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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2001/03/15 The Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret was called to order by Mayor James A. Failace approximately 7:30 P.M. on Thursday, March 15, 2001, Municipal CourtlPolice Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. Upon individual roll call, the following were noted present: Councilmember Remy Quinones " Daniel Reiman Ronald Rios Janet Santoro Also notcd present were Borough Attorney Robert J. Bergen, Esq. and Borough Treasurer/CFO, Patrick J. De Blasio. Noted absent were Councilmembers Jack Fazekas and Buddy Sohayda. The meeting was opened with a moment of Silent Prayer and The Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor James A. Failace. The Clerk stated that on March 9, 2001, in full compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a notice of tonight's meeting was sent to The Horne News Tribune, The Star-Ledger and posted on the bulletin board. Upon MMS&C, by Council members Rios and Reiman and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present the Mayor declared the Public Hearing on the 2001 Local Municipal Budget to be open: Counci lmembers Reiman said he wanted to infoml the Council and the public that the town was infomled by the Department of Treasury, Division of Pensions and Benefits about a State Senate Bill that was passed, approved by Committee and is awaiting the Governor's signature. He said this would reduce this year's pension contribution required by the Municipalities by about three hundred and forty one thousand dollars, the cost of which the State would be picking up. He said that would be roughly three and a half tax points which will be used directly for tax relief. He said the tax reduction would take place when acting Governor DiFrancesco signs the Bill, he said the Council had just received notification about this from the State. He said the Local Finance Board has approved the Council's refunding and refinancing application of the Bonds, which would save the town three hundred and fifteen thousand dollars in interest payments over the next nine years. He said they would be looking to use one hundred thousand dollars of the money this year to shave off an additional tax point. He said the projected tax increase that was opposed at eight cents is cut to roughly four cents. He said once the town receives the MARCH 15, 2001 COUNCIL MEETING ROLL CALL PRAYER, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE STATEMENT OF MEETING NOTICE PUBLIC HEARING 2001 MUNICIPAL BUDGET COMMENTS MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS Discretionary Aid the town should be in line for a possible two-cent tax increase. He said he felt the budget was corning along quite well. HEARING CLOSED There being no further comments or objections to the Ordinance, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing on the Budget to be closed upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present. MINUTES FOR APPROVAL Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present, the minutes of January 18, and February 8, 200 I were approved as transcribed and engrossed by the Clerk. ORDINANCE #01-19 AMENDING SALARY ORDINANCE #71-9, RE: AFSCME LOCAL #2291 ORDINANCE #01-19 was introduced and adopted on First Reading and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public Hearing to be held on April 5, 2001, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Council members Quinones and Reiman abstained. Council members Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. ORDINANCE #01-19 "AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE #71-9 ESTABLISHING SALARY SCHEDULES AND FIXING THE MANNER OF PAYMENTS OF SALARIES FOR VARIOUS OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" COMMENTS Council member Reiman said he could not vote on the contract because his brother was a member of the blue-collar union although he supported it and felt it was a good contract. Business Administrator Goldsack said it was only an introduction of the Ordinance, he said this as Councilmember Reiman was speaking. The Mayor said, "you need four". Councilmember Reiman said "not for introduction". Mayor Failace asked Borough Attorney Bergen if it was all right to pass the Ordinance as the Council voted. Borough Attorney Bergen said it was. 2 The Clerk stated Ordinance #01-15 was introduced and passed upon First Reading at a Regular Meeting of the Borough Council held on March I, 2001. It was duly published in the Horne News Tribune on March 6, 2001 with notice that it will be considered for final passage after Public Hearing to be held on March 15, 2001 at approximately 7:30 P.M. The Ordinance was posted on the bulletin board and copies were made available to the general public and according to law, she read the Ordinance by title. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Council members present, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be open: There being no comments or objections to the Ordinance, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Quinones ORDINANCE #01-15 "AN ORDINANCE REFUNDING BOND ORDINANCE OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET, IN THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY PROVIDING FOR THE CURRENT REFUNDING OF CERTAIN GENERAL OBLIGATION SEWER REFUNDING BONDS, APPROPRIATING $7,845,000 THEREFORE AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $7,845,000 REFUNDING BONDS OF THE BOROUGH FOR FINANCING THE COST THEREOF" WHEREAS, the Borough of Carteret, in the County of Middlesex, New Jersey (the "Borough") desires to make application to the Local Finance Board for its review and approval of a proposed refunding bond ordinance authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $7,845,000 refunding bonds to refund all or part of the Borough's outstanding callable General Obligation Sewer Refunding Bonds, dated March 15, 1993. WHEREAS, the Borough believes that: (a) It is in the public interest to accomplish such purpose; (b) The purpose is for the health, the welfare, the convenience or the betterment of the inhabitants of the Borough; (c) The amounts to be expended for these purposes are not unreasonable or exorbitant; (d) The proposal is an efficient and feasible means of providing services for the needs of the inhabitants of the borough and will not create an undue financial burden to be placed upon the Borough. 3 MARCH 15, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-15 REFUNDING BOND ORDINANCE, APPROPRIATING $7,845,000.00 PUBLIC HEARING HEARING CLOSED MARCH 15, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-15 REFUNDING BOND ORDINANCE, APPROPRIATING $7,845,000.00 (Continued) NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Borough Council of the Borough of Carteret, in the County of Middlesex, New Jersey as follows: Section 1. The application to the Local Finance Board is hereby approved, and the Borough's Bond Counsel, along with other representatives of the Borough, are hereby authorized to prepare such application and to represent the Borough in matters pertaining thereto. Section 2. The Clerk of the Borough is hereby directed to prepare and to file a copy of the proposed refunding bond ordinance with the Local Finance Board as part of such application. Section 3. The Local Finance Board is hereby respectfully requested to consider such application and to record recommendations and approvals as provided by the Jersey Statutes. its findings, applicable New ADOPTED was finally adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmember Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affimlative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. Approved and Adopted: Introduced: Advertised as adopted on First Reading with notice of Public Hearing: March 6. 2001 Hearing held: March 15.2001 Approved by: Mavor James A. Failace Advertised as Finally Adopted: March 20. 2001 March 15.2001 March 1. 200 I COMMENTS Councilmember Reiman said this was the application that was approved yesterday by the Local Finance Board. He thanked Patrick DeBlasio who had just stepped out of the meeting as well as Joe Bauman from McManimon & Scotland, bond counsel representatives who represented Carteret in Trenton. He said the Ordinance represents that Carteret would be allowed to refund and refinance seven and a half million dollars in bonds which would save the taxpayers ninety three to a hundred thousand dollars this year and an additional two hundred fifteen thousand dollars over the next nine years. Councilmember Santoro said she felt Councilmember Reiman has done an excellent job as head of the Finance Committee and was moving along to save as much money as he could. 4 The Clerk stated Ordinance #01-16 was introduced and passed upon First Reading at a Regular Meeting of the Borough Council held on March 1,2001. It was duly published in the Horne News Tribune on March 6, 2001 with notice that it will be considered for final passage after Public Hearing to be held on March 15, 2001 at approximately 7:30 P.M. The Ordinance was posted on the bulletin board and copies were made available to the general public and according to law, she read the Ordinance by title. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Council members present, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be open: There being no comments or objections to the Ordinance, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman ORDINANCE #01-16 "AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE POSITION OF MA YOR'S AIDE" was finally adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative, Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. Approved and Adopted: Introduced: Advertised as adopted on First Reading with notice of Public Hearing: March 6, 200 I Hearing held: March 15,2001 Approved by: Mavor James A. Failace Advertised as Finally Adopted: March 20, 2001 March 15,2001 March 1. 200 I Councilmember Quinones said the Ordinance as proposed does not include the language that was requested by the Mayor which would allow the Mayor's Aide to attend certain meetings but she does believe the Mayor deserves a Mayor's Aide so she would be voting yes. Councilmember Rios said this codifies what the Council had all along, the Council has never had an Ordinance before but the town did have the position. Mayor Failace thanked the Council for insuring he has a Mayor's Aide but he wished the language was different. He said he has gone through 5 MARCH 15, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-16 ESTABLISHING THE POSITION OF MAYOR'S AIDE PUBLIC HEARING HEARING CLOSED ADOPTED COMMENTS MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) the Ordinance book and he does not see where it says he has to send a Councilmember to a State or County function. He said he still felt he had the right to send who ever he wanted to send. ORDINANCE #01-17 AMENDING SALARY ORDINANCE #71-9, RE: BOROUGH ENGINEER The Clerk stated Ordinance #01-17 was introduced and passed upon First Reading at a Regular Meeting of the Borough Council held on March 1,2001. It was duly published in the Horne News Tribune on March 6, 2001 with notice that it will be considered for final passage after Public Hearing to be held on March 15, 2001 at approximately 7:30 P.M. The Ordinance was posted on the bulletin board and copies were made available to the general public and according to law, she read the Ordinance by title. COMMENTS Mayor Failace asked the Clerk if this was for the Borough Engineer or for the Planning and Zoning Engineer. Councilmember Reiman said it was for the Borough Engineer. He said the Salary Ordinance was on the books from a few years ago, which still called for a salary of one hundred thousand dollars. He said this was correcting it and there would be no additional money paid, the forty two hundred dollars comes out of a line item for engineering expenses which is billed against the fifty thousand dollars that is put on the line item. Borough Attorney Bergen said the only reason he had it put on was that the contract called for a salary and the Ordinance did not provide for it. Mayor Failace said it was not a problem, but since it was such a small amount of money he thought it might have been for the. . . Councilmember Reiman interrupted to say the old Salary Ordinance that is on the books is over one hundred thousand dollars. PUBLIC HEARING Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be open: HEARING CLOSED There being no comments or objections to the Ordinance, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present. 6 Upon MMS&C, by Council members Rios and Reiman ORDINANCE #01-17 "AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE #71-9 ESTABLISHING SALARY SCHEDULES AND FIXING THE MANNER OF PAYMENTS OF SALARIES FOR THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" was finally adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Council members Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affimlative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. Approved and Adopted: Introduced: Advertised as adopted on First Reading with notice of Public Hearing: March 6, 2001 Hearing held: March 15,2001 Approved by: Mavor James A. Failace Advertised as Finally Adopted: March 20, 2001 March 15,2001 March 1. 200 I The Clerk stated Ordinance #01-18 was introduced and passed upon First Reading at a Regular Meeting of the Borough Council held on March 1, 2001. It was duly published in the Horne News Tribune on March 6, 2001 with notice that it will be considered for final passage after Public Hearing to be held on March 15, 2001 at approximately 7:30 P.M. The Ordinance was posted on the bulletin board and copies were made available to the general public and according to law, she read the Ordinance by title. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be open: Mayor Failace said this Ordinance is correcting an oversight when the Council adjusted the Ordinance eliminating some of the fees for Senior Citizens last year. He said he believed what was not included were sidewalks, fences and sheds so now they are being added. There being no comments or objections to the Ordinance, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Quinones and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Council members present. 7 MARCH 15, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-17 AMENDING SALARY ORDINANCE #71-9, RE: BOROUGH ENGINEER ADOPTED ORDINANCE #01-18 AMENDING ORDINANCE #00-27, RE: ELIMINATING CERTAIN FEES FOR CARTERET SENIOR CITIZENS PUBLIC HEARING COMMENTS HEARING CLOSED MARCH 15, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-18 AMENDING ORDINANCE #00-27, RE: ELIMINATING CERTAIN FEES FOR CARTERET SENIOR CITIZENS ADOTPED MEETING OPENED PUBLIC INPUT ON ALL RESOLUTIONS MEETING CLOSED RESOLUTION #01-82 DIRECTING THE ISSUANCE OF VARIOUS RAFFLE LICENSES ADOPTED Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones ORDINANCE #01-18 "AMENDING ORDINANCE #00-27-AN ORDINANCE ELIMINATING CERTAIN PERMIT FEES FOR CARTERET SENIOR CITIZENS" was finally adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Council members Quinones, Reiman, Rios, and Santoro voted in the affimlative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. Approved and Adopted: Introduced: Advertised as adopted on First Reading with notice of Public Hearing: March 6, 2001 Hearing held: March 15,2001 Approved by: Mavor James A. Failace Advertised as Finally Adopted: March 20, 2001 March 15,2001 March 1. 2001 A copy of each Resolution was placed on the table for public review prior to the meeting in accordance with the Rules of Council and upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present, the meeting was opened for public input on all Resolutions. There being no comments or objections to the Resolutions, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affimlative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present. RESOLUTION #01-82 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones RESOLUTION #01-82 "DIRECTING THE ISSUANCE OF RAFFLE LICENSES TO LITTLE CARTERET LEAGUE, INC. & ST. ELIAS BYZANTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Council members Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. 8 RESOLUTION #01-83 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-83 "AUTHORIZING AMENDMENT TO THE 2001 TEMPORARY BUDGET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Council members Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-84 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-84 "CREATING HANDICAPPED PARKING SPACE FOR HOL Y FAMILY CHURCH" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-85 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-85 "AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF 2001 MUNICIPAL ALLIANCE AGREEMENT" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affimlative. Council members Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. 