Allendale April 3, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 5 Water merger explained by John Koster Allendale Mayor Vince Barra and members of the borough council drew applause from an audience of Allendale residents as they explained to outside lobbyist Matt Smith that the borough council will retain the authority of water billing if and when United Water takes over the management of Allendale’s water service. Smith, a paid lobbyist for Food & Water Watch, a national group, had some palpable support in the audience when he questioned whether a “French-owned, multi-national corporation” should supervise Allendale’s hometown water, and cited criticism of United Water from Camden, where a 91year-old woman was billed more than $2,000 and received no mercy from city officials. Smith also mentioned the possibility of unilateral rate increases in the future. Borough officials halted Smith when he said that United Water -- rather than Allendale officials -- had drafted the contract that Allendale may decide to sign after further proceedings, and that Allendale would lose control of its own water supply. “You know that that’s untrue,” Mayor Barra told Smith. “That is a lie, is it not? That is a lie!” “It’s our own decision, not United Water’s,” Council Member Elizabeth White said of the contract proposal. Allendale had drawn up the terms after almost two years of study -- and several newspaper stories in a number of papers -- and conducted several explanations at public council meetings, most of them sparsely attended, but all of them covered by the press. Council Member Jim Strauch, who builds and installs environmental windows, took umbrage at Smith’s comparison of Allendale, famous across the state for intelligent management, and Camden, where Strauch noted that many scandals have been alleged. Most of the audience applauded. Smith took umbrage at the fact that Mayor Barra had allowed James Glozzy, vice president and general manager of United Water, to speak -- following the presentations by Mayor Barra, Council Member Jacqueline McSwiggan, and Council Member Susan Lamonica -- but before the hearing was opened to residents. One resident had agreed philosophically with local water control before Smith spoke, but his allegations evoked a negative response from several residents after Barra’s rebuttal. Laura Granger, an Allendale resident, pointed out that Smith receives a salary from Food & Water Watch, while the borough council members are volunteers, and charged that he misrepresented the depth of the group’s relationship to Cornell University, which she said does not endorse their positions. The contract, if approved after further study, would save Allendale $193,000 per year and enable a zero-tax-increase municipal budget to be introduced on April 25. After being a part of the youth athletic feeder programs in Allendale for 20 years, borough resident Rick Santry recently completed the 2012-13 basketball season as coach of the Northern Valley Old Tappan freshman girls. He has coached at every level of recreational and travel sports locally and even had stints in high school sub-varsity baseball with both Northern Highlands and Saint Joseph regional high schools. Most recently, he was the middle school girls’ basketball coach at Brookside Middle School for five years before moving on to Old Tappan. The Old Tappan freshman girls were undefeated in league play this past season, won the Holiday Tourney at Northern Highlands, and finished their campaign with an overall record of 18-3. Front row: Taylor Nash, Hayley Mulliken, Kelly Ewen, and Maura Wiley. Back row: Nikki Weinstein, Brianna Fleming, Coach Rick Santry, Tara Bailey, and Erika Calabrese. Not pictured: Kayla Mikatarian. Successful efforts