OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP COUNCIL
AGENDA MEETING
April 2, 2001
An Agenda meeting of the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge was held on Monday, April 2, 2001 in the Municipal Complex. The meeting was called to order at 8:05 p.m. by President Maher, who invited all to participate in a salute to the flag followed by a short prayer.
Roll call by Deputy Clerk Stella Ward, showed the following answering present:
Councilmen Butler, Greene, Hoff, Redmond, Sohor, President Maher. Councilman Testino arrived at 8:10 p.m. Councilman Cucchiara and Councilwoman Marinaccio were absent.
Deputy Clerk Stella Ward advised that pursuant to Section 5 of the Open Public Meetings Act this meeting has been advertised and the next Regular Meeting will be held on Monday, April 9, 2001 at 8:00 p.m..
PROCLAMATION
Tobacco Awareness Month - April
President Maher: I am glad to see that you are getting behind that ordinance that we have had in place for several years.
GUEST
Tiffany Bohlin - (Muller Bohlin Associates) Smart Growth Funding
President Maher: Tiffany is going to speak to us this evening regarding her proposal in terms of what she can do for the township through Smart Growth Funding.
Tiffany Bohlin: I am with Muller Bohlin Associates. We are a woman owned transportation, planning, economic development firm. We work primarily with urban centers throughout the state. I work on a lot of state contracts and being woman owned is very advantageous when working on state contracts. We work with cities and communities throughout New Jersey helping them advance initiatives whether it be transportation projects or an economic development project or a redevelopment project, we put the funding package together and assist them through project management in advancing those projects. I was contacted by Old Bridge regarding primarily the town centre and I thought of Smart Growth as a great opportunity to pursue because it is a very flexible grant. It is given by the office of State Planning out of Trenton and basically you can do things from planning to implementation with this grant. The proposal can be very wide and you can come in with a number of different ideas and be very flexible with it. It will also help you address any concerns you may have within the grant and that is a very exciting part of the grant. I wrote a proposal and have given out some qualifications so you can get an idea of what our background is. We have been successful over the last two years in securing well over ten million dollars for the communities that we work with and actually we have brought some projects to the table and they are now being built which is a little more exciting than getting the funding.
President Maher: I did not see in here what municipalities or towns you have worked with.
Tiffany Bohlin: We are currently working with Hackensack, Bayonne, Paterson, Passaic and Bergen County Organizations also Milltown and Perth Amboy. We are based in Perth Amboy and we work with the Bayshore development office in Monmouth County and we also have done work with Harrison.
President Maher: The only Middlesex New Jersey towns are Milltown and Perth Amboy and the Monmouth County project is with the Bayshore development, am I correct?
Tiffany Bohlin: Yes, you are correct.
President Maher: With respect to your proposal it is my understanding that you will get commission from grants that you secure.
Tiffany Bohlin: That is correct but it depends on the proposal, and that is the way it is outlined in this particular proposal.
President Maher: With respect to existing grants or grants we have been getting on an annual basis is that part of this?
Mayor Cannon: No, but we would like to engage Tiffany to do grants that we are not already receiving such as the Smart Growth Grant and maybe our new EDC had also mentioned about Tiffany coming in to make a presentation to them because they are also looking to do some grants. It would be above and beyond what we are getting now. It would be for new stuff and primarily directed toward the planning, economic development and transportation areas.
President Maher: Are our department heads going to continue to apply for the grants?
Mayor Cannon: Yes.
Councilman Redmond: Smart Growth Grants is something that we were notified zoning in September of 1999 and we were told at that time that we were not eligible for that, but I agree and I am glad to see that we are finally moving on it.
President Maher: I remember four years ago, President Testino and myself proposed and put in the budget for a grant writer paying an annual salary of $30,000-$40,000, so I am glad that the Administration is finally moving that forward and is putting someone on board and start procuring those grants because there is millions of dollars of grants available that Old Bridge has probably been missing for the past four or five years.
Councilman Butler: I understand that in reference to a lot of these grants there also is administrative money in the grant for the grant writer, is that correct?
Tiffany Bohlin: It depends, some of them do and some don't. It is a little more flexible on State funds.
Councilman Butler: Let's say you achieve a grant for $3 million dollars what is the percentage you would get?
Tiffany Bohlin: That is the statewide allocation, but to answer your question it would be 71/2 percent.
Councilman Butler: I know that my colleague George Bush and I had talked about grants in 1992 and he probably is smiling down on us tonight because I am happy that we are finally here and I see us going forward.
Move-up
GUEST
Gene Farrell - To discuss the State Audit - Monday April 9, 2001
HEARING
H-1 Release/Reduction Performance Guarantee - J.L.R.S. (Heilbrunn Building)
Postponed - New proposed date: June 18, 2001
HEARINGS 4/9/01:
H-1 Release/Reduction Performance Guarantee - Carrington Woods
H-2 Release/Reduction Performance Guarantee - Hill Estates
Councilman Sohor: It has been the practice for the last seven years that prior to a hearing there is meeting between the engineering department, the builder, homeowner's association and the ward councilman to discuss the bond releases, are any meetings going to be scheduled on these?
Nelson Iglesias: We can do that, but it is my understanding that we have already had the meeting on these sites, but I can reschedule.
Councilman Sohor: That usually works quite well in terms of making sure that all is in compliance.
Councilman Redmond: Aren't you going to recommend a denial on one of these?
Nelson Iglesias: Yes.
President Maher: If the meeting does not take place this week, we will take them off.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
February 26,2001/Regular March 12, 2001/Executive
Move-up
ORDINANCE FOR SECOND READING
ORD. #13-01 Town Centre Ordinance - Amendment (Remove Table of 4/17/01 Carry to 4/23/01.
President Maher: I am told there is no meeting on April 17th so we will carry to April 23rd.
ORD. #14-01 Skate Park Fee
Councilman Testino: Mr. Greene and I attended the Park and Rec. Board meeting. They have a feisty crew there with a lot of ideas and I am glad that I am able to serve there. Specifically, we spend a lot of time on the skate park fees and I believe that they will be putting together a letter to the Council expressing their feelings a little more explicitly than we have heard in the past. They believe it is a safety issue and overuse going on and we have to do something about it. They also have agreed to take some time and Tom is going to do an account of the usage over the Easter holiday. It would give us a good example of what kind of usage we are going to get over the summer. That will be one more piece of data that we have to look at for the overall picture. The other thing is that and it is my major concern, that we have access to all including the underprivileged. Some ideas came out like having "off-peak" hours for skating sessions for people who have not signed up for registration and then have an outreach program with the scholarship program that the Rec. Department already has in place. They will also be looking into whether or not bikes need to have different sessions. The long and short of it is that everyone is in agreement that we should take a little more time for a full report from the Rec. Board.
