Construction official may sue over lay-off
Old Bridge takes over building inspections for South River
BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer

SOUTH RIVER - The borough's building department has been disbanded, and Old Bridge's employees took on its services starting last week.

South River construction official David Wroblewski was laid off as a result of the change, and his attorney, Stephen Hunter, said legal action against the borough of South River is a possibility.

"There are a lot of issues," Hunter said. "One issue is that … Mr. Wroblewski was hired to fill essentially four positions."

Wroblewski had the responsibilities of construction official, code enforcement official, zoning officer and building subcode official, Hunter said.

He said the municipality has falsely accused Wroblewski of not performing his duties.

"He was performing the duties of all four positions at the same time," Hunter said. "The interlocal agreement [with Old Bridge] only lays him off from two of those positions, construction official and the building subcode official."

Hunter said a borough code on the abolition of positions requires the town to make every effort to re-employ any laidoff employee. He said the termination of Wroblewski from positions that the interlocal agreement with Old Bridge does not cover only compounds the alleged violations.

The borough's labor attorney, Martin Pachman, of Scarinci & Hollenbeck, Freehold, said he does not believe that the borough has falsely accused Wroblewski of anything.

Pachman said the borough's decisions were made in light of a $70,000-per-year deficit in running the construction department, and added that "there is nothing personal in this matter."

"I understand the claim that Mr. Hunter has made in our correspondence," Pachman said. "I responded to it. We don't think there is anything to litigate over."

Pachman said one of the assignments that Wroblewski completed was actually the responsibility of another borough employee.

"Mr. Wroblewski had multiple assignments," Pachman said. "One of them was done in error."

Wroblewski worked in the area of construction related inspection, which is the nature of the work that is covered by the interlocal agreement with Old Bridge, Pachman said. The zoning officer and code enforcement officer positions are not related to enforcement of the uniform construction code, he said.

"The code enforcement position specifically does not deal with control of uniform construction code," Pachman said. "It's for trash on the sidewalk. That is not the area that Mr. Wroblewski professed to have specific qualifications that he presented."

Borough officials declined to discuss the matter, and council President David Sliker said no lawsuit has been filed.

South River officials approved the disbandment and interlocal agreement in July, though the council was split 3-3 along party lines. Mayor Robert Szegeti broke the tie, voting with fellow Democrats to approve the change. Old Bridge approved the agreement in August.

Sliker said the borough has changed its construction fees to match those charged by Old Bridge, which will receive a portion of the money from construction and permit fees paid by South River applicants.

The same certified inspectors, who are full-time Old Bridge employees, will serve both municipalities, Old Bridge Mayor Jim Phillips said.

South River Business Administrator Andrew Salerno said that under the fouryear interlocal agreement, construction permit applications from residents of both towns will be handled on a firstcome, first-served basis.

South River officials have recently filled the positions of code enforcement officer and zoning officer, and Hunter said that doing so was a violation of the borough's ordinance.

"They failed to recognize that [Wroblewski] has got continuing employment entitlements to those positions," Hunter said.

Pachman said Wroblewski has indicated that the borough's needs were not being met by his department. He cited a letter from Wroblewski in which he bemoans the lack of sufficient manpower to do the work that the department was supposed to do. Wroblewski reportedly addressed his concerns at a public meeting last year.

"He is turning around now and essentially denying the fact that by the interlocal services agreement, we now have more available to us to fulfill the borough's needs," Pachman said.

Pachman said the council's decision was made for economic reasons on behalf of the borough residents. Maintaining the borough's department and hiring additional employees would have cost borough residents more, he said.

"The borough is getting better handson coverage with less cost by entering into the agreement," Pachman said.

A lawsuit, he added, would not be in the best interests of the borough or Wroblewski.

"My presumption is that it is more intended for public consumption than judicial review," Pachman said.

Hunter disputes that the interlocal agreement with Old Bridge will save South River money.

"It is not only cost-ineffective, it will probably cost the borough of South River more money," Hunter said.