WHEREAS, the Township of Old Bridge is a party to certain litigation known as Township of Old Bridge v. Woodland Trails, Inc., Docket No. L-7342-01; and
WHEREAS, a proposed settlement (Exhibit A) has been presented to the Township Council in Executive Session, wherein Retained Counsel Timothy O'Neill, Esq., discussed said proposal and recommended same to Council; and
WHEREAS, the Township Council believes that it is in the best interest of the Township to settle this matter, rather than continue extensive litigation; and
WHEREAS, the negotiated settlement figure is substantially below the Commissioner's Award in this condemnation action; and
WHEREAS, this Resolution is adopted in order to authorize final settlement of this matter in accordance with Exhibit A attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Exhibit “A” On File in Clerk's Office
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Settlement between the Township of Old Bridge and Woodland Trails, Inc., is hereby approved and Retained Counsel Timothy O'Neill, Esq,, is hereby authorized to settle this matter by signing and filing any and all legal documents incidental thereto; and
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor and Township Clerk are hereby authorized to sign any and all documents necessary to effectuate this settlement.
Moved by Councilmen Butler, seconded by President Baker and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Calogera, Gillespie, Greene, Maher, President Baker
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilmen Testino, Volkert, Councilwoman Panos
Prior to the roll call vote the following discussion took place:
President Baker: I would like to speak to this since we have had numerous discussions in Executive Session and we have also hired an independent attorney who has recommended that we take this settlement and I endorse this and urge my council members to concur.
President Baker opened this matter to the public. Seeing no hands President Baker closed the public portion.
Councilman Maher: Can someone summarize this item?
President Baker: It is in your packet. We are not going to summarize it over again>
Councilman Maher: Do we have a letter from the attorney recommending that this is a good deal?
President Baker: Yes we do it is part of your package. We are done going over things in the package, if you have not had the opportunity to review the package I am not going to go over it again.
MOTION (Denied)
Motion to table this matter made by Councilman Maher, seconded by Councilman Calogera and so denied on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Calogera, Maher
NAYS: Councilmen Butler, Gillespie, Greene, President Baker
ABSENT: Councilmen Testino, Volkert, Councilwoman Panos
Councilman Gillespie: In deference to Mr. Maher, perhaps we could just defer action on this for a moment so that he can review some of the documents.
President Baker: If you would like to read the settlement because the councilman did not have the opportunity to read it prior to the meeting then go ahead.
Councilman Calogera: If I read the packet correctly, the settlement is a 17 million dollar settlement, correct?
President Baker: That is part of the settlement. The developer gets 17 million, but it encompasses more than that.
Councilman Calogera: We need to bring it out for the public so they can know what the settlement was, because this was not discussed in open session.
President Baker: Let the attorney read the settlement into the record for the public and for those council members who have not had an opportunity to review their packet.
Attorney Berlen: This is a memorandum from the Department of Law, dated May 10, 2004 from Jerome J. Convery to Mayor Phillips and the Township Council regarding the Township of Old Bridge vs. Woodland Trails, Inc. The following is the summary of the latest settlement proposal for Woodland Trails.
1. The Township would acknowledge for settlement purposes the validity of the Woodland Trails Appraisal by William Heffernan in the amount of $19,535,000, so that Woodland Trails, Inc. may take whatever tax benefits if any by reason of its agreeing to a settlement for substantially less than its appraised value.
2. All performance bonds to the Township for the Cedar Ridge Development or Woodland Trails shall be released. No maintenance bonds shall be required. Woodland Trails waives the return of the cash bonds currently held by the Township for the Cedar Ridge Development.
3. The Township will accept dedication of all of the roadways within the Cedar Ridge development as public streets.
4. Releases will be exchanged by the Township of Old Bridge and Woodland Trails, Inc., to include the officers, agents, servants, employees, officials of both entities and the release will specifically include reference to any environmental liability as the result of the alleged existence of environmental contamination on the property.
5. Condemnation valuation matter shall be settled for $17,300.000.00 as follows:
a. $17,000,000 retained by Woodland Trails after the payments below:
b. Woodland Trails shall pay return the sum of $500,000 to the Township of Old Bridge from the Commissioners Award.
c. Woodland Trails shall pay the sum of $200,000 directly to the Township of Old Bridge to complete satisfaction of any and all
Claims related to the Cedar Ridge II property, including but not Limited to any environmental contamination.
d. Woodland Trails shall pay the sum of $100,000 directly to the Cedar Ridge Homeowners Association, Cedar Ridge I, for any
alleged obligation to provide a recreational facility.
e. Woodland Trails shall waive any and all claims to any alleged interest that may be owed on the Commissioner's Award of $17,795,000.
President Baker: At the last Executive Session, the independent counsel hired by the Township voiced an opinion, which is on public record recommending that we take this settlement.
