Alex Roman
Campaign website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Question 5: If you are elected to the Council, what will be your top 3 legislative priorities and what will stand in the way of you making them happen? Be specific, and tell voters what your initiatives will cost.
Before we look to the future, it is first instructive to look at what we’ve already accomplished in the past four years. One major legislative achievement was the passage of an administrative and organizational ordinance to clearly define the structure of the town. For many years the Town Council struggled to understand the reporting structure of the town and the lines of responsibility for many matters. A lengthy ordinance was written authorizing the existence of departments and leadership positions and clarifying our structure. At first glance it may seem like boilerplate but the number of times where issues have come up about supervision or the proper classification of an employee made this a must-do. I’m very glad to see this ordinance on the books.
Another signature achievement was the passage of our Steep Slope Ordinance. As we discovered in Board of Adjustment hearings, developers had almost limitless ability to excavate, build terraced retaining walls, blast, and otherwise alter the terrain in Verona to create flat land where none existed before. We’re the Verona Hillbillies for a reason – we have hills, and they define both the boundaries of our community and create the beautiful wooded landscape we enjoy. I’m proud that they have finally been protected.
Over the next four years I have a few priorities I would like to see accomplished. We have been generous with providing long-term tax abatements to large developments in this community and it is time we help the single-family homeowner as well. In 2016 I proposed a short-term tax abatement for improvements to existing buildings that would provide a five-year phase-in of increased assessments, to reduce the sticker shock that might result from a remodel or expansion of a single family home or small commercial building. We chose to table it at the time due to the impending revaluation which would reset all of the assessments and render it moot. Now that the reval is complete it is time to proceed with this program and let our homeowners know that we appreciate them investing in the community and improving their properties. I am hopeful that we can do this with no net cost to the taxpayer by simply phasing in the assessment rather than the tax bill. Changes in assessment only change the distribution of the tax levy and not its overall amount. We are limited by state regulation on this program and have asked our Township Attorney to further research the matter and advise us over the next few weeks.
I have been passionate about protecting the environment during my term in office and will continue to do so. We have seen numerous large storms hit our community and cause flooding of small streams and the Peckman River, in some cases causing heartbreaking damage to homes in Verona. It is important that we realize this increasing threat and act to protect ourselves. We have the ability to require stricter stormwater management standards than the existing state regulations and should consider doing so. In particular, I am concerned about the underground retention or water quality treatment structures that are becoming commonplace in larger buildings to allow them to meet standards. Those devices have a maintenance requirement, and I want to ensure that in the long term the owners do not let that slide. I think it is reasonable to add a reporting requirement for annual maintenance on those devices so the Township Engineer may confirm their performance. We will incur some legal and consulting engineering costs to develop such an ordinance but ongoing compliance review can be handled by our Engineering Manager, who is an employee of the township. I do not expect costs to stand in the way but want to be reasonable in what we require of property owners so finding an appropriate balance of regulation versus freedom to develop will be the primary challenge.
Another project that will improve the community would be the creation of an Open Space Trust fund to allow the township to purchase parcels of land and protect them from development. We have agreed to put this on the ballot so that voters may choose whether or not there should be a special tax for this purpose. It is up to us as public officials to communicate with them and let them know why we think this is a good idea, then we must create a proper organizational structure to establish a committee to oversee the trust and allow for land purchases to take place. This is an essential step to ensure that our community retains its suburban charm and does not get overdeveloped. As this would be a special taxing entity it would not affect general municipal operations but would create a new tax rate applied to each parcel, much as the County Open Space Trust is now funded. I think the largest challenge is convincing the public that this is a good idea. I understand why the taxpayers of Verona might be concerned about any new tax, but I feel that we have had so much outcry for protection of our last remaining open space that this is a reasonable step to protect the character of our community and hope they will agree.
I look forward to the potential opportunity to serve another four years and hope the voters will support these legislative initiatives.