9 MARCH 15, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-83 AMENDMENT TO 2001 TEMPORARY BUDGET ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-84 CREATING VARIOUS HANDICAPPED PARKING SPACES-HOLY FAMILY CHURCH ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-85 AUTHORIZING MAYOR TO EXECUTE 2001 MUNICIPAL ALLIANCE AGREEMENT ADOPTED MARCH 15, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-86 EUS-GARTLAND AND COMPANY, RE: INSURANCES ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-87 TRANSFER OF 2000 APPROPRIATION RESERVES ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-88 APPOINTING BRIAN O'CONNOR-BATTALION CH IEF ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-86 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-86 "AUTHORIZING AGREEMENT FOR EXTRAORDINARY, UNSPECIFIED SERVICES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affimlative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-87 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Council members Reiman and Rios RESOLUTION #01-87 'TRANSFER 2000 BUDGET APPROPRIATION RESERVES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Council members Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-88 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Counci I for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-88 "RESOLUTION APPOINTING BRIAN O'CONNOR TO THE POSITION OF PROVISIONAL BATTALION CHIEF" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. 10 RESOLUTION #01-89 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-89 "AUTHORIZING REFUND OF TAX AND/OR SEWER FEES OVERPAYMENT" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-90 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Council members Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-90 "A WARD OF BID-OFFICE SUPPLIES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affimlative. Council members Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. Councilmember Reiman said this contract allows Carteret to JOIn Woodbridge in the purchase of office supplies and furniture. He said the savings would be around thirty percent by doing this. He said the town would be saving up to forty percent on some of the list prices and he felt it was a significant saving for the Borough and he felt it was a good idea and partnership. RESOLUTION #01-91 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-91 "RESOLUTION APPROVING VOICE STREAM WIRELESS CO-LOCATION ON THE SPRINT PCS MONOPOLE" II MARCH 15, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-89 REFUND OF TAX AND/ OR SEWER FEE OVERPAYMENTS ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-90 AWARD OF BID- OFFICE SUPPLIES FOR 2001 ADOPTED COMMENTS RESOLUTION #01-91 APPROVING VOICE STREAM CO-LOCATION ON SPRINT PCS MONOPOLE MARCH 15, 2001 ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-92 AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF VARIOUS ENGINEERING PROJECTS AND/OR PROJECT PHASES FROM KILLAM ASSOCIATS TO T&M ASSOCIATES ADOPTED RESOLUTION #01-93 AUTHORIZING APPLICATION FOR UNSAFE BUILDINGS DEMOLITION LOAN FUND ADOPTED COMMENTS was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-92 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios RESOLUTION #01-92 "AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF VARIOUS ENGINEERING PROJECTS AND/OR PROJECT PHASES FROM KILLAM ASSOCIATES TO T &M ASSOCIATES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-93 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro RESOLUTION #01-93 "AUTHORIZING APPLICATION FOR UNSAFE BUILDINGS DEMOLITION LOAN FUND" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Council members Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Council members Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. Councilmember Santoro said this was an opportunity for the town to save and go from the bonding rate of four point five three to a possibility of zero percent loan. Mayor Failace said he spoke to the Council on this and asked the Clerk to poll the Council as to whether they should take the Ordinance that was done compensating the Mayor and Council with benefits to the County to be put on the ballot for the citizens to decide. Borough Attorney Bergen said the Council would have to do this by motion. Mayor Failace asked Borough Attorney if it was not a Resolution or Ordinance why did it have to be done by motion. 12 Borough Attorney Bergen said in this matter the Council should have a roll call done by motion. Mayor Failace said this would bind the Mayor and Council where they usually have non-binding referendums. He said by doing it this way and if in fact it gets put on the ballot and the citizens chose for the Mayor and Council to have benefits, they would have it and it could not be brought up again for at least two years. He said if the citizens chose not to give them benefits, the Council would be bound by it. He asked for a motion. Councilmember Quinones said she would make a motion. No one second the motion. Mayor Failace asked if the Council would not be allowing the citizens to vote on this. Councilmember Rios told Mayor Failace that the Council has passed legislation at Council Meetings to the contrary of what the Mayor was saying. He said he believed the Council was elected to do what they felt was in their best judgement for the entire Borough. He said last year the Council passed a Resolution to do away with the benefits which were in tact for many years and then they changed it in November. He said at that time there were some objections. He said he believed if the majority of the Council sitting there felt that something should be changed they would do it. He said the Council could not every time something gets passed or doesn't get passed and a Councilmember doesn't like it, he didn't see just putting it on the referendum at that time. He said once the majority of the Council votes for something that was the law. Mayor Failace said he understood that, but the Council also has the right and the citizens have the right. He said the Council could have done this last year, the Council could have said they liked to see it put on the ballot next year in the Primary or whatever. He said all he was asking for was to give the citizens an opportunity to vote as to whether the Mayor and Council should be compensated with benefits. Councilmember Santoro said the citizens have the right at every Primary Election to pick the officials they feel would represent their beliefs. She said every November whether there is a referendum or not, the citizens will select those individuals they feel best suit. She said at any time the citizens do have that right and they are going to elect those individuals who are going to best represent their interests. She said whether the Council puts a referendum on the ballot or not, it can be done by the people elected in November. She said the issue of health benefits was brought up last year during the course of the election and the individuals were still elected who believed in keeping it in tact. She said evidentially, the people did speak, she told the Mayor as far as putting on a referendum, because he did not agree and he feels at this time it is not popular and he does not want it, that is what would be happening. She said the Council has voted time and time and gi ven their feelings and opinions on the issue and she felt it was time the Mayor respected the Council. 13 MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Mayor Failace said that was Councilmember Santoro's opinion and vote, but asked her not to let him read in the Atom Tabloid how Mr. Reiman says we welcome the Mayor in governing for the good but promise to battle him on every issue where he stands against the people. He said he felt the people should have an opportunity to vote for this and asked what the Council was afraid of. He said if another question comes up why wouldn't they allow the people to vote on that because he felt that was what this was all about. He said Council member Reiman said in the Atom Tabloid article a number of times that this is a Democracy. He said he does agree this is a Democracy but while he feels they should not have benefits, some other Councilmembers feel they should, he said that is why they should give it to the people to let them make the decision. He said it is not that difficult and did not see why the Council could not allow the people to decide on this and if there were something else they disagree on the people could decide on that too by putting it on the ballot. Councilmember Rios said for three years the Mayor was in control and he had the opportunity, for thirty-six months, to put the issue on the ballot. He said now after the Mayor's Resolution to drop the benefits in November got overturned this year, then he wants to put this on the referendum. Council member Quinones asked Councilmember Rios why he thought because it wasn't done for that long it wasn't a good thing to do now. Mayor Failace agreed with Councilmember Quinones and said just because you make mistakes or whether things happen. . , Councilmember Quinones interrupted to say Councilmember Rios was assuming who ever was on the Council at the time, the majority of the members wanted to do that and he should not assume he knows what they were thinking or even if they discussed the issue. She said if it were a good policy now, why wouldn't the Council consider it. Mayor Failace said he knows there is a petition going around to get the question put on the ballot but he was asking the Council to put it on the ballot and he did not understand what was so difficult about doing this. He said he did not understand why the Council would not want to put it on the referendum. Councilmember Rios said that is what the Councilmembers were elected to do, it was not a matter of agreeing with the Mayor, the point was they were elected to do what they think would be best for the community. Mayor Failace said he felt the Council would not allow it to go on the ballot and said there would have to be a petition by the people to have it put on the ballot. He said the Council would be getting the petition and reiterated that he did not understand why they could not put it on the ballot as a Council. Councilmember Rios reiterated the Mayor had every right to do so in the last three years and did not do it. He said only because it became a popular issue for the Mayor to get involved because when someone supported Council member Reiman and himself in the election with a 14 sign on their lawn. He said the Mayor was doing this to get even with these people by putting this Resolution on. Mayor Failace said some said if someone put a sign on their lawn, he would be taking benefits away from them. He said he felt this was crazy because he brought this up in June, before the election, and that had nothing to do with it and he said he did not know what Council member Rios was talking about. He said there were a number of people who take benefits, but the bottom line is that the Council does not want to allow the people to vote on this. He said this was nuts and a shame and he hoped the people do remember in November. Council member Santoro asked the Mayor what he doesn't understand. She said if you don't get your way, you should move on to the next order of business. Mayor Failace said he understands that he is the head of the government in Carteret and he has a right to speak as long and as much as he wishes and no one on the Council can stop him at any time. Council member Rios said the Mayor should understand that the Council legislates and the majority of the governing body passes a Resolution or an Ordinance. Councilmember Quinones said the Mayor has a right to do something when he wants to do so. Council member Rios said last year when he objected the Mayor told him in January, when you take over and have the votes, you can change it. Mayor Failace said this is a cost to the citizens and that is why he asked them to vote on it. He said he did not understand what Council member Rios meant when he said the Mayor was doing this because he wasn't getting his way. He said when the Borough wanted to change the form of government in 1993, the people got a petition and he said he does not understand why Councilmember Rios would not allow the citizens to vote on this. Councilmember Rios said if the people feel that strongly about this, and have a petition and it gets to be put on the ballot, let the voters vote on it. Mayor Failace said he felt it was a shame and an embarrassment that the Council would not let the people do this. He said he would move on, on his own. Borough Attorney Bergen said he would like to make a point to the Councilmembers that have corne to him about this. He said there is a procedure to put the question on the ballot and challenge the Ordinance that is in place at the time. He said there is basically three statutes that govern placing the issues on the ballot. He said the gentleman that asked about this was not here tonight but he wanted to know if there was any other way to put something on the ballot and Mr. Bergen wanted to make this clear because the man said he couldn't find the Ordinance. 15 MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 APPLICATIONS: CARTERET VOLUNTEER FIRE CO. #2- APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP, MICHAEL J. CAPUTO COMMUNICATIONS: PERTH AMBOY COMMENTS PAYMENTS OF BILLS REPORTS DEPARTMENT The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of an application from Volunteer Fire Co. #2 approving a new member, Michael J. Caputo. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Council members present it was ordered to be accepted. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from the City of Perth Amboy-Resolution urging State funding to address revenue shortfall caused by State inaction on telecommunications business personal property tax reduction. Councilmember Reiman asked the Clerk if last year's Council took action on this or passed a Resolution. He asked if this was Perth Amboy just catching up with us or were they doing it again. Kathleen Barney, Borough Clerk said they did pass a Resolution and all the towns were doing this. She said every time she receives anything like this she puts it on for the meeting. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Councilmembers present all Communications were ordered to be received and placed on file, Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Quinones and Rios all bills appearing on the prepared bill list properly audited and signed were ordered to be paid. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmember Reiman abstained on Shop-Rite and UL and voted in the affirmative on all other bills. Councilmembers Rios, Quinones and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda were noted absent. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of the following reports: 1. Inspection of Buildings-February 2001. 2. Treasurer-February 2001. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) Councjlmembers present, all reports were ordered to be received and placed on file. 16 BUILDINGS & GROUNDS: Committee Chairperson Quinones said she looked forward to the Grand Opening Saturday of the Senior/Community Center. She said the opening was a long time corning and invited the public to attend. She said the Council will name the building for Thomas Deverin, refreshments will be served and urged everyone to bring their family and friends, Saturday, 10:00 A.M. in the new Community Center. She reported progress. