Board to buy property for $1M

The Sussex County Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase of the property at 15 Trinity St., Newton, for $1 million at its meeting Oct. 23.

The former Provident Bank building will be used for the county Board of Elections.

The board also approved a resolution establishing a dress code for its members at its public meetings.

The dress code, which requires business attire, does not apply to all public appearances by the commissioners.

During the public comments, Alan Henderson, mayor of Lafayette and a candidate for commissioner in the Nov. 5 election, said he thought the dress code should apply to all public appearances by commissioners.

The board also rejected bids received for the purchase of an emergency medical storage pole barn, Lafayette pole barn and sheriff pole barn because they exceeded the maximum set. Those projects will be rebid.

Jill Space, director of the board, read a proclamation praising an anonymous angel donor who has contributed food valued at about $10,000 each week to the Sussex County Food Pantry for the past 10 years.

”Without the angel’s donations of food, the Sussex County Food Pantry would not have been able to provide the assistance they have been able to for the past 10 years,” the proclamation said.

Carol Novrit, the county’s director of social services, accepted the proclamation, saying the food pantry was empty when a recession began in 2007. The staff began bringing in food, and they solicited donations from restaurants. iHeartRadio started the Stuff the Bus food drive and other businesses and groups also collected donations.

”Then this angel found us. ... He and his wife - they just wanted to feed people period, nothing else. ... Since then, that food pantry has grown,” she said.

In addition to feeding the hungry, the food pantry involves senior citizens, students and others, who help pack bags of food for distribution.

Questions raised

Commissioner Bill Hayden, who previously raised questions about finances at the food pantry, said he received about three years of receipts related to the angel donor about a year ago. “Once I added them up, it was apparent there was a problem.”

The receipts totaled about $415,000 while filings with the Internal Revenue Service showed there should have been about $900,000, he said.

Of the 122 receipts he looked at, 44 were delivered to a residence in Monticello, N.Y., he pointed out. “Nobody can explain that.”

In addition, the county has no records showing the amount of food coming in and going out, he said. “You would think a government entity would keep records.

”All I asked was, Where’s the money?”

Hayden has proposed forming a nonprofit organization to run the food pantry as other counties do. That would allow it to apply for grant funding. Burlington County’s food pantry received a $1 million grant this year, he noted.

Other commissioners criticized Hayden, saying he has missed meetings and doesn’t attend meetings and events as other commissioners do.

“We’re not here to be investigators. That is not our job. We’re elected officials,” said Chris Carney, the board’s deputy director.

School board member

The board appointed Jennifer Buckalew of Andover to the Sussex County Technical School Board of Education. Her term will expire Oct. 31, 2028.

Buckalew, whose daughter attends the school, spoke out in the spring when the Sussex Tech school board considered ending the architecture, graphic arts and theater programs to close a hole in its budget.

Commissioner Earl Schick thanked her for volunteering for the post. “She is the epitome of someone who saw something wrong, stepped up, said something, got involved and is actively engaging others to do the same. I think you’re setting a terrific example.”

Carney said the board plans to award a contract for the annual road surfacing program at its second meeting in November. The contract is expected to total about $8.7 million for the repaving of 25.3 miles of county roads. Work will begin in the spring.

The restriping of 100 miles of county roads has been completed, he said. The total cost is estimated at $740,000.

Schick said the Sussex County Community College board of trustees has hired a chief finance officer/vice president and approved a budget without informing or consulting the commissioners in advance.

Commissioner Jack DeGroot said the county Agriculture Development Board is working on an update of the farmland preservation plan. About 40 people attended a public hearing on the plan Oct. 21.

The plan last was updated in 2008, when the 10-year goal was to have 25,000 acres preserved. “We’re still at 19,500 and change,” he said, noting various factors for that level.

The goal is to set attainable targets within a reasonable time frame, he added.