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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2003/02/13 FEBROARY 13, 2003 An Agenda Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of AGENDA MEETING Carteret preceding the Regular Meeting of February 20, 2003 was held on February 13, 2003, Municipal Court/Police Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. The following were noted present: NOTED PRESENT Mayor Daniel J. Reiman Councilmembers Krum ,, Naples Parisi " Rios ,' Sitarz ,, Sosnowski Also noted present was Borough Attorney Robert J. Bergen, Esq. Statement of Meeting Notice - Mailed to the Home News Tribune, STATENENT OF The Star Ledger and posted on the bulletin board on February 7, 2003. MEETING NOTICE Minutes for Approval - January 16, 2003. lqlNIJTE$ FOR APPROVAL ORDINANCES - First Reading ORDINANCE - FIRST READING 1. #03-08 Bond Ordinance, Appropriating $500,000.00, Re: Green Acres. Public Hearing PtIBLIC HEARING 1. #03-03 "CAP" Ordinance to Exceed Index Rate Less Than 5% Limitatio: for the Year 2003. 2. #03-04 Ordinance Appropriating $585,519.00 from the NJ Education Facilities Authority for Construction of a New Library and Senior Citizen's Center. 3. #03-05 Re-Appropriating $484,519.00 for Improvement to Borough Hall. 4 #03-06 Amending Salary Ordinance #71-9, Re: Fire Department. 5 #03-07 Adopting a Redevelopment Plan for the Chrome Waterfront Redevelopment District. RESOLUTIONS RESOLUTIONS- 1. Directing the Issuance of Various Bingo Licenses. 2. Directing the Issuance of Various Raffle Licenses. 3. Creating Handicapped Parking Spaces. 4. Amendment to the 2003 Budget. 5. Authorizing Various Contractors to Perform Rehabilitation of Homes Pursuant to COAH Regulations. FEBRUARY 13, 2003 RESOLUTIONS 6. Professional Services - Donald Norbut, T&M Associates, Re: Borough Engineer 2003. 7. Professional Services - Robert J: Bergen, Esq., Gill & Chamas, Re: Borough Attorney for 2003. Mayor Reiman asked if they were just talking about the contracts. The Municipal Clerk replied yes. COMMENTS Councilmember Parisi said didn't they approve those on january t . APPLICATIONS APPLICATIONS: 1. Pen's Ram Taxi - 2003 License Renewal. 2. Carteret Volunteer Fire Co., #2-Approval of new member James McFadden. COMMUNICATION S COMMUNICATIONS: 1. City of Linden Planning Board Notice that they have adopted the Re-examination of the Master Plan. 2. Borough of Point Pleasant - Resolution urging NJ Legislature to introduce legislation to reform the inequitable property tax system used to fund schools in NJ. Mayor Reiman addressed the Borough Attorney and asked him to review that and put a resolution on but make sure it is the one that the League of Municipalities is supporting. 3. Township of Woodbridge Planning Board - Public Hearing, February 19, 2003 - Re: Re-examination of Master Plan. Mayor Reiman directed the Municipal Clerk to find out if Linden gave a copy of their Master Plan to Tony Neibert. The Municipal Clerk said they finally got a copy. COMMENTS Mayor Reiman said to get a copy of Woodbridge's and see how it affects us with the OEMJ Cherokee site. Councilmember Naples asked if there was a copy of that resolution. The Municipal Clerk said she had a copy of the resolution. PAYMENT OF BILLS PAYMENT OF BILLS: 1. List of bills properly audited and signed. REPORTS REPORTS: 1. Inspection of Buildings - January 2003. 2. Office of the Disabled - 2002 Annual Report. 3. Tax Collector - 2002 Annual Report. 2 FEBRUARY 13, 2003 MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION: MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION 1. T&M Associates - Sewer Usage, Re: LM Foods. Mayor Reiman asked if everyone had a copy of that, and was it put in his or he~ bins? The Municipal Clerk replied yes. The Mayor said that L&M Foods is trying to change the way they are using their sewer fee. Basically, what it is is where all the companies pay and the industry pays what they are metered on what comes into COMMENTS their plant. They use a significant amount of that in the baking process; it is part of the mixture. They want to pay on what they dump into the sewer system. The Mayor said his only concern with that would be that the residents pay based upon what they use too. He said he doesn't think they should have a large break... Councilmember Rios said the Mayor was right. All the residents pay on their donsumption not what they are putting back into the system. We are not paying for processing that water so why should they be any different. Mayor Rieman said he had a few questions that may be of a legal nature and we are better off discussing them in Closed Session. 2. Library Board Appointment. APPOINTMENT TO LIBRARY BOARD Mayor Reiman said he would like to appoint Dennis DiMascio to the Library Board. He'll be replacing JeffPino. 