Councilman Hoff: Why can't we have someone do a search find in the State to see how many towns have skate parks like this and how many have ordinances that charge a fee and what is that fee?
Tom Badcock: They are all different. Freehold has one and they don't even have a supervisor.
Move-up
Councilman Greene: I think that Councilman Testino did a very good job explaining the Rec. Boards position and I will say that I think it is a very good committee and it opens up a better chain of communication.
ORD. #15-1 Amending Ordinance to Increase Alcoholic Beverage Fees
Move-up
ORD. #16-01 Amendment to Use of library Property Ordinance
Move-up
ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING
FR-1 Amending Land Development Ordinance - Two Points of Access
Councilman Sohor: These are recommendations from the Planning Board.
Move-up
FR-2 Department Head Salaries
President Maher: Several council people have contacted me this weekend questioning as to why this is on here again. We talked about this two weeks ago is there anything new Mr. Sohor that you wish to bring to our attention?
Councilman Sohor: Well I think that we need to give this some real consideration. I found that there were a couple of points that were misunderstood in my original proposal. Firstly, several years back when we were having financial difficulties, most of the department heads with the exception of Ms. Shepler who was not on board at that time allowed us to underpay them by 1%. This was something they agreed to and we had promised them that at some time in the future this would be rectified. We have not done that.
President Maher: Is that in writing?
Councilman Sohor: If you go back through the minutes and the activities of the Council at that time you will see this.
President Maher: Can you provide the minutes so we can review it? The Clerk's office has told me there was no "back-up" on this matter. We need this information to proceed. What is your new information Roman?
Councilman Sohor: Obviously, you are denying the fact that we owe these people the 1%. On the other counts with regard to Ms. Shepler, you probably don't recall that at the time she was given the position, the salary was reduced in that job it was below what Mr. Coughlin was making. Ms. Shepler was told in particular by you that at sometime the salary would be adjusted back up again based on her performance and ability to do the same type of job that Mr. Coughlin did. Under the promises that we made at that time to Ms. Shepler and the concept of equal-pay for equal-work, she is definitely deserving of an increase in salary.
Councilman Hoff: I have great respect for Ms. Shepler and I was here when she was hired, but I remember that she did not have the same credentials as Mr. Coughlin had and he was hired after negotiating a price and considering the portfolio and experience he had in various other capacities and Ms. Shepler did not have it at the time and she was hired for less, but there is no equal-pay for equal-hire status.
Councilman Butler: As we are thinking back as to what happened many, many years ago I think that if we did want to do something like that we would have to take leave from Administration. We have not seen anything from Administration in reference to a 1% increase to department heads, at least I don't remember seeing anything on this.
Mayor Cannon: Excuse me, over a year ago I submitted a whole request for increases for the department heads after the unions had settled and the non-union staff had received their increases which was based on the three year contract settled with the major unions. I provided you with a number of back-ups explaining the 3 1/2% as well as the 1% because they did not get the full increase some years ago and also asking for additional stipends for Ms. Shepler because she was brought in at a lower salary without the car stipend and she did have a number of years experience prior to coming here both as Administrator in Marlboro and Neptune. Mr. Ruggierio, and I have supplied this information to you a number of times, came in at an extremely low salary because of the newly created position of in-house attorney and there was some concerns as to how that would work. The fact that he has been here since 1992 and people have told you that it is working and he certainly deserves to be brought up to the proper status within the department head range. Himanshu Shah's record speaks for itself and the work he has done to turn Old Bridge around and his invaluable contributions to Old Bridge. You all think this is very funny. This is your professional administrative staff and I really am annoyed that when the last time this was discussed and I could unfortunately not be here, that there were comments made that they were getting 9% & 10% increases which is not the case at all. Also, it was stated that since there had to be a tax increase this year how dare we even think of rewarding them with an additional increase. That is not true, you know that they have no responsibility for the increase that we are facing this year and secondly, if you are going to use that justification then for the seven years that were instrumental in presenting you with a no tax increase budget, I want to know why they were not properly rewarded at that time. We have one of the best professional staffs in the State, we have received commendations from the Governor's office, from other State agencies and this Council sits up here and constantly admonishes and I think disregards the contribution that these people have made to the Township. As far as back-up, you have had more than enough. I would answer any question or concern that you have, but I think to ignore this recommendation that was made almost one year ago is terrible. Their regular cost of living increase was only given this past December and retro active whereas the other employees received theirs back in July and the second part of the increase was only given last month. You have not come up with any reason why this should not be addressed.
President Maher: Is there any support on the Council to move this forward?
Councilman Butler: Mayor, you talked about a five cent tax increase, there is going to be a 5% increase from the Board of Ed, there is going to be a two cent increase from the County, and I don't know how much the tax increase will be with regard to the referendum we'll be voting on in September; I think we need to take that into account.
Mayor Cannon: You're telling your professionals that they can go sit on the side and maybe some day they can be recognized for their contribution.
Councilman Butler: I am saying that with reference to the public who is about to be hit with all these tax increases I don't see it.
Mayor Cannon: Then I would expect you to hold the line on everything, including the capital projects list. When professionals decide to leave this town, then I would assume you would take that responsibility upon yourselves.
Councilman Hoff: I just think that you need a better salesperson. You're not happy with the across the board rank and file increase given to everyone and you pick and choose what department heads get additional raises; you don't mention the police chief; you don't mention Mr. Iglesias, the engineer; you don't mention other deserving people, you have chosen just a select few. I don't think that you sold this right or fair and I think that you only sold it well enough to Roman Sohor.
President Maher: Again, is there any support to move this forward?
Mayor Cannon: Merit increases are usually given for extraordinary work, they are not given across the board and the other increases I explained were because there had been deficiencies in the past.
Councilman Greene: I know going back quite awhile ago that I told the Mayor that I could not support the raises, but I do have difficulty and it goes along with some of the comments made here, that when an item suddenly appears on an agenda, I think this is a decision that I have to make and I would like to know all the facts and the reasons behind it and being informed. All I got was the list of raises on the agenda and for that reason and that reason only I cannot support it.