Councilman Maher: With regard to item No. 3, do the roadways of Cedar Ridge meet our specifications?
President Baker: Had you been at the last meeting all of this was covered and I am not going to through every single item again and accordingly, the roadways are perfect.
Councilman Maher: For the record, I was not at the last meeting, so I feel that as a councilman, I can ask as many questions as I see fit.
John Vincenti: Given the age of the roadways, we feel that they are in an acceptable condition.
Councilman Maher: With respect to the Cedar Ridge Homeowners Association agreement, are they in concurrence with the settlement, do we have their written approval?
President Baker: That is in your package; there is a letter signed by the president of the homeowners association and their attorney.
Mayor Phillips: As I understand the transaction, we are taking over the roads, and $100,000 will be paid to the homeowners association from Woodland Trails, Inc. to settle what may or may not have been claims for not building or failure to build the recreation center. In essence it is a deal with Cedar Ridge II. The other part of this has been going on for some time and if you have any specific questions, I would be happy to discuss it.
Councilman Maher: I am glad we were taking the offensive on this by hiring a separate law firm, but for too many years we were playing defense on this and now I am glad we are finally playing offense and now all of sudden I come here to a meeting and now that we are finally playing offense, we are ready for a settlement. What has really happened?
Mayor Phillips: I don't know how much you want me to say here. I would be happy to have filled you in today to bring you up to speed. In essence what has happened is that the professional that we hired have reviewed the matter and have come up with what they think is a settlement. Is it more than we want to pay, yes; is it less than they want to accept, probably yes, so in that regard it is a settlement that does not make everyone concerned ecstatic, but it is somewhere in the middle. I would give you my reasons as to why I support this, but I don't know if it would help you in any way. This is where we are at today, it is a council decision, but it is the opinion of the people that we retained that it is the best decision with regard to a settlement offer.
Attorney Berlen: Just for the record, attached to the information in the packet is another memo that sets forth the Cedar Ridge Homeowner's Association settlement and I will indicate for the record that it is signed by Philip Tobalsky who is the attorney for Cedar Ridge Homeowners Association as well as Steven Kimish who is the president of the association.
Councilman Gillespie: I was going to speak in favor of the settlement and having gone through the discussion with our attorneys and again being somewhat at a disadvantage because I was not here for the past four years, certainly when we were looking at the $19.5 /$20 million judgment, I was glad that we did what we did and brought in special counsel because the way that I view this is that we have shaved $2.5 million off our potential liability and we have taken care of the homeowners association. I am going to support this settlement and urge all of my colleagues to do the same.
Councilman Testino: This is to approve the settlement as outlined in Executive Session with all the stipulation that Jerry had last time?
AI-4 Authorizing amendments to Trenton EZ Check Concession Contract
Mayor Phillips: I have not had an opportunity to examine this and discuss it with the staff, therefore I am asking that you carry this over for Monday's meeting.
President Baker: I am asking that you move the entire Consent Agenda up and then we will address any of your questions.
CONSENT AGENDA
C-1 Bingo/Raffle – RA64-04 & RA65-04 St. Ambrose RA66-04 – Laurence Harbor Fire Company BA25094A(A) Jewish Community of Madison Township of Old Bridge
C-2 Block Party – 4 Calvin Ct. on Saturday, June 26, 2004 10AM-10PM
C-3 Authorize payment from Open Trust Fund to the County for our share of development Rights of Miller Farm Block 10252, Lot 23 in the amount of $46,412.38
C-4 Waiver of fees for Cheesequake Volunteer Fire Company for a storage building permit in the amount of _____
C-5 Resolution to authorized Budget Transfers in the amount of $100,000 in the Current SFY 2004 Budget permitted during the last two months of SFY2004
C-6 Resolution approving design and plans for Contract #04-11 for 2004/2005 Curb Replacement Contract as per the requirement of Resolution #515-02 Approving Design of Public Improvements
C-7 Resolution approving design and plans for Contract #04-10 for 2004/2005 Road Resurfacing Contract as per the requirements of Resolution #516-02 Approving Design of Public Improvements
C-8 Memorandum of Agreement between Township of Old Bridge and the Old Bridge Crossing Guards Association 7/1/02 – 6/30/04
C-9 Memorandum of Agreement – Teamsters Non-Professionals 7/1/02 – 6/30/04
C-10 Amending Lambertson Tract Acquisition Contract Increasing N.J. Green Acres Grant From $1,035,000.00 to $1,465,000.00
C-11 Correction to Resolution #169 (dated 3/24/03) for Release of Performance Guarantee Pulaski Savings Bank to correct the cash deposit amount from $13,391.40 to $13,319.40
C-12 Correction in Resolution #604-03 (dated 12/8/03) for Release of Performance Guarantee Commerce Bank to correct the cash deposit amount from $26,687.77 to $26,676.77 and Total amount from $266,77636.78 to $266,766.78
C-13 Correction to Resolution #572 (dated 11/10/03) for Release of Performance Guarantee Somerset Tire Service, Inc. to correct land disturbance cash deposit from $12,489.36 to $12,498.36.