3. Robert Kately - Requesting bids be authorized for Chrome Park R. KATELY Improvements. Councilmember Krum said they had (inaudible) come in to look over the tenni~ courts and basketball courts. He said he and Bob Kately brought them down to Chrome Park and we are trying to get his designs. When he came up with a price, Mr. Katley thought it was too high so he went back to the gentleman and told him to just give them the area of Carteret Park, fences and so forth. 4. Bids Received: a) Phase II Manhole Rehabilitation b) Passenger BIDS RECEIVED Bus. Mayor Reiman said he wanted to review the Phase II again. He said he wants Don Norbut to give them the breakdown of exactly what they __ are doing with it. Basically it was part of the Killam report, part of the manhole rehabilitation. They had money set aside but they are looking to use $160,000.00 to repair the manhole covers. He said he doesn't see the benefit to the town. He said they should wait and see what and where they need to be done. If it is not necessary then there is a lot more we can be doing with money than replacing manhole covers. If there are safety issues they need to be replaced. 3 FEBRUARY 13, 2003 Mayor Reiman said the Passenger Bus is for the Senior Citizens. It is being funded by a Grant. Councilmember Naples said a concern seems to be the Motorized Jazeys are quite heavy. If you are going to install a lift make sure it is heavy enough to hold the Jazey. Mayor Reiman said this bus has a side lift but (inaudible). BUSINESS TO BE BUSINESS TO BE ADDED- ADDED Councilmember Parisi said he had something to discuss in Closed Session, Personnel and Negotiations. Councilmember Sosnowski said he has something that he would like to put on for the next meeting the Firefighter of the Year and EMT Thomas App. He was chosen for his two life saving awards given to him by the Borough in 2002 and completing an 80 hours training program for fire investigations given by the National Association for (inaudible) investigators. Also, there was a meeting today with Police & Fire Departments and they were discussing the current status we are in with our alert. One of the things that was discussed was a notification system for the residents. The old siren system is gone and they were talking about setting up a new system where we can alert the town if there was an emergency. They are now looking at putting in about three sirens at a cost of approximately $20,000.00 for all three. That is something that they want us to discuss and see if we can find money in the budget. He said he turned it over to finance to see if anything can be done ...There is a grant they are applying for they just don't know if they'll be successful. Mayor Reiman said he spoke briefly with OEM and some of the volunteer fireman this afternoon. God forbid there is an emergency or if they go out of town they could use TV 36. According to Comast about 95% of the residents have it but we also spoke about the siren alert to turn to TV 36. Conncilmember Sosnowski asked what would be the quickest turn around on that for "36" if we had to put it on in an emergency? The Municipal Clerk replied that it would depend, it would have to be typed up and added on. Councilmember Sitarz said they would have to get a director to do that. The Municipal Clerk said Jack Fazekas is doing it, he set the whole thing up. Councilmember Sitarz said he wasn't aware of that. Councilmember Sitarz said he would like the Borough Attorney to introduce an Ordinance about the billboard signs in Carteret. The building inspectors get about $6,000.00 a month for one sign. FEBROARY 13~ 2003 Mayor Reiman said there are about a dozen signs in town but two of them, the ones that were approved off the Turnpike in the last two years, one of the companies has to provide Carteret with six months of space. So we get six months and they get six months. The other sign we have is thirty days four times a year. Councilmember Sitarz said they should check it anyway and work it out with Tony Neibert. The other thing he wanted to discuss was The Borough Attorney working up an ordinance concerning all these cars stacked up in the junkyard in West Carteret. Mayor Reiman said they should take a look and go after that property. It is a significant environmental concern and they do store thousands and thousands of cars. Councilmember Sitarz said he would like to propose that they make RE: ltR. I~IALSIt Mr. A1 Walsh the Borough Photographer for the year at a cost of $1,500.00. Mayor Reiman said he has been doing it for the last couple of years so we can put him on and bill it against that. Councilmember Parisi said he has never seen any of the pictures that he has taken. The Mayor said they all come in to Borough Hall but he has