OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP COUNCIL
AGENDA MEETING
September 4, 2001
An Agenda meeting of the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge was held on September 4, 2001 in the Municipal Complex. The meeting was called to order at 8:20 p.m. by President Maher who asked all present 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, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher. Councilman Cucchiara arrived at 8:20p.m., Councilwoman Hegarty arrived at 8:30 p.m.. Councilman Hoff was absent.
Deputy Clerk Ward announced that this meeting was being held in conformance with the Open Public Meetings Act, and that notice was given to the newspaper and notice of the meeting has been posted in public places.
GUEST PRESENTATION - 9/10/01
Old Bridge High School Junior Air Force Cadets Present Colors
No Discussion
HEARING
H-1 Release/Reduction Performance Guarantee - Carrington Woods
President Maher: Nelson, we have a letter dated September 4, 2001 regarding this application, kindly paraphrase this letter.
Nelson Iglesias: Essentially what the letter discusses is the Letter of Credit consisting of $223,135.00 and a cash deposit of $34,792.07. At this juncture of the subdivision, we are recommending that those monies be released subject to the posting of a maintenance bond in the amount of 15% of the total, which is $38,689.07. The history of this development is that we have been trying for some time to get the Homeowner's Association to take over the detention basin and there is a report from me and Bill Ruggierio suggesting that the detention basin be taken over by the town. There is a request again by the Homeowner's Association to take over the detention basin and I prepared a report whereby I say that the cost to the association would be $10,753.13. If the Homeowner's Association has no objection to that amount and the Council has no objection, then I would recommend that we accept the $10,753.13 and take over the maintenance of the basin.
Salvatore Alfieri: On behalf of the developer, in terms of the bond release request, we are asking for same. As far as turning over the detention basin to the township, that is between the Homeowner's Association and the Township not the developer. The developer, however, will cooperate in anyway to make sure that it happens.
Councilman Redmond: This $10,000 is split between the 27 residents am I correct?
Nelson Iglesias: I have no idea, but I would imagine that is money that was collected through the Homeowner's Association for this purpose.
Councilman Redmond: Maybe it is just a comment, but we allow these things to be build. Homeowners come in and buy these houses and are they aware that at some point they are going to have to raise all this money to pay for the detention basin? This has been my objection. It is the same thing every time, the taxpayers who are paying a lot of taxes have to come up with the money to have the Township take over the maintenance of the basin. I am trying to eliminate the whole process from the beginning. They don't know anything about it and they find out after
they brought their homes that they have the responsibility of the basin. With today's economy, I'll bet if we interviewed these 27 residents, they would be hard-pressed to come up with this money. We don't have anything here as far as I am concerned to release. We have a Letter of Credit, which expired and was not renewed, am I correct?
Salvatore Alfieri: Correct.
Nelson Iglesias: If nothing else, we are releasing the developer from the obligation that still exists on his part. We may not have a letter of credit, but I am pretty sure that if we found something was missing, there would be nothing to prevent us from pursuing it legally.
Attorney Ruggierio: Can I just explain something that I think is important. The Letter of Credit which we accept, and we are obligated under State law to accept them, require that they cannot be terminated without the Township's consent. They expire because of the banking law every year, buy they have to be reported and if they are not, you can call them. So the idea that there is no performance bond is not true.
Salvatore Alfieri: I can tell you that my client's bank still has it listed as an obligation and is pressuring my client to get it released.
Councilman Testino: What is the plan for the trees in the conservation easement and that whole mess?
Nelson Iglesias: If you remember, I can tell you, I personally did whatever I could to rectify the situation and we had the developer plant some trees there. There was always opposition to how many trees and where they would be planted to the degree that in the end we planted trees where they should not have been planted, one on top of another just to come up with a number. The end result is I feel the tree issue is like this; if a tree dies between now and two years, the tree will be replanted and that decision should be made by our tree expert. It seems to me that we are forever having a fight here between the association and certain individuals from the site and I am caught in the middle.
Councilman Testino: I understand that. So we are not doing anything else?
Nelson Iglesias: No, sir. My report reads that if there is a tree that needs to be replaced, it will be done with the maintenance bond within the two year period. I am telling you in plain words that I have gone as far as I am going to with this matter. Trees have planted 2-3 times and that is enough for me. There is a certain obligation that rests with the individuals who have the trees on their property with regard to maintenance. You cannot expect the developer to go in and water the trees for a year. I think the individuals are also responsible for the trees.
Councilman Testino: I thought the issue was that of a "buffer".
Nelson Iglesias: It was and if you remember we did whatever we could to plant trees within that buffer area.
President Maher: I think the other issue was that trees were planted too deep and they were improperly planted.
Councilman Testino: Have we gained access to the detention basin or not?
Nelson Iglesias: Yes, that issue was resolved a long time ago and there is clear access to the area and you have a report on that and I even had the developer provide a ramp down to the basin.
Councilman Sohor: Are there still dead trees there?
Nelson Iglesias: I think Mr. Lovallo our tree expert can answer that question.
Mr. Lovallo: I went to the site recently because new plantings were going in. There are street trees that have not been replaced and I was advised by Alex Fonseca that the street trees are not going to be replaced because they are covered under the maintenance bond. My point is if the tree is in bad shape now, why wait two years, replace it now. I have not done a final inspection because I have not been instructed to do so and as soon as I am I will provide the report. The plants I did see being placed in the detention basin were the ones I recommended and that was done.
Nelson Iglesias: Would you suggest that the trees be planted now or in the fall?
Gary Lovallo: If they are maples then they should be planted in the spring.
President Maher: What is the value of these trees?
Gary Lovallo: An average cost is about $300.00 per tree installed.
Councilman Redmond: So there is more than enough money in the maintenance bond to cover the trees?
Councilman Sohor: When you go on the maintenance bond you are making a statement that everything is done and complete, you don't go into the maintenance bond with intention of taking money for items. At a minimum we should retain $1000.00 from the performance bond part to cover those remaining street trees.