C-14 Permission for the Old Bridge Lodge #2229, Inc. to hold a Mass Assemble Picnic on Sunday, July 25, 2004 from 10AM-6PM to raise money for Elks Camp Moore
C-15 Authorizing Refund of Pre-petition disputed interest in the amount of $8,645.13 on Richard Brennan, 492 Marlboro Road, Blk. 17002, Lot 194
C-16 Canceling outstanding checks from current fund, payroll account, payroll deductions Account and workers comp self insurance fund totaling $1,282.67
C-17 Approval of Leave of Absence due to Personal Illness - Maureen Riccardi
C-18 Payment of Accumulated Time – Retirement Lt. James Mangini in the sum of $108,602.18
C-19 Requesting permission for Raritan Bay Medical Center to have music in their tent from 6pm to 10:30 pm for their 25th Anniversary Celebration – June 12, 2004
C-20 Award of Site Restoration/Renovation Contract for Laurence Harbor Park awarded to Antuofermo Landscaping in the amount of $13,500.00
After move-up of all Consent Agenda items, the following discussions took place.
Councilman Maher: With respect to C-18 – Payment of Accumulated Time – Retirement Lt. James Mangini in the sum of $108,602.18). This payout is quite excessive, is there any other back-up information?
President Baker: This item is tied into another matter. Can Mr. Shah or Natasha address it?
Himanshu Shah: There is a memo attached along with calculation sheets as well as memo from the Chief of the Police Department, indicating the number of days and the amount due. I don't know what additional information you are requesting.
Councilman Maher: I asked the Council that this amount is quite excessive. I understand that we are talking about an individual with 34 years of service and I have always been opposed that we do make these payouts at the individuals highest earned salaries. I would like to see a breakout here of number of years that this person spent at patrol, the number of years at sergeant and number of years at lieutenant. I would also like to ask Chief Collow that it has been brought to my attention that we give an individual 30 days leave of absence once they announce their retirement, is that in the contract and did this person get this two times because I understand this person put in retirement papers two years ago, but never retired and got his 30 days off the books?
Chief Collow: No, not under my administration did he get 30 days, he was charged 30 days sick time and comp time prior to his retirement, there was no 30 day grace period if that is what you are asking.
Councilman Maher: Can you research the records for 24-36 months ago when this individual put paperwork in for retirement because I have been told that he got the 30 days paid time then?
President Baker: This is kind of a personnel matter and I am going to ask that perhaps after this meeting you could meet with the business administrator and he can go over it and then if you still think it is something you want to bring to the entire council, we could have an executive session before we vote on it next week.
Councilman Gillespie: I have a question about C-15 – Authorizing refund of Pre-petition disputed interest in the amount of $8,645.13 on Richard Brennan, 492 Marlboro Road, Blk. 17002, Lot 194. It seems this was a product of a bankruptcy proceeding, but I am not sure why we are paying this.
Natasha Turchan: I know it is a court order whereby the person paid taxes twice, once through the court and once regularly through the township, which was both post and pre-bankruptcy; one we are authorized to keep and one we must refund.
Councilman Gillespie: There were no liens against the property were there?
Natasha Turchan: I will give you a copy of the letter from the court outlining the refund.
Councilman Testino: On C-3 – Authorize payment from Open Trust Fund to the County for our share of development Rights of Miller Farm Block 10252, Lot 23, in the amount of $46,412.38. I just want to point out that this is the first time we are doing such a transaction and I want to make sure that for our share of the money we get either on the deed or get a copy of the filed deed, so it is in our records to coincide with this payment.
Mayor Phillips: I took the liberty today to talk with Linda Bush and this property contract is public record. This is approximately a 12 acre site, the development rights were purchased for $20, 833.00 per acre, that means the total was $248,354.12. Roughly, that breaks down to the State contributing 60%, the County 20% +, and Old Bridge Township 20%-. Actually what is being acquired here the Miller Farm Block, will enable the Millers to live on the land, do whatever they want with it except use it for development.
Councilman Testino: Shouldn't there be a way for the building department to have some type of list in case an application comes to them, they can have a way of noting it because if someone comes in with an application it has to be cross referenced.
Councilman Volkert: Perhaps it could be noted on the tax map.
Councilman Testino: On C-10 – Amending Lambertson Tract Acquisition Contract Increasing N.J. Green Acres Grant from $1,035,000 to $1,465,000. Is this only this year's allotment that we are increasing for the acquisition or is this a “bump” on the adjustment?