Mayor Cannon: I would just like to mention that this information has been given you back in July and a number of other occasions and as long as we are concerned about the agenda and back-up, we are constantly given items on the agenda with no back-up and expected to respond. So does the back-up only apply to when Administration puts something on the agenda?
President Maher: As per our guidelines nothing should be placed on the agenda without back-up. We discussed this matter two weeks ago and it is the majority decision of the Council that we gave everyone the 3 ½ % salary increase across the board and we were not convinced that anything above and beyond this was warranted. If, in fact, there is new information that you want to present, put it in writing and get it to us and we will consider it at a later date, but we don't like to be blind sided by these broken promises of three or four years ago. Again, as I said two weeks ago, I am not questioning the ability or performance of these department heads, they are fine individuals, but put the information in writing to us and this Council will reconsider it.
Councilman Sohor: By the way, you named a chair of a committee two weeks ago to discuss merit raises, has that committee been put together and a meeting scheduled?
President Maher: I have not seen it, why don't you call Councilwoman Marinaccio.
CONSENT AGENDA
C-1 Block Party - Heather Drive, Saturday, August 4, 2001 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Move-up
DISCUSSION ORDINANCE
DO-1 Amending Land Development Ordinance Drainage Easements & Detention Basins
Councilman Redmond: There is no back-up on this because it basically it does not exist yet. I have been trying to get this on the agenda so we can discuss it. I am not asking to write an ordinance tonight. The problem that I have and we see it every time when the developers come in for bond releases, we have options in the land-use ordinance that allow people to built detention basins that are not up to township standards so that we don't have to take them over and all they have to do is create a homeowner's association to maintain these things. This is absolute nonsense. It is another way to squeeze as many homes as possible on to pieces of property and you stick the drain pipe in someone's backyard. This stuff has to stop. The drainage easements have to be built on common land and up to the standards of the township.
Nelson Iglesias: I think all of you are aware of my reputation when it comes to drainage and other environmental issues. I am all for making sure that the detention systems are constructed properly. So far the detention basins that have been built are all in agreement with the township ordinance, none are contrary to the ordinance. There is a difference between commercial sites and single family homes. The commercial sites are definitely maintained by the owner of the site and the township has no involvement. When it comes to single family homes it is different thing. Yes, the township should take these basins over and we are working towards that.
Councilman Redmond: The main problem is having these basins in people's yards. I don't want to put an unfair burden on the homeowners, but we have to do away with these procedures.
President Maher: We will schedule a workshop to discuss this matter.
DO-2 Amending Section 10-5 Traffic Truck Restriction - Highpointe (Trucks over 4 tons gross weight)
President Maher: I want to bring Council's attention to the fact that I did read the correspondence from Mrs. Piccolo and Mr. Dubois and they are strictly conflicting points of view here with regard to the events happening at Highpointe. I would like to ask Mr. Ruggierio to look at the Piccolo's proposal and what they are expecting us to do as well as review the facts as presented by Mr. & Mrs. Dubois. We don't want to discriminate against any homeowner and if we are able to move this proposal forward and include other parts of town.
Councilman Testino: I put this on because the Piccolo's did contact me and it was my understanding that we did not adopt to apply to that development, meaning this particular restriction. It is my understanding that we might have these restrictions elsewhere in town and my quest here is not to single out one homeowner over another, but to treat the areas of town in a similar fashion. I know that everyone has a right to use their property, but the question is when does that right start imposing on others. I do ask Mr. Ruggierio to see if we have ordinances that apply and if they do apply to that particular street or development and if they don't then give us recommendations to make it consistent throughout the township because we don't want to have a discrimination.
President Maher: I would also like to suggest that the Public Safety Department look at this and Captain Cerra can you get a copy of the correspondence from the Piccolo's and the Dubois and see if there is any violation of any existing public safety laws in town. You can get that from the Clerk's office. We need to be fair to everyone with regard to this situation.
Councilman Sohor: Our current ordinance on restricting trucks in residential areas is applied basically on a street-by-street basis and in the past we just added individual streets to that ordinance and apparently Highpointe and other residential areas have been left out by virtue of the fact that this ordinance requires specific naming of the street. We should amend the ordinance in such a way as to reflect no heavy commercial traffic except for local deliveries on all residential streets throughout the township both existing and new streets that come on board.
We should also address the problems of parking taxicabs and limousines in residential areas because we are starting to develop some problems in that respect also.
President Maher: Is everyone in agreement that we have legal and Public Safety go over this and report back to us?
DO-3 Ordinance initiating $20.00 fee for Zoning Permit Review
Councilman Testino: Is this just to offset our costs in regard to the officers time in reviewing these applications?
Alayne Shepler: Yes. This is not meant to be a revenue generator, but it will stop some frivolous requests from the Zoning Officer and when pool permits come in they can go a little crazy during this season in particular.
Councilman Redmond: I know that whenever an application for anything goes into Code Enforcement it has to be reviewed by the Zoning Officer to see if a variance is needed. I think that $20.00 is fair for the amount of work that has to be done on these applications.
Move-up
DO-4 Amending Ordinance 57-97 Chapter 11-2.16 (Reduce fees from $60.00 to $50.00 on fire inspections to help offset costs required by LEA "Local Enforcing Agency of $35.00)
Alayne Shepler: I sent you a letter which you have as part of your package. Back in January 2000, a notice was sent from the DCA to the local enforcing agencies which in this case was the fire marshals, Mr. Gerity and Mr. Diaz, that they would now be responsible for the inspection of multiple dwellings (fire only). In the past those inspections were handled by our departments and our inspectors are equally qualified as the fire marshals to perform them. Basically, the inspection is you go into an apartment with a long stick and press the fire detector and see if it works. We have always done this and the fee was $60.00. About a month ago, we met with Messrs. Zipp, Gerity and Diaz and had a long discussion on why they were doing this and how we could avoid this happening and continue to do the service on our own. The fire inspectors are adamant that they are mandated by the State and would not back off from it and they threw in that they would now also be inspecting single family dwellings as well. I foresee that in addition to the cost to the landlord, it will trickle down to the tenant. In terms of single family dwellings, I see the major problem being the coordination of effort between the two departments in order to get a Certificate of Approval as it is called here and it can cause undo delays because of the lack of inspectors to coordinate with our people to get the inspections done.