not had a chance to look at them. Councilmember Sitarz said he had something to discuss in Closed Session in reference to personnel. Councilmember Rios said that on February 26th our Crime Prevention Bureau with Lieutenant Talalai will be doing a terror preparedness for all residents. It is not to alarm anyone it is just to educate and give awareness. He said he spoke to the Chief about it and Lieutenant Talalai has been putting this program together. He said he will announce this again at the next Council Meeting. We usually get a lot of people coming to the meetings and hopefully we'll get more. It will be a 6:30 P.M. at the Community Center. It is important that we tell everyone. He then said he never thought he would experience anything like this in his lifetime. We are now reading about saving water, canned goods and all the things we have to deal with. The Police Department is trying ...He then said he and the Mayor had a meeting with the Chief and two Captains and just to give the rest of the Council a heads up of what we are doing. The Police Committee will be having a meeting on Tuesday at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers and we will have negotiations for the Dispatchers Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. He then reported that he had something for Closed Session, personnel and __ recycling. He said he spoke to Councilmember Sitarz and we are paying to have our tires recycled and it is costing us between $300.00 to $500.00 a year. Our Recycling Coordinator, Sally Mesler said they could get it done for free. Councilman Rios said he spoke to Councilman Sitarz that afternoon and he ..... Councilmember Sitarz said the Borough is paying one dollar a tire when thed take it to the Recycling Center in Newark and we could be taking them to Woodbridge. There are other places we can take them 5 FEBROAR¥ 13~ 2003 that are free. He then asked the Borough Attorney if he remembered him talking about the street sweeping on alternate sides of the street .. In order for us to do that we have to do an Ordinance if it fly's, correct? In the mean time can we put up temporary signs to see how it will work out? The Borough Attorney replied yes, as long as you are not going to issue summonses. Councilmember Rios said we can have an electronic drop off at the Recycling Center that would be of no cost to the Borough. They could all drop off computers and they are also considering things like stoves and refrigerators. One thing that was brought to his attention, and they have to bring this to the attention of the residents, they ha,~e to take doors off and spread the word because it is a danger to children. Mayor Reiman said that they will be picking them up if they do not remove the doors. Councilmember Sitarz said that sounds great because the Mayor is talking to T&M about moving the Borough Garage. Mayor Reiman said they could still advertise about taking the doors off. The thought that we initiated last year was to move the Public Works site onto the old sewer plant. We are getting a basic layout about whether that can be done. They are saying that it is feasible with DISCUSSION a larger garage (inaudible) and move ahead and use the old sewer plant property. Councilmember Rios asked if they would continue to use the same recycling center. Mayor Reiman replied yes, as a matter of fact, it will allow for a new salt shed and new garage. Councilmember Rios said he had one thing to discuss in the Police Committee and he would like everyone's opinion on this. For the summer season, baseball and softball parents should not park, on both sides of Carteret Avenue between the Middle School to Buchanan Street because that is an accident waiting to happen. For the Summer Season from March until August there should be one side parking on Carteret Avenue. Councilmember Sitarz said he thought they were going t~, put in a yellow line three foot off the curb. Mayor Reiman said they spoke about that. He said they applied for a Grant to put a pedestrian walkway through. This would take one side of the islands and make a.. Councilmember Krum said in the Winter no one parks there anyway so it really doesn't matter. The problem now is the schoolteachers. At this time there is much discussion between the Mayor and Council in regards to Carteret Avenue. 