Jerry Murphy elected mayor of Sparta

John Schon is deputy mayor, By Fran Hardy Sparta — The township council chose a new mayor and deputy mayor last week during its annual reorganization meeting. Outgoing Mayor Scott Seelagy passed the gavel to Jerry Murphy, who was unanimously elected by council. Murphy then passed on the duties of deputy mayor to John Schon, who was also unanimously chosen by the council. Murphy and Schon will serve one-year terms. However, because of the change in the municipal election date, their terms will be extended until Dec. 31, 2012. Last January, the council adopted a new ordinance to change municipal elections from May to November. Sparta’s elections have always been held on even-numbered years, so that places the next municipal election in November, 2012 and it will coincide with the presidential election. Sparta’s next reorganization meeting will be in January, 2013. Murphy told the Independent this week, “My goal as mayor is to raise the standard of excellence in every aspect of the town. People have to start thinking outside the box. I’d like to see improvements in every area possible.” New committee Murphy’s first act as mayor was to propose a resolution to create a new committee — the Parks and Monuments Committee. The resolution says the committee’s purpose is “to examine existing veterans’ monuments and find a central location for the purpose of creating a lasting memorial to be viewed and appreciated by the citizens of Sparta.” Murphy said there are numerous monuments spread out through town and many residents are unaware of them. He suggested it would be a more fitting memorial to find a central location where all monuments can be relocated with a “patriot’s path” for citizens to stroll and view the monuments and remember the service and sacrifice of veterans. The council approved the new committee and four citizens were appointed for one-year terms. They are John Ricker, Marty Schweighardt, Robert Corbo, and James Henderson. New ordinances adopted Three new ordinances designed to toughen the town’s collection policies for water, solid waste, and sewage disposal utilities were introduced last month. A public hearing on the ordinances was held at last week’s council meeting and they were unanimously adopted by the council. No one from the public spoke on the ordinances, but during public participation JoAnn Scully wondered why council hadn’t previously gotten tougher on citizens who do not pay their bills, saying everyone suffers when some do not pay. Ilene Francis suggested that solid waste utility bills be rolled into property taxes to lessen the instances of nonpayment. Solar energy updates to be posted Deputy Mayor Schon suggested that the town’s solar energy projects, both those that are up and running, and the Germany Flats project which is under construction, be monitored for posting on the municipal Web site. He said this would give taxpayers an understanding of how these projects are functioning, how much the town is saving in energy costs, and how much revenue is coming in via the sale of solar renewable energy credits generated by the projects. Township Manager David Troast said this information will be available on the Web site very soon. Recognition for girls’ softball team In his second official action as mayor, Murphy presented a Proclamation of Recognition to the Sparta High School girls’ softball team and their coach, Rick Poots. The team recently played the Middletown South team in the NJSIAA State Group III finals and won the state championship. Public participation Ilene Francis said many seniors are upset at the news that the Sussex County Health Department will discontinue administering yearly flu shots at the Knoll Heights Senior Center. She said the health department has always given the shots in two locations in Sparta: the senior center and at the Sparta Middle School. She said she was told by health department officials that for economic reasons, the Knoll Heights location will be discontinued and the shots will only be given at the middle school. Francis said over 400 seniors gather at Knoll Heights every year to get their flu shots because it’s the most convenient location for them. She said seniors were told their health services would not be affected by Sparta’s merge with the Sussex County Health Department, but that seniors feel this latest move lessens the quality of service they were receiving. The council said they would look into the matter. Bob Luby complained to council about the surplus funds recently reported by the board of education and that $1.3 million was just spent on technology upgrades. He wondered why council was unaware of these funds when they voted on cuts to the school budget after it was rejected in the April election. Murphy said Luby should take his objections to the board of education. Councilwoman Molly Whilesmith said the council could not have anticipated there was a surplus, or that it would be spent on technology. Peter Huhn also expressed dismay over news of the unexpected surplus and said several questions must be addressed at the next board meeting. He added, “I’m going to follow up on my end.”