WATER AUTHORITY REORGANIZES (Feb. 02, 2001)

Mary E. Dougherty of Morristown was unanimously elected as Chair of The Southeast Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (SMCMUA) at its annual February 1 reorganization meeting. SMCMUA is Morris County’s largest public water purveyor serving 18,500 customers Morristown, Morris Township, Morris Plains and Hanover Township with partial service in Mendham and Harding Townships. Robert Carroll of Morris Plains and Edward A. Taratko, Jr., of Morris Township were also elected to leadership roles as Vice Chair and Secretary respectively as Alfred J. Magyar of Hanover Township stepped down from his role as Chair for last year.

Dougherty noted that this year’s reorganization meeting was unique in that for the first time in 25 years, members of the Board drew lots for the length of their terms. Prior to a change in State Law, all eight members’ five -year terms expired at the same time. "For the first time we will have at least one member’s term expiring each year rather than all eight at the same time every five years", Dougherty said. SMCMUA has been working for a dozen years to amend legislation that affected all regional authorities in the State. "A tip of the hat goes to Assemblyman Rick Merkt for helping us with this legislation. This was the first bill he introduced as an assemblyman", Dougherty noted.

According to Harry G. Gerken, Executive Director, the reorganization meeting was unique for another reason. "Bob Sims of Morris Township, Bob Carroll of Morris Plains and Al Magyar each completed 25 years of service as Board members while Adolph Schimpf of Hanover Bill Conradi of Morris Plains and Ed Taratko of Morris Township each finished up their 20^th year as Board Members. That’s 135 years of combined experience, probably a record for any public agency." Gerken said. Sims, Carroll and Magyar were appointed when the Authority took over the operations of the Morristown Water Department in 1976. "Their insight and historical knowledge of SMCMUA’S history is invaluable in helping their colleagues and staff with today’s problems", Gerken said.

Eileen Rzecinski of Morristown, a veteran with 7 years on the Board, took her oath of office for a 4-year term. "While I may be a "rookie" compared to this Board’s experience, I’ve learned that my fellow board members have always kept the interest of our customers as a number one priority. That’s probably why SMCMUA has been successful these last 25 years and why everyone has been reappointed", Rzecinski concluded.

The Board also approved the re-appointment of Sidney D. Weiss, Esq., as General Counsel and Killam Associates as Consulting Engineer. The Board’s relationship with both dates back to 1976 when SMCMUA was founded.