We were told that there is nothing we can do and I don't know how you budge the DCA from enforcing their mandate. That is why as an offset we cannot make up the fee the fire marshals are going to be charging for these inspections but we can make it a little less difficult by reducing our fees by $10.00.
Councilman Redmond: Do we charge them twice?
Alayne Shepler: No. This is not a fire Subcode inspection. This is a code inspection on a resale or re-rental, this is not new construction. It is the complete fee.
Councilman Testino: Are you trying to tell me that it costs less money to send the same person out there and do the test he was doing.
Alayne Shepler: No, we are trying to be more fair to our residents and to the apartments.
Councilman Testino: I want to know how this affects our cost center before we decide to lower any fees.
Alayne Shepler: This is supported by the Code Enforcement Department and was their request to us.
Councilman Testino: I can remember running a deficit in that department and it was not until just recently that we had a building boom.
Alayne Shepler: We have not been running a deficit for this year, but I think that there will be some hardships placed on some residents for the additional $35.00 and I don't think they can support the idea that their service is worth $35.00.
Councilman Testino: I don't disagree with the overall concept that you are putting forward, but I do disagree with placing the burden on the township as opposed to going back to the fire district and letting them adjust their fee down, why don't they charge $10.00 instead of $35.00.
Alayne Shepler: We would be happy to do that, but they told us they have an ordinance in their by-laws that they cannot change and they will not reduce that fee.
President Maher: I would like to see a meeting scheduled and get the information that Councilman Testino is asking for before we move on this and send word back to the fire districts that we want to meet.
No Support
DO-5 Bi-Partisan Committee Appointments
Councilman Sohor: At the last meeting a number of members of the Council made a rather open display of glee that one member from each party would be appointed to the Recreation Advisory Board. Back three years ago when this Council was reformed after the last election, the Council abandoned a principle that had been in effect for many years, where a board required two council members, one from each party, now there seems to be a lot of support for bi-partisanship, I would like to get some support for an ordinance to require that all boards that have two council members, have one appointed from each party so that we can maintain the BI-partisanship and broaden the representation on those boards.
No Support
DISCUSSION RESOLUTION
DR-1 Fisher Bros./Lowe's Shopping Center - (Fair Share Contribution of Traffic Improvements.
Mr. Iglesias: If you remember the last time they were here there were quite a few problems. It was decided at that time that they would come back after the road work was taken care of and I have been working very hard with them to finish both the detention basins and the road. As to whether or not the next meeting would be adequate to discuss this again, I am not sure.
Councilman Butler: Firstly, I would like to compliment Mr. Iglesias on a meeting that he had with them last Thursday and I happened to be in town hall and he invited me. He did lay the law down to them and you must now give them time to react and I don't think that next week is sufficient time.
Motion
to table to April 23, 2001 made by President Maher, seconded by Councilman Redmond and so moved on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Greene, Hoff, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
Absent: Councilman Cucchiara, Councilwoman Marinaccio
DR-2 Memorialize Release Performance Guarantee - Miranda/Bell Chase
Move-up
DR-3 Raritan Bay Medical Center Family Day
Move-up
DR-4 Resolution authorizing Cancellation of CDBG Mortgage for Joyce Wetstein
Move-up
DR-5 Resolution authorizing Cancellation of CDBG Mortgage for Katherine Santana
DR-6 Resolution authorizing Contract for James Cooney, Esq. Nunc Pro Tunc for Ethics Board - $6,000.00 (July 1, 2000 thru June 30, 2001)
Councilman Redmond: Do we have an Ethics Committee that sits and has meetings?
Attorney Ruggierio: I don't think that they do. They have meetings when they have a complaint or when they have to act on something. I don't know what you are going to do about an Ethics Board in the future, but Jim Cooney has been handling these ethic complaints that have been pending in Trenton and I don't think it is fair for him not to be paid for work that he has already done.
Councilman Testino: Do they actually meet because this resolution is dated March?
Attorney Ruggierio: I assume they meet, but I do not know the answer to that question.
Councilman Testino: What is happening with my request to turn this over to the State?
Attorney Ruggierio: You can do this at any time and eliminate your local ethics board in which case it all goes to Trenton and a lot of communities handle it in that manner.
Councilman Testino: The problem Bill is we cannot find anyone to serve on this the way our ordinance is currently constituted.
President Maher: Well, maybe we need to change our ordinance since we cannot get any clergy to sit on it.
Attorney Ruggierio: I think the original thinking behind that was that there would be a greater degree of restraint on the part of clergy but you certainly don't want to be in a situation where the ad judicatory body would not be bipartisan with regard to a political matter and that was the concept behind this clergy idea.
President Maher: Would it be appropriate for us to ask the active members of the Ethics Board to send us a resolution to change the ordinance for the Ethics Board?
Attorney Ruggierio: Maybe you could have Jim and the members of the Board come before you and talk about this subject.
President Maher: Alayne, can you contact the Ethics Board and invite them to a future Agenda meeting.
Move-up
DR-7 Middlesex County Office On Aging Grants (Assisted Transportation and
Residential Maintenance for 1/1/01 to 12/31/01
Move-up
DR-8 Calvary Chapel of Old Bridge - Sunrise Service 4/15/01
Move-up
DR-9 Resolution to cancel Chapter 159 in the amount of $2,500.00 which is not available as a revenue from DWI Grant
DR-10 Auction of Surplus Property - Saturday, May 19, 2001 - 10:00 A.M.
Move-up
DR-11 Route 35 Sewer Lateral Replacement Program (Granting OBMUA temporary construction easement and permanent access easement to replace existing sewer system on Township owned property located on Rt. 35 (Hick's Auto Body)
Move-up
DR-12 Resolution authorizing cancellation of CDBG Mortgage for Joyce Davis/Cindy Renee Kemp.
Move-up
DR-13 Resolution authorizing Award of Contract to Smith & Smith for assistance to the Legal Dept. Re: Woodland Trails/Oakwood/Misc. "Not to exceed $10,000.00"
President Maher: Why are we reaching outside to a law firm, didn't you handle the entire condemnation for the Sommers Property in house and why can't we do the same here?
Attorney Ruggierio: Yes. These people are not taking over these cases they are working for me and do assignments for me in connection with these cases. What I am trying to do is with regard to Woodland Trails is prepare because this is going to be a serious matter and will require an established file when we have the law suit.
President Maher: What is the difference between this and the suit that you successfully got involved with regarding the Sommers property and we did not have to bring in an outside counsel?