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION: Committee Chairperson Reiman said as he announced earlier in the meeting, the State would be picking up some of the funding for the pension cost for fire and police. He said they would be utilizing some of the surplus in the State Pension Fund, which will save Carteret this year alone, three hundred and forty one thousand dollars. He said this would be used directly for property tax relief. He said the Local Finance Board has approved Carteret's application and the eight-cent tax increase has been shaved down to about four cents. He said he hoped the town would get three hundred thousand dollars in Discretionary Aid, which would result in a one to one and a half-cent tax increase. He reported progress. FIRE: Committee Chairperson Rios congratulated Captain William Richert who completed his certification at the Ocean County College to become a state licensed Fire Protection Specialist and Fire Subcode Official. He said this Sunday the Fire Department would be conducting a training drill in conjunction with the Avenel Fire Department at the soon to be demolished Maple Tree Tavern on Rahway Avenue in Avenel. He said that would conclude training on forcible entry, venting operations and fire fighter survival. He said this passed week the daytime First Responders have been very busy with first aid calls and driving the ambulance on three occasions. He thanked the First Aid Squad for allowing the use of the vehicle. He said there was a serious issue not only in Carteret but all over because there is a shortage in volunteers. He said the First Aid is at a scary stage, he said prior Council has understood that by allowing Rural Metro to respond, but sometimes they are overworked or under manned and can not respond as quickly as needed. He said he would like to call a Fire Committee meeting for this Monday, to discuss the problems and then he would get back to the Mayor and Council at the next Agenda Meeting to help with a solution to the problem. He said he did not want to see anything serious happen and felt things were at a scary level. He reported progress. Councilmember Sohayda was noted present at 8:00 P,M. PARKS & RECREATION: Committee Chairperson Santoro said the batting cage/bullpen at Sullivan Field is open and ready to use. She thanked Nick Ziccardi who donated five thousand dollars towards the project and said she felt the town should get years of use out of this. She said they have been repairing the concerns of the Little League 17 MARCH 15, 2001 STANDING COMMITTEES MARCH 15, 2001 STANDING COMMITTEES (Continued) fields, mostly the fences. She said top priority would be anything that could be dangerous to the children. She said the Meals on Wheels Program would be moving full time to the new Senior Center starting March 26th and they would be making notification to make sure everyone knows where the program would be taking place. She said the Council had a meeting with the Parks for possible new programs in the Summer Recreation Program possibly wrestling and volleyball. She said there are a lot of children in the town and looked forward to adding these programs to benefit the children. She said the Sportsman dinner was held March 4th and said this program has outstanding numbers where the children put their heart and soul into, whether it were cheerleading or football. She said to see the excitement of these children after all their hard work was terrific and she congratulated all of them. She reported progress. POLICE: Committee Chairperson Santoro said on March 20th at 7 P.M. in the new Community Center the Police Department would be having a Neighborhood Watch Meeting. She said there has been a current rash of burglaries occurring in the Borough and this would be a special Neighborhood Watch Meeting, Officer James Connolly of the Special Investigating Unit will be the guest speaker. She said she hoped anyone interested in this would attend the meeting Tuesday night. She read a letter from the Carteret Community Seniors to Police Director Elg thanking Detectives Doug Kopin and Dave Csimbok who did an excellent job processing over one hundred photo identifications. She said it was always nice to hear when the Police Officers do an excellent job, especially with the seniors and the community. She read the month by month training the Police Officers would be undertaking. She said in February, fourteen officers attended DWI training, Public Manager, Breathalyzer Recertification, Dusting and Lifting Fingerprints, Domestic Violence, Ethics for Law Enforcement and Police Staff and Command. She said she would update the training programs on an ongoing basis. She said about half of the Police Force had signed up and were going to certain training. She reported progress. PUBLIC WORKS: Committee Chairperson Sohayda said this Saturday the Woodbridge Recycling Department would be taking old cans of paint. He said to his knowledge there would not be another time to do this until the fall. He said the garage was keeping up with the repairs on most of the vehicles and performing maintenance on a daily basis. He said in the Sewer Department was having some problems with the pump stations, in the Sabo Street area the motors were getting jammed up because someone is flushing something in the local neighborhood they shouldn't be flushing. He said the signs at the Department of Public Works have been going up on a regular basis. He said street repairs would be starting and said if anyone has any problems, please do not hesitate to call. He said the Council is in the process of getting bids for a salt dome, something the Borough has never had before and said that would maintain a higher quality of salt and sand for storm purposes. He reported progress. 18 BOARD OF EDUCATION: Councilmember Santoro said she was not aware of what Councilmember Fazekas was meeting on with the Board of Education regarding technology. She said she did know that the schools held Read Across America and invited certain individuals into the classes to read to the children and she said she did take the time to read to the children and felt it was a great opportunity to read to the students. She said the Mayor also attended and she felt it was a great program and very well received by the public. She said there were full classes and lots of people reading to the children. She said she had one last item to add to the Parks report, the Council does have someone in the Borough who would be heading up the Ethnic Day Committee and they would be asking for volunteers to become involved. She said she would be bringing this up at the Agenda Meeting but she wasn't sure if the Council needed to vote on this. She said Taqualla Ransdell from the Borough Clerk's Office would be the chair of the Ethnic Day Committee. She said anyone interested in Ethnic Day should contact the Councilmembers or Taqualla at the Clerk's Office. Councilmember Reiman said he had a few things to add concerning Technology and Education Committee, Councilmember Fazekas has been meeting with Comcast and people from Woodbridge Township for the possibility of televising some of the events in the Borough. He said they are looking at potential grants for the funding. He said as he announced at the Agenda Meeting, the Borough would be providing transportation for Career Day at Liberty State Park, for individuals who may not be attending college but would like to consider a career in construction. He said there would be representatives from electrical, plumbing, pipefitting, general contracting and masonry. He said this would be taking place on March 31 sl and they would be leaving from the Parks Department at 9 A.M. and they would be returning at 5 P.M. He said they have sent letters to the High School, churches and Civic groups in the Borough and said the Mayor would be making an effort to attend. He said there would be space for fifty people and they would be taking reservations. Mayor Failace read the following proclamation: CARTERET DISABLILITIES AWARENESS DAY "CARING AND SHARING" WHEREAS, the Carteret Office for the Disabled will hold its Seventeenth Annual "Carteret Disabilities Awareness Day" on Sunday March 25, 2001 at the St. Demetrius Hall, Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 P.M.; and WHEREAS, Carteret disablilities Awareness Day is held as an information and social gathering to be enjoyed by all who choose to attend; and 19 MARCH 15, 2001 STANDING COMMITTEES PROCLAMATION: CARTERET DISABILITIES AWARENESS DAY MARCH 15, 2001 PROCLAMATION: CARTERET DISABILITIES AWARENESS DAY (Continued) WHEREAS, this event is only made possible through the combinded efforts of many volunteers from non-profit organizations and Borough Departments and businesses within our community; and WHEREAS, the Office for the Disabled continues to expand opportunities for Disabled Persons to achieve their goals, developing and using their capabilites. NOW, THEREFORE, I JAMES A FAILACE, MAYOR OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET do hereby proclaim: SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2001 CARTERET DISABILITIES AWARENESS DAY "CARING AND SHARING" FURTHERMORE, I urge the entire community to participate in said program making it a great success. COMMENTS Mayor Failace urged everyone to attend especially if they haven't gone before. He said he has been involved with the Specials for eight years and said as much pleasure and enjoyment as the Specials get out of this event, other people who attend would get twice as much. PROCLAMATION: ERNEST L. OROS DAY Mayor Failace read the following proclamation: ERNEST L. OROS DAY WHEREAS, Ernest L. Oros has devoted many years of service to helping less privileged children from the Middlesex County area; and WHEREAS, through the dedication and efforts of Ernest L. Oros, many children from the Borough of Carteret have attended and benefited from Kiddie Keep Well Camp; and WHEREAS, Mr. Oros has served on the Board of Directors of Kiddie Keep Well Camp for many years retiring as President in 2000; and WHEREAS, the successful operation of Kiddie Keep Well Camp would not have been possible without the outstanding leadership and direction of individuals such as Ernest L. Oros; 20 WHEREAS, on March 30, 2001, a new Nature and Environmental Center will be dedicated in his name; NOW, THEREFORE, I, JAMES A. FAILACE, Mayor of the Borough of Carteret do hereby proclaim MARCH 30, 2001 as ERNEST L. OROS DAY in the Borough of Carteret and along with the Borough Council and the Citizens, take this opportunity to congratulate Ernest L. Oros on his achievements and outstanding contributions to the children of the Borough of Carteret and the Middlesex County area. Mayor Failace said he was not able to attend the last Agenda Meeting because he was in North Brunswick attending the Middlesex County Equal Opportunity Corporation as a member of the Board of Trustees. He said he was proud to say they would be bringing Head Start back to Carteret with a bang. He said they are looking at a piece of property in the Chrome area on which they would be paying full taxes. He said the state was willing to award Carteret up to one hundred eighty four thousand dollars to get the program running. He said he felt it was about time because many of the children in Carteret were going to Perth Amboy and Sewaren. He said he was at the Sportsman dinner where he announced the Council would be naming the Pop Warner Field after Pete Vezozzi who has been involved in Pop Warner for thirty-three years. He said some of the great football teams Carteret High School has had over the years go back to Pete Vezozzi and his family. He said he asked the Council at the Agenda Meeting to have a plaque to name the field and said he felt it was another well-deserved honor. He thanked this Aide, Jeff Pino, Sue Ivanitiski and Ruthann Donovan for helping Councilmember Quinones get the Community Center for the dedication on Saturday. He said this was a long time corning and the town is certainly ready for this. He said he was still disappointed that the police officers are not able to go to Mexico, even though three officers said they would go on their own. He said he signed papers for these officers saying they are officers in the Borough and he did not see why could not do it on their own and felt it was not different than if they went on vacation somewhere else. He said he was sorry the officers had to use their own time and said there is a lot of training available to the officers. He said the Police Committee was supposed to get back to him and never did. Councilmember Santoro said the Committee was still looking into the insurance liability and how this would be carried out, if it would be W orkrnan' s Compo if some thing should happen. She said she did speak to Mr. Bergen on this. She said she spoke to Director Elg today. 21 MARCH 15, 2001 PROCLAMATION: ERNEST L. OROS DAY (Continued) COMMENTS MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Mayor Failace asked if a police officer goes somewhere on his own for training and he gets hurt is the Borough liable. Councilmember Santoro said if the Council signs off on it. Mayor Failace said the only thing he signed off on was that the person was a police officer in the Borough and he was not sending a terrorist down there. Borough Attorney Bergen said the issue was if the officer got hurt out there whether he was covered for Workman's Compensation and felt that raises an issue if he was going strictly on his own time before signing something indicating he would be going as an officer of the Borough. He said if he were the Attorney on the other side he would make that argument, but he might not be successful, but felt if the officer got hurt he might try to file a Workman's Compensation claim against the Borough. He said they would defend it, but a judge might not say it was ultimately related to his employment. Mayor Failace said he didn't understand why the Director thought it was good for the officers to go, and he knows there is a lot of training out there available as Councilmember Quinones had read off to the Council during her report. He said there were still twelve officers who by choice are not signed up for any training for the year. He said this was free training with no cost to the Borough and didn't know why they turn it down. He said before the Director was hired, the Borough was not policed by anyone because of vacations and sick time, etc. He said that was one of the reasons the Council brought in a Director to make changes. He said now there are six officers on a shift and that should not be a problem. Councilmember Santoro told the Mayor just for clarification; the Director was in support of this. She said Captain Pieczyski, the highest-ranking police officer in the Borough, was not supportive of this. Mayor Failace and Councilmember Quinones said the other Captain is supportive of this. Councilmember Santoro said John Pieczyski is in charge of the training and the regimentation, this is taken from his recommendation. She said nothing was done to take anything away, there were four officers who attended this training and the Council is encouraging training. She said she knows there are still officers who have not signed up for training who will be assigned to training. She said the Council wants their officers trained and said there are other free courses the department could better utilize. Mayor Failace said when Councilmember Santoro says better utilize, she would be assuming they would not be able to go and felt it was not a good assumption. He said he has already spoken to the Director who said that would not interfere with any other training, wherever the officers go. He said these officers so desperately want to get this training; they are willing to use their own vacation time. He felt it was a shame because the officers should be able to go to whatever training the Director of the department believes they should attend, He said the 22 Director believes in the training and believes it is worthwhile and knows it is free and at no cost to the Borough. Councilmember Rios asked the Mayor if he had said prior to him being Mayor- the Borough had times when there were no police officers on duty. Mayor Failace said there were police officers on duty, but not on the street because of sick time, etc. He said Council member Rios could check the records, it would be on the record, he said there were times when a Sergeant would have to go into a car to dri ve through the whole Borough. He said that was addressed at many Council Meetings when Councilmembers would go over the Police Department a few years ago. He said when that did happen; he never heard a complaint from the Police Department about being short or about excessive overtime. He said if the department were a man or two down, they would still be in good shape covering the Borough with vacation or sick time when allowing the officers to go to the school. He reiterated he didn't know why they wouldn't allow this being that it was free and in today's environment with terrorist bombings, it is something he felt the department should be educated in. He said our liability comes from not being educated. Borough Attorney Bergen said he was assuming they would have to sanction or the officer would not be able to go unless it was indicated they were officers of the Borough. Mayor Failace said the Director was told he can't sign it and he believed as head of the government he could sign, so he signed and reminded Borough Attorney Bergen they would be going on their own. He reiterated they were going on their own time, not Borough time, and it was free. He said he felt it was good and valid. He said if an officer believes in this enough to go on his own time, he doesn't have to do this on his vacation, he can take his vacation anywhere; he doesn't have to spend twenty eight hours of training in a four day period. He said he wanted to address the Atom Tabloid article he felt was one of the worse forms of journalism he has seen in a long time. He said Jim Devine, from Devine Media who sent in the article is a good Democrat. He said there were a lot of quotes from Councilmembers Reiman and