Roxbury, Mine Hill planning to share services

Roxbury and Mine Hill have inked an agreement to share an animal control officer through 2010 and a health officer through 2011.

The pair of separate contracts were approved unanimously by Mine Hill, and Roxbury is expected to pass the agreements at its next council meeting.

The animal control officer agreement is an extension of the 2009 agreement and assigns a Roxbury officer to Mine Hill on an on-call basis. Mine Hill agreed to pay Roxbury $52 per hour, up from $50.

"The beauty is we don't pay them unless we use the service," said Mine Hill business administrator Stephen Welsh.

The township does not use the service often, said Mayor Richard Leary, which is why it makes little sense for Mine Hill to employ their own officer. In the past, Mine Hill had a part-time employee perform some of the duties, but with a tight budget and an unpredictable call volume it made more sense to contract out, Leary said.

In the second quarter of 2009, Mine Hill called the Roxbury animal control officer 13 times and spent $1,182, according to Welsh.

Welsh said he is planning to budget $5,000 for 2010 to account for the 4 percent cost hike.

"The increase they passed on is very reasonable," Welsh said. "They are not trying to gouge us."

Leary said these are the kind of agreements his township needs to pursue if they are to keep taxes low while maintaining a high quality of service.

"Roxbury is very responsive," Leary said. "It's another one of those agreements that eliminates a duplication of services and lessens the burden for both communities."

That is also the case with the two-year health services agreements, according to Roxbury administrator Christopher Raths.

Roxbury will receive $48,779 in 2010 and $50,242 in 2011 for its health officer to perform routine services in Mine Hill, including inspecting restaurants and pools.

Raths said the two agreements are mutually beneficial and that Roxbury, like Mine Hill, continues to look for new and creative opportunities to lower costs by sharing resources.

"We continue to be a leader in the shared services in the area," Raths said. "We are very glad to work with Mine Hill. They continue to be a very good customer."

Dan Goldberg is a reporter for the New Jersey Local News Service. He may be reached at (908) 243-6235 or at dgoldberg@njlns.com.