Attorney Ruggierio: I intend to fully handle in house the Woodland Trails matter, it is just that what I see coming is significant and I want to be prepared to defend this law suit when it comes on. We hope that we will have insurance coverage for everything except the punitive damages, but we will have to wait and see. I have come to you in the past and told you that the reason we can be effective as an in-house operation is that we are able to select outside counsel and get them to help us on an assignment basis. All I am saying to you is things are heating up in Oakwood and I have a law clerk type person, that I have just hired is working full time on this project. Woodland Trails is going to become serious litigation and I want to be proactive and put together the file and have the defense at hand.
Councilman Redmond: I would like to make a comment, we authorized legal to go ahead with these cases and I think we should cover ourselves on this one.
Move-up
DR-14 Police Vehicles (8 new police cars) State Contract #A82813 Winner Ford for a total of $162,952.00.
Councilman Sohor: With regard to the police vehicles, the State audit report made a lot of recommendations about vehicles, increasing in some categories and decreasing in others. For next week, before we vote on this I would like the Police Department to give us some sort of reconciliation of how the vehicles they are purchasing here ties in with the State's recommendations.
Capt. Cerra: I can give it to you right now. The audit stated that we should pick a number of vehicles that we would purchase every year, not dollar amount and the recommendation was that whatever the cost for that number, that is what you budget for that year. That is not the agreement we made ten years back and it is working fine and I indicated that to him, so the program that we have in place is saving us money over their recommendation.
President Maher: Would you put that in writing to Councilman Sohor per his request.
Move-up
DR-16 Resolution authorizing Deed Easement for the Mimi Road Project Closing
Move-up
DR-17 Payment of Accumulated Time - Retirement - Police Officer Paul Salonis in the amount of $58,574.96
DISCUSSION
President Maher: Let's go through the rest of the agenda and take the capital projects at the end.
D-2 Review of Sale of New Plenary Distribution or Retail Liquor/Consumption Licenses.
Councilman Testino: I brought this up again because it is another revenue that we might consider and I was hoping that the census might give us even more, but it does not look that way.
With all the commercial development coming on and the Town Centre, I was hoping something like this could bring some economic development. How many do we have to be sold?
Clerk Saracino: We have several inactive licenses right now.
Attorney Ruggierio: I was just discussing with the Clerk that we might be able to exert some pressure on the inactive ones to renew them. I think that you also have too many consumption licenses with regard to population, but at some time I think you can get some back.
Councilman Testino: I love all the ideas Bill, and if we knew this was on the horizon and that the Council was in favor, then we could send it over to the EDC and they could "fish" it around. It was only a thought and I don't hear any support from the rest of the Council.
D-3 Report on Inspection of Playgrounds
Councilman Testino: I just brought this up again because it is getting to be the time when the kids are back outside and I want to make sure that the playgrounds are up to snuff. Ms. Shepler gave me a memo on the State law and I have not seen the regulations and I don't know what they require, but regardless I want to make sure that we are aware of any problems.
Tom Badcock: We have our people going through and doing the inspections and there have been certified park inspectors going through.
D-4 Current commuter parking problems and recommended solutions.
Councilman Greene: I brought this up about a year ago and I think that we have a significant problem with parking and it would be a good idea to ask the Parking and Transportation Committee Chairman as well as the Parking Advisory Board to come in and go over what they are doing in order to help relieve the problem of lack of parking spaces and unsuitable spaces. For instance, at Ernston Road I understand that if you get there between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM there are no spaces, what are we doing about that. There are many questions that need answering regarding additional parking facilities along Rt. 9. I think it would be good to have an open discussion with the Committees, Council and Administration so everyone knows where we are at and where we are going with regard to this problem.
Mayor Cannon: I have no problem doing that, and the Commuter Advisory Committee has been meeting monthly and we have purchased the Inverness Lot and we are trying to get the dollars to improve it and we are trying to work with Mr. Brunetti to improve the Jake Brown lot and we are not getting anywhere. We will be getting possession of the jitney bus within a month or two, which hopefully will take away a little of the pressure on the Rt. 9 corridor. I have also spoken with New Jersey Transit on a number of occasions to try to get them to give some service on Rt. 34 and Rt. 516. We are working on a number of fronts and hopefully we will try to work out some of these problems.
President Maher: Let's schedule them for a future agenda meeting so we can discuss long term strategy.
Mayor Cannon: We do keep our residents informed through the website.
Councilman Testino: I would like to know if anyone has contacted the developers of the new shopping center on Rt. 9 to see if we can get a couple of spots from them and when Home Depot moves out there may be a whole empty lot for at least awhile?
Mayor Cannon: We have spoken to them in the past and we will speak to them again.
D-5 Status of bus shelter contract
Councilman Greene: There was a bus shelter on Rt. 516 by the Browntown Shopping Center and unfortunately it was vandalized, I was hoping that something could be done temporarily because I know the shelter contracts are in the works and that location is certainly one of the spots where a new one should be located. It has been some time and I want Administration to give us an update.
Alayne Shepler: In terms of Culver Advertising, which Mr. Greene is referring to, it takes a lot of time. We had to go to the Clerk's office to get original resolutions for everyone of the bus shelters that we have and in the meantime I have just received the yellow sheets that need to go to the State for the right-of-way permits and we will be sending them out the end of this week. Believe it or not they do these installations very quickly this is not a major project. I will call the gentleman that I deal with at the State to see if I can get an update on when we can expect these shelters to be put-up.
D-6 Prevention of dumping and removal of litter and debris from County and Township Roadways
Councilman Greene: This relates to Rt. 516 between Whispering Pines and Highway 18. The properties there are full of litter, it is an eyesore and a bad reflection on the township. The Mayor wrote a letter to the County because it is a County road and so did I. I found out that they don't have a specific program themselves, they rely on prisoners to clean up the road. I was very disappointed in their response and I find it very frustrating that we are going to leave it that way and I want to point out the fact that the County stated that they will only clean up the litter on the shoulder of the road. On Rt. 516, this litter is 10-15 yards back, and I really think some coordinated effort should be made to clean that area up. Maybe we can have an "Adopt a Highway Program" initiated, but I don't think that we should sit back and wait.
Mayor Cannon: I am told that we should have someone showing up to do the work either this week or next week. We also have Mickey Gross our health officer citing some of these properties because it is a health hazard. We will keep after them and will make sure that our health officer is citing these private properties.