President Maher: At this time, I would like to open this matter up to the residents of Carrington Woods.
Mr. LaVecchia: I live at 23 Carrington Court. Gary is right, one of the trees in front of my house is dead and has been dead since the first month it was planted and I want it replaced. As far as the trees planted on the easement, there was some discussion about their location; ten of them were planted and nine of them are growing fine. The trees are fully watered and everyone of them has a sprinkler head hitting it and there is no problem with nine of them and only one has to be replaced.
Helene Fisher: I live at 2 Carrington Court. I am one of the relatively newer residents. I purchased my home in December 1999 and at that time I did not understand what the fees for the Homeowner Association were for. However, twice I have paid $185.00 for dues for this thing that is at the end of my cul-de-sac, and my main concern is really echoing Mr. Redmond in the fact, how long will I have to pay for this and what is the benefit since my house is the furthest away and I want to get this obligation off of my back.
Nelson Iglesias: The amount of $10,000 quoted in my letter is a one time payment, once that amount is given to the township, that is the end of the Homeowner's Association obligation for maintenance of the basin.
President Maher: Does that answer your question?
Helene Fisher: It does, but my other concern is that not all of the residents have paid that money. If they did, then we probably would have enough money to meet that obligation.
Nelson Iglesias: That is a good question, but I think there is an internal problem between the Association and the homeowners. They should meet and discuss this problem and resolve it.
Mr. LaVecchia: I think the issue here is that there seems to be confusion as to who is supposed to be maintaining the basin. If you drive you can see that the grass is high. If you talk to the Association, they say the builder is responsible, so at this point I will tell you that I have not paid this year's dues and I refuse to pay them because it is not being maintained and it is not my fight to fight and that seems to be the issue with the other homeowners.
Councilman Redmond: If we take this over and we maintain it this has nothing to do with your homeowner dues. It is a separate amount that the township requires and correct me if I am wrong, but it is our cost of taking over and we don't make any money on this, it is basically what it costs for us to take it over and this is forever. That has been my argument and we should have these things worked out with the developers from the beginning and not years later with the homeowners.
Nelson Iglesias: The only purpose of the Homeowner's Association as far as I can see is to maintain the basin. I would venture to guess that the fees they are talking about is to collect the $10,000 at some point.
President Maher: I don't think that we should be getting into this as it is not our concern.
Carrie Raffio: I just want to ask a question, who is responsible for the maintenance of this detention basin? I have not paid my dues this year either and I am not going to until I find out who the responsible party is. The grass has only been cut twice this summer and it is a mess.
Salvatore Alfieri: I can respond to that. Well over a year ago everything was turned over to the residents when the project was complete meaning all the homes were sold and we have not touched it since. The builder has on occasion when they received complaints from the resident, cut the grass solely as an accommodation and not because they were obligated to do so.
The Association has been having internal disputes and as a result they are attempting to bring the builder back into this and he has no legal obligation.
President Maher: If the Council agrees to maintain the basin, is that for the lifetime of the basin? We are voting on this tonight because they have to put up the money am I correct?
Nelson Iglesias: They have made an application and there is a report from me telling them that the amount would be $10,000.
President Maher: Is this $10,000 for the life of the detention basin? How is the number arrived at?
Nelson Iglesias: It is based on a formula in the ordinance. We have only had two of these cases in the past. What it amounts to is for public works to go there and cut the grass as far a maintenance is concerned, the actual structure, which concerns me from a drainage point of view is very simple, all they have to do is send a man every time there is a heavy storm and make sure that the orifice is clean. They go in once a year and that is the end of the maintenance.
President Maher: I would like Nelson and Mr. Donatelli and Administration to get together and go over the matter. I want to table the detention basin acceptance for tonight.
But, what is the Council's pleasure with regard to the release/reduction of the performance guarantee?
Councilman Sohor: We have heard Mr. Lovallo's statement that there are three trees that need replacement. I would suggest that we reduce the obligation down to the $1000.00 for the trees and I assume that can be done within the next 30-60 days and then they can come back and we can release the remaining $1000.00 and then they can go on maintenance bond.
Councilman Testino: Does this include everything?
Nelson Iglesias: No.
Councilman Testino: Then lets take $1500.00.
Councilman Butler: My question is since everything was turned over to the Association was there a meeting where this was done and if so why is there such confusion as to what they should be paying?
Salvatore Alfieri: There was a meeting and every homeowner was present and they elected officers among themselves according to the by-laws.
Councilman Butler: Were any of the people here tonight at that meeting?
Joe Geronimo: I live at 7 Carrington Court and am the president of the Association. We were called to a meeting by Mr. Alfieri so that Mr. Fonseca could turn over the basin to us according to the by-laws. At this point, I think there is a question as to whether this was given to us at the correct time. It is our understanding that this should not have been turned over to us until they were released from the performance bond. Therefore, we should have not expended any money as homeowners to maintain this property. I have a letter that was sent to Mr. Alfieri in that respect and I have not received an answer as of yet.
Councilman Greene: It seems to me that the only issue now is trees, it appears that everything else has been done. I don't see why you can't reserve some money for the trees and release the remainder of the bond. The only problem I see is an issue between the Homeowners Association and the residents and they will have to resolve that, it does not affect the bond release matter. My opinion is if you take $2000-$3000 in reserve to protect the tree matter that was identified tonight and give the developer back the rest of his money.
Joe Geronimo: I understand that, but when the rules were established for the homeowners to take over the detention basin, where did these by-laws come from; were they established by the town?
Attorney Ruggierio: The Council does not approve the by-laws for any association. The problem that exists here is that when you have a homeowners association and the people take over because the developer is out of it, the obligations become the obligations of the association.
The bottom line here is that the association as an entity has the obligation to maintain the detention basin.
Joe Geronimo: I understand that and I am not questioning that, my question is the timing. We feel that we have been maintaining something that rightfully was still the obligation of the builder.
