Villadom Times Weekly Local Newspaper

Mahwah March 17, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Appellate court afﬁrms township’s siren use by Frank J. McMahon A three-judge panel of the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey has affirmed Superior Court Judge Robert P. Contillo’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two Mahwah couples who challenged the township’s right to continue to use fire sirens to summon firefighters to emergencies. The panel, which included Judge Jane Grall, Judge Laura LeWinn, and Judge Dorothea Wefing, heard oral arguments by Charles X.Gormally, the attorney for plaintiffs Christopher and Dawn DiLeone, the neighbors of Fire Company #3 on Rozanski Lane near Masonicus Road, and Emilios and Dr. Vasiliki Saitas Kokkinos, the neighbors of Fire Company #2 on Island Road near Eastview Avenue. Township Attorney Terry Bottinelli presented the Mahwah’s case. The two resident couples filed their original lawsuit in April 2007 in opposition to the use of fire sirens in the township, and a trial was held in July 2008 during which they claimed the sirens were unreasonably loud, caused ear pain, scared their children, disturbed their sleep and daily activities, and prevented them from using their outdoor living spaces. The plaintiffs also contended that the sirens were unnecessary, and they referred to the testimony of Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli, who said the sirens were an ineffective notification system that could be eliminated, although he acknowledged that they should be activated for serious, life threatening situations. At the trial, Chief Batelli and Sergeant Stuart Blank, who is responsible for the dispatch of police, emergency services personnel and volunteer firefighters, said they were unsure if pagers would be sufficient on their own to dispatch the fire department because these devices suffered from both operational and human errors. In the appeal, Gormally argued that sirens are currently not audible throughout township, and they have often been left inoperable for extended periods of time. He claimed Judge Contillo ignored evidence that there was adequate firefighter response to emergency calls without the sirens during those periods of time. He also argued that the evidence presented by the township during the trial was insuf- ficient to show that “dead zones” in the township have ever affected the complete and timely response by way of pager notification alone. Bottinelli argued that the plaintiffs did not provide any expert testimony at the trial that silencing the sirens was reasonable and there was no proof provided that the use of pagers or the reverse 911 system were effective means of notifying firefighters. He also pointed out that the plaintiffs did not provide any proof of the need, or the lack of need for sirens, in the fire company areas other than those where the plaintiffs live. Bottinelli also argued that the loss of the sirens would prevent a quick response by firefighters and the combination of the use of alarms, pagers, and sirens works well (continued on page 4) �� The Mahwah Township Council has narrowly passed a resolution asking the New Jersey Legislature to establish municipal service fees which would be paid by college students who attend colleges and universities within municipalities that provide services to those institutions. Mahwah is the location of Ramapo College, which occupies 300 acres on Ramapo Valley Road. The resolution recommends that full time students be assessed a fee of $100 per year to help cover the costs of those services, while part time students would be assessed a fee of $50 per year. Fees would be adjusted annually by the municipal tax rate. The resolution explains that many municipalities are having difficulty coping with the fact that a large percentage of the property within their boundaries is tax exempt, and municipalities are realizing the erosion of their tax bases when colleges, universities, and other non-profits purchase additional property within a municipality. College students may pay service fee The resolution points out that, with the New Jersey’s allowance for tax exempt property, the average municipality loses approximately 13 percent of the taxes it could collect if all property within its borders were taxed. The document also states that the unequal distribution of tax exempt properties within the state exacerbates the problems posed by tax exempt properties since exempt property is concentrated in relatively few municipalities in the state. The township council further noted that the cost of providing municipal services such as police, fire, emergency, medical services, street lighting, and road maintenance are continually increasing and residents are unfairly shouldering the burden of higher taxes by paying a greater amount for municipal services than they would pay if everyone using the services shared the burden of paying for those services. (continued on page 15) �� View our extensive online portfolio at: www.thomasflint.com 201.327.5162