Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • February 29, 2012 Allendale Borough council gives nod to salary ordinance by John Koster Last week, the Allendale Borough Council adopted the 2012 salary ordinance and the resolution that provides the specific salaries of administrators and wages of some non-union employees. The administrators and employees received increases of two percent or less, in concert with the borough council’s attempts to control spending in tough economic times. Allendale Police Chief George Scherb, the top salary earner for the borough, will now receive a salary of $142,000. The salaries of other police officers are covered by union contract and are not part of the salary ordinance voted last week. Keith Cauwenberghs will receive $112,476 as director of operations, and Gwen McCarthy will receive a salary of $93,875 as borough clerk and office administrator. Working together, Cauwenberghs and McCarthy are the top professional administrators in Allendale. The formal title of borough administrator was eliminated by the borough council a few years ago, with Cauwenberghs taking over management of the Allendale Department of Public Works and other exterior work, and McCarthy assuming the supervision of all the office workers except for the DPW staff. The council has been satisfied with this cost-cutting arrangement and has praised Cauwenberghs and McCarthy for making it possible. Jeffrey Picinich, superintendent of the Allendale Water Utility, will receive a salary of $86,692. Alissa Mayer, the chief financial officer, will receive a salary of $76,471. John Wittekind will receive a salary of $65,821 for his principal job as construction code official, with additional increments of $4,391 as building sub-code official, $4,391 as plumbing sub-code official, $11,408 as zoning and property maintenance official, and $1,755 as fire sub-code official. Wittekind is also a construction code official for the Borough of Midland Park. Joe Brooks, the electrical sub-code official, will receive a part-time salary of $24,211. Angela Mattiace will receive a salary of $41,097 as borough tax assessor. The municipal judge will receive a stipend of $12,600 a year, and municipal prosecutor Richard Rosa will receive a stipend of $4,812. The borough council also approved wages of $18 an hour for the hours worked by school crossing guards with a stipulation. There will no longer be unemployment compensation for those who wish to continue employment. Instead of receiving unemployment compensation during the summer, school crossing guards who wish to continue working for the borough will work as school crossing guards for the summer-long school enrichment programs. At the same meeting, the council adopted the new water rates which, as previously reported, will increase residential water rates by five percent and commercial water rates by five percent to eight percent, depending on the amount of water the consumer purchases. Commercial rates have been traditionally lower than residential rates, and the difference in the ordinance represents a gradual attempt to bring residential and commercial rates to the same level. Future financiers Allendale Junior Girl Scout Troop 130 (and one little brother) recently toured TD Bank in Allendale. Hosted by Emily Brady, assistant manager, the educational program offered by TD Bank informed the troop about how a bank works. Scouts got a behind-the-scenes tour of the bank and a look at the inner workings of the coin counting machine. They enjoyed the demonstration and tour and were each given a bag of TD giveaways to remember their visit.