Officials say a new Department of Public Affairs and Department of Recreation and Open Space would help improve efficiency and maintenance of township assets.
Evesham Township officials are looking toward a reorganization of several administrative departments through the creation of a new Department of Public Affairs and a Department of Recreation and Open Space.
While the township’s last major departmental reorganization took place in 2008 as a way to control budget costs, township manager Tom Czerniecki said this new reorganization stemmed from determining how to best deal with recently announced retirements and resignations in the Department of Public Works and the Parks and Recreation Department.
According to Czerniecki, the reorganization would allow the township to eliminate confusion in its codebook while improving grounds and field maintenance, field scheduling, sponsorships and promotions, public events, communications and senior services.
For the newly formed Department of Recreation of Open Space, Czerniecki said Bob Henefer, director of golf at the township-owned Indian Spring Country Club, would lead the way.
According to Czerniecki, the department will include a separate division for golf operations at the course, as well divisions for public lands, recreation and open space and parks programming.
With the reorganization, Czerniecki said the township could better coordinate playground maintenance, management of the township’s mowing contract and the purchase, use and circulation of field equipment.
“At the moment, there really is no correlation between all the assets and resources we put toward keeping the golf course green and the assets we put toward keeping our playing fields green,” Czerniecki said.
Czerniecki said Monica Vandenberg, director for recreation and senior services, would be placed in charge of the new Department of Public Affairs.
Czerniecki said the primary responsibilities of the department would include an Office of Public Events, an Office of Communications and Outreach, an Office of Senior Services, operations of the Gibson House Community Center and Czerniecki’s liaison to council for public events.
Czerniecki said the township events have grown to now include grand openings, the Taste of Evesham, Independence Day Celebrations, Marlton Day, Harvest Fest, the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, Winter Fest and the Holiday Wishes gift program for children in need.
“These public events require a horizontal organization, so we’re making it clear that there’s one person and they’re responsible for a cross functional team that makes sure these events go off properly,” Czerniecki said.
The new Office of Communications and Outreach would assist with branding projects, handling social media strategies, addressing general public inquiries, interacting with private neighborhood organizations, handling citizen surveys and acting as a liaison to the Youth Advisory Committee and other business and service organizations.
“I think we do so many great things, and it’s difficult to get the public to share our enthusiasm for getting there — you could fill storage closets with the paperwork that goes into a single road project,” Czerniecki said.
Czerniecki said the Office of Senior Services would continue to handle scheduling of senior trips, senior health, wellness and safety initiatives and overseeing general senior recreation programs.
Overall, Czerniecki said the reorganization would help the township reduce some costs and greatly improve efficiency.
“Think in terms of boxes and not in terms of budget. We’re going to take the resources we already have and we’re realigning them,” Czerniecki said.