Rios. He said he had no intention revisiting the appointments to the Redevelopment Agency, they were made and he wasn't happy with some of them but said he had no intention revisiting them. He said because of the article in which he felt the Atom Tabloid beat him up pretty good. He said the article talks about the Mayor's politics and the political things he chose to do with this but he felt it was no more political then not allowing the people to vote on whether you should have benefits or not. He said he has been working for this town against the incinerator etc., since 1984 or 1985 and he was very proud of his record as a Council member and Mayor. He read Councilmember Reiman's quote that was directed toward the Mayor in the Atom Tabloid, "You are welcome to join us in governing for the good, like benefits, but promise to battle him on every issue where he stands against the people." Mayor Failace said he challenged Councilmember Reiman and anyone else to corne up with any issue where the Mayor has stood against the people and against progress in this town. He said he felt it was a shame this newspaper didn't need to speak to him on this. He said 23 MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Councilmember Reiman speaks about a democracy but he understood people call Councilmember Reiman the "Emperor". He said there are no Emperors in a Democracy. He felt it was sad that this Council challenged him but he said they should never say he was not for the people. He said he stands by his record as a Councilmember and Mayor and said there is more progress now than there has been in Carteret in a long time. He said Councilmember Reiman said in the article the Mayor should finally respect the voice of the people during the last two elections and allow the Council to do the work of the people. He said he felt the work of the people was allowing them to vote on the benefits if they so choose. He said if the people want the Council to have benefits or to raise their salary another ten thousand dollars he felt they should go right ahead. He said there were a few lies in the article, Mr. Reiman said the Council did not choose the Pastor Dickerson because they prefer residents. He said the Council put someone on who was not a resident, so that was down the drain. He said Council member Reiman said the people were picked from the lists, who ever got the most votes got on. He said Councilmember Reiman said Mr. Onafowora was on his list, the Mayor said he had Councilmember Reiman's list, Mr. Onafowora was not on his list, or anyone's list. He said if they took the Mayor and Councilmember Quinones's lists, Pastor Dickerson should have won hands down, because it was two to zero. He said he would not revisit this again, but he said no one should dare question his progress and what he has done for this Borough because he has done a lot. Councilmember Reiman said he does not question the Mayor's honesty and integrity, and asked the Mayor does not question his. He said he and the Mayor have differences of opinion on political issues but he does not call the Mayor names as he has called him the "Emperor" or whatever it is. He asked they try to work together, there would be times when they disagree and said in the Agenda the Mayor has seen in Closed Session that he disagrees with his own colleagues on the Council. Council member Quinones asked if Councilmember Reiman wants to work with the Mayor why would he make comments like he has to the newspaper. Councilmember Reiman said he believes it to be true at certain points in time. He said what he was saying was the Council members need to work together. He said this Redevelopment Committee has been appointed and rather than revisit, bring them up and attack the individuals the Council should allow them do the work they need to do. Councilmember Quinones said no one was attacking these indi viduals, and another thing Councilmember Reiman said the Mayor said was they were not good people which she felt was not true. Councilmember Reiman said quoted in the News Tribune, whether it is right or wrong, that the Mayor said they were not good people. He said he has been misquoted himself. He asked the Mayor if he said they weren't good people. Mayor Failace said Councilmember Reiman knew exactly what the Mayor said, he told him . . . 24 Councilmember Reiman interrupted to say he told the Mayor about the misquote in the newspaper and he felt the Mayor used that to badger and attack him in December. He said the Mayor admitted to that and knew it wasn't true and he still used it to attack him and Councilmember Reiman felt it was a mistake. Mayor Failace said he doesn't know what he admitted and there was one other thing he wanted to say. He said he felt sorry for Pastor Dickerson for some of the things he has to take for the things in the Atom Tabloid article. He said the article said Pastor Dickerson is the moving force behind a political organization in Chrome. He said there is no Chrome political organization, it is the Carteret Community Action Council. He said he went to one of the Pastor's meeting, and what he is doing at his meetings is registering people to vote, telling them to go to Council Meetings, Redevelopment Meetings, Board of Education because if the people want something, they should get involved. He said he did not feel being involved in your town was political and apologized to Pastor Dickerson for the article in the Atom Tabloid. Borough Attorney Bergen asked that the Council reintroduce or have a vote on the reintroduction of Ordinance #01-19 incase there are any questions later about the counting of abstentions. Mayor Failace asked what Ordinance #01-19 was and said he was confused because he thought on the first reading it was okay. The Clerk said it was a Salary Ordinance with two affimlatives and two abstentions. Borough Attorney Bergen said it is okay but there may have been a question as to how they count abstentions and there is another Councilmember present and they could have a reintroduction of Ordinance #01-19 just for the sake of counting that additional vote. Mayor Failace said that is not a problem and he understood why he was doing that. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro and unanimous affimlative vote of the five (5) Council members present a motion was made to reintroduce Ordinance #01-19. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro a motion was made to revote on Ordinance #01-19. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Quinones and Reiman abstained. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. 25 MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) MOTION MADE TO REINTRODUCE ORDINANCE #01-19 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION COMMENTS Upon MMS&C, by Council members Reiman and Quinones and unanimous affimlative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was opened to the public for discussion. Herbert Kaplan, a retired Borough employee, he said his father Samuel Kaplan practiced law in Carteret for sixty-three years he said they had a valuable painting in the office that they contributed to the town in his father's memory. He said the painting was on permanent loan to be displayed in a public place. He said the painting was of the IT Wi1liams Lumberyard across from Columbus School which no longer exists. He said the plan was to hang the painting in the new Library or the Administration Offices at the Borough Annex across from the law offices. He said the picture is hung in the Mayor's Office and he felt it should be hung in public because it is a beautiful painting. He asked the Mayor what he plans for the painting. Mayor Failace said he did have the painting in his office and gave it to the Library. He said he was at the Library this Tuesday night when he saw it in a room at the Library and told them to put the painting in the foyer in the Library to be enjoyed by all the citizens and hoped it would be done before next week. He thanked Mr. Kaplan for the painting and apologized for the delay in hanging the painting in public. Mr. Kaplan thanked the Mayor and said his father's memory will be we1l served. Torn Lang, Colgan Avenue, thanked the passed chair people for Ethnic Day; he commended them for their outstanding job and the years of service. He thanked Mr. and Mrs. Manetta, who were his neighbors, He asked Council member Sohayda to call Public Service because from Fillmore by the Middle School to Saint Joe's on Carteret Avenue there are fifteen street lights that were not working. He said he would be at the next meeting to see what progress Council member Sohayda has made. He asked Councilmember Rios if there had been any communication between the Council and the Turnpike since the Agenda Meeting. Councilmember Rios said he was waItmg until the next Agenda Meeting when the engineer will te1l the Council if there is any progress concerning the Turnpike. He said he wasn't happy with the progress or the plans as far as Tremley Point. He reiterated what he has said at Agenda Meetings concerning the Council voicing their concerns to the Turnpike and he felt they should show the Turnpike they mean business. He said the Mayor wasn't at the Agenda Meeting but felt the Mayor would agree with the Council about this. He said the Council should allow the Police Department to enforce a law and inspect all trucks corning off and on the Turnpike to let the Turnpike see Carteret has a serious problem. Torn Lang said the town has been talking about the problem getting on the Turnpike six o'clock in the morning on and off for a year. He said the Turnpike has two booths open, one is EZ Pass and one is a manned booth. He said the other side; corning into Carteret has five booths open in the morning. He said many trucks have EZ Pass and this 26 makes it difficult with the people chris crossing to find the correct lanes and felt something would happen sooner or later. He said he is still waiting in the line and he has EZ Pass and felt it did not make corning into Carteret or going out of Carteret any easier because he has it. He said the problem is congestion and felt it was a horrible condition. He said the trucks are still going into the McDonald's parking lot and reminded the Council about the stop sign that he has been telling them about for a year. He said the right turn only sign corning out of McDonald's has been knocked down and said he was sick of seeing trucks there. He said he knew that the police do something about it when they see the trucks but felt there should be more of a Police presence concerning these trucks corning into the town. He reiterated the traffic problems that he has undergone on a daily basis. Councilmember Rios said he travels the Turnpike on a daily basis and he said it takes him longer to get off the Turnpike exit in Carteret than it takes him to get from Newark to Carteret. He felt that should not happen and agreed with Mr. Lang and said he hoped no one would get hurt. Torn Lang said something has happened and Councilmember Sohayda knew about it because he believed the Councilmember called the Turnpike to have the metal divider put back up because it was bent over and covering the half the sidewalk. He said he was tired of being the only one who addressed the Council concerning these issues and asked if the Council felt the same way about the Turnpike. Council member Sohayda said he followed up on that last year after Mr. Lang brought it up. He said the Turnpike told him the Engineers were looking into the problem. Torn Lang said he felt the Turnpike was not telling the truth and asked the Council to do something to have Carteret brought to the Turnpike's attention. Council member Sohayda asked Mr. Lang what he thought Councilmember Sohayda should do if the Turnpike tells him the Engineer is looking into it. Torn Lang said the town should have the police enforce the law and catch the trucks corning and going on the Turnpike who are going through the yield lights and red lights and ticket them. Councilmember Quinones said she has seen the police officers pulling over trucks that have turned around in the lot and was sure they were doing all they could. Torn Lang asked how many police officers handled traffic duty at that time of day. Councilmember Santoro said the town did not have a traffic division but numerous times Mr. Lang would be able to see po1ice cars sitting up beside the bushes on the center median to catch the people who are jumping the light. She agreed with Mr. Lang about having traffic relief. 27 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Councilmember Rios said the Turnpike's interpretation of relief for Carteret's problem was by giving Carteret exit 12 A going to Tremley Point. He said he felt that was not going to help the town. He said he really didn't care about Tremley Point, he cared about Carteret and said he wanted to take care of the route going from the exit to Industrial Road and felt the Turnpike was making enough money and it was not a dead issue. Mayor Failace said the town tries very hard and if they had to put out police officers one day a week, they would do that. Torn Lang said he hadn't heard anyone speak about it recently. He asked about the Redevelopment Commission and if the Borough Clerk sent a letter to the members to set up a meeting to have an idea of who would be doing what and the duties of the members. Councilmember Santoro said she spoke to the Borough Clerk about classes and dates. She said as soon as the infoffi1ation is obtained the members would be infomled and kept updated. Torn Lang said he comes to the Planning Board Meetings to find out what is going on but he has a life, children, softball and would like to schedule his life as well even though he felt it was important to be on the committee. He said he has been in the presence of Mayor Failace's family on Handicap Awareness Day. He said even though the Mayor's children do not know Mr. Lang what he has seen them do for the Specials he wanted to commend Mayor Failace and his daughter Sherri for being such a good kid. He said Sherri dances with a]] of the Specials who asked her to dance and was not aware who was watching her. He said he was a friend of the Mayor for fifteen years and would stick by him no matter what his party affiliation and no matter what went on or what people have to say about him he told the Mayor he would always have Torn Lang's support. He said he and the Mayor disagree more times than they agree but felt the Mayor is always approachable. He said they agree to disagree and he respected that. He said the shouting out at the Council Meetings in the back of the room he felt the Mayor should throw out who ever was making the noise if they continued to do so. He said he was tired of not being able to hear what was going on because people in the back of the room were shouting out their opinions whether they agree or disagree with the Council. He felt if someone has something to say they should corne up to the microphone, He said he would also like the Borough Attorney to have a microphone so people could hear what he had to say. Dave Crudup asked where the traffic light went that was at the intersection of Pershing and Roosevelt A venue. Councilmember Santoro said they talked about that at a meeting this morning with the County and she requested an answer as we]]. She said the County was not aware there was a light at that intersection, but she asked the Engineer to look back to see why that light never was replaced and to see about getting it replaced. Dave Crudup asked if the Borough had anything to do with it after a truck hit the light. 28 Councilmember Santoro said it is a County road and that was why they asked the County. Dave Crudup asked if the light would be put back up. Councilmember Santoro reiterated that was a County road and the County would be looking into why the light was not replaced. Dave Crudup said after all the heavy traffic on Roosevelt A venue he felt they still needed the light. He said they still need crossing guards on Roosevelt Avenue from Edwin Street up to Columbus School on Carteret Avenue because there was still one crossing guard and felt this was not right. Council member Santoro said they have two openings for crossing guards. She said the placement of guards was done by assignment from Captain Hojecki. She said numerous people have asked to put a crossing guard in that area and she said she would be more than happy to put a crossing guard in that area. Dave Crudup asked how long it took to have a crossing guard appointed to a post. Council member Santoro said Captain Hojecki assigns them to a post. Dave Crudup what should parents do while there children are crossing Roosevelt A venue until a crossing guard gets assigned to the area. Councilmember Santoro said she would check tomorrow to see when they would be making their selection. She said she knew Captain Hojecki has been in school for the last few weeks and she would check tomorrow morning. She said they have brought it up at the last few meetings and they would be ready to appoint crossing guards. She asked if Mr. Crudup was the person who had asked about Bergen Street at the last meeting. She said at the Agenda Meeting the Engineer spoke about the sewer water on Bergen Street. She said the Engineer did look into the flooding problem and explained to the Council about the elevation in that area. She said the Council found out this was not part of the initial sewer bonding and had asked the Engineer for his recommendations on correcting the problem, Councilmember Sohayda said he found out today something had collapsed between Bergen Street and the river and before someone could go in and see what the problem is they need authorization. He said they were not sure exactly what collapsed but there was a bigger problem at hand. Dave Crudup asked what the people should do when the area floods. Councilmember Sohayda said they have to have it fixed but they would do what they have been doing until the Engineers could get authorization to check it out. Dave Crudup said they are wading in water and asked what they should do until it is fixed. 