Tom Badcock: Originally, when we did the fair market value it was at a price of about $2 million dollars and we were awarded $1,035,000 from the State. We did a second appraisal on the property and the value was $2.9 million and so we were eligible for a 50% grant on the $2.9 million. We have to file the paperwork to get this benefit.
Councilman Testino: Now that we have settled Cedar Ridge II, are we going to pursue the other monies that we discussed in executive session similar to this matter, such as increasing the loans, grants and other applications maybe even to Middlesex County?
Mayor Phillips: Himanshu produced an internal document which gives the extent of what we got and also some of the funding sources that we have.
Councilman Testino: We as the Council do not have to do anything on this because you are moving on these items and when you need a resolution to further these items you will let us know.
Councilman Volkert: On C-20, is this going to take place at the same time as the traffic and safety remarks or relines of the parking lots?
Tom Badcock: This has nothing to do with the parking this is a State Legislative Grant that we have to encumber by July 1st. We did the renovations on the building and now we have to do some exterior renovations on the landscaping.
LIQUOR LICENSE
LL-1 Place to Place – Old New York, Inc. License #1209-33-005-010 (Expansion of Premises)
Move-up
APPOINTMENTS
A-1 Recreation Advisory Committee – Term Expires 12/31/05 (Council Appointment)
A-2 Parking & Transportation Committee – Term Expires 12/31/04 (Council Appointment)
Move-up
President Baker: I would like the Council to review the resumes and give your recommendations next Monday.
RESOLUTION NO. 303
RESOLUTION APPROVING CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 FOR CONTRACT NO. 03-08 FOR THE THROCKMORTON LANE RESURFACING (PHASE 3)
BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, that
WHEREAS, the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge previously authorized Contract #03-08 with the firm of Pioneer General Contracting Co., Inc., for the Throckmorton Lane resurfacing; and
WHEREAS, Pioneer General Contracting Co. has requested Change Order No. 1 in order to extend the limit of work to include Utica Avenue and to improve the road to Cindy Street in the scope of the project.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Township Council of the Township of Old Bridge, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey that Change Order No. 1 is hereby authorized as set forth on the attached Change Order.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the modified cost of services after this Change Order is as follows:
Original Contract $208,462.00
Change Order #1 $ +34,504.00
New Total Authorized $242,996.00
(Total Amount of Change Order $ 34,504.00)
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor and Clerk of the Township of Old Bridge are hereby authorized to execute such written contract documents as may be approved in form by the Township Attorney.
Moved by Councilman Butler, seconded by President Baker and so ordered on the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Butler, Calogera, Gillespie, Greene, Maher, Testino, Volkert President Baker.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Councilwoman Panos
Prior to the roll call vote the following discussion took place.
President Baker: I do not like action items on the agenda, I do not like things that people do not have an opportunity to look at, but I do not like ignoring an opportunity for the Township to save money so that I think I need to be a little more flexible. Mr. Vincenti has introduced something that will save the township some money and I would like the Council to listen to his comments and if wise we will vote on it this evening.
John Vincenti: I want to get Council's approval for a Change Order that will extend the contract for the reconstruction limits of the Throckmorton Lane resurfacing project. We are suggesting that we increase the limits from the end of Throckmorton Lane and include Utica Avenue to connect with Cindy Street. We are in a unique situation because we originally bonded for $250,000 for the contract, we got a $200,000 grant from the State our low bidder came in at $208,000 so that the next cost to the town is only $208,000 for the entire project. We would like to expand and add a $35,434.00 change order to expand that under the contract limits which would be under the 20% threshold and would enable us to finish out that stretch between two major streets. I am asking for action tonight because the contractor is finished with the concrete work and we have a small window of opportunity here. If we don't approve it tonight he is going to move on and if we make a decision a few weeks from now he would be entitled to a remobilization charge. In the long run it makes sense to do this now.
President Baker: Does the road need to be addressed?
John Vincenti: Yes.
President Baker: Does Rocky agree?
Rocky Donatelli: I agree with John.
John Vincenti: Originally we anticipated putting Utica in the contract, but when we came up with our engineers estimate, we were over the $250,000, so we pulled it out. I think we got the benefit of some good pricing from the contractor and we are trying to take advantage of it.
Councilman Greene: This is the third and final phase of a project that was started a number of years ago and because of the money that was awarded by the State this year that one small section of Throckmorton Lane between Utica and Cindy was left out. It is equivalent to the distance of four houses and quite honestly I respected the township's position because it was financial, but I think that if we can do all of Throckmorton Lane it would make a lot of sense and be doing the right thing for those several residences in that area and completing the whole project.
Councilman Calogera: How much will this enable us to do?
John Vincenti: It is approximately another 600 feet of roadway.
Councilman Calogera: There is a spot by the OBMUA on Throckmorton which needs to be done.
John Vincenti: That is in Section I and is in a different location and that was done as part of that phase and it is not physically connected to the work that is being done now.