Councilman Greene: We also have the same type of problem on Marlboro Road and we should look into that.
D-7 Zoning Board of Adjustment - Vacancy. (Request Action Tonight)
Resolution 159
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey that;
WHEREAS, Gordon Whitefield was appointed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a term ending December 31, 2004;
Whereas, Gordon Whitefield has submitted a letter of resignation to the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, that the resignation if Gordon Whitefield is hereby accepted.
Moved by Councilman Hoff, seconded by Council President Maher and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Greene, Hoff, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
Absent: Councilman Cucchiara, Councilwoman Marinaccio
Resolution #160
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey that;
WHEREAS, Gordon Whitefield has resigned his position on the Zoning Board of Adjustment;
WHEREAS, the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge has appointed Drake J. Pallister to the Zoning Board of Adjustment;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Drake J. Pallister be appointed to fill the unexpired term ending December 31, 2004.
Moved by Councilman Hoff, seconded by Councilman Redmond and so ordered on the following roll call vote.
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Greene, Hoff, Redmond, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: Councilman Sohor
Absent: Councilman Cucchiara, Councilwoman Marinaccio
Prior to the resolutions the following discussion took place.
Mr. Hoff: Gordon Whitefield who currently is a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment is resigning and you all have a copy of his resignation, I would like to act tonight to accept his resignation . Also, since there is a Zoning Board meeting this Thursday night and we have the resume of Drake J. Pallister who lives in this same ward 2, I would like to replace Mr. Whitefield with Mr. Pallister effective immediately.
Councilman Sohor: There is an ordinance in place that specifically requires that any vacancies on boards be announced to the public requesting that resumes be submitted. We have been following that ordinance for all these years on appointments and Zoning Board is a particularly important appointment and we need to follow the ordinance.
Councilman Hoff: I don't think there is such an ordinance, it might be a resolution.
Councilman Sohor: It is not a resolution; it is an ordinance.
President Maher: This is an emergency, Mr. Whitefield is moving out of town and there is a meeting this week and I think we need to fill this vacancy as soon as possible.
D-8 Middlesex Road, Matawan - Increase of truck traffic on residential streets
President Maher: We have just gotten a letter from the Police Department and Engineering and I would like to carry this forward to a future agenda so we have time to review the letter.
Mayor Cannon: Did that request go through Alayne? It is supposed to go through Administration.
Alayne Shepler: Just so you know, there was a report from P.O. Foderaro sometime ago, however, there are some concerns and I have not had a chance to talk to Engineering about it but Council should be aware that if you get rid of the traffic on Middlesex Road you will get heavy traffic on other township roads and I think you should take that into consideration.
Carry forward
D-9 Status of Detention Basin - Re: Complaint from Rocchio
Councilman Testino: I spoke to Jim Condon about this. Apparently the ingress and egress are not being maintained and some of the homeowners feel it is affecting their quality of life and Larry believes that soon it will be mosquito season so we should look into this. I know the bonding is coming up for another question and I don't want to release any bonds unless the detention basin is solved.
Attorney Ruggierio: I think this matter was brought to me previously in connection with meetings we had with the Homeowners Association and we had a letter from the homeowner who stated they would not remove their fence from this access. As I look at this matter it is not really the developers fault, it is the homeowner who is being obstinate. I was prepared to take legal action because the township does have access to the detention basin, but I thought I was told that if we took certain steps the Homeowner's Association would take steps to correct this problem.
Councilman Testino: The Homeowner's Association president has told me otherwise, that they cannot resolve it, and now we have no maintenance going on there at all.
Nelson Iglesias: I sent you a report on April 2nd, it pretty much covers what went on there and as Bill said there seems to be a problem with the Homeowners Association and certain individuals and I agree with Mr. Testino that we are not ready to release any bonds. I personally think that we should be able to sit down with the Homeowners Association and dictate some terms to clear this problem up. I was out there this morning and someone is maintaining a portion of the detention basin, unfortunately not both sides, but someone is cutting the grass.
I just want you to know there is not a lot of debris and that part of the letter is invalid. The most debris is at the entrance to the detention basin and that is because one of the owners installed his fence on the access. He not only has a fence, but has planted a garden right in the middle. I agree we should sit down with the Homeowners Association and try to resolve this matter.
Councilman Redmond: You see where a change in the ordinance would alleviate most of these problems. This whole thing would not exist if developers were told not to build on lots that contain the detention basins.
Councilman Greene: If you remember over a year ago the Council "beefed-up" an ordinance specifically trying to protect the residents with regard to easements, I take this very seriously and feel the Council should take a firm stance on this subject.
D-10 Watershed Management Group - Appointing a Representative.
Councilman Sohor: We have been receiving correspondence over the last several months from the County regarding Lower Raritan Watershed Management Organization and to the best of my knowledge we have not officially joined and in the last packet they sent along a sample resolution and I think that we should join the organization officially in the near future and consider appointing a permanent representative to that Group to attend the meetings and report back to us on their activities.
Councilman Testino: Do you want to appoint someone from the Council or Administration?
Councilman Sohor: Actually, I think it should be someone from the public who is knowledgeable in water and engineering.
Mayor Cannon: I believe Wayne Farmer from the Environmental Commission has been in attendance at a couple of these meetings and he is quite knowledgeable.
Councilman Sohor: If we officially join we can make him the delegate, but the first step is to become official members.
Move-up
D-11 Farrington Road Flooding - Flooding caused by new construction.
Councilman Sohor: We spent a small fortune repairing the culvert at Farrington Road and doing a lot of drainage there. Now we have a new problem, there are a couple of homes built recently along Farrington Road just before the previous construction area and I have received a number of complaints from people in the area regarding these homes that are built up above the road. In the rains, water is coming down the driveways and putting several inches of sheet water directly across Farrington Road. Some sort of drainage system was put in front of these homes to keep the water from going across the road, but it does not seem to be working.
Nelson Iglesias: It is a question of maintenance. The two lots we are talking about, at this point they belong to us and they are full of sediment and once that is opened up the problem will be eliminated.
President Maher: When will they be opened up?
Nelson Iglesias: I have asked Rocky and it will be done.