29 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Councilmember Sohayda said Mr. Crudup should call the Sewer Department and reiterated that they were in the process of having the Engineer look at the problem. He said the town could not just take a backhoe and dig up the whole area where the pipe goes, it was twelve feet in the ground. Dave Crudup said this was an on going problem for the passed thirty years and asked if the Council was aware of it. Councilmember Sohayda said he could not answer for prevIous Council who did not handle the problem. Dave Crudup said that was why this Council was elected to take care of the problems. Council member Sohayda said he was doing the best he could but could not speak for the Engineer who had to be authorized to fix the problem. Dave Crudup said he felt the Council kept shoveling stuff under the bridge and said after awhile the bridge would back up and asked what the people should do while waiting. Mayor Failace said he has a plan and he was talking to some people and would talk to the Council next week at the Agenda Meeting about a possible way to get money to help with the Bergen Street issue. He said he agreed with Mr. Crudup this has been going on too long and promised the Council would try everything they could to get the problem taken care of. He said he hoped this would be another avenue to get the problem taken care of that would not cost the Borough a lot of money. Dave Crudup said the crossing guards would be for the children. Mayor Failace said he agreed and if they need to hire two crossing guards he felt they should do it immediately. He said this was a perfect example of this Council talking about respect, but they had a meeting with the County but no one asked him to attend. Council member Santoro said the Council talked about it at the Agenda Meeting. Mayor Failace said she might have talked about it at the Agenda Meeting but. . . Councilmember Quinones interrupted to say she told the Mayor Councilmember Santoro mentioned it and she told him she asked Councjlmember Santoro if she mentioned it to the Mayor. She said Councilmember Santoro said the Mayor could attend because they did not have enough Councilmembers to attend. Mayor Failace said if they were going to set up a meeting with the County or anyone else he felt they should be telling the Mayor we would like to set up a meeting and ask when he might be available to attend. He said he might say he could not be available he might tell Councilmember Santoro he was not available and tell her to take three Councilmembers and attend the meeting. 30 Council member Santoro said the County called the Council to set up the meeting. Mayor Failace said that was fine but no on called him. He felt it was sad that the County called Council members and did not call the Mayor. He said the bottom line was this was what happens with this Council, he is kept in the dark and he felt this Council enjoys keeping him in the dark. He said the Council could do all the things they want, but he should be told and have the opportunity to be included. He said it has been three months and in the last three months he was told after the meeting was set up, never before. Councilmember Santoro said it was like before when the Mayor said he would always do for the good and always worked based upon his record. She said the first time this Council tries to do something to hurt the people of Carteret or not put progress forward the Mayor can corne back and say they were trying to hurt something. She said she felt this goes both ways and did not want to get into a battle. She said she respected when the Mayor has contact or meetings because she felt he would bring the infomlation back to the Council. She said at the Agenda Meeting it was disclosed the Council would be meeting with the County and said it was not hidden and said she would gladly bring to the next Agenda Meeting exactly what the County said. She said she believed the Council and the Mayor were all looking for what was best for Carteret. Mayor Failace said he was not talking about hiding anything, he was talking the respect he should be given as the head of the government and reiterated he should be told and asked if he would be able to make a meeting. He said he is the Mayor whether Councilmember Santoro liked it or not, all he was asking for was to be made aware of what is going on. He said this is what was called grand standing, he is the Mayor and in three months not one of the Councilmembers has corne to him before hand to tell him about something. Councilmember Reiman said that was not true. He said he told the Mayor a week before the Engineering Meeting between T&M and Killam. Mayor Failace said absolutely not, but he did show up at the meeting because some one told him about it. He said in three months the Council has all these meetings going on and talked to the County and felt he should be involved. He said at an Agenda Meeting Councilmember Santoro said Thursday morning there would be a meeting with the Turnpike, John DuPont is setting it up but no one told him. He said the Turnpike, the County, these were things he should be told about. He said he doesn't have be notified about every meeting the Council had with the police or fire but the other meetings he felt he should be allowed to be included in and have the opportunity to decide if he would be able to attend or not. He said he assumed they would bring the information back to the Council but felt he should have a say in the meeting. J ames Mancuso said he was at a Housing Authority meeting four weeks ago when Mr. Al Walsh was told he could not be on the Redevelopment Committee and the Housing Authority and would have to make a choice. He said Mr. Walsh was never appointed to the 31 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Redevelopment Agency and was never sworn in. Mr. Mancuso said he asked Mr. Walsh if he was at the Council Meeting when his name was mentioned and it was passed that he was on the board. He said Mr. Walsh said he was at the meeting but they never asked him and knew nothing about it and if anyone wants to check it they should get a copy of the tape. He said he does not know how the list carne out but there was a man put on that did not know about it. He asked why if Washington and Roosevelt Avenues are County roads we plow and sweep them when he sees the County plowing and sweeping other County roads. Councilmember Sohayda said they usually do not plow the County roads, the County plows them. He said he does tell the sanders to sand the bridge if they see a need for safety they should sand the bridge. James Mancuso said this year when the snow carne; the town plowed the streets because he was there watching. He said the other day the two sweepers were going up and down for three and half-hours cleaning Roosevelt and Washington Avenues. He asked if the town got compensated from the County for doing this and asked why they did other County roads and not Carteret's. Councilmember Sohayda said he was sure Carteret did not get compensated for plowing and sweeping County roads but did not know why they took care of other County roads and not ours. James Mancuso said he did not want to try to compete with the man who does the auditing for the Board of Education who was someone who was more knowledgeable than he was but when he had the facts he would corne out with them. He said he felt the word over expenditure was changed to un budgeted and it was nothing more than a change of words. He said the budget that was voted on by the people of Carteret was overspent by over $800,000.00 and felt that was a crime and he would look into it. He said he spoke to Tony Neibert today about the meetings going on in the Board of Education building on Washington Avenue and Mr. Neibert. Mr. Mancuso said they could not use the room because it was a change of use. He said he felt no one belonged in the building because there was not a C of 0 and if anyone got hurt the town would be liable. He said there is work going on in the building and the Board of Education was no better than any homeowner in the town who was trying to sell their home who would have to correct things before obtaining their C of O. He said businesses can not operate without a C of 0 and did not know why the Board of Education should put anyone's life in danger by having them in the building without a CO. He said he spoke to the State and has yet to read that anyone was disciplined or fired for lying to the County that the construction stopped the day before. He said he called the insurance carrier and there was a possibility that the town committed an illegal act and would not be covered under their policy which would fall back on the taxpayers. Councilmember Rios asked Mr. Mancuso if he brought it to the attention of the School Board. James Mancuso said he spoke to the BA when this first happened as far as the budget. He said the BA is a nice guy but said that was before his time, he was trying to find the money and agreed it was an 32 over expenditure. He said when it carne before the public and the draft was changed and the only difference was that it was under budget. He said he didn't care how you put it if you have a ten-dol1ar budget and you spend twenty dollars the budget would be ten dollars over. He said the Board of Education is talking about going into surplus but they could not legal1y overspend. He said the Board of Education was saying teachers took vouchers and ordered things without permission. He asked how it was allowed to be done. Unidentified man asked if Mr. Mancuso went to the Board of Education with his questions. James Mancuso said the Board of Education said the first draft was not legal. He said every other draft they have given over the years was stamped not a final draft and this one did not have that stamp until it was brought up by one of the board members, then it was changed. He said the high school roof has been repaired four times in ten years and asked where the guarantees were since it cost a hundred thousand dollars to do the roof. Mayor Failace said this is the Board of Education and not for this Council. James Mancuso said this Council represented the taxpayers and he was a taxpayer and felt that the Board of Education Liaison to deal with this. He said he didn't want to go to the Board of Education and get thrown under the rug with misconceptions and word games. He said he did not understand a budget but gets two or three opinions before he opened his mouth tonight. Georgia Barron, a crossing guard said when Captain Hojecki went away to school he told her they were ready to hire two crossing guards. He told her he was not doing the hiring this year; it was up to the Police Committee. She said the town could not get guards until the Police Committee hires them. Councilmember Santoro said the Police Committee asked to sit in on any of the hiring but she does not cal1 in any of the interviewees. She said since Captain Hojecki left this has been sitting on Director Elg's desk. She said she spoke to Director Elg today who told her they had to contact people and bring them in for interviews. She said she was wel1 aware of the situation and had asked to sit in on the interviews. Georgia Barron said she had corners empty and took crossing guards from one corner to put on another corner. Councilmember Santoro said there would be one additional crossing guard and one who would be considered a floater to use when people are out. Councilmember Rios asked Ms. Barron if there has been a crossing guard on the corner of Pershing and Roosevelt by the Dry Cleaners. Georgia Barron said there was a crossing guard, a Spanish lady there for quite a while. She said that was before Captain Hojecki was in charge of the crossing guards, Ms. Barron said the crossing guard at that corner had told her she did not like the children crossing on that 33 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) corner because people were doing drugs and playing dice while the children were passing. She said they pushed it so that the children crossed by the next guard on Temlinal Avenue, which was why they took the guard away from that corner so the children were not involved in what was going on. Councilmember Rios asked how long the position was vacant. Georgia Barron said two or three years. She said there was always a guard there before at all times. Councilmember Santoro asked Ms. Barron if she told anyone she would like a replacement on that corner. Georgia Barron said no, she does not put them on and she didn't know it was ... Councilmember Santoro interrupted asked her if she was supportive of putting a guard there. Georgia Barron said if they really need a guard down there she would be in support of it, she felt they should take a tour to see. She said she was told the people want a guard by the Abattoir but she understood only high school students crossed there. She said the high school children do not listen to the crossing guards. Mayor Failace said the Council hears that a crossing guard is needed down there and could possibly hire a third crossing guard in the area and would be taking that under advisement. Georgia Barron said they would need more crossmg guards when Nathan Hale School is opened. Mayor Failace said he understood and felt this needed to be corrected right away. He said he was sure the Council and the Police Committee would do this and understood the necessity as well. He said no one wants to see the children possibly get harmed. Dave Crudup said they would need two crossing guards there, one on the opposite side of the street for the little children because the light is not there any longer. Mayor Failace said the Police Committee hears what the people are saying and will look closely at the needs of the area. Georgia Barron said she was here to set something straight with the Council. She said every time something was brought up about the Council's hospitalization the crossing guards become involved in it because they were part time workers. She said she was a little tired of hearing someone at every meeting she attends say the crossing guards are part time workers. She said last week someone asked if they were going to put the crossing guards on too, she said she was tired of hearing people say things about them. She said one girl has been working for thirty years, and all together seventeen girls make two hundred and fifty nine years of service to the town. She said they get hospitalization for their self only. She said their dental, eyeglasses and prescriptions are done through the union and are a quarter of the price 34 the town would pay. She felt if the Council wanted hospitalization they should get the single plan since the crossing guards have families also but are only entitled to coverage under the single plan and fought forever to get this coverage. She said she was out in the cold for twenty-three years and felt she deserved it. She said when the Council brings up about their hospitalization they should not bring up the crossing guards because they are part timers. She said if the Council lasted here for six years it would be a long time and said it would be a long time compared to the average seventeen years the crossing guards are employed. Councilmember Sohayda said he asked a question and he had a reason for asking which was a little more involved and did not think he was allowed to discuss it in public. Georgia Barron said the crossing guards have a legal binding contract that the Council can not take from them. She asked if they need their union representative and their lawyer present to speak for them. Mayor Failace said they did not need representation. He said he was part of the negotiating