VIDEO: WMUA's Annual Report to Township Committee Turns Political

As the Manalapan Comissioners of the reported to the Township Committee on Sept. 14, the discussion turned political when Commissioner Stephen McEnery, the appointee of Republican Mayor Andrew Lucas, came under fire over his credentials.

Prior to the debate, however, the discussion began with Commissioner Steven Toubin and McEnery presenting their findings, with Toubin leading the presentation.

Here are some of the findings from the 2011 State of the Authority:

Personnel

• Employee count has gone 10 percent due to continued privatization of the plant, process improvements, and retirements
• Begun annual mandatory training for sexual harassment
• First female operations worker at a plant
• New evaluating procedures for management

Operations

• Updated purchasing manual
• No major complaints to report with municipal shared service agreement using Manalapan’s vehicles

Infrastructure

• Recently completed projects funded by the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust
• Projects were funded by federal and state funding and created jobs in the community, improved employee safety, contributed to cleaner environment
• Recently accepted bid for nearly one megawatt solar field; will purchase power at cost of 25 percent of payment to Jersey Central Power & Light; anticipated savings of $100,000 to $150,000 a year

Toubin reported that there was good news and bad news in terms of the WMUA's finances.

During the last 10 years, the WMUA earned approximately $2 million on average. The bad news is that last year profit decreased to $1 million due to a slow down in building and a reduction in short term interest rates. This year, profit is expected to decrease again to $700,000.

Despite the setback, Toubin said that the commissioners are proud that rates have been kept stable.

Over the last 10 years,  the WMUA has spent $20 million in capital improvements and lowered debt by $10 million.

“Instead of spending our surplus, we’ve actually kept it the same these last 10 years, and we maintained what I would say are conservative surplus levels and reserve levels,” said Toubin.

A solar energy agreement and a wholesale purchase of electricity have also saved $225,000 a year. He thanked employees for their hard work on these cost-saving measures.

Toubin then addressed Hurricane Irene and the three other major storms that took place in August. Each one of the storms had the potential to completely shut down the plant.

At one point, the Crine Road facility in Marlboro took on 20 million gallons of water, 2.5 times what it normally can handle. Floodwater was contained in the plant facility and cleaned up. The plant lost power for four days during Hurricane Irene and operated successfully on generators. There were no major complaints from customers.

Committeewoman Michelle Roth, the lone Democrat on the panel and a career financial analyst, was the only member of the Township Committee to question the commissioners. After asking Toubin a question about the flooded pump station, she shifted her focus to McEnery, asking him if he was "up to speed" on the bio-solid remediation sector and any cost-saving measures.

McEnery was unable to provide an answer to the question, which led Roth into a second, more personal question.

“You were appointed at the reorganization meeting for the Township Committee even though the appointment was to be done at the end of January," said Roth. "And this denied the Township Committee the ability to interview all the candidates that had submitted resumes. So I’m curious if you can please just share with the public what your qualifications are for this position."

McEnery replied that he has 25 years of management experience spanning different projects and technologies. He said the Township Committee has a copy of his resume.

Roth then asked McEnery if his experience was in auditing or accounting, but before he could answer, Mayor Andrew Lucas intervened.

“Tonight’s appearance really was just for the state of the Municipal Utilities Authority. It wasn’t for the inquisition of the commissioner,” said Lucas.

Lucas pointed out that there have been roughly 15 WMUA meetings since January and Roth could have attended those meetings to voice political criticisms.

“This isn’t the time nor the place under our meeting rules or procedures,” added Lucas.

Township Attorney Roger McLaughlin agreed that questions about a past appointment were inappropriate for this forum on the annual report.

As the conversation heated up, Mayor Lucas pounded the gavel and said to Roth, “Please handle yourself with some semblance of decorum.”  

McLaughlin added, “Please limit your comment or questions to the operations of the WMUA."

McEnery then pointed out that Roth was absent from the Jan. 5 reorganization meeting during which he was appointed.

“I’m not here to play political games with you,” said McEnery to Roth. “We gave a presentation as we’ve done every year. I don’t remember you ever questioning a commissioner in the past."

Roth said that an appointment for the WMUA position was supposed to be made at the end of January. Instead, the resolution appeared on the agenda of the reorganization meeting for which she was absent. She added that there was another qualified applicant with over 20 years of experience who had direct experience working for a utility authority.

Former Mayor George Spodak, also a Democrat, has been an outspoken critic of McEnery, appearing at WMUA meetings to criticize the commissioner.

“I asked Mr. McEnery twice at the WMUA meeting to reveal to me his credentials. He refused to do so,” said Spodak. “And I believe he’s just another political hack appointed at a good job.”

This led to an unfriendly exchange between Spodak and McEnery as Spodak took his seat. McLaughlin reminded the men that they were speaking out of order, and the meeting continued.

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