6 FEBRUARY 13, 2003 Councilmember Rios said he thinks this is something to consider and he will consult with Lieutenant Mc Fadden and have him research the idea and we'll come back to the Mayor and Council .... Councilmember Parisi said they Could put up a sign that says no parking after 5:00 P.M. Councilmember Rios said he had one thing for Closed Session, personnel. Councilmember Naples said she had a question of concern in reference to buildings and incidents that may or may not take place in Borough Buildings or any concerns that employees may have. Is there any procedure or policy to follow? Mayor Reiman said they can implement a policy and procedure and we should. He said he had a draft copy of a policy manual, which he will give to her from Lacy Township. At this time the Borough has no policy or procedure and no manual. Councilmember Rios said they have been discussing this for some time now.. The Borough Attorney asked if it was in reference to innocent people getting hurt. D I S CU S S I ON Councilmember Naples said what happened today was an employee -- saw some white powder in an area near her desk and in these times it is a panic situation. The police came, HazMat came and the Board of Health came and the bottom line was that it was carpet fresh on the carpet. She said her concern is if an employee has a concern who should they report to? Is there a protocol in an emergency or any situation9 She said she had an employee salary adjustment for Closed Session. 'Councilmember Naples said on March 16th the Offices of the Disabled it is Office Awareness Day. What the office is attempting to do is make it open to the general public as a support for the disabled population. Councilmember Krum said the last couple of days they have taken down the band shelter at Carteret Park .. Mayor Rciman asked if they had the contract signed for the ... The Borough Attorney said that was going out that night or the following morning. Councilmember Krum said he wanted them to know that they broke their backs to get the structure down. They saved the steel and __ hopefully we can use it down the Sewer Plant. Mayor Reiman said he didn't recall if they authorized the easement agreement with Kinder Morgan. The Municipal Clerk said no. Mayor Reiman said he knew that they spoke about it last year. FEBRUARY 13, 2003 Councilmember Krum said they have twelve weeks of (inaudible) coming in and we have to find a place to put them. The Borough Attorney said a motion should be made to authorize the Mayor to sign that easement. We reviewed that with the developers and he wanted to make sure there would be no problem later on. Mayor Reiman said that everyone should know that channel 36 is up. He said he would be sending out notices to many of the chumhes and organizations as well as municipal agencies that they can put notices on there if they want to. We'll we setting some type of standards and parameters as to what can be put on. Obviously, it has to be something affecting or dealing with the municipalities or a non-profit organization for any municipal sponsored event. The Borough Engineer mentioned John Street and he thinks he will ask them to take a look at it. He said he was in his office that day and they are probably going to vote to make that a one way. The other items the Mayor has are for Closed Session. MEETING OPENED TO Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Krum and unanimous PUBLIC affirmative vote of the full membership present, the meeting was opened to the public. Mr. Stone said he would like to ask a question about the $584,000.00 from the New Jersey Education Facility Authority. He said he thought that money was supposed to pay down the debt of the library. Mayor Reiman replied that if they pay down the debt it will pay back the back end of the bond so we would still have to pay all the debt. What it would do is pay off the twentieth year so for one through nineteen we're still paying all that kind of money and twenty years from now we would have to miss a payment. Rather than do that and put that money there it will not benefit the Borough right now but we are transferring $485 to the rehab of Borough Hall. The State has approved it along with the Bonding Attorneys. Mr. Stone apologized and said he still did not understand it. We have lA million dollars that we can pay down the debt. He said he was at a Council Meeting a year or two ago and they had one hundred thousand dollars for the Parks Department and somebody took that money to pay down the debt and it is the same principal that you told me just now. It was one tenth of one percent. When the town creates a debt, and we had the debt with the Library, why don't we take that money, still maintain the debt and save no money at all and put (inaudible) into Borough Hall. Mayor Reiman said because that money will not benefit the residents today or tomorrow or five or ten years from now. That money and the debt that was set up was six million dollars in debt incurred in rehabbing the old supermarket and old liquor store. Six million dollars in debt was used to improve buildings owned by the municipality. So, if we take that debt and pay and use that five hundred thousand dollars and put it towards that bond it