when they got the hospitalization and they have to be employed as a crossing guard for five years before getting hospitalization. He said on top of that they gave up a salary increase for five years to get this and felt it was fair and equitable on their part. Georgia Barron said twelve get the full amount, which carne to four hundred and five dollars per month. She said if you had the whole package from the town it would be one thousand one hundred and eighty three dollars and seventy-six cents. She said they have twelve that get hospitalization and four that get supplementary and eight get nothing until they are employed five years and all being for the single plan only they were not allowed to take a family package. She said they settled for that not to hurt the town or have any repercussions. Council member Sohayda said Ms. Barron was looking at this personally but there was an issue involved that. . . Many people in the audience were speaking at once very loudly which was inaudible. Georgia Barron said what Council member Sohayda is saying is their contract was illegal. Councilmember Quinones said Councilmember Sohayda was not the only person who brought it up, it carne up in the context of the question being put on the ballot for the benefits. She said Councilmember Santoro said she would support putting the question on the ballot if the question included whether the crossing guards would get benefits. Councilmember Santoro said she never brought that up. Councilmember Quinones said they should get the tape because it was brought up that the crossing guards specifically were mentioned. Councilmember Santoro said Councilmember Quinones should get her facts straight because it was not brought up by her. 35 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Councilmember Quinones said it was either Council member Santoro or Councilmember Sohayda. Councilmember Santoro said in all fairness she voted tonight not to repeal anyone's health benefits. She said she wouldn't put theirs up and she would have voted no for that too but did not second it. Georgia Barron said they have a binding contract and if the Council was going to fool with the crossing guards. . . Council member Santoro interrupted to say the question she asked was if part time workers would be put up she would not support it. She said she would not support it to repeal benefits from herself or support it to repeal benefits from the crossing guards. Councilmember Reiman said Councilmember Santoro did say part time workers. He said Councilmembers had some questions regarding benefits but felt none of the Council wanted to take away benefits from any of the Borough workers. He said he would never vote to take away health care benefits from the crossing guards as well as any other employees and felt they deserve it and negotiated a fair contract between the Council and the union. He said although some issues were raised no one on this Council suggested benefits be taken away. Councilmember Quinones said some of the present Council has made a point of raising the fact that part timers have received benefits. Councilmember Santoro said they did not vote to repeal them. Councilmember Quinones said they keep bringing it up the issue, Council member Santoro said the Council keeps being told that they are part time. Councilmember Quinones said the Councilmembers were not employees of the Borough, they were elected officials, Councilmember Santoro told Ms. Barron this was brought up as a question and told her no one is repealing the health benefits. Georgia Barron said she was tired of hearing about the crossing guards and said they did not work thirty hours but said Wanda could cover five of the Councilmembers herself because she has been working for SiX years. Mayor Failace said he would advise Ms. Barron to get a copy of the tape because the Council said they would never repeal the crossing guard's benefits or go after their benefits. Georgia Barron said she wanted the people in the audience to know the crossing guards are not given an exorbitant amount of money that goes to the crossing guards so that the other employees could not have it either. She said they have a fair deal and they have to wait five years before receiving benefits. Mayor Failace said they have to wait five years without a salary Increase. 36 Georgia Barron said the crossing guards are not fighting for the salary increase because they want the health benefits. Borough Attorney Bergen said everyone should understand that the question on the ballot did not include the crossing guards, it only included the Council, management and executi ve positions. Mayor Failace said the crossing guards don't want to hear from the Councilor anyone about this and felt Ms. Barron has made her point. Councilmember Rios said at the last Council Meeting she spoke to him regarding this and he told her he has not heard from anyone of the Council. He said he would not support anything to take away the crossing guards health benefits. Levy Jones said Council member Sohayda said the Engineer has to check out the water on Bergen Street and felt Council member Sohayda knew what was wrong with the area. Council member Sohayda asked how he should know. Levi Jones said he should know because he is the Councilmember in charge. He said Councilmember Sohayda knows all they would have to do is dig the ditch out and the water would go. He said he has worked there for forty-six years in the area and no one can him about the water. He said Councilmember Sohayda said the Engineer has to check it out, he said the Sewer Department knows what is happening down there. He said there is no problem after it is cleaned out and hasn't been a problem in the last ten or fifteen years. He said there is mud and crud he felt should be cleaned out but the Council was making a big deal over this waiting for the Engineer to check it out. He said the Engineer doesn't know about the area they should go to the Sewerage Plant. Councilmember Sohayda said the Sewerage Plant was not in operation any longer. Levy Jones said they should go to the Sewerage Plant because there is still some one there and they still clean out the sewers and felt the men in the department could tell Councilmember Sohayda what was wrong with it. Stan Gutowski, New Jersey Avenue said he did not know the legality of crossing guards having health benefits but said the Ordinance clearly read that anyone who works for the Borough over thirty hours is entitled to health benefits. He said there is nothing that says anyone who works under thirty hours is not entitled to benefits. He said he did not know why anyone would question this and asked Councilmember Sohayda and felt Councilmember Sohayda was questioning some legal question that he could not talk about. He said there is nothing that says you could not gi ve benefi ts to someone who works an hour. Councilmember Sohayda asked what the state says about this. Councilmember Quinones said the state says a minimum of twenty hours. 37 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Stan Gutowski said when he was Council President he wrote a letter with the Mayor and the Police Director to obtain a grant for Roosevelt Vi lIage. He said they were successful in getting grant for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He said the grant was originally written to hire two full time police officers. He said he thought that was not what this Council wanted to do or even to hire six special policemen to specifically address the area of Roosevelt Village and the Housing Authority for special policing. He asked how the Police Committee planned on utilizing this grant. Councilmember Santoro said they are utilizing this grant money. She said they are hiring off duty policemen two at a time to go there with a car and park the car and walk the Chrome area. Stan Gutowski asked how they would be paid, off duty, overtime or what. Councilmember Santoro said the Borough is paying them at a rate the contract states they should be paid. Stan Gutowski asked Councilmember Santoro whose decision that was. Council member Santoro said the decision that was made in a meeting. Stan Gutowski asked whose decision it was. Councilmember Santoro asked why Mr. Gutowski was asking her this question. Stan Gutowski said he was a representative of the Housing Authority and he would get to his point when she answered the question. Councilmember Santoro asked what exactly his point would be. She asked if he was asking why it was chosen to honor the contract that is in place. Stan Gutowski asked Council member Santoro if she was telling him they were paying overtime. Councilmember Santoro said right. Stan Gutowski asked why. He asked if this was a grant obtained. Council member Santoro said it was initially brought up in the grant to hire two police officers. She said why that was not done, she did not know. She said they did talk about the special police officers, which was not done. She said the grant would be running out shortly and the Police Director wanted to use the grant. She said at the time he was going to enforce it he was going to set a rate, she said it is usually set by an outside area but she had to watch because she wasn't sure she was allowed to say it because it was contractual. She asked Borough Attorney Bergen to advise her because she was not sure before she said anything. Borough Attorney Bergen said he was not quiet sure. . . 38 Mayor Failace interrupted to say they were talking about how much they were paying the officers, what rate they would be paying. Stan Gutowski said a police contract was a public document. Councilmember Santoro said when vendors enter into agreements to corne to a set amount they would pay. Borough Attorney Bergen said there were certain wage and hour restrictions that needed to be followed. Stan Gutowski said this was an off-duty job, every other off duty job in the Borough, whether it was Shop-Rite or working for the Housing Authority doing policing is paid on an off-duty rate. Borough Attorney Bergen said not if the Borough was paying and that was the question. Stan Gutowski said his question was why is the Borough paying this, this was a grant obtained by a private entity, not by the Borough of Carteret. Councilmember Santoro said this was the question and if Mr. Gutowski wanted to go back to the meeting it was done with Mr. Goldsack, Patrick DeBlasio who questioned where the grant carne in, herself and the Police Director. Stan Gutowski asked whose decision it was to pay over time. Borough Attorney Bergen asked if the grant carne to the Borough or to the Housing Authority. Councilmember Santoro said it carne to the Borough. Stan Gutowski said it did not corne to the Borough. Business Administrator Goldsack said it was a grant provided by HUD to another agency. Stan Gutowski said it was to a private housing agency, not to the Borough of Carteret. Councilmember Santoro said it was coming directly into the Borough. Stan Gutowski interrupted to say there are no buts. Councilmember Santoro asked what Mr. Gutowski's point was. Stan Gutowski said his point was that he represented the Housing Authority that pays twenty five dollars an hour to off duty police officers to provide the same job that the Borough would now be paying over time to other officers and asked how the Housing Authority could compete. He asked if you were a police officer which job would you chose. 39 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Councilmember Santoro asked if Mr. Gutowski's point was that he did not want the Council to do this Housing grant. Stan Gutowski said that was not what he said. He said what he said was how would the Carteret Housing Authority compete. Mayor Failace said what he thought Mr. Gutowski was saymg was (inaudible) at twenty-five dollars an hour. Stan Gutowski said how does he pay twenty-five dollars an hour and the Borough would be paying fifty dollars an hour for the same service. He asked how he could compete. Councilmember Santoro said he does not have to compete because it was not a competition. Mayor Failace said the PBA said they would not do it for twenty-five dollars an hour they would only do it for overtime. He said when he was called on it he asked Patrick, Nick and the Director about it. He said it was set up at twenty five dollars an hour and when they started to do it they said they would not do it for twenty five dollars an hour they would do it for overtime which is fifty dollars an hour which is half as much. Stan Gutowski reiterated his question on how the Housing Authority could compete. Councilmember Santoro said it was not a competition because during that same course of time these officers would be working overtime and there is other off duty work at different rates. She said there is no competition because they would be filled. She asked Mr. Gutowski if he was speaking as a representative of the Housing right now. Stan Gutowski said, "That's what Ijust said." Councilmember Santoro said as for the Housing Mr. Gutowski was telling her he was not getting the coverage, Stan Gutowski interrupted to ask if he said that, he said what he said was-and said he would say it again so it was clear on the tape. He said what he said was they are going to duplicate a service that he is paying twenty five dollars an hour for the Borough is now going to pay someone fifty dollars an hour for the same service. He asked how he as a representative of the Housing Authority competed with that. He said if a police officer has to choose between making fifty dollars an hour and twenty-five dollars an hour he knows the officer is going to chose fifty dollars an hour and Mr. Gutowski would not get the servIce. Councilmember Santoro asked Mr. Gutowski agam if he was not getting the service. Stan Gutowski said up until now he got that, but there was never anything to compete with at fifty dollars an hour for the same thing. Councilmember Santoro said when he did not have anyone to sign up for this he should corne back and infoml her. 40 Stan Gutowski said he would still like to know because Councilmember Santoro still has not answered his first question on who made the decision. He asked if it was a Police Committee decision. Councilmember Santoro said yes, every decision that IS made goes back through the Police Committee. Stan Gutowski asked if was the Police Committee's decision to pay this grant at an overtime rate. Councilmember Santoro said the Police Committee's decision was to honor the contract. Mayor Failace said it was an off duty job. He said the President of the PBA carne to the meeting and said they would not do it for twenty-five dollars an hour but they would do it for fifty dollars an hour. Business Administrator Goldsack they would do it per their contract. Councilmember Santoro agreed with the Business Administrator and said the grant was running out and they decided they would not be getting any type of service at that point. Stan Gutowski said he guaranteed Council member Santoro he was going to have a problem and he would corne back to the Council. He said he has already discussed this with the Executive Director who was looking into getting Sheriff's Officers to man the positions at twenty- five dollars an hour because it is still an off duty job. He said it was still not explained to him, the Council would be honoring the contract, but this was not taxpayer money. He said it is an outside entity he did not know how they are using grant money to pay overtime through a Borough payroll. Council member Santoro said it had to be amended-she told Mr. Gutowski he never wants to hear the answers and she felt he was not listening. She said because it was a grant it had to go back and be amended and it had to be approved the way it went through. She said they are providing the service. Stan Gutowski addressed the Borough Attorney and said he would say this one more time, it was not a grant from the Borough of Carteret, and it was a private entity that got the grant, the Roosevelt Village, located at the end of the street. He said it is not Borough money. Borough Attorney Bergen said if that was what he was telling him he hadn't looked into it. Stan Gutowski said he could look into it because it was the truth. James Mancuso said off duty jobs that are paid through grants do not go through the regular contract. He said the Attorney General's mandate carne down eight years ago when the money was going to the unions and directly to the policemen. He said the Attorney General did this to make sure that nothing went wrong and stipulated the money must be handled through the city at a cost of a dollar per patrolman for the handling of the money but they do not control how 41 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) the money is used. He said it does not fall under a union contract, and he wanted to tell the Council they are going to get in trouble. Mayor Failace asked Borough Attorney Bergen to give him an answer on that. Borough Attorney Bergen said he knew there were guidelines in place but he never heard of . . . Mayor Failace interrupted to say Business Administrator Goldsack could speak to him about what went down and tell him whether it is or not. Vincent Bascilisi said he had a flyer that read the Community Center would be named for Torn Deverin. He asked if the Veterans' Alliance was notified to find out what they would name the Center. He said Pete Sica said the Center was going to be named after the Veterans. He said each street if a Veteran has passed away, would be named for a Veteran. Mayor Failace said on January first Councilmember Sohayda brought this up and the Mayor was not aware of it. He said Mr. Deverin was a worthy individual but he did not know anything about it. Vincent Bascilisi said Mr. Deverin was a good friend of his who steals most of his jokes. He asked Councilmember Sohayda why he brought this up and said he was supposed to contact George Lysicki to be on the committee but never notified him. Councilmember Sohayda said he felt it was a good idea but had nothing to do with picking the day for the dedication. Vincent Bascilisi asked who brought this name up. Councilmember Sohayda said he did not have the answer to that. Councilmember Quinones said you did, you said under the recommendation of John Spoganetz. Vincent Bascilisi said only one person voted on it. He said the Veterans' Alliance had nothing to do with it, and asked why no one got in touch with them. Mayor Failace asked Councilmember Sohayda who made the decision on the Council. Councilmember Sohayda said everybody. Council member Quinones, Mayor Failace and the audience had a loud in audible outburst. Mayor Failace said they never voted on anything. Councilmember Quinones said Councilmember Sohayda announced it. Mayor Failace agreed with Councilmember Quinones and said Mr. Deverin was very worthy of this honor. 