Toms River Officials Reschedule Council Meeting As Key Hires Go Unapproved

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Township Council meeting set for Wednesday has been canceled, according to a legal notice published in the Asbury Park Press on Monday.

The meeting that had been set for Wednesday, July 24, has been replaced by a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 7, according to the notice.

That meeting is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m., according to the notice, which says the agenda will include various purchases and "other routine items of public business."

The postponement of the meeting comes as the township has hired people to fill key positions but has not had the council formally sign off on them, as required by township ordinances.

Among those hires are Frederick L. "Rick" Perrine, hired June 3 as the director of recreation; John M. Mele, hired July 3 as the township engineer, and Angela Del Vecchio, hired as deputy municipal clerk on June 3, according to township records obtained through an Open Public Records Act request. All three of those positions are mayoral appointments that require "advice and consent of the Township Council", which means the council must vote on the appointments, according to the town's ordinances available on ecode360.cm.

Perrine, whose salary is $95,000, was the recreation and senior services director in Metuchen before coming to Toms River, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Mele, whose salary is $200,000, was the borough engineer in Point Pleasant Beach before coming to Toms River.

Del Vecchio's salary is $56,100.

In addition, records indicate Stephen A. Hensel was hired July 8 as an administrative assistant in the municipal clerk's office, with a salary of $100,000. That hire does not appear to need township council approval.

The text of the notice, published Monday, is as follows:

TOMS RIVER TOWNSHIP PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, the Toms River Township Council will hold its next regular scheduled public meeting on Wednesday August 7, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. The agenda shall include a consent agenda consisting of various purchases and other routine items of public business. TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the regular scheduled meeting of July 24, 2024, is hereby cancelled and rescheduled to August 7, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. FORMAL ACTION MAY BE TAKEN.