will not save us money this year or next year or for the next nineteen years. It is not as if you can make a principal payment towards your credit card or your mortgage and it reduces the amount you pay every year. FEBRUARY 13~ 2003 Mr. Stone said his problem is that they created a lot. You said you took the money for the Library and Senior Citizen Center and this is why you got the $584,000.00. He said he didn't know when the application was made but it was made for that purpose and that purpose only. Now you are saying to forget about that and take $484,000.00 and use it for Borough Hall. Mayor Reiman said what it does is frees up the money that is there because we can't use it to pay down the debt. If they pay down the debt it will not save them money this year or the next year. It doesn't reduce the principal and it doesn't reduce the interest it would only pay off the twentieth year but it will free up $585,000.00 of the debt that was incurred on that building. It is allowing us to use the money that was not spent on that building and used it for Borough Hall which has been falling down for the last thirty years. Mr. Stone said if they came to him and said give me $584,000.00 but it will not help me at all he would not give the money to him. You are saying you have the money and it doesn't help. Mayor Reiman said the bottom line is that anytime the State wants to give us money we are going to take it. He said he would love to use · ' ' e DISCUSSION the money for tax relief but it can t b . (CON ' T) Mr. Stone said everyone is complaining because the taxes are going through the roof. He said that was why he thought this would be a good opportunity but now he sees that the money is being spent somewhere else and we still have the same debt. He said he had one more item he would like to discuss and that is collectibles. We are picked up the first Friday of every month and because of (inaudible) no one was picked up. He said he has two neighbors that are handicapped and he had to take theirs to the Borough and dump them... Councilmember Sitarz asked why Mr. Stone didn't give them a call because they would have sent out a truck especially for you. Mr. Stone said the neighbors had them out and now took them in and one of the Borough workers told him that he did not understand why they did not pick it up. Councilmember Sitarz asked if that was recycling or garbage. Mr. Stone replied that it was recycling and they get picked up once a month. Councilmember Sitar said if that ever happens again .... Mr. Stone said he read that articles in the paper and if anything like that happens again to call the Mayor's office. Unidentified woman said not everyone has cable TV for the terror notices so they are going to have to come up with another form .... Councilmember Rios said they will announce it on the bulletin board at Banick Park. He said he will announce it at the Council Meeting next week and hopefully a newspaper will pick it up being that there is FEBRUARY 13, 2003 so much news about the antiterrorism attacks that the whole nation taking. The Superintendent of Parks will put a notice on the bulletin board and all the people that are involved in the crime watch program, at no cost to the people and there are meetings every month as far as different things that can be done. Ways that people can be a little bit more aware of suspicious charters that might break in to your house. Scare artist and (inaudible). Unidentified woman said her concern was the plastic and duct tape business. They were saying that they are going to tape their windows and everyone is going to die of asphyxiation. Some people take things to extreme and they should not be ignored but we do have to make them aware, especially the older people. They can't plastic up their entire house. Councilmember Knun said they should join the crime watch because every month something will be sent to their homes. Councilmember Rios said this is a great program and there is no cost to anyone. Councilmember Sitarz said he thought the Mayor was going to send it D I SCU S S ION to every resident. Mayor Reiman said they were putting together a newsletter. Former Mayor Sica did it for about twelve years and we are going to do it again. Unidentified woman then said she another issue about recycling. She wanted to know if there was any way; New York State saved a ton of money with their trees. The trees were brought by the people and the City owns a chipper. She then asked if the Borough owns a chipper. Mayor Reiman said we do have a chipper but we can't mulch with it and there is a difference with the two products. Unidentified woman asked why, because most chippers do. Mayor Reiman said what we have doesn't mm it into mulch. Unidentified woman asked why the Borough have to bare the expense of picking them up. Mayor Reiman said that is part of the service provided to the residents. He said he understood what she was saying but it is included in the taxes. Would it save money, yes but it would be minimal. We pay about $12.00 for a twenty yard dumpster. Councilmember Sitarz said they could make a deal with Daumann Pallet. The Mayor said that last year we didn't pay anything for the trees and leaves. We negotiate every year and Daumarm has given us a host community fee because they operate a mulcher and wood pallet factory over there. Like many municipalities, we are going to have to pay because we do not have a facility to store mulch. 