Council Opts Not To Pay Police Costs for Street Fair

Although they agree that it will be a beneficial event for the residents themselves, members of the Bridgewater Township Council were hesitant to agree to a $2,400 cost for aiding with the planned street fair being held by the Rotary Club of Bridgewater and Bound Brook.

In the end, the council opted not to approve the waiver request.

Elly Ezra, of the Rotary Club, spoke before the committee at Thursday’s meeting, and requested that Bridgewater pay for two police officers to keep the street closed during the fair, and for public works workers to remove trash bags once the event is over.

The street fair is planned for June 1 on East Main Street in front of TD Bank Ballpark, and this is the first time it is being held.

“We got permission from the county to shut the main road in front of the ballpark,” Ezra said.

East Main Street is a county-owned road that passes through Bridgewater.

The section of the street is planned to be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the festival itself will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We are leaving an access road for people coming from East Main Street to the railroad station,” Ezra said. “And we are rerouting you around Route 28 in Bridgewater to the train station.”

Ezra said they are looking for two police officers, one at each end of the road where the fair will be in front of the ball park, as well as workers from the township Department of Public Works to pick up garbage bags that rotary workers will have been filling throughout the day.

Township administrator James Naples said they would be estimating it would require two police officers and three DPW workers.

The cost, Naples said, is estimated at about $2,400, with $1,800 for police and $600 for overtime DPW workers.

“Next year we hope to have rotary take all costs,” Ezra said. “The total income from the fair will be $9,000.”

Although the rotary club services Bridgewater and Bound Brook, Ezra said they have not asked Bound Brook to contribute any money.

Ezra said the fair will include vendors from the tri-state area, balloons, face painting, music and more. Next year, he said, they hope to get more from the Somerset County area.

“Next year we will be hitting hard with sponsors,” he said. “We came up with this idea three months ago. The rotary celebrated its 90th anniversary this year, so we were concentrated on that more than the street fair.”

“We want to just get it done, and if we don’t make a lot of money, that’s fine,” he added, citing that some stores in the Bridgewater Promenade wanted to have a table, but didn’t have enough time to get things together this year.

The event will be held rain or shine.

But council members said they don’t understand why the township itself should be paying the costs.

Ezra said it will be economically good for the township.

“It will bring a lot of people, shoppers to the area, and it advertises the name of Bridgewater,” he said. “Why do any towns do street fairs? The places in the area and the stores in the mall will benefit.”

Council president Christine Henderson Rose said she doesn’t mind paying for the DPW workers, but she is concerned about the request for police.

“I believe if we do that for one organization, we will have a line out the door asking for us to do it for their organization,” she said.

Councilman Howard Norgalis questioned whether the rotary club has asked for money from the county, since East Main Street is a county road. Ezra said they have not.

“The DPW process is requested on a county road, and that is maintained by different union folks,” Norgalis said.

For councilman Matthew Moench, his main concern was the request to pay money out-of-pocket for aiding the organization.

“These are officers who will be paid, and have to be paid and brought in, so it’s money out of our budget,” he said. “We actually have to cut a check, and it’s a larger amount of money than any other we have committed to in my six years.”

Moench said he does believe that this would be a good event, but is not sure about contributing so much money.

“We don’t have a big event in Bridgewater, and this is a community event,” he said. “I do think it benefits us to be doing something like this.”

“But at the same time, we all share a concern that $2,400 out-of-pocket expense is too much when we don’t have a feeling for the event,” he added.

Rose said she believes this is all about a precedent being set.

“I think this is an activity that does have the potential for benefiting the township,” she said. “But by the same token, we would be setting a precedent that is of grave concern to me.”

In the end, council members said they did not feel approving this request was appropriate.

“We have a ton of great charitable organizations in town that do all sorts of things,” Moench said. “I’m concerned, I don’t see a reason to deviate from our past practices on this.”