Residents press council on vacant animal shelter and shore-news contract as reorg meeting continues

At the Jan. 1 reorganization meeting, residents used public comment to press the new council for details about a vacant animal shelter and a municipal contract with a social-media news vendor.

A commenter who identified himself as Brian from Manalpin Township, who said he has reviewed animal-welfare records, asked for an update on a shelter building that has stood vacant for more than a year and pressed the council to explain "the county's anticipated $3,000,000 in renovation costs, and whether the township taxpayers would be responsible for those costs if the agreement were to be terminated within that 30 year agreement in place?" Council members responded that county contractors were recently onsite and that the project was moving forward slowly; they said they would seek the amendment and contract documents cited by the speaker for review.

Multiple residents also questioned a contract with a local news/social-media vendor referred to in the meeting as Shore News Network. One attendee said the township was paying roughly "$40,000 plus to contract with them to do nothing but bash people," and asked the CFO to produce the contract. Council leaders told the audience a CFO response had been sent to a council member and said they would follow up and provide documentation. Council members said they would investigate whether the vendor's work complied with procurement rules and whether the payment threshold had been used to avoid council approval.

Other public comments raised neighborhood issues such as blighted properties on Clifton and Bachelor, streetlight outages on Route 37 and requests for municipal resurfacing on Charles Drive and Edkin Avenue. Council staff and the township engineer said municipal-aid funding had been awarded for resurfacing and design would follow, and the council president said he planned to be available at Town Hall regularly to expedite such matters.

What the council said it would do: the CFO and clerk were asked to provide the Shore News Network contract and any related invoices; council members said they would review the county shelter contract and the funding and bring additional information, including an update at an upcoming meeting. No formal action on the contracts or shelter funding was taken at the reorganization meeting.