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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2001/04/05 A Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret was called to order by Mayor James A. Failace, 7:30 P.M., Municipal Court, Police Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey, Thursday, AprilS, 2001. Upon individual roll call, the following were noted present: Councilmember Jack Fazekas " Remy Quinones " Daniel Reiman " Ronald Rios " Janet Santoro " Buddy Sohayda Also noted present were Robert Bergen, Borough Attorney and Nick Goldsack, Business Administrator. The meeting was opened with a minute of silent prayer and the pledge of allegiance led by Mayor James A. Failace. The Clerk stated that on March 30, 2001, in full compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a notice of tonight's meeting was sent to The Home News Tribune, The Star Ledger and posted on the bulletin board. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Fazekas and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present, the Minutes of January 18, February 8 & 15, 2001 were approved, transcribed and engrossed by the Clerk. Mayor Failace then explained that he had a motion to Amend the Agenda to move the Proclamation for the Catholic Daughters of the Americas to the front of the meeting. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Sohayda and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present the Agenda was Amended to move the Catholic Daughters of Americas Proclamati on. The Mayor read the following Proclamation into the record: 1 APRIL 5, 2001 cooocn. MEErJ1¥; April 5, 2001 ROLL CAlL PRAYER, PLEDGE OF AlLEJ;IANCE srA'I»Imf OF ~ tVITCE MINUI'ES FOR APPROVAL Motion to Amend Agench Re: Proclanation Motion Made & Carried PRQCUMATIOO Catholic Daughters of the Americas APRIL 5, 2001 PRQCUMATIOO Cant: ORDINANCE #01-20 Regulating and Licensing Limousines COURT FIDELIS NO. 636 CATMOLIC DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAS CARTERET, NEW JERSEY 07008 WHEREAS, the organization, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas was founded by the Knights of Columbus and was incorporated in 1903. With a membership of approximately 1l0,000 this organization is established in fifty states, including Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Canal Zone. There are approximately 100 Courts in New Jersey alone. WHEREAS, Court Fidelis No. 636 of Carteret, has been a part of the Catholic Daughters of Americas since April, 1921 and is observing its eightieth year on April 22, 2001. WHEREAS, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas aims to enhance the spiritual life of its members and their families and to educate for more apostolic work. WHEREAS, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas aims to enhance the spiritual life of its members and their families, to educate for more apostolic action, to develop leadership abilities and to intensify patriotism in our country. For eight decades it has aided in the spiritual, material and moral development of our woman. The Catholic Daughters of the Americas is well known for its cooperation with the Hierarchy in meeting the demands of charity and education. WHEREAS, such programs are integral part of Court Fidelis No. 636 of Carteret, for eighty years, achieving its position of high esteem, not only in this community, but in this state and nation; and THEREFORE, I, JAMES A. FAILACE, Mayor of the Borough of Carteret, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, do hereby proclaim the month of April, 2001 as COURT FIDELIS No. 636, Catholic Daughters of the Americas Anniversary Month, and do call upon citizens, places of worship, schools and organizations to join with me in commending the good works of this Court as an expression of our appreciation of their promotion of Unity and Action and Love, which is the full meaning of their motto, "UNITY and CHARITY". ORDINANCE #01-20 was introduced and adopted on First Reading and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public Hearing to be held April 19, 2001, upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. 2 "AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING CHAPTER 235 ENTITLED, "TAXI CABS" OF THE CODE OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET CREATING A NEW SECTION ENTITLED, "LIMOUSINES" AND ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS FOR THE LICENSING AND OPERATIONS OF LIMOUSINES WITHIN THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" ORDINANCE #01-21 was introduced and adopted on First Reading and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public Hearing to be held April 19, 2001, upon MMS&C by Council members Reiman and Santoro. