Boro reaps savings of four-day workweek
BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer

MATAWAN — Keeping the borough offices on Broad Street closed on Fridays may have saved the borough some cash.

"Today, I am pleased to announce that the cost savings for the three-month period is approximately $3,000. These dollars are based on a review of this year's billing against the same three-month period in 2007," said Mayor Paul Buccellato. "The savings in the last electric bill alone was approximately $700."

The borough offices, located at 201 Broad St., have been closed on Fridays for the past three months as a cost-saving measure. This step was taken after Buccellato announced at a workshop meeting in July that the electrical utility line item for the building was outpacing the calendar year. In an effort to conserve electricity and to help with the budget overruns, the borough switched to a four-day workweek.

Buccellato said Oct. 6 that he is going to suggest extending the practice of closing Borough Hall on Fridays through December.

"Since this has been a success, as I hoped it would be, and in light of New Jersey Natural Gas receiving approval to increase their prices, I am going to suggest we extend this to December," Buccellato said.

The mayor attributes the savings realized not only to the closure of the borough offices, but also to borough employees who have paid extra attention to their energy consumption at Borough Hall.

"I think employees have gone a long way to help with this," he said. "The staff has made this cost savings possible by using natural light in lieu of turning their office lights on, turning lights off in areas that are infrequently used, or by keeping corridor doors closed — this has been a major factor in the borough's attempt to reduce costs.

"I applaud all the employees in the borough for taking part in this effort and thank each one. I also thank the council for agreeing to this step initially back in July and hope that any doubts some council members had are answered by this cost savings."

But the energy savings may not be enough to help with the borough's budget squeeze.

On the agenda for the Oct. 7 Borough Council meeting was a resolution authorizing the appropriation of funds from next year's budget to cover line items for the remainder of this year's budget such as health care costs, utilities and street lighting.