Morris County Consortium of Towns Wins $90,000 Shared Service Grant from NJ Department of Community Affairs

Six Morris County towns collaborating together have been awarded a $90,000 grant from the New
Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to identify and implement a program to share costly
public works equipment and maintenance functions. The six towns comprise Morris Township,
Morristown, Morris Plains, Madison, Chatham Borough and Chatham Township.

The consortium has agreed to a group-wide assessment of how to reduce costs and improve services by
sharing public works equipment, some of which is highly specialized, costly, and does not require
full time work. The consortium will also examine ways to regionalize some maintenance and repair
functions for their fleets, which also often requires specialized skills, equipment, and
certification.

“All of our towns share the same challenge of needing specialized equipment, often costing hundreds
of thousands of dollars, to maintain our roads, sidewalks, water and sewer systems, and other
infrastructure,” said Morris Township Mayor Jeff Grayzel, whose town is the lead agency on the
effort. “By working together we are looking to reduce some of these costs and maintain – or even
improve – our services.”

This award is one of only 22 Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) grants to local
governmental entities across New Jersey.

“In the wake of the pandemic, local governments are looking for innovative ways to cut costs to
offset unexpected expenses incurred this past year. Shared services are a proven way to accomplish
this while preserving and even enhancing existing services,” said Lieutenant Governor Sheila
Oliver, who serves as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA). “The
LEAP Challenge Grant that has been awarded to Morris Township is specifically designed to help
streamline their resources to achieve taxpayer savings without sacrificing the quality of services their residents need.”

The LEAP program is comprised of three grant initiatives: Challenge, Implementation, and County
Coordinator Fellowship. The Challenge grants promote innovation and collaboration on more expansive
projects that produce shared services of notable significance. The Implementation grants help cover
costs associated with the implementation of shared services and school feasibility studies and the
County Coordinator Fellowship grants support the hiring of a fellow to work full-time to identify
and advance shared service opportunities within a county.

Mayor Grayzel added, “After completion of the assessment our objective is to then file for an
implementation grant with the goal of our towns working together to share costly equipment and its
maintenance in order to save taxpayer dollars in each of our local budgets.”

The six-town project is expected to get off the ground shortly with the hiring of a consultant who
specializes in municipal fleet management, maintenance, and repair. As the lead agency, Morris
Township will administer the grant funding and contract consultants on behalf of the group.

For additional information, please contact Tim Quinn, Township Administrator for Morris Township,
at 973-326-7360 or tquinn@morristwp.com
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