Dear Neighbors,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Mount Laurel First E-News letter.

If you have news that you think should be included in my next E-News letter, please send me the information at JimKeenan@MountLaurelFirst.com
Remember that this E-News letter is dedicated to Mount Laurel news.


Nixle in Mount Laurel:  The Township has joined the Nixle Community.  Nixle is a Community Information Service dedicated to helping you stay connected to the information that matters most to you.  It is FREE to join. Just go to www.nixle.com and register for email or text messaging notifications when the township posts alerts to Nixle for broadcast to members in the Mount Laurel community.  The township currently will post messages from the Mount Laurel Office of Emergency Management and will post soon, alerts from the Police Department and the Manager's Office.  For answers to some of your questions, go to: http://www.nixle.com/consumer_faqs.html
Please help make this service a success for Mount Laurel.  Tell your friends and neighbors to join.  This is another way to stay connected to Mount Laurel and learn quickly what is going on.


Swine Flu Updates:  Links to up to date information have been posted on the Township website.  Please check there for updates regarding the Swine Flu -  www.MountLaurel.com


Mount Laurel Fall Festival:  Was a great success!  It was great to see old friends and meet new ones.  Thank you to all for coming.  The Police Department estimated that 20,000 people stopped by during the day.


Township Council:  Has appointed Jennifer Blumenthal as the Manager.  I hope you have a chance to stop by and welcome her to her new position.  I'm sure she would be happy to see you.  


Furloughs in Mount Laurel:  Just this past week, the Township has posted notice of temporary layoffs in town.  This means that the Municipal Offices will be closed on the following dates for this year: November 20, 2009 and December 4, 2009. 
This temporary layoff will NOT affect emergency services such as the Police and EMS.  Though the EMS Department will participate in this layoff - you can rest assured that they will respond as usual.  Chief Pagurek has worked closely with the Manager to ensure that staffing will not be an issue.  This layoff will shut down the Municipal Offices for these two days in this calendar year and will save approximately $22,000 per day.  These monies will be applied to next year's surplus so that the township can better prepare for the future.  This program was authorized by the Governor until the end of June 2010 and the Township has authorization from the State for an additional one day layoff per month for the first 6 months of 2010.  The projected 6 days for 2010 may or may not be used if fiscal situations appear to rectify the revenue shortfalls that we have experienced when preparing this years budget.  The Township has noticed a large increase in commercial tax appeals this year and since tax appeals are filed the year after taxes are paid, the Council is concerned that next year we will see an even larger number of appeals.  Some appeals are denied by the tax appeal board, others are fought in court and others are settled outside of the court but when appeals are won, or settled, the township must repay some monies and if lost in court we are ordered to repay with interest.  The Township must prepare for the future.


Report Graffiti:  The township is committed to cleaning up any graffiti around town, so please let me know if you see any.  To report graffiti in Mount Laurel simply click on this link: Report Graffiti and tell me the location and the cross streets nearby.  If the link above does not work, simply email me at my Council email address of JimKeenan08054@gmail.com and put the word "Graffiti" in the subject line and I will forward your report to the Township Manager to alert the proper departments to note the incident and then remove it from Mount Laurel.


Report a Pothole:  To report a pothole in Mount Laurel simply click on this link; Report a Pothole and tell me the name of the street that the pothole is located on and the closest intersection.  If the link does not work, simply email me at my Council email address of JimKeenan08054@gmail.com and put the word "Pothole" in the subject line and I will forward your report to the Township Manager to alert the Public Works Department.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter. 
 

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,