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda Abstained and Councilmember Quinones voted No. "AN ORDINANCE ELIMINATING THE POSITION OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS" Mayor Failace asked Attorney Bergen if this ordinance, as it stands, is to amend the position plus salary. Attorney Bergen said the salary would remain the same. It is a different ordinance. Mayor Failace asked if there was anyone on the Council that didn't feel Mr. Surick has the credentials to be the Superintendent of Public Works. Councilmember Reiman told the Mayor that the pOSItIOn was created last year after several attempts by the prior Council to create a position to encompass all the Borough Departments. As was discussed at the Agenda Meeting, it is nothing specific with the individual, but the fact is the position does nothing more then what the current position of the Superintendent of Public Works does and it is an $8000.00 increase. They talked about the additional duties that the individual in the prior position may be doing and he thinks that is something they can discuss at the Agenda Meeting. This position shouldn't have been created. It doesn't have any additional responsibility, other than the Superintendent of Streets and Roads. Councilmember Quinones said that this is then like another Deputy Mayor issue, where he is not really objecting, at least thus far, to the salaries or the duties that this person hence would be taking, but to the title of Director of Public Works. Councilmember Santoro said then she would object to the salary and the duties and that no, she does not feel it is necessary. If this individual has been there over a course of years, why all of a sudden is he going to be receiving a raise, an $8000.00 increase for Recycling Coordinator which has nothing to do with Director. Last week at the Agenda she read from the minutes where it was 3 APRIL 5, 2001 OI:dinance #01-20 First Reading ORDINANCE #01-21 Eliminating the Pœitim of Director of Public Works First Reading Cœments APRIL 5, 2001 œDINANCE #01-21 Cœments Cant: ORDINANCE #01-22 Amending Salary OI:dinance 171-9, Re: Police (bief First Reading Cœments done incorrectly and we are not talking about the individual they are talking about the position at this point and its being eliminated and the salary along with it. Councilmember Quinones said she thought we were talking about the individual. Councilmember Santoro told her she was talking about the individual and they are talking about the position. Mayor Failace said the duties on the Superintendent would start to include the duties this thing has undertaken and will probably go back to the other Department Heads. Councilmember Santoro said what is grandfathered in is that he was allowing him to do it before hand. She asked what had changed with that. Mayor Failace said what had changed is it was done as a favor in order to get it done, it said nothing about grandfathered in. Councilmember Santoro asked who it was done as a favor for. Mayor Failace said he had asked him to do that, to take on those things. Councilmember Santoro said so then when he gave him this position and this increase was that done as a favor in exchange. Mayor Failace said this has nothing to do with favors, ORDINANCE #01-22 was introduced and adopted on First Reading and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public Hearing to be held April 19, 2001, upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Santoro and Rios. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Quinones voted No, "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" Mayor Failace asked Councilmember Sohayda and asked him what the intent of this is. Councilmember Sohayda said his intent IS to have a Police Department. . . . . . 4 Mayor Failace told him he could not hear him. Councilmember Santoro asked Attorney Bergen if this was necessary at this time and asked him if they were only voting on a Salary Ordinance and not the (inaudible) of this position. Attorney Bergen said they are only voting on a Salary Ordinance. Mayor Failace asked if they are saying he can't ask a question. Councilmember Santoro said no, but they are just saying later on when it comes to that question....... Mayor Failace asked Attorney Bergen if he could ask question now. Attorney Bergen said yes. Councilmember Sohayda said his intent purely is to have a high ranking officer be in the Police Department at all times because it seems like Mr. Elg is not around a lot. Mayor Failace asked Attorney Bergen if that was also his position. Councilmember Rios said he thought we need for the Police Department to function, on a day to day basis, he questioned if there was someone there full time. Councilmember Fazekas said he believes this is part of the Police Committee's initiative to have representation within the Police Department. . Councilmember Reiman said the Police Committee recommended this at the last Agenda Meeting. He said he supports this and it brings back stability in the Police Department by having someone in the Police Department take over the day to day operations in the Police Department, without having someone answering to Political Appointments worry about running the Police Department. He supports a Chief running the Police Department. Councilmember Santoro said she supports a Police Chief. It is something that people within the Police Department work up the reins for and she feels that person has better knowledge of the town and the department and she wants to make a motion to approve this. Councilmember Rios second the motion. Mayor Failace said he thinks what they have done here is, and he certainly looked at the files on both Captains and he sees there has certainly been no interview process done for this position. He commented neither Captains were interviewed or at least both of them were interviewed, while he is against having a Chief in this 5 APRil. 