Attorney Ruggierio: There is state law about the point in time where homeowners take over their association, it has to do when a certain percentage of the homes are completed. You are always going to have a condition where some items are installed and capable of being accepted plus other things may not be completed such as street toppings and some of them are more serious than others.
Councilman Redmond: If we maintain $3000.00 for the trees can be get the maintenance bond posted.
Attorney Ruggierio: Yes, they can get the maintenance bond for other than the amount for the trees which you will maintain under a separate performance bond for the $3000.00.
Councilman Sohor: One of the things that has tripped us up in the past is that we have released bonds for developments and we forget about putting Title 39 restrictions on these streets. If we release the bond this evening, I would like to suggest that we put for first reading amendments to the appropriate ordinances so we can include Carrington Ct. under Title 39. We also need to pass an ordinance accepting that road.
Councilman Cucchiara: Doesn't the state have to approve Title 39 first?
Councilman Testino: No, you do first reading and then you send it to the State.
Councilman Sohor: So can we put it on for vote next week?
Councilman Butler: I think there is a process and that is a proposal comes from the Homeowners Association and goes to Traffic & Safety and then it is submitted to Trenton.
Councilman Greene: I think Councilman Butler is correct, it takes time and it could take up to six months to get approval from the State on the ordinance.
Councilman Butler: Let's have our attorney check this out.
President Maher: Jim, can you follow up on this and have an answer for us on next Monday?
Salvatore Alfieri: On an unrelated matter, next week's agenda H-1, is Primavera Estates is another development, that matter is not ready for public hearing and therefore, we would request its removal from the agenda. I will send a letter to the Clerk's office requesting this removal.
Mr. Geronimo: I have a question about the streets and whether or not the drainage problem will be addressed?
Nelson Iglesias: The project which obviously will not get built this year but will next year includes the repaving and road repair of the area you are talking about. It is not their road but the township road that needs improvement, it is the turn on Disbrow Road.
RESOLUTION #416
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey that:
the performance guarantee for Carrington Woods in the amount of $223,135.00 (Letter of Credit) and $34,792.07 (Cash Performance Guarantee) for a total of $257,927.07 be and is hereby released subject to the following conditions:
A. Posting of a maintenance bond in the amount of 15% of the full amount of the performance bond listed above ($38,689.06)
B. The posting of a separate cash performance bond guarantee in the amount of $3000.00 for installing and replanting trees as defined in the report of the Township Engineer dated September 4, 2001.
This resolution shall be effective only upon the developer's consent to the holding of the $3000.00 performance bond for the tree installation and maintenance for two (2) years following the installation. During the said two (2) year period the $3,000.00 cash bond shall serve as a maintenance bond to assure the survival of the trees and their replacement as may be required.
Moved by Councilman Sohor, seconded by Councilman Greene and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
NO VOTE: Councilwoman Hegarty
ABSENT: Councilmen Cucchiara, Hoff.
HEARINGS:
H-1 Release/Reduction Performance Guarantee - Primavera Estates
President Maher: We have just be advised that this matter will be requested to be removed by the attorney for Primavera. A letter will be forthcoming.
H-2 Release/Reduction Performance Guarantee - J.L.R.S. (Heilbrunn Bldg.)
No Discussion
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
May 21, 2001 Agenda July 9, 2001 Combined/Executive July 23, 2001- Combined
No Discussion
ORDINANCE FOR SECOND READING
ORD. #37-01 Ordinance vacating portion of Steamboat Landing Lane
MOTION
Motion to table to a date unknown made by Councilman Redmond, seconded by Councilman Butler and so moved on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
Prior to the motion to table the following discussion took place.
Councilman Redmond: We were supposed to get some reports on this matter. I was out there looking at it and it seems to me that I would like to see some dollar figures with this. It seems like we are vacating a piece of property that could generate some money.
ORDINANCE FOR SECOND READING
ORD. #44-01 Designating Disbrow Road as a through street.
Move-up
ORD.#43-01 Designating Mimi Road as a through street.
Move-up
ORD #46-01 No stopping or standing on the street side of park on Laurence Parkway (Substantial change - Ordinance being re-introduced as First Reading)
MOTION
Motion to table Ord. #46-01 made by Councilman Butler, seconded by Councilman Sohor and so moved on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
ORD. #47-01 - Parking prohibited during certain hours on Cindy Street - (Establish student drop off zone.)
Move-up
ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING
FR-1 Disclosure Ordinance - Requiring development applications to disclose political contributions.
Councilman Sohor: I brought that back up in the Spring it is modeled after the Highland Park ordinance for developer disclosure. We originally put it aside because we wanted common cause to come in and talk to us about it because they have been pushing it on a statewide basis. We have not heard from common cause in six months so we have waited long enough.
Councilman Testino: I am not for moving it up. I remember Mr. Ruggierio's opinion about this and correct me if I am wrong, but if a developer sees this disclosure require, they can sue us if they denied and he did give money and we did it one way or another to get money from them.
Councilman Redmond: We're treading on thin ice here.
Councilman Testino: You are trying to change the system from the bottom up and it has to change from the top and come down. The problem is that it is a statewide system that is being intervened with, the laws come down from the top.
President Maher: Mr. Ruggierio, can we hear from you?
Attorney Ruggierio: I don't feel comfortable in making changes. I think it is a difficult issue because under the circumstances the developer who does appear in court could say we were imposing an extra requirement, and on the other hand most developers would want this to get passed.
Councilman Sohor: Highland Park is not having any problems.
Councilman Redmond: I understand where Roman is coming from, but my concern is if we put this ordinance forward, let's face both Planning and Zoning Boards are appointed in our case, we appoint zoning, the Mayor appoints planning, and I always say before you can be considered complete you have to disclose your political contributions. It could be construed that we are trying to solicit contributions. I think Roman is trying to expose contributions, but it seems to me that it is shaky in requiring that sort of thing from developers.
Councilman Testino: Especially since you can already get it from the State finance.
Councilman Sohor: It is extremely difficult to extract this information unless you know exactly where you are looking.
