250th Anniversary Task Force Continues to Seek Funds to Meet Budget Requirements

Honoring the township's 250th anniversary is not free, yet the members of the 250th Anniversary Task Force continue to seek generous donations to realize a full programming calendar for celebrations and events.

Task force member Kristin Fox was able to make reductions in the budget, such as lowering proposed publicity expenditures from $750 to $300 and finding a volunteer to donate sound equipment for an event, which would have cost the township around $600. No significant programming cuts were made, although some projects, such as the tile project at Ridge High School are waiting for official approval as the budget issues are being handled before they begin.

Township Committee member and chair of the task force, Mary Pavlini, said that she met with the Summit Medical Group, which has originally proposed a $5,000 donation to sponsor the town's time capsule project, but is now only able to offer $2,500. The medical group was hoping the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center would match the donation to meet the original proposed amount, but because the time capsule is a township project, and not run by a non-profit, Sloan-Kettering could not make the contribution. Pavilini reported that the Summit Medical Group is still looking for a new partner to match their donation.

The good news for the group is that initial queries from task force member John Crane to banks in the area to provide the savings bond gifts for the town's essay contest have proved promising. Crane reported interest from Bank of America and Skylands Community Bank, among others, in sponsoring the contest and providing the bonds.

"We're whittling away," Pavilini said about the budgeting process. "We're getting there, and I hope by next week we'll maybe have a commitment from the leisure club and some of the realtors that have expressed interest, as well as receive the commitment from Summit Medical Group for their $2,500."

"Then we'll be able to prioritize and figure out the rest of the expenses that we're considering, [and] we can vote on some of the other items that we might want to move forward with," Pavlini said.

Meeting Notes

The task force voted in favor of moving forward with the commemorative magazine idea discussed in the last meeting. Two task force members, including township historian June Kennedy, who did not like the commercial aspect of the magazine, voted against the project.

Pavilini reported the township was contacted by a volunteer who would be willing to write content for the magazine, which was the major stumbling block at the last meeting. The publisher will produce the magazine and distribute it to all households in town free of charge if they are able to meet their goal of selling $20,000 worth of ads, according to Township Clerk and task force member Denise Szabo. If the publisher does not sell that many ads, the township will have to deliver the magazine more selectively to fewer households.

The task force also put to rest another issue that was up for debate at the Feb. 11 meeting, deciding on the restrictions for using the township's anniversary logo. Six provisions will be posted on the township website regulating the logo's use, mostly aimed at preventing anyone from using it for commercial or distasteful purposes.