42 Councilmember Santoro said she fully supported the naming of the Community Center after Mr. Deverin. She said they didn't talk about it at an Agenda and felt it was the same as meeting with the Committee for Ethnic Day. She asked if they were infomled they had to take an actual vote, the Council would have. She felt it was a shame that two days before the dedication, she did not realize that was the rule of thumb. She apologized to Mr. Bascilisi. She said this concerned her because they are getting ready to dedicate a field to Pete Vezozzi and asked if the Council had to contact someone before dedicating anything. Mayor Failace said this was never brought up at an Agenda Meeting, it was brought up on January first. Councilmember Santoro said they did speak about it at an Agenda Meeting because the Council had to say whether it was ordered or not, signed at that time. Mayor Failace said not on January first. Council member Quinones said that was when it was first brought up. Councilmember Rios said the original thought carne up in January when Councilmember Sohayda mentioned it. He said he was one of the ones who said he agreed and felt it was a good idea to name the Center after Torn Deverin because he was a Councilman, Mayor and Assemblyman. Councilmember Quinones said it was announced on the first and asked when the Councilmembers discussed it. Mayor Failace said it was announced on January first and if he were asked to vote for it he would have probably voted for it. He said Council member Sohayda brought it up, when and where it was discussed prior to that he did not know. He said the statement was "we are going to name the Community Center after Torn Deverin" and that was aU he could teU anyone. Vincent Bascilisi said they left the Veterans out of this and felt it was a shame. Mayor Failace said Mr. Bascilisi could ask Councilmember Sohayda. He said Mr. Deverin is a Veteran. Vincent Bascilisi asked if anyone was watching the project at Nathan Hale School. He said he felt they would be missing a couple of bathrooms and staircases. Mayor Failace asked if Mr. Bascilisi meant if anyone was watching it while it was being built. He said he did not think it had a couple of bathrooms to start out with. He said he had to believe the building inspector had to go through it to check at different stages. Kevin Urban said he had a plan regarding the sewers. He said he felt anyone's sewer that flooded should have a reduction in thirty percent of the sewer user fee. He said they were losing the use of their house 43 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) and these people are paying taxes and felt the Council should take responsibility and have the sewers squared away. Mayor Failace said over the last three years the Council has spent over six million dollars and said they were trying. Kevin Urban said every time he comes to a meeting some one's associate or engineer looking to fix the problem. He said the Council should ask the people because they know what it corning out of the sewers into their hasements. He said he felt they should not be paying the sewer fees when they are collecting sewerage. Anna Mae Kolibas asked if anyone knew where Councilmember Fazekas was again. Borough Clerk Kathleen Barney said she believed he was at a meeting with the County on shared services. Anna Mae Kolibas asked if there was a law that stated three or four meetings missed by a Councilmember you were out. She asked if the Borough Attorney knew how many meetings Council member Fazekas had missed and if he knew the ruling on that. Borough Attorney Bergen said he didn't know. Anna Mae Kolibas asked if anyone knew where Council member Fazekas was and said no one knew, but the Clerk believes he is at a meeting. She said she believed Council member Fazekas was a liar. She said she asked if there was any truth to the rumor that a Councilman was going to resign. She said the Council lied to her, told her no and three weeks later he resigned. She said that Councilmember John DuPont who is the engineer who makes a lot of money now. She said she is told in June Councilmember Fazekas is resigning in June. She asked when the Council would be telling the public and said she wanted the Council to deny it. Council member Quinones said she did not know this to be a fact but she has heard the same. Mayor Failace said he has heard the rumor but no one has confirmed it. Councilmember Santoro said she does not have a date when he would be leaving and did not want to go into his personal life, Anna Mae Kolibas said she did not care about his personal life, she cared about herself, because she was a taxpayer who paid Councilmember Fazekas' salary. She said if he planned on leaving in August or June or whenever she felt the taxpayers should be made aware of it. Councilmember Reiman said if Councilmember Fazekas planned on leaving he felt Councilmember Fazekas would address it soon. He said Mrs. Kolibas could ask Councilmember Fazekas about this at the next Council Meeting. 44 Anna Mae Kolibas asked if anyone has been notified fOmlally, and if this was just speculation or if anyone has discussed this with Council member Fazekas or questioned him. She said she felt this was amazIng. Councilmember Quinones said she asked him. Council member Santoro said she asked him the last time if he was leaving, he told her there was still a lot of things up in the air. Councilmember Reiman said Councilmember Fazekas has discussed whether or not he would be running for office again. He said he did not know whether Councilmember Fazekas was contemplating resigning or leaving. Anna Mae Kolibas said she would remember this day because she would like to see the date he puts down that he would be leaving office. She said the taxpayers pay him and wanted the Council to look into how many meetings Councilmember Fazekas has missed and felt the Mayor should ask for Councilmember Fazekas' resignation. She said she felt Council member Fazekas is never at Council Meetings. Daphne Miles said she would like to make something very clear, she felt Mr. Deverin is an outstanding person. She said she has heard stories from her grandparents and parents and felt he was a good guy. She said she told the Council two weeks ago an older gentleman carne to her in Shop-Rite very upset because the Mayor would do this to the Veterans by not naming the Community Center after a Veteran. She said she tried to explain to this gentleman from what she heard corning to the Council Meetings. She said Mr. Deverin is a great guy who she felt deserved the praise but felt that would have been the best place to name after the Veterans because the Veterans allow Americans to go to bed at night and wake up in the morning with peace in their hearts, She said Veterans make sure no danger comes across the waters to bother us, she said she felt it was too bad someone didn't ask if there was someone else they could consider. She said she had nothing against John Spoganetz and felt he was a fine person who she liked but she felt taking a recommendation from him without thinking made her wonder. She said she knew Mr. Deverin's name wil1 be proudly displayed but she felt they are overlooking the Veterans who are such a big part of this community. She said the Veterans are constantly giving of themselves and some of them gave their lives she felt the next time they have something to name, they should not overlook the Veterans because she felt they need to be recognized, honored and have her utmost respect. Mayor Failace said he is a Veteran and knew Ms. Miles was also, He said Mr. Deverin is well worthy of the honor and was a Veteran. He said Mr. Deverin was a fine individual who has served the town and district. He said maybe the Council would discuss things before doing them and at least let him know. Councilmember Santoro told the Mayor he slaps the Council every time they do something and at the same time he picked a name for the football field. She said the Council is very supportive because they felt the name for the football field was an excellent name but the Mayor did not worry who picked that person at the time. 45 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Mayor Failace said the Sportsman carne to him and said Mr. Vezzozi has spent thirty-three years with the children of Carteret and asked if the Mayor would name the field after him. He said he told the Sportsman he would tell the Council. He said he did not pick the name, if he did he could have named it after himself. Councilmember Santoro said why couldn't it be that an individual brought the name to Councilmember Sohayda, which she felt was a great name. She said the strange thing was that it works both ways, but the problem was that this was done January first. She said Mr. Deverin who is well respected with the Veteran groups. She said the Council had spoke about putting together a committee and having a dinner to honor Mr. Deverin. She said for this to be corning about at this time to wonder who brought this up, where the name carne from or if it was a good name and a person the town could be proud of. She said in the future when naming different areas, she would support them. Inaudible man said he felt all the Councilmembers are making a joke out of Carteret. He asked the Council to treat the Mayor like a Mayor. Susan Ivanitski, Carteret A venue, said she felt very bad the Council would be honoring Mr. Deverin Saturday, she said she felt there was nothing wrong with honoring him. She asked if Councilmember Santoro said he would be having a dinner honoring him also. Council member Santoro said the Council had said they talked about doing something like that. Susan Ivanitski asked what was wrong with having a dinner for all the Veterans of Carteret. She said her father is a Veteran and Daphne Miles is a Veteran as well as a lot of other residents, She asked why the Council could not do this for everyone, not for just one person. Council member Santoro said when she brought this up it was to honor Mr. Deverin because the Community Center was being named for him. She said as for having a dinner for the Veterans she felt that was an excellent idea. She said the Council would set up a dinner to honor all the Veterans in Carteret. She said she would love Mrs. Ivanitski to be on the committee with her. Susan Ivanitski said she would be on the committee and she would do a real good job and for no pay. Ronald Rios said this was not his idea, he supported it when it was brought up in January and three days before the dedication he felt they should move on and have the festi vities that day. He said the Council would understand and thoroughly review passed practice within the Borough concerning naming streets after individuals who served in the military. He said it has been over two months after this issue has corne up and reiterated he supported this but did not introduce this and felt the Council should continue and move on. He said Torn Deverin is a splendid individual who served the town and military very well. Councilmember Quinones said she felt all of the Council supported this but the question was raised from the audience. 46 Councilmember Reiman said he agreed with Council member Rios and said the policy from this point on should be to reach out to some of the groups in town. He said no one carne to the meeting to attack or disagree with the naming of the Community Center after Torn Deverin and felt Mr. Deverin has done a tremendous amount for Carteret. Councilmember Reiman said Mr. Deverin has served many years as School Board President, Mayor and Assemblyman. He said he hoped the Council could leave tonight knowing from this point on they would have a consensus among the Council and Mayor to reach out to the various groups in town for any future buildings. Patrick Crilley, 4 Capp Street, said that has always been the policy of the Council and felt it has just changed recently. He said he agreed with Councilmember Rios' opinion that the people of Carteret elect the Council to govern and they have every right and responsibility to do so. He felt the difference was the item the Council is discussing putting on the ballot was one that directly benefits the Council. He felt the people have a right to have a say in, directly as opposed to all the other governing matters the Council has to be responsible for. He said he agreed the Council could not put every decision to the public, He said the Mayor and Council were elected to govern and felt they have a responsibility to do so and if the people don't believe the Council is doing their jobs they will vote the Council out. Councilmember Rios said he thought that in the last three or four years there was an increase in the salaries of the Councilmembers and the Mayor. Mayor Failace said they did get an increase in salary. Councilmember Rios asked if the salary increase was brought up on a referendum. Patrick Crilley said it was not brought up on a referendum and no one asked it to be. He said if someone asked it be brought up for referendum he would have done it. He said he thought he voted for it but was hesitate to vote for it because it was a direct benefit to the Council. He said he asked the Borough Attorney at the time who said governing bodies vote themselves raises all the time. Councilmember Quinones said she was not a Council member at the time the raises were voted on but the raises were funded by the elimination of the paid post of the Deputy MayorlMayor's Aide. Patrick Cri lIey said if the people asked the raises be put on the referendum he felt none of the Council members would have voted it down. He agreed that Councilmembers were elected to govern and have every right to do so except when there is an item that directly benefits the Counci1. He said then he felt the people have a right to have a say in the matter more directly than all of the other decisions that effect government. Councilmember Rios said that was exactly his point. He said whoever the Council was that was in office at the time should have done the same thing. . . 