Mayor Cannon: I think it is an excellent idea and something that we have been trying to get common cause to come down here and introduce. I just think that it is giving more information to the public so they can evaluate the credibility. I don't think it is putting any more pressure on the developers. I think it should start at the bottom because we do not have any control over what happens at the top.
President Maher: Do I have a second to move it up? Having no second, we won't move on this matter.
FR-2 No stopping or standing on the street side of park on Laurence Parkway
Councilman Testino: We just did this one.
FR-3 Title 39 - Carrington Woods and accepting the streets.
President Maher: Can we have Jim research and have an ordinance for first reading on Monday?
James Condon: Yes, I will look into it.
Councilman Redmond: While we are on that subject, what about the truck ordinance?
President Maher: We are waiting for DOT . It sometimes takes six months.
DISCUSSION ORDINANCE
DO-1 Ordinance Amending Land Development Ordinance - Requires residential developments under 25 units to have 2 points of access when required in the interest of health safety and welfare.
Jim Condon: We have requested that the township engineer give some additional information.
Councilman Redmond: Is that you that wanted that information, I thought it was emergency management?
Move-up
CONSENT AGENDA
C-1 Bingo/Raffle - Madison Park PTA RA-62-01
Move-up
C-2 Block Party - Calvin Court - Saturday, September 15, 2001 from 12 Noon -10PM (Rain date - Sunday September 16, 2001)
Move-up
DISCUSSION RESOLUTION - ACTION TO BE TAKEN 9/4/01
DR-1 Authorize execution of Municipal Alliance "B.A.B.E.S" Program for an additional Grant in the amount of $4,950.00.
RESOLUTION #417
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey that:
WHEREAS, on March 15, 2001 the County agreed to provide the sum of $45,894.00 to the Township of Old Bridge for the purpose of providing Municipal Alliance related activities; and
WHEREAS, the County wishes to provide the Township with an additional sum of $4,950.00 for the provision of additional Municipal Alliance activities; and
WHEREAS, the addition sum of money provided by the County will be used for the Municipal Alliance B.A.B.E.S. Program.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey that the amendment to the contract with the County to provide the additional $4,950.00 is hereby granted; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor and Township Clerk are hereby authorized to sign any and all documents necessary to effectuate the terms of this Agreement as may be approved in form by the Township Attorney.
Moved by Councilman Testino, seconded by Councilman Redmond and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
Prior to the roll call vote the following discussion took place.
Alayne Shepler: We have a very active DARE program and this is to institute the program funds on a younger basis, elementary school level and it goes hand-in-hand with the DARE program.
DISCUSSION RESOLUTION
DR-2 Old Bridge Township Raceway Park - Permission to hold fireworks display on September 15, 2001 (Between 9:00 PM and 10:30 PM only)
Move-up
DR-3 Gateway Shopping Center - Safety Day on Saturday, September 29, 2001
DR-4 Resolution authorizing Cancellation of CDBG Mortgage for Michael & Geraldine LaForte.
Move-up
DR-5 Resolution authorizing Subordination of CDBG Mortgage for Willie Belle Hannon.
DR-6 Award of Contract #01-24 Cheesequake Village Window Rehabilitation to Tri-State Building Materials, in the amount of $45,400.00.
Councilman Testino: Is this the contractor we had previously?
Alayne Shepler: No, I don't believe so. We had three bids, one at $51,000, one at $45,400, and one at $63,790.
Councilman Testino: Do we get a report or a couple of trial windows before these windows are installed because I do not recognize this guy doing work around here; he's from Lodi, New Jersey. I am worried because we don't know this contractor and three months from now we will have the senior citizens coming down here screaming about the quality of work that was done.
President Maher: Can we get some letters of recommendation?
Alayne Shepler: We have and they have been verified and it was done before Mr. Ruffley makes the recommendation for the award of bid. I hope my concern is noted.
Move-up
DR-7 Award Contract #01-25 to Pabco Industries for $34,275.00 (125,000 bags)
RESOLUTION #418
WHEREAS, the Township of Old Bridge advertised and received bids for Contract #01-25 for biodegradable paper leaf bags; and
WHEREAS, the Township Council wishes to award the contract for biodegradable paper leaf bags to Pabco Industries; and
WHEREAS, the Director of Public Works has recommended that a contract be awarded to Pabco Industries, located at 166 Frelinghuysen Avenue, Newark, New Jersey.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, as follows:
1. Pabco Industries is hereby awarded a contract in the amount of $34,275.00 for biodegradable paper leaf bags in accordance with the specifications advertised therefor.
2. The award of the contract is contingent upon the issuance of a Certification of Availability of Funds #991 certifying the existence of a sufficient appropriation to fund said contract.
3. The Mayor and Township Clerk are hereby authorized to sign the contract documents necessary to effectuate the award of this contract. The Township Attorney shall review any and all contractual documents prepared in furtherance of this award.
This resolution is conditioned upon the following:
A. Formal execution of a contract approved by the Director of Law which is signed by the Mayor and Township Clerk.
B. Issuance of a Certificate of Availability of Funds as aforesaid.
C. Compliance by the vendor with signing the mandatory affirmative action language required by law.
D. Compliance by the vendor with the filing of Affirmative Action Form (AA302) or otherwise complying with Affirmative Action employee information reporting.
No contract shall be considered awarded unless and until the above requirements are executed.
Moved by Councilman Butler, seconded by Councilman Greene and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
Prior to the roll call vote the following discussion took place:
Councilman Redmond: How much did we pay last year?
Rocky Donatelli: Same price as last year. Excuse me, can you vote on this tonight so we can be within the time frame for delivery of these bags?
President Maher: We can.
DR-8 Waiver of building permit fee of $75.00 for work done - Sayrewoods Bible Church.
Move-up
DR-9 Resolution authorizing contract with Robert T. Clarke, Esq. of the firm of Apruzzese, McDermott, Mastro & Murphy for legal representation. Nunc Pro Tunc.
Move-up
DR-10 Temporary Budget Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2002 - Current Budget in a total amount of $109,572.00.
