Between a costly legal battle with EnCap-affiliated developer Cherokee Porete, a decline in host fees for waste facilities and mounting debt, the borough is in bad shape financially. Mayor Peter Massa refers to "the escalating costs of operating a local government" and "shrinking revenues" at council meetings when addressing anything from contract negotiations with borough employees to complaints from overtaxed residents.
Last year, borough officials conducted a borough-wide audit on the cost of operating government. This year, the borough seeks to conduct an energy audit.
At the Jan. 10 meeting of the mayor and council, Councilman Steve Tanelli proposed going "building by building, street by street" to find ways to save the borough money on energy, one of the biggest items on the budget. The borough spent $530,063 on energy in 2007.
"Every rock needs to be turned over. We’re still looking at ways to save money," said Tanelli.
Some of the proposals mentioned by Tanelli included checking the energy efficiency on streetlights. Older light bulbs could pose a significant drain on energy. A second idea was weather sealing windows and doors.
"I recently opened my utility bill for my home and like most North Arlington residents, I suffered sticker shock," he said. "If the cost of energy is soaring for me and my family, I know that the borough’s energy costs are also soaring."
In addition to the savings, making the borough more energy efficient also makes the borough eligible for additional grant money.
Prior to Tanelli’s announcement about an energy audit, councilman Richard Hughes posed the idea of bringing hybrid cars into the borough. If borough vehicles went hybrid, the savings in gas would far outweigh the cost of updating the vehicles in the long run, according to Hughes. He also proposed looking into changing public works vehicles over to bio-diesel to save the borough cash.
Borough administrator Terence Wall has outlined a plan to conduct the energy audit. The borough will examine the efficiency of heating and cooling systems, analyze utility bills to determine where the big increases are, install new thermostats and timers where necessary, purchase energy saving light bulbs and communicate with employees about conserving energy.
Wall plans on working with Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (PSE&G) to discuss where costs can be cut and to find out what grants and programs are available.
Other ideas, like turning down thermostats and replacing inefficient light fixtures with more modern ones, can be done quickly and easily. "There are things we can do relatively easily that will yield long-term savings to the borough for little or no cost," said Wall.
