Mayor Brian Carlin discusses what residents can expect in 2019
Stephen Finn
The Sun
Burlington Township’s administration is taking its sweeping victories in the November elections — all incumbent candidates for council and Mayor Brian Carlin were re-elected by a large margin — as an indicator they are on the right track going into 2019.
“Overall the administration’s focus is to continue to do what we’ve been doing well as long as I’ve been mayor and many years prior to that, and that is to be responsible stewards of the people’s trust,” said Carlin.
According to the mayor, Township Administrator Stephen Fazekas is putting together a budget the administration hopes will allow it to provide the same level of services it has in the past and do so in a fiscally conservative manner within the 2 percent budget cap.
“There’s always the question of if we’ll have an increase in the municipal tax rate or not, and we’ve been pretty good the past couple of years. I think over the past eight years we’ve had an increase total of 1 percent,” said Carlin. “The idea is to continue to spend responsibly and do it in a manner that is giving the residents bang for their buck.”
Developments to local infrastructure will factor into that budget going into the new year. The township has approval for 21 new homes that will make up a development on Columbus Road. According to Carlin, around seven homes have been built and the development will be completed by the end of 2019 or 2020.
“It’s on a piece of property that had always been kind of a dumping ground because it sat between a creek and Columbus Road,” said Carlin. “They took a piece of property that would have been an environmental cleanup for us and really did a nice job.”
According to Carlin, the administration is looking into ways to provide relief to residents living on Neck Road near Dultys Lane who have had to contend with a high volume of 18-wheelers traveling down their street en route to nearby warehouses. The close proximity of the homes to the street where these large vehicles frequently pass has led residents to seek a solution to the congested strip of road.
The Burlington Center Mall remains an unresolved issue after it closed its doors last spring. The question of what will become of the large space occupied by the building will carry on into the new year. According to Carlin, although there has recently been a lot of interest from developers looking to set up shop in Burlington Township, the site of the old mall is a tough sell.
“We’ve got a great site, it makes sense for a nice big retail center, but if you’re somebody who is running a retail business, you sit and you look at how, in 1964, that mall was the Taj Mahal of malls, but by 2010 it was on its last breath, sitting fallow where it’s now closed. We run the perception of a great community, great area, but they couldn’t sustain a mall. It’s a catch 22.”
Parks and recreation will likely see some upkeep and revitalization in the new year. According to Carlin, the township devotes around $55,000 each budget cycle for upkeep and repair to local playgrounds.
Recreation Director Diane Flannery says one of the biggest issues with local parks is the aging facilities.
“I always look toward the bigger parks. We have three Green Acres parks that I’d like to see us invest our resources into,” said Flannery.
The township is in the process of refurbishing several local tennis courts. Some that haven’t seen much use recently will be repurposed into park space. According to Flannery, a recent county grant has allowed the township to put thousands into refurbishing 10 courts in various locations around the town where people are actively using them.
Carlin says the police force will be continuing efforts to engage with the community and be a presence in the township. By February, each school in the district will have a school resource officer assigned to the building.
“We have four new officers that we’ll be swearing in in February,” said Carlin. “We’ll have the resources to take another officer off the street and put them in the schools.”