Move-up
DR-11 Resolution accepting maintenance responsibility for detention basin at Carrington Woods.
Alayne Shepler: We have a letter from their attorney requesting that we take it over. If you accept it, they will send you the check.
Councilman Cucchiara: If you remember when we were at Lowell Manor, if we are going to take over the basins you have to have the equipment to take care of those things. Mayor, your own administration is telling you that we are not in a position to do this.
Mayor Cannon: Then rescind the ordinance.
Councilman Cucchiara: Not to repeat myself, but I tell homeowner associations to sell it to the town, but we have to have the equipment to take care of it as well as the manpower to do the work. Rocky just said what am I going to use to take care of it.
MOTION
Motion to table the acceptance of detention basin for Carrington Woods by Councilman Redmond, seconded by Councilman Butler and so moved on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: Councilman Sohor.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
DR-12 Resolution to authorize Clean Communities Grant.
Move-up
DR-13 Resolution to authorize Budget Transfers in the amount of $1,000.00 within the Reserve 2002 Budget.
Move-up
DR-14 Resolution authorizing purchase of Listed Commodities on State Contract
Move-up
DR-15 Award Contract #01-04 to Paul's Construction, Inc. for Drainage Improvements at Bartlett Ct., Timon Dr., & Lark Place - $41,137.00
Move-up
DR-16 Waiver of $90.00 in permit fees for the Old Bridge First Aid & Rescue Squad
Move-up
DR-17 Temporary Budget Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2002 - Current Budget in a total amount of $287,482.32
Mr. Shah: Bill can explain it a little better than I can, but the bottom line is we need to deposit money with the court related to the settlement on the Sommers case and the problem we are facing is if we go through the bond ordinance process it will be sixty days before we can deposit the money and there is a meter running on interest For whatever reason this court and this judge have decided that the interest rate is 6 or 7 percent.
Attorney Ruggierio: Why pay the interest rate that is why we are funding it through the budget.
Mr. Shah: I don't think you can fund this I believe it has to be raised in the budget. I think there are two resolutions, one is for us to continue to operate some of the departments and the other, this one is for the deposit. Because of doing an emergency appropriation, the statute that allows us to replenish the money using the bonds does not apply we had to incorporate this into the budget.
Councilman Testino: We have to pay this and cannot put it in our capital program for land acquisition?
Mr. Shah: Remember, you pretty much do not have the sufficient funds to use that as a vehicle. We already used $70,000, so we do not have enough money to cover it so this has to go through your operating budget or the option is we have to pay the interest for sixty days.
Councilman Testino: Well I guess we have to pay the interest for sixty days otherwise we have to raise the taxes.
Attorney Ruggierio: I don't want to complicate this issue but we calculated out the amount as of September 6th, so we are asking you to act on this tonight rather than Monday.
Councilman Testino: You're telling us that if we wait the sixty days, we can bond for this.
Mr. Shah: We can produce bonds and then we have 45 days before you can write the check on the bonds. The problem is do we want to pay that kind of interest for 45 days for that $260,000.
Councilman Testino: I think the problem is more complex than that and we want to raise the tax one point here tonight without considering the rest of the budget.
Mr. Shah: The other side of the question is if we don't incorporate it in the budget and I am trying to see if we can subsequently use the bond and remove it from the temporary budget. But talking to Bill and because we are dealing with a different statute, I think there is no way we can use the approach of subsequently bonding for this amount and not removing from emergency appropriations.
Councilman Testino: How much money is in the open space fund?
Mr. Shah: I think we have about $200,000 +, but it is not sufficient to cover this. We are always tapping into that money and soon we won't have anything left.
Councilman Sohor: Don't we have anything left from the old Open Space fund that we had?
Mr. Shah: No, we used up all that.
Councilman Sohor: I think there is some left.
Mr. Shah: I will check that.
Councilman Testino: Let's put this on for a bond reading on Monday and perhaps you can give us other options before Monday.
President Maher: DR-17 will be proposed a bond ordinance.
DR-18 Resolution authorizing execution of settlement agreement for Canyon Woods Developers, Inc. V. Township Council
Move-up
DR-19 Award Contract #01-16 for Demolition of Rt. 9 Senor Center to William and Robert Young, Inc. in the amount of $23,500.00.
Councilman Butler: What are we going to do with that land after we do the demolition for that building?
Alayne Shepler: We are going to try and sell it but as you know there is no access on Rt. 9 which makes the appeal limited to certain applications, but it may look better once the building is down. Hopefully, we may get a few more bites at that time.
Move-up
DR-20 Carter's Tent Sale - Thursday, September 20, 2001 - Sunday, September 23, 2001
Move-up
DISCUSSION
D-1 Lowe's Truck Deliveries ( Possible weight limit on Perrine Road)
President Maher: The Clerk has just pointed out to me that people from Cedarview Estates are here tonight.
Councilman Butler: No, they were here but they have left.
Mayor Cannon: No they are still here.
Councilman Testino: Let's have our engineer give his report.
REPORT
R-1 Cedarview Estates - (Status & progress by the Engineering Department)
Nelson Iglesias: I prepared a letter to the developer of Cedarview and this includes a punch list on the areas that concerned the residents. The reason that Lowe's people are here is that there were a number of questions from the residents that had to do with the actions or in-actions concerning the Lowe's development. After the developers receive this letter I hopefully will get a response and at that time I will know what direction we will take. If we get a negative answer from the developers it is my intent to ask Mr. Ruggierio to pursue the legal means to get the matters resolved. I would much rather have the developer respond to us and have him say that he will be honoring our requests. I think there were quite a few questions pertaining to the fencing and lighting as well as completion of Perrine Road.
Steve Grossberg: I am from Plaza Construction representing Oakridge Properties the developer. We were at the last session and I want to give you an update regarding DOT and Rt. 9. We had a problem with changing the light at the intersection and that delayed us two weeks. The new light was put in place last Thursday and we were able to pave behind the barriers and that has been done but we could not do the curbing. Today we were able to do the curbing on Perrine Road, the curbing around Rt. 9 will be done tomorrow and the barrier should be removed this week, then we do the striping and finish the paving.