D-12 Solicitation of Residents - (Solicitation of residents by purported representatives of Cablevision and Police)
Councilman Sohor: I have gotten phone calls and have experienced it myself over the last few days. What appears to be happening is Cablevision seems to have contractors working in the area making cold calls on residents to make repairs or inspections and seeking entrance into peoples homes and then trying to sell additional services. I think we need to get hold of Cablevision and ask them to stop this practice. Also, someone is making calls on behalf of a "generic" police union and they were unable to identify what organization they represented or identify who is on their roster. I think we need to get some word out to the public that they are not part of any Old Bridge organization.
President Maher: There is a Public Utilities Board in Newark that handles telemarketing or slamming complaints so I would bring this to their attention. In fact Roman, you might want to file a complaint that you were solicited and give them the facts.
Capt. Cerra: Our FOP drive starts this month and we have a definite procedure that is followed and they mention the name of an officer.
D-13 Apology to Special Police Officers (apology for rudeness and advocacy of labor law violations by Council President)
Councilman Sohor: This is an item that I had to give a lot of thought to, last week we received some public comment with regard to skate park fees. At the time the resident, who was also a special police officer addressed, our Council President Maher, made some comments that basically seemed to point our skate park problems at special police and the cost of having them cover that area, which comments I think were misplaced and improper and demeaning to the special police. Also, the suggestion or demand made was that special police officers should volunteer their time to police this park. This also, in my opinion, was in total disregard of what we state on the front of our agenda which is ...respect for individuals... That also is a violation of Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, someone who works for an organization cannot be forced or coerced to work for free. I think we ought to make an apology to the special officers and resolve that we are not going to condone ignoring labor standards.
President Maher: Since this is about me, I am going to excuse myself and turn it over to Vice-President Butler.
Vice-president Butler: I remember the conversation with Council President Maher and Dominic Cicio and I don't think that anything was done in a derogatory manner. I think that we all have been guilty over the years with reference to asking employees to fill in and I don't think President Maher was thinking about things like labor laws, he was just trying to get some time.
Councilman Redmond: Not only do I recall the conversation, but I got hold of the minutes and I am looking at them and do not see anything offensive as a matter of fact, Mr. Cicio says that there might be people willing to work these parks and he would volunteer his time, but that is not the issue. We were all just talking about the fees and I can't say what was on Mr. Maher's mind, but I cannot see where there was anything offensive. I think we were all looking for ways not to charge these fees and all Mr. Maher was asking was to bring it back to the membership if they were willing to donate their time.
Councilman Sohor: You cannot ask that.
Mayor Cannon: I think it was inappropriate. He was addressing an issue that he felt very strongly about and that was just avoiding the issue.
Councilman Redmond: You made him look good. He also wrote a letter to the Suburban that had some excellent ideas about the skate park.
REPORTS
R-1 Road Building Activity - Industrial Way/West End (Report by Administration)
Councilman Hoff: I promise you this will not be waste of time, but I am concerned about the activity on Industrial Way. It is close to the proposed train station and the tracks that go from Matawan to South Amboy. The property is owned by I don't know who, but it is not part of the Alfieri subdivision. They cut a road through what was apparently wetlands and brought in fill, and when I asked engineering, I was told that the people asked for a "land disturbance permit" and forms were given, which they did not comply with, but the work was started anyway. Mr. Iglesias put a stop on the work, but the work has kept on going. My question is what is going on there?
Nelson Iglesias: As Mr. Hoff said a gentleman ( I don't recall his name) came to my office and requested site permits. No permits were issued and I went to the site and there was a bull dozer there and I told them to stop and not do anything out there unless they had a disturbance permit from us. In order to get this permit you must show us how much land you intend to move around and we need soil test samples. He did submit a survey showing the area to be disturbed and it was within the wetlands limits. He was issued the permit on the basis of the survey. Two days later, the fellow who claimed to be the owner came to my office and wanted to know why people were on his property. At that time, I put an end to the whole operation and told them nothing else could be done until they proved to me who owned the property and that is where we are at.
Councilman Hoff: I took photos over the weekend and it shows a road that goes out of site and this is not a one or two day operation and I see clean fill which has apparently been dumped on wetlands. This is an operational road.
Nelson Iglesias: I will go out there and report back to you next week.
Councilman Hoff: What bothers me Nelson, is that we do not know who the owners are.
Nelson Iglesias: I have never had this happen before. Supposedly, this fellow brought the land at an auction.
Councilman Hoff: I want to know what is going on. We need to get everyone involved and find out exactly what is going on. I want to be able to have full subpoena authority to bring in everyone who is involved with the property so we know exactly what is going on and who is responsible and if Mr. Ruggierio won't represent us then we will get outside counsel.
Councilman Redmond: When they do wetlands delineation they look for certain type of vegetation, what happens if the area has already been cleared, how do they determine it?
Nelson Iglesias: You don't need a wet area to determine if the area is wetlands. The indication is noted on the property survey itself.
Councilman Hoff: You know we had very heavy rains over this past weekend and we last year we put extensive work into maintaining the integrity of the bank at the north end of Shoreland Circle. This last storm washed sections of it off and created a problem whereby the streets are 80% covered with water. I talked with the Engineering office today and they are working with T&M and possibly somewhere along the route a storm sewer has been blocked and we need to do something about it.
R-2 Resident Parking - Shoreland Circle & Bayview Drive
Councilman Hoff: I would like to ask Alayne if anything is being done on this matter. Summertime is coming and this area will be attracting a lot of non-residents. We asked some time ago for resident only parking areas and I would like to know where we stand on this.
Alayne Shepler: I did call them on Friday and they have stated that they know the approval is done, but has not been signed by the Commissioner. The letter has to come out of Mr. Anderson's office and we can only wait until it is received. I will try again.
REPORTS- 4/9/01
R-1 Ledge Terrace - Gate (Gate to put up between 38 & 40 Ledge Terrace Easement) Status Report by Administration.
Alayne Shepler: I don't have anything for Monday, but Mr. Badcock and Mr. Donatelli are going to look at it. We may be able to do it in-house, otherwise Mr. Donatelli will secure three bids and we will have it done as quickly as possible.
R-2 Birch Hill - Potential of acquiring property - Phase I
President Maher: We have the preliminary report on this matter.
CAPITAL PROJECTS
D-1 - Finance and Mayor to Cannon to supply more details and back-up on each capital project.
President Maher: With regard to Mr. Donatelli's Department for the sweeper, 4 pick-up trucks, 4 spreaders, copy machine, do we have any questions?
Vice-president Butler: I don't have any additional question, I believe we covered it all.