10 FEBRUARY 13~ 2003 Unidentified woman said it is usually for immediate recycle. We can use it in .... Councilmember Sitarz said that would be if you want a (inaudible) chip but if you want the (inaudible). Unidentified woman said she understood that. Mayor Reiman directed Councilmember Sitarz to look and see what we are paying and if we are paying. If in fact we can and we have the equipment, mulch it and stick it in a twenty yarder and let the residents come and get it that would be great. It is worth looking into. The unidentified woman then asked about old computers. The Mayor said that was what Councilmember Rios just said about paying to get rid of electrionics. Right now we pay for that. Unidentified woman said Community Development in Metuchen will take computers because they refurbish them and give them to people who don't have them. Mayor Reiman said they except quite a few donations and most of the computers in the Senior Center came in through the County's Social Services. He said he thought what she was talking about was basically junk but we can notify channel 36 to announce it or as part of the newsletter and maybe we can do something with that. She then asked about leaving trash and recycling out other than the days they be not supposed to be. John Street and she is not sure if it is garbage or recycles but it has been there for two weeks. Councilmember Padsi asked if it was cans or bags. Unidentified woman said she was not sure.. Councilmember Krum asked if there were blue cans there. She said there was a combination, you don't really know all the time. It has been there for weeks. Mayor Reiman said they would have the Recycling Coordinator .. everything falls on a Friday and Monday during the holidays. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Parisi and the CLOSED TO PUBLIC unanimous affirmative vote of the full membership present, the __ meeting was closed to the public. At approximately 7:42 P.M. a Closed Session was held to discuss CLOSED SESSION personnel, litigation, contract negotiations and interview. 11 FEBRUARY 13, 2003 RESOLUTION #03-67 RESOLUTION #03-67 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to TO GO INTO CLOSED the Council for action. SESSION Upon MMS&C, by Councilmcmbers Rios and Naples RESOLUTION #03- 67 "RESOLUTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION" ADOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Krum, Naples, Parisi, Rios, Sitarz and Sosnowski voted in the affirmative. OPENED TO THE At approximately 9:05 P.M. upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios PUBLIC and Sosnowski and unanimous affirmative vote of the full membership present, the meeting was opened to the public. RESOLUTION #03-68 RESOLUTION #03-68 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to APPROVING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE the Council for action CONTRACT Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Parisi and Sosnowski RESOLUTION #03-68 "RESOLUTION APPROVING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT - ROBERT DATO, ESQ. ADOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Krum, Naples, Parisi, Rios, Sitarz, and Sosnowski voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #03-69 RESOLUTION #03-69 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to AUTHORIZING UEZ the Council for action ADVISORY BOARD TO REQUEST FUNDING FOR STREET- SCAPE PROJECT Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Krum RESOLUTION #03-69 "RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CARTERET URBAN ENTERPRISE ZONE ADVISORY BOARD TO REQUEST FUNDING FOR STREETSCAPE PROJECT" ADOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmemb.ers Krum, Naples, Padsi, Rios, Sitarz and Sosnowski voted in the affirmative, w 12 FEBRUARY 13, 2003 At approximately 9:07 P.M., upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers ADJOURNED Sitarz and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the full membership present, thc meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Municipal Clerk KNB/apm 13 Agenda Meeting February 13, 2003 14