Nelson Iglesias: There are other questions and one had to do with the drainage on Poor Farm Road.
Steve Grossberg: That has been completed a cobblestone curb has been put in as of last Friday and we will grout it tomorrow.
Nelson Iglesias: Also, there is the issue of the wall.
Steve Grossberg: A letter was written to the association and we told them that the wall will be raised two feet or if they choose, we will grant them $5000.00 for additional landscaping on the property owners who are adjacent to the area, it is their choice.
Bob Uro: I am with Kenderian-Zilenski. We are talking about extending the fence. It is currently 8 feet high and we are putting a 2 foot extension along the entire back of the Lowe's Building. I know there was reference to a sound barrier wall at the last meeting, that wall is in place up to 10 foot and is in accordance with what was approved by the zoning board only in the area of the loading docks.
Steve Grossberg: There is one section of that fence that has not been put in yet and that is because we had a break in the conduit and we needed to repair it.
President Maher: How about the good-will effort for more mature trees?
Steve Grossberg: We have started to replant some of the trees and I spoke with Gary about this. We have made the offer and it is in place and we are waiting to hear from them.
Nelson Iglesias: We also have questions about the lighting and the loudspeakers.
Steve Grossberg: This has been taken care of and the Lowe's construction management team is here and they can address that.
Councilman Redmond: This fence you are talking about was that in the resolution?
Nelson Iglesias: Yes. However, now they are offering to the Cedarview people an option to extend the fence an additional 2 feet. I think what the problem was loud speakers and they could hear them and they wanted to make sure it would not be a continuous type of problem.
As a result of that I know that I requested that they remove the speakers or redirect them so the problem would be eliminated. As to whether the plans called for a sound barrier that was not one of the options.
Steve Grossberg: The way the plans were made that is how the fence was built. However, to show good will, we agreed that the fence would be higher and because we did that it will be higher in that area or offer them the money for the trees.
Councilman Redmond: Does our town ordinance allow loud speakers to travel off their property?
Nelson Iglesias: Of course not. They installed these speakers for construction purposes and they will be moved.
Steve Grossberg: I told you that was related to the Lowe's building and their representatives will answer these questions.
President Maher: We are going to ask the residents from Cedarview to be here on Monday evening.
Joe Gamble: I am the construction project management for Lowe's and Mike Hanes the store manager. Concerning the loud speaker issue, Lowe's has addressed that and it was determined that it is not a critical part of our business and we have already removed the loud speakers. The lighting issue along the Poor Farm Road and the rear of the building, we have ordered half shields to go on those building lights and they should be installed this week and that will direct the lighting downward.
President Maher: Has this information been disseminated to the homeowners?
Joe Gamble: No. As far as getting the information to them, should it come from Lowe's?
Councilman Butler: They will be here on next Monday night so that information can be given at that time.
Mayor Cannon: Perhaps, that information should be given to them before the meeting.
President Maher: Nelson, send a memo to the association. Speaking as a councilperson, I would like to see as a gesture of good will with some heavy tree plantings in that area because come the winter, it will be bare and not a very pretty site. It is one of your main entrances and the detention basin is not such a nice site.
Councilman Butler: I am concerned about the deliveries and the traffic through your main entrance.
Joe Gamble: Our normal delivery hours are Monday thru Friday from 7:00AM-4PM. During store set, unfortunately it is an unusual time, deliveries are coming in at different times. Once the building is open and running, we will have our regular receiving hours.
Steve Grossberg: We will not have the amount of deliveries that we are having at this time because we are setting up the store. So even when we do have deliveries in the future, there will be less on Perrine Road and most of the deliveries will be from the Rt. 9 entrance.
Councilman Butler: That is what I want to discuss. I was sitting on Perrine Road one day and I saw a big tractor trailer making the turn from Rt. 9 to Perrine Road and I held my breath because I though he was going to take some cars with him. Will there be a truck lane from Rt. 9 directly into Perrine Road?
Steve Grossberg: We have no idea. It is most logical that a truck coming off at Rt. 9 will take the easiest access to the store.
Councilman Butler: Once you open the facility, we will have problems with the car traffic and we don't need problems with those big tractor trailers coming down to make the left onto Perrine Road. You put people at risk when you do that.
Mike Hanes: We can place signs that say "truck entrance", but I cannot control what the truck drivers do. I will let the vendors know that is the way we want them to enter but there is no guarantee that they will comply. We will instruct our own delivery trucks to use that entrance and we can enforce that portion of the deliveries.
Steve Grossberg: Everything that you see till now is at its worst, it will improve by the widening of Perrine Road, so again what you see are conditions that will only improve.
Councilman Cucchiara: I think that it would help if you would place a notice on your bill of lading that trucks are to use the entrances marked for that purpose only.
Councilman Butler: We hopefully most of the truckers will comply with the directive to use the truck entrance and this will help alleviate the big problem.
D-2 Overpass - Routes 18/516/527 - (Over grown weeds covering the sidewalk, excessive dirt and debris on the curb overpass)
Councilman Cucchiara: This has to do with the overpass they want to redo. It is overgrown with weeds and I am wondering if there is any way to get DOT down there to have it cleaned up.
President Maher: Can we contact the DOT and have this looked in to?
D-3 Additional street lights on Birch Street.
Councilman Cucchiara: I have brought this up several times before.
Alayne Shepler: We have had the request into JCP&L and I am sorry I was not here this morning to follow-up, but I did ask Pat to follow-up with upstairs, but I will have an answer for you next Monday.
D-4 Senior Citizens Project - Van Tines Lane (Property to be sold back to County)
Councilman Cucchiara: Do we have to send another resolution to the County in reference to them buying back that property?
Attorney Ruggierio: I was asked to give an analysis of what the difference in the money might be. I will have to compare the number from Mr. Shah's department and I will have them for you next week.