President Maher: I will go down the list as follows;
Traffic & Safety - Copy Machine - No Discussion
Engineering - Blue Print Copier - No Discussion
President Maher: it safe to say that the Council is comfortable with all the items in Item #1? Seeing none, I will close this matter.
Recreation: For the vehicles, mower, utility vehicle and field machine.
President Maher: With regard to the utility vehicle is it a jeep?
Tom Badcock: No, it is a small truck like those used on a golf course or in areas where you cannot get a big truck into the area.
Councilman Hoff: We need to look at getting a mower that can handle the area along the beachfront cliffs.
Rocky Donatelli: We have someone working on it now and they are going to supply us with prices.
Computer Equipment - Data Processing Department
President Maher: The total for this equipment is $160,000.00
Alayne Shepler: Under the MIS Department, there are items for the Police Department, an upgrade of the Phone system, development of the document management system (microfilm) the Old Bridge On-line system, a new fax server, these are all under this heading.
President Maher: What is the difference between the request that came in from the Police Department and this item?
Alayne Shepler: I have a request from the Police Department dated March 19th, which was received well after we had proposed and distributed to Council a request for capital equipment. The only item I ask that you consider this evening is the $360,000.00 + $40,000.00 which is the upgrade to the radio system that we need. The other items were asked for back in January, but they did not submit a request until March. The only equipment I saw for the Police was specific to the Command Center which was not included in Himanshu's list. We are trying to get grant money and obviously if we get it we will apply it to the purchase.
Municipal Complex
Alayne Shepler: We had planned to replace the lobby floor. In every audit from the insurance companies, the lobby has a great number of deficiencies and it needs to be replaced. The doors also need to be replaced, they are 25 years old. This would also include upgrading the floor in the Civic Center, that would be bid as an alternate. We had some very expensive solutions, but this last time we came up with a floor less expensive and with low maintenance.
Engineering - Laurence Harbor Recreation Bldg., Phase 2
No Discussion
Park Improvements - Golf Course Development, Ticetown Soccer Field Parking Lot, Cheerleading Mat Bldg., Ward 3 Recreation Center
Councilman Redmond: The $350,000 is that a grant?
Alayne Shepler: We are going to ask you for a portion as well as Sam Thompson. We want to bond for $350,000.00 for our share.
Councilman Redmond: With regard to the golf course development, we still don't have the piece of property that we need. The $300,000 is this for the design?
Tom Badcock: That is for one half of the design.
Councilman Redmond: That means that the design is close to one million dollars.
Tom Badcock: The cost for the course itself would be approximately 6 million dollars.
You have a schedule for the course of the payback over a period of time. Although the numbers are over a year old, it would probably be better now and the numbers that were provided were very conservative.
Councilman Greene: I think will help us with other sports programs once we get this golf course revenue coming in.
Councilman Testino: Could we set this up as a Recreation Utility?
President Maher: I don't know if a decision has been made as to whether we are going to run it or have it privatized that is an option.
Tom Badcock: It has to be privatized. It cannot be run by amateurs, it needs professional management.
Councilman Testino: I have a suggestion. The Recreation Committee was supposed to look at putting more tar down at the skate park and some skating lines to increase the size. Can we do that now?
Tom Badcock: If you are talking about putting in a pathway...(cannot hear)
Councilman Testino: Not necessarily a pathway but enlarging the skating area without ramps or anything just additional skating space.
Tom Badcock: Doing something like that could cost about $20,000.00.
Drainage Improvement - Under drains and sump pump connections
No Discussion
Road Improvements - North Central and West Avenues - Phase 2; Perrine Road,
Morganville Road, striping for Gordon Road, curb and paving programs
Councilman Greene: We definitely did increase the curbing program from $600,000 to one million dollars and this shows $900,000.
Alayne Shepler: Himanshu said that he verified that it was $900,000, and I did not question him.
Mayor Cannon: I understood you to say that you wanted an additional $300,000 added to the allotted $600,000.
President Maher: That was in there, so make it one million dollars.
Councilman Redmond: Since we are discussing bonding, if my recollection serves me when we went from a calendar year to a fiscal year we bonded to cover those expenses and the loan portion comes due in next years budget am I correct?
Mayor Cannon: They are paid off next year.
Alayne Shepler: I don't have that information with me.
Councilman Redmond: What I am asking is with the current interest rates would it make more sense to restructure those loans at this time rather than pay them off?
Alayne Shepler: I don't think that can be done, but I will ask Himanshu.
President Maher: Following up on Mr. Redmond's question is there any opportunity based on the market conditions for us to recast or refinance some of the townships total debt?
Alayne Shepler: You just had a $7 million dollar bond sale and as far as I know that was the very best you could accomplish. You should have a written report on that bond sale.
President Maher: What is the township's total debt?
Alayne Shepler: Approximately $40 million dollars. That is not total bonding, it is your debt service. Himanshu had gone from bond anticipation notes of $7 million dollars to permanent financing and that is the bulk of what we can do.
Land Acquisitions
President Maher: I did not get a complete list. I know we had two it was Lambertson and Cottrell.
Tom Badcock: ...(cannot hear)
President Maher: It was on our previous sheets. What are you asking for?
Mayor Cannon: I think it would only be Lambertson because you already bonded for Woodland Trails.
President Maher: So the land acquisitions is $3.6 million dollars?
Mayor Cannon: The only one I am aware of is Lambertson where we have one half funded by the State and we have to do the other half.
President Maher: We need to move this forward so we need to know the figures. I am going to ask the Council members if there is any additions or deletions to get the information to the Clerk's office by the end of the week.
Alayne Shepler: I ask that you get to either myself or Himanshu because obviously we will need down payment money. We need to have the final list by Monday.
Mayor Cannon: We have to have this before Friday because we have to get it to the Bond Counsel and we will need a supplemental debt statement prepared. What are you going to do with the supplemental issues received from the Police Department?
President Maher: We are going to add the $400,000 for police radios, $20,000 to expand the skate park.
Councilman Butler: I think we received something from the Clerk's office for approximately $15,000 for improvements.
President Maher: The deadline for submissions will be Wednesday. Get the information to the Clerk's office who will forward it to Alayne and we will move this forward for first reading on Monday.
Motion to adjourn at 10:45 p.m. by Councilman Testino, seconded by Councilman Hoff and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Hoff, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
Absent: Councilman Cucchiara, Councilwoman Marinaccio
______________________________
Dennis M. Maher, Council President
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