47 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Patrick Crilley interrupted to say no one asked, they should have asked. Council member Rios said the Council can't put every thing on a referendum. He said if the Council had a five to one vote or a four to vote.. . Patrick Crilley said he was not saying the Council should put everything to the voters. He said he agreed with Councilmember Rios when he said if the Mayor or a minority decent disagrees with the majority the Council does not have the right to go to the public and asks for a referendum, his only exception was when it directly benefits the Council. He said the Council is going to do what they want and if the petition comes to him he would sign it. He told Councilmember Rios concerning the First Aid Volunteer problem and told him he should contact South Amboy. He said South Amboy has a very large majority of the Borough employees as Volunteer Firemen and First Aid Squad. He said he did not know what the program was but had discussed it briefly with the Mayor of South Amboy. He said he thought there was some sort of incentive to Borough employees to join the volunteer organizations. He said he felt there were a lot of different answers that were going to solve this problem but felt this was an ongoing discussion. He said he felt part of the answer was using the resources the town has in the Borough employees and giving them some kind of incentive to be involved in the organizations. Councilmember Rios asked if these were town employees who volunteered. Patrick Crilley said he did not want to be quoted on the numbers but he believed at one point fifty percent of the town employees were on either the Fire Department or the First Aid Squad Volunteers. He said he did not get into the detail on how the Mayor did this but he said the Mayor encouraged his employees to do this and it worked in South Amboy. Patrick Crilley asked the Mayor for clarification on whether he said the Police Committee ordered the Director not to sign the letter saying that the policemen who wanted to go to training on their own time the Police Committee ordered them. . . Councilmember Santoro interrupted to say the Council did not approve it. Mayor Failace told Councilmember Santoro that Director Elg told him she said that the Director could not sign the letter. Councilmember Santoro said she said that they would not sign the letter and that Director Elg always has the first signature on any requisition. Mayor Failace said it was not a requisition, he was talking about the letter to go to the class. Patrick Crilley said the letter simply states that the officers. . . Council member Santoro interrupted to say they never asked her and today out of curiosity when she was talking to the Director she did not know that the Mayor or the Director had signed anything, or that three 48 individuals were going to training. She said she would have never been able to tell Director Elg he could not sign something she was not aware was being signed. Mayor Failace said, "so, Chris could have signed for those people who were going to New Mexico." He asked Councilmember Santoro if she told him not to sign it. He said that was the day the Sergeant called Councilmember Santoro and the Mayor was in the Director's office when the Sergeant carne in to tell the Director he could not go. The Mayor said he was told that the Director was told that he couldn't sign the approval for the officers to go to the training. Councilmember Santoro said the Director was told the Council did not agree to sign. She said this carne up today because the Council was not aware this was being done. She said she did not understand what kind of fOml Director Elg was signing. She said the only form the Council would sign would be a requisition authorizing it and already has the Director's signature on it along with a Councilmember's signature. Mayor Failace said this is just a fOml that he signed that was given to him to sign because the Director told him he was told he could not sign it. He said if that was not true he would speak to the Director tomorrow. Councilmember Santoro said they would go in to speak to Director Elg together. Mayor Failace reiterated the Police Director was not able to sign the form for the men to go to training in New Mexico. Councilmember Reiman asked Borough Attorney Bergen if Director Elg could sign the form. Council member Santoro said she had been talking to the Borough Attorney about this circumstance. Borough Attorney Bergen said generally the Mayor could not sign this fOml. Council member Santoro said the only question they asked was if the Mayor could sign a requisition. Borough Attorney Bergen said he thought the Mayor had signed something to indicate these people worked for the Borough. Mayor Failace said they couldn't go to this class unless something was signed that stated they were police officers in the Borough. Borough Attorney Bergen said the only thing the Mayor was certifying to was these officers were officials of the Borough. Mayor Failace reiterated the Director said he was told he was not allowed to sign. Borough Attorney Bergen said if it was an authorization form, the Mayor should not sign it either, unless directed to sign by the Council. 49 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Mayor Failace said he understood that. Borough Attorney Bergen said as far as the Police Committee setting policy as to whether or not police officers could leave the Borough his understanding and the Ordinance, the Police Committee is the appropriate authority. He said he would think they have the proper authority to set the perimeter as to whether or not police officers were going to be allowed to leave the Borough. Mayor Failace asked if he meant on their own time. Councilmember Santoro said the Council was still questioning the legality of this. Borough Attorney Bergen said it is an authorization for him to go during time. He said if someone goes on their vacation time he was not sure that they could stop them. Mayor Failace said he felt they had to be very careful. He said he knew that if police officers go on vacation in Florida they stop into the police station to show their credentials that they are police officers and they would like to ride with the officers from that town to see what they do in that town. He said the officers are allowed to do that and asked if this meant our officers were not allowed to do that or we should not allow them to do that. Borough Attorney Bergen said the officers are allowed to do that. Mayor Failace said there is a liability. Borough Attorney Bergen said there is a difference between signing something that officially sanctions him going to a class, He said because if the Council does that and he does get hurt there his attorney may make an assertion that it is an officially sanctioned event because he was going to have something officially signed. He said he was not saying this person would be successful. Councilmember Santoro said the correct analogy was if someone signed on their own to go to Rutgers to do something on their own and the Council was not aware the Council could not do anything about it. She said the Council is aware of this situation because they are acknowledging it. She said that was the difference and the Council was just trying to get clarification on this. Patrick Crilley asked if it were the Police Director's responsibility to have control of the day to day operations of the Police Department. Councilmember Reiman said he thought so and asked Borough Attorney Bergen for clarification on the state statute and the Borough's Ordinance. Borough Attorney Bergen said generally they have an Ordinance that says you have not vacated that position. . . you have a situation that says if there is . . . not being filled it goes to the next highest level which has been the case in 1999/2000, when you don't have a Chief the Police Director can exercise the duties of the Police Chief. 50 Councilmember Quinones said we don't have a Chief. Patrick Crilley said that was his point and asked why the Council was interfering with the day to day operations of the Police Department. Councilmember Santoro said the Council was not interfering, they were trying to set a policy about training, they were not picking individuals they were strictly doing policy. Patrick Crilley said if the Director has indicated that by sending these men to this particular course it would not interfere with the operation of the department by leaving it short handed. He said if the Police Director said there is no cost to the Borough by doing this and is in the best interest of the department for these men to go then he felt the Council was interfering by not allowing it. Councilmember Santoro said the Council is still sitting with another high-ranking individual who has an opposite opinion and the Council has to make amends. Patrick Crilley said the Director has control and responsibility by the Borough Attorney's admission, the Director has control over the day to day operations of the department. Councilmember Santoro said the Council would challenge that because she believed Borough Attorney Bergen needed to review exactly what they have in place. - Council member Quinones asked Council member Santoro if she was going to challenge the Ordinance. Councilmember Santoro said no; Councilmember Quinones seemed to be challenging this. Councilmember Quinones said no, what are you challenging. Councilmember Santoro said she was asking right now. . . Borough Attorney Bergen interrupted to say you set policy. Councilmember Santoro said they set policy and thanked him. Borough Attorney Bergen said they could not tell officer A he was going to patrol. . . Councilmember Santoro said it was never individuals, the Council was just setting policy. Borough Attorney Bergen said the Council has the authority to direct what kind of training program the department may have. Rose Alice Capp said she has lived in Carteret all her life. She said she needs a dispatcher's job and she has been waiting for nine months. She said she has no money corning in and is living off her savings account. She said she has been told the Council has to go through the stuff, she told the Council to go to Electric (inaudible) General Dynamics. She said she went through the Pentagon and she worked 51 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) on submarines and (inaudible) and said you do not work on that unless they clear the Pentagon. She said Jean Serick had a note put on her car telling her to stay away from Rose Alice Capp because she was making Rose Alice get upset with the Council and sell her house and move out of Carteret. She said the reason she is moving out of state was because General Dynamics will not do anything in New Jersey. She said she wanted a job tomorrow because she was in a bad accident and felt she deserved a job. She said her sister is a teacher and Lieutenant LaPoint gave her sister a letter saying Rose Alice was with a "dope kingpin". Councilmember Quinones said she did not think Rose Alice should be talking about that and said if she had a particular complaint. . . (Rose Alice inaudible) she should speak to the Director. Rose Alice Capp said she did speak to the Director and he told her to see the Council because he couldn't do anything with this. Jeffrey Pino, Swarthmore Drive and President of the Library Board, said he understands the feelings that are . . . Mayor Failace interrupted to say, put the picture up please. Jeffrey Pino said the picture would go up tomorrow. He said there has been some talk of the Veterans and the Torn Deverin building and he felt that was just great. He said his suggestion that he would also bring back to the Library Trustees was he felt they have a nice park out front and they had a nice dedication for the Veterans. He suggested instead of calling the Building the Carteret Free Public Library he felt they should rename the Building in honor of the Borough's Veterans of Foreign War or the Allegiance. He felt there should be meetings with the Veterans for their input and the trustees input and the name could be changed. He said he knew other Libraries in the state, which are named after dignitaries, people who have passed away or Veterans groups and felt it was something he felt was good and they should think about it and would bring it up to at the next trustee meeting. -' Council member Reiman said he felt it was a great idea. Mayor Failace asked if it was Mr. Pino's idea or the Mayor's idea because he is the Mayor's Aide. Jeffrey Pino said he just acted not as the Mayor's Aide but as the President of the Trustees. Anna Mae Kolibas asked Councilmember Santoro if the Police Director oversees the Police Facility. She said the Principal oversees the High School. Council member Santoro said actually the Superintendant oversees the High School. Anna Mae Kolibas said the Superintendant is the boss of everyone and each principal is the boss of his school; over janitors, over maintenance. She said her point was, isn't the Director in charge of the Police Facility. She said she thought the Director had an eye problem or the Council had an eye problem because of the condition of 52 the building. She said she put a piece of gum on the floor two weeks ago and the gum is still on the floor. She asked the Council to go into the bathroom on their way out because she felt it was deplorable. Councilmember Santoro said the Director probably doesn't do a tour to check the. . . Anna Mae Kolibas said Ray Charles could see this. Councilmember Quinones said she would see if they could work on getting the building cleaner. James Mancuso said the Council introduced a Salary Ordinance and there was not enough people and Councilmember Sohayda carne in; point of order; Roberts Rules of Order. He asked if the Council could reintroduce the Ordinance because it hasn't been changed and asked if it should be tabled until the next Council Meeting. Mayor Failace said he was not aware that they could but the Borough Attorney said they could do this. Councilmember Santoro said the Council deferred to the Attorney. Borough Attorney Bergen said the first vote was satisfactory and they just did a second vote if there was a question. He said one of the reasons he asked the Council to revote, incase there was a challenge as to exactly where the votes go. He said there might be different interpretations as to where the extension must go. Jean Lutz, John Street, said she asked a fOmler Councilman and a present Councilman and still has not gotten an answer. She said there is a piece of property that goes between Leffert Street and John Street, which was John Street Park. She said it is now a home to a bus, which has been sitting there all winter with no license plate. She said there is also a broken down trailer on the property. She said there has been a rash of burglaries and robberies and she felt these were perfect set-ups for people to break in and use. She asked the Council if that was still considered John Street Park and if it still belonged to the Borough and if it does why are the pieces of equipment still sitting there. She said she believed the Borough put a lot of money into that piece of property for drainage when the sewer system was being fixed on Beverly Street. She said if you look at the section between John Street and Leffert and walk over from Leffert toward John from the back before you corne to the people's garages you will be knee deep in water. She said the gentleman at the end of the street use this for their litter area and plug up the drains which backs up the sewer system. She said she is challenging the Council to find out who owns the property. . . Councilmember Reiman said he believed this was a private piece of property. He said he started to look into this and believed there was an application for development and believed it was a land swap. He said the master plan from the seventies was this was listed as Green Acre property being the John Street Park. He said at some point in time it was swapped for another partial of land in the Borough. Jean Lutz asked how this could be done when it is Green Acres. 53 MARCH 15, 2001 PUBLIC DISCUSSION (Continued) MARCH 15, 2001 COMMENTS (Continued) Mayor Failace said if land is Green Acres, you could not swap for another piece of property and they would have to find out who the owner IS. Jean Lutz said she needs to know who owns it. Councilmember Reiman said he has a list of all Borough owned properties and the Council would be taking a look at it. Jean Lutz said she would like to know when and how this Green Acres transpired. Mayor Failace said he would find out and they could send someone down there. Jean Lutz said the Borough did a ton of work in that area. Mayor Failace reiterated he could send someone down there if there are drains blocked and he felt they could send someone to find out because someone should know where the drains are. Jean Lutz said she felt the Council knew who owned the property because the Borough did a lot of work there. She said she watched Borough employees bring in truckloads of stuff for fill in the passed four years. Councilmember Rios said in the mean time the Council could get the police to check on the abandoned vehicles. Jean Lutz reiterated about the abandoned vehicles and said the town needs to solve this problem because she felt it was a disaster down there. Chico Bascilisi asked who named the street at the new housing by Columbus School. Mayor Failace said the owner of the property named the street, it is not Borough property and he could name it anything he wanted. ADJOURNED There being no further business or discussion, upon MMS&C, by Council member Rios and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:05 P.M. Respectfully submitted, / ----- /~ -' .a:rA-L~¿j"":} ~d'? y<"/L KATHIEENM. BARNEY, RM Municipal Clerk KMB/cp 54