks.

"I think at best the line in question is oblique and is subject to interpretation," Ekarius said.

At that meeting, Newman's attorney, Steven N. Cucci, a former member of the Brick Township Council, told the commissioners that Newman is anxious to appear before them and address some of their concerns "when the time is appropriate."

"For me to keep him at home has been a struggle on my part," Cucci said.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.