Present were:

Absent were:

The meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m.

Salute to the flag was followed by roll call.

Statement was made that the meeting was held in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meeting Act.

Mayor Cannon introduced John Vincenti, Director of Community Development, Township Engineer and non-voting member of the Economic Development Corporation.

A motion was made by Patrick Gillespie, seconded by Peter Davis, with Kevin Calogera abstaining for the approval of the November 2001 Treasurer's Report and the November 2001 bill list. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Dave Merwin, seconded by Larry Redmond, with Susan Gieser and Edward Testino abstaining for the approval of the November 28, 2001 meeting summary. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Dave Merwin, seconded by Edward Testino and unanimously agreed upon for acceptance of the 2002 Economic Development Corporation meeting dates.

Tom Norman Esq. was present.

Kevin Calogera introduced Russ Azzarello, candidate for the position of Executive Director to the Board.

Mr. Azzarello briefed the Board on his affiliations in Old Bridge. Mr. Azzarello has been spending most of his time in private industry. The company was sold in 1996 and since then he has been doing independent consulting and/or management jobs. His true profession is marketing and sales.

Mr. Azzarello stated the marketing of Old Bridge is an area where he can lend his expertise, his knowledge of the community, his 33 years as a resident, his position in office, and his relationships with the community.

He feels that a director has to look to the board for the direction and then try to execute. Coming up with individual ideas and being creative pro-active is part of Mr. Azzarello's normal make-up, but on the same token, has to be in concert with what the board's position is.

Mr. Azzarello feels he is at the point where he wants to give something back to the community. He state that going out and speaking to existing businesses is very important. Business development has an element of business retention.

The first step would be putting the right plan together, then take that plan and put it into action. This could take a couple of months. Mr. Azzarello feels that there is a lot of approaches to marketing. We need to get ourselves recognized. We have to go out and create the need within the customer to want to come to Old Bridge.

Mr. Azzarello is prepared to work full time and attend meetings at night. He feels the role will definitely include more than a forty (40) hour week.

Mr. Azzarello stated that he wants the job of Executive Director.

Tom Norman stated that a judge in Manalapan ruled that if you have a planning board or a zoning board member on a Corporation and a developer shows up to make a presentation with the public having been notified, it could present a problem. Those member of the boards would have to recuse themselves from the presentation.

The Corporation will hold any presentations for the end of the meetings. Planning Board members will leave the room. Mr. Norman will put this new ruling in writing for distribution to the board.

A motion was made by Kevin Calogera, seconded by Patrick Gillespie and unanimously agreed upon to enter into executive session to discuss personnel matters.

A motion was made by Kevin Calogera, seconded by Dave Merwin, with a Nay vote from Mayor cannon to go out of executive session. The motion carried.

Tom Norman, Attorney, explained that the board went into executive session to discuss the merits of two candidates to be hired for executive director. It was a discussion of credentials. The board then indicated that they would come out of executive session with the intent of taking a vote on the individual who will be retained as the executive director and the terms and conditions of employment will then be discussed.

Those terms and conditions, once established either through a discussion or through the appointment of a committee, will then be discussed with the candidate chosen and, if it is acceptable, we have a director. If not, we will be back in the search.

Kevin Calogera called for a nomination form the board.

A motion was made by David Merwin, seconded by Rocky Donatelli to enter into an agreement of employment with Russell J. Azzarello providing he supplies references and agrees to the terms and conditions offered by the subcommittee. Terms to be acceptable to the board and the applicant. The vote was seven ayes and six nays. The motion carried.

A subcommittee was appointed. Mike D'Agnes, Peter Davis, Kevin Calogera and Alayne Shepler will discuss the terms and conditions of the agreement.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m

Township of Old Bridge
1 Old Bridge Plaza
Old Bridge, NJ 08857
Main Phone: 732-721-5600