WEST MILFORD — A few weeks ago, the West Milford Township Council decided to make the Economic Development Committee a commission. This gave the EDC some teeth, the ability to apply for grants and do more than just advise the council. Wednesday night, with nine Citizen Leadership Forms on file and eight citizen positions available for the new commission, the council decided to table its appointments to the EDC, waiting until the Jan. 23 meeting to do it. One of those forms had come in earlier in the day Wednesday, too late to make it into the mayor and council’s meeting packets and therefore too late to review for the annual reorganization meeting.
That leaves the EDC with no members for another month. And that concerns former EDC chairperson Bob Nicholson.
“We are in limbo,” said Nicholson after the meeting. “We’re losing a month. I’m not happy about that.”
During the meeting, Nicholson addressed the council about their decision to delay the appointments.
“The EDC started Jan. 2, so tabling this until February, we have no membership. There is no EDC as it is now,” he said.
Nicholson noted that the Citizen Leadership Forms, which are mandatory to complete for anyone seeking appointment to a township board, committee or commission, were not on the township’s Web site until Dec. 31, 2012, which, he said, is why one of the candidates didn’t complete it until then and why the council didn’t have the opportunity to review it until the day of the meeting. He even suggested there might have been something fishy going on since another candidate submitted the form before it was online. Not so, said one councilmember.
“I don’t think it’s improper that people submitted applications,” said Councilwoman CarlLa Horton, adding there is plenty written in the local papers about the procedures.
Mayor Bettina Bieri noted that the township accepts the Citizen Leadership Forms throughout the year.
Still, Nicholson was disappointed that the group he’s led will be grounded for another month.
“We had a meeting scheduled for Jan. 15. Now we’ll have to cancel that and wait until February," he said.
There are 11 members of the EDC including the mayor, a council liaison, a member of the West Milford Chamber of commerce and eight citizen members. Six citizen members are appointed by the council and two by the mayor.
According to township Clerk Antoinette Batagglia, anyone wishing to submit a Citizen Leadership Form and be considered for the EDC, should get it to her by Jan. 17. There is a list on the township’s Web site of all committees with vacancies.
The Economic Development Commission was established in December as an advisory board to the council to promote economic development activities in the township.