Councilman Cucchiara: Do you think we should send another resolution asking whether or not the County is going to buy this property?
Attorney Ruggierio: No. As I explained, we did have a meeting with the County and I don't think it would be constructive to send another notice.
Councilman Redmond: How much debt service do we have on this year's budget for this property?
Mr. Shah: The debt service is part of last years bond issue and I don't know the exact amount because the bond issue includes many projects. I can figure it out and give you the amount next week. The problem is we have paid the interest in the past and the County is not willing to reimburse us.
President Maher: Mr. Redmond wants to know what the annual debt service is, please have it for next week.
D-5 Infrastructure Trust - Woodland Trails Funding
Alayne Shepler: We went to a meeting and I will have Himanshu give you the particulars. It was the follow-up to your asking us to find additional funds other than our bonding and the County's money for the purchase of Woodland Trails.
Mr. Shah: Alayne, myself, Tom, Nelson and Sam went to the DEP's office and met with their staff. What funding is available from them is the loan and not a grant and we have to pay it back. The way it works is they give you 50% of the value at zero interest and the balance of 50% will be paid at one half the borrowing rate. The current borrowing rate is about 4.5% so we would pay interest of 2.25%. Based on our preliminary discussion the plan would qualify under their newly developed loan program so we could get the infrastructure loan for this particular project. In the past they only gave out the money for water and sewer plants, but now they are giving money for the open space. One thing Council should be aware of is that once you borrow the money, there is a lifetime restriction on the use of the land, you could not even put a bike path on the land. So, in the future if the Council wanted to do some kind of active recreation facility that would be a no-no and that is a lifetime restriction. Outside of that, the question that I raised after the meeting was "is it worth to get this loan"? If we were to go out and borrow the money in today's market we could get 4%-4 ½ % interest rate and we are already getting a portion of money through the grant and would it be worth the lifetime restriction and that is a consideration the Council has to make. The good thing about it is they are not separating the value of the land into wetlands or uplands, it is all one value, but they don't want you to break it up into pieces.
Councilman Sohor: Actually, it would not be too difficult because a major part of that property could never be developed because there is a big cedar swamp on it and that is something that we would never want to touch or be allowed to touch, so it would be perfect to carve out attributable to that financing.
Mr. Shah: I am waiting for an answer on the fees that are part of this type of loan and I recall when in 1992 we went to the County pool loan program, as we started paying off, there were charges that made the interest rate higher because we could have borrowed on our own and made the payment less. When I get the answers, I will advise the Council.
President Maher: Is there an application deadline that we should be aware of?
Mr. Shah: We will not be able to get this money till next November, but one thing they indicated is that we must not have a deed because we cannot do anything before they give us an approval. Sam and Nelson are working on providing preliminary approval process.
Councilman Sohor: While we are on this subject, I think we should begin the process with the County of getting the $2 million dollars committed to us and that would be available right away.
President Maher: Let's send a letter and get this moving.
D-6 Sale of Property on Groben Avenue
Alayne Shepler: This is a piece of property in Cliffwood Beach that Mr. Oslowski, Jr., has been inquiring about. We own the contiguous piece of property and there is another contiguous owner. The lot is unbuildable and I did send you a letter advising you on this. New Jersey Affordable Homes is their client and just for your information they are not building affordable homes and the builder does not have a consistent record, his name has been in the newspapers and he does not build a quality product and does not stand behind the products he does sell so that is the client. They have offered us $5000 for the lot which is not of buildable size, but once it attaches to the property they own it would be. Brian's estimate for fair market value would be $500.00 on an unbuildable lot, however, once they combine the lots it would be worth about $40,000.00. As Bill will tell you on the sale of property which is less than buildable size we can offer it for private sale to the contiguous owners which is the other owner and I have given you his name. My question is does Council wish to sell this and if so at what price and I will advise the two contiguous owners.
President Maher: Why would we want to do this?
Alayne Shepler: They do intend to build single family units on that property. I have been told by Mr. Oslowski that the other homeowner is not interested in this property, but I don't know if this is correct.
President Maher: Who is pushing this?
Alayne Shepler: Mr. Oslowski who represents New Jersey Affordable Homes and there is a broker involved because he called me on a regular basis (Steve Considine).
President Maher: I am not in favor of moving this up; is anyone?
Councilman Testino: What is the township's plan for this property?
Alayne Shepler: I don't think you can do anything with it; it is in a residential area. It was an old, old foreclosure.
No action
D-7 Liability Insurance - (Renewal of policy for 2002)
Councilman Sohor: Your liability insurance will be coming up for renewal and I think we should put in a notice of non-renewal and start the process of obtaining quotes to obtain a better price and better coverage.
Councilman Redmond: Have we had any problems with the coverage we have?
Alayne Shepler: I believe Mr. Ruggierio can answer that, we have had a number of problems. We are currently with GRMA which is Mr. William Kurtz.
Attorney Ruggierio: We have been having issues and problems with regard to coverage thru this broker. The disturbing example of this is that we actually did not have civil rights coverage, other than for police, which for a town is unthinkable. As we get these claims in we analyze them for insurance coverage and we have had about five circumstances where we keep processing through these claims for coverage and it is a lot more work for us because we have to deal with it in a way that we never had to before with respect to the municipal insurance funds.
Municipal insurance funds typically are constructed to deal with and provide appropriate coverage. I can supply Council with correspondence on the issues. There are issues and the one that stands out to me is the non coverage for civil rights claims.
President Maher: Have they been brought to Mr. Kurtz's attention?
