No more pay for planners, zoners? Council members discuss ending longtime practice BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer Brick Township could save $60,000 a year if the unusual practice of paying planning and zoning board members $51 for each meeting they attend ends. Township Council members planned to introduce an ordinance at the April 10 meeting that would eliminate the stipends board members had received for many years. "For me, it's a budget issue," Acropolis said at the April 3 Township Council caucus meeting. "It's $60,000 that you don't have to pay. It's something to take a look at." Township Attorney Jean Cipriani said she was surprised to learn that the township pays members of both boards a monthly stipend. "I've never seen another town that pays its Zoning and Planning Board members," she said at the meeting. State statutes on Planning and Zoning boards are "silent" on the matter of compensation for board members, Cipriani said Monday. "It's not illegal, because there is this silence in the statute," she said. "There is no direct statutory authority to do it, but there is not statute prohibiting it." But paying planning and zoning board members is an uncommon practice, she said. "I'm not aware of any town that does it," she said. "But that doesn't mean there aren't any." But Acropolis said Monday that if the stipends aren't illegal, the council may consider keeping them.. A New Jersey Superior Court decision favored a policy of encouraging board members to serve without compensation, Cipriani said. "The policy is very clear that it's supposed to be voluntary service, that there is a disinterest that is implied by being a volunteer that is going to provide the best service for a planning or zoning board function," she said at the meeting. But there is statutory authority for reimbursing board members, primarily for fuel costs during site inspections, she said. Councilman Daniel Toth, who previously served on the Board of Adjustment, argued against removing the stipends. "Members of the Planning Board and Zoning boards, they spend a God awful amount of time looking at these sites, driving on their own dime. It's not much. I think after taxes it's like 32 bucks per meeting. My feeling is that there should be some avenue for them to at least be compensated for expenses they are incurring for volunteering their time. The stipend for about $32 seems to be somewhat adequate." Volunteer firefighters are paid roughly three dollars per fire, which basically compensates them for their gas, he said. But paying volunteers contradicts the purpose of volunteerism, said Councilwoman Ruthann Scaturro. "That's what it's all about," she said. "It's trying to give back to your community. If you happen to be on two boards and earn enough money, between those two boards, guess what you get - a pension. That's another area where you would end up getting dollars." Mayor Daniel J. Kelly, who served as planning board chairman before he was appointed mayor on Jan. 4, said there should be some type of reimbursement for board members. "The planning board is four times a month," he said. "When I was chairman, I was all over this town. I was at meetings, architectural reviews. I don't think any board member volunteers to be on the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment to do it for the check." The Planning Board meets four times a month and the Board of Adjustment meets at least twice a month, sometimes more, the mayor said. "Those are two boards where I think the compensation or stipend is justified," he said. Council members agreed after discussing the matter that reimbursing board members for gasoline costs related to applications might be the way to go. "That's different than a stipend, which is more like a salary," Cipriani said. "I'm a big reimbursement guy," Acropolis said. If they are going out driving around and maybe it comes out to more than $50...why should somebody be shortchanged?" Acropolis said he didn't know why board members were paid in the first place. "I don't know why it happened," he said. "I think it probably started back in the mid-1980s." Toms River planning and zoning board members and members of the Ocean County Planning Board serve without compensation, Cipriani said.