Attorney Ruggierio: All of them have been brought to his attention. Mr. Kurtz receives notices of claims from our Clerk's office and we designed a system which is more cumbersome for that office whereby they now send out copies of the claims to numbers carriers and they get responses and inquires back because we were concerned that Mr. Kurtz was making judgments about what was and was not covered. We had an issue early on about the sports leagues and I am not sure that has been resolved as to whether or not coverage was alleged to exist under the municipal liability fund. I am not an insurance expert and I can only deal with it when issues come up. When we get a claim, we send it and we have a fair number of opinions by Mr. Kurtz that we do not have coverage or declinations by insurance companies that we do not have coverage. We have these same issues that come up once in awhile with the municipal coverage, but I would say to you that if you are considering dealing with this matter in the future, that you look into municipal joint coverage no matter which fund we select, we are going to get a more particular type of coverage that pertains to municipal government as opposed to dealing with commercial coverage. I did have Jim produce for me copies of our correspondence with regard to the present coverage, but I have not summarized it yet, but I will be happy to supply you with copies.
Councilman Redmond: We don't know whether we were covered previously by the JIF either do we?
Attorney Ruggierio: Well to let civil rights slide by, I think something is wrong, that is kind of amazing, because Section 1983 suits are filed routinely against municipal and county governments and not to have coverage seems very unlikely.
Councilman Redmond: We want to make sure that whoever we deal with in the future provides the correct coverage. We need to make sure that when we write our specifications that everything is in there.
Attorney Ruggierio: I think that is true, but we should get somebody who is truly completely independent of the process to analyze the coverage and make a recommendation and then we should follow the recommendation.
Councilman Butler: Mr. President, can we go back to the prior JIF's and see what our coverage was with those carriers?
Attorney Ruggierio: We did and in the case of civil rights, we absolutely were covered and to me that is basic municipal coverage.
President Maher: When does this coverage expire?
Alayne Shepler: December 31, 2001 at mid-night. The only reason I asked Roman to put it up is because he heard some of my discussions and I am bringing it to your attention and I don't want to get into a situation like last year when we are at the 11th hour. We have dueling banjos in terms of coverage and I really don't care what we do with our insurance, I just want to be fully covered and I have said it before and I will say it again, I believe the best coverage is afforded for us in municipal joint insurance funds. I don't care which one, they are all governed by the State banking regulations, they are all basically the same, but as long as they provide us with municipal excess liability the MEL coverage that we really need, your umbrella coverage that you never had through Mid-JIF, I think you have to be prepared and I don't want to have to scramble at the last minute. We are having terrible problems with our workmen's compensation too and I am bringing it to you now to let you know that I don't want to get to December and not have a decision. I would like to get started.
Councilman Butler: There is no reason why we can't put together what we need and present it to carriers.
President Maher: I would like to Bill to provide this analysis to the entire Council. We will review it and decide the action to take.
Attorney Ruggierio: I don't have an analysis all I have is the various correspondence regarding the claims.
Alayne Shepler: As you know it is a professional services contract and under the bidding laws you put out a bid for a proposal and in the last instance we hired a consultant and apparently because it was felt he was too close to it, for whatever reason, his recommendations were discarded. Our sports leagues are fully covered now and they were always covered by the JIF's and Mr. Kurtz has now agreed to cover them.
President Maher: Let's see this in writing and then we will move it forward.
D-8 Intersection Study - Athens & Washington Avenues (Determination of need for a traffic light
Councilman Sohor: Apparently what occurred in Central Park now that we have repaved Washington & Athens Avenues, it is turned into a bit of a raceway and at the intersection at Park Circle, the fact that there are no stop signs or control device there have been a lot of near misses lately. I would like traffic and safety to review the situation and come up with some recommendations.
Alayne Shepler: I believe it has been looked at before and denied, but we will have them do it again.
D-9 Phone System Upgrade Project to Paetec
Mr. Shah: Tom Sommers has explained that in last year's capital budget you approved upgrading of our switch and along with that we were looking at upgrading our incoming phone lines to digital lines, which will reduce the cost and we will probably save about $20,000 per year after the first year after the cost of equipment and things. I don't need Council resolution for that, but I just want you to be aware that we are planning to do this by switching from Verizon to Paetec. So we are moving in that direction.
Councilman Testino: Does that include the pay phones?
Mr. Shah: We have switched the pay phone service since the one we had went bankrupt and we went to another service; it does not include the pay phones.
Councilman Testino: Is that why there is no phone at Vet's Park?
Mr. Shah: Yes.
Councilman Testino: We have to get service there because it is a crisis situation.
Mr. Shah: So you are aware, Verizon is the only one that offers pay phone now and the charge is $60-$70 per month for this service. We have already arranged for the service and it should be done shortly. One of the reasons that the pay phones are not used is because of the cell phones that most people have, but we have taken care of the matter and it will be costing us about $30.00 per month from another carrier.
REPORTS - 9/4/91
Cedarview Estates - (Status & Progress by Engineer) Previously Done.
LIQUOR LICENSES
LL-1 Person-to-Person Transfer of Plenary Distribution License #1209-44-013-044 Fairway Plaza Liquors to Jersey Spirits and Wines, LLC
Move-up
HIGGINS ROAD UTILITY EASEMENT
Attorney Ruggierio: Could I ask that the Council give me the authority with regard to the Higgins Road Utility Easement so that we can put the power lines in to complete the project. We need authority for the Mayor to sign to get the lines into the park?
MOTION
Motion to give the Mayor authority to sign the necessary documents for the utility easement with GPU for Higgins Road Soccer Field made by Councilman Butler, seconded by Councilman Cucchiara and so moved on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
RESOLUTION 419
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey that:
the public be excluded from this meeting pursuant to NJSA 10:4-13 for the discussion of the following matter or matters:
Thomas Hallock vs. Township of Old Bridge
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this meeting shall reconvene in public session in ten (10) minutes and that the minutes or other record of these discussions shall be available to be disclosed to the public in sixty (60) months unless a sooner date is determined by vote of the governing body at a public session.
Moved by Councilman Redmond, seconded by Councilman Butler and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
Motion to adjourn at 10:35 p.m. made by Councilman Butler, seconded by Councilman Cucchiara and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Cucchiara, Greene, Redmond, Sohor, Testino, President Maher.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilman Hoff, Councilwoman Hegarty.
______________________________
Dennis M. Maher, Council President
_______________________________
Rose-Marie Saracino, Township Clerk
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