5, 2001 œDINANCE #01-22 Cœments Coot: APRil. 5, 2001 œDINANCE #01-22 Cœments Cant: department and he certainly feels if they were going to do it, it should have been done through an interview process instead of saying that this person has been Captain six (6) months longer than someone else. It should take something more than that and this position takes away the duties from the Director who has a Bachelor's Degree in Police Science and a Master's Degree in Administration and is finishing off the second Master's Degree and they are giving it to someone with not nearly those credentials and the bottom line is that it is political and now we have someone making $95,000.00 a year, who will set policy and do the budget. He commented that is a waste of money. Councilmember Rios said it seems like the Police Director position might have been political because the contract for the Police Director, he won't say the person, the position that was created, might have been created for one person because it seems like it is Carte Blanche. Council member Quinones asked how he could say that bringing someone that is totally removed from this environment........... Mayor Failace said he thinks this is a terrible mistake being made and they will discuss this later at another opportunity. Councilmember Quinones asked Councilmember Fazekas if when he voted to bring on the Police Director was it because it was political to him at the time. Councilmember Fazekas said it wasn't political. Councilmember Quinones asked him then why did he have the change of heart. Councilmember Fazekas said it was not a change of heart. He just looks at it as a natural progression and it is just a salary change. The Police Chief salary change. It has nothing to do yet with the resolution. Councilmember Quinones said she thought that was pretty disingenuous. . If you are going to put the salary in place it is because you are going to create the position. Councilmember Fazekas said he is hoping that the Police Committee has done diligence and talked to them and if not they will worry about that at the next Agenda Meeting. Councilmember Quinones asked if "do diligence" would have involved talking to the other officers in the department who may have been eligible for the position. Councilmember Reiman then commented to Attorney Bergen that the Council was supposed to be polled. Councilmember Quinones said she could ask a question. 6 Councilmember Reiman said he didn't think they could have the Councilmembers questioning each other. Councilmember Quinones asked why they couldn't. Councilmember Fazekas said that they were voting so they each have a right to ask a question. He asked Councilmember Quinones to restate the question. Councilmember Quinones commented "never mind", she said they know what the question was. Mayor Failace said he had a question and then commented that some of the Councilmembers are members of the Honorary PBA, so that they would support the PBA so he believes in making this position would certainly move up some of the officers in rank which will entail a benefit for some members of the PBA. He questioned if they could vote. Councilmember Reiman said clearly that is not a direct conflict that they can't vote on the issue. For instance if someone raised that issue in regards to claims that there may be some ethical violations, yes, people can always make those claims but if it excludes them from voting, he would let Mr. Bergen handle it. He said the Chief would have to be here. The fact that they are Honorary PBA Members has nothing to do with the Chiefs position. Attorney Bergen said he didn't see any direct relationship with the members of the PBA . Councilmember Santoro said they were just voting and discussing the Chief. Attorney Bergen said he didn't think it would be any different if they decided to become a member of the First Aid Squad (inaudible). Councilmember Reiman said as Mr. Fazekas said, it is just a natural progression. A couple of years ago, the Council that was up there at the time, decided to go with the Police Director's position and he is not here to judge whether it is right or wrong. We are simply moving at this point in time, at this point in the future. He does think that the Borough is better served by having a Police Chief who came from within the ranks as opposed to a political appointee. He voted yes. Councilmember Rios voted yes. Councilmember Santoro said the Mayor asked a question about Chief verses Director and we stated our opinion, being we are all entitled to our opinions and we respect each others opinions that we feel at this point a Chief is in the right direction and then he 7 APRil. 5, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-22 Cœments Cant: APRIL 5, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-22 Cœments Cant: ORDINANCE 101-23 Amending OI:dinance 100-18, Re: Towing First Reading jumped to the selection so she wasn't sure it was the Chief he was concerned about or the selection. As far as with the selection, understand this is the highest senior ranking individual. There will be a call for a Chief's Test, there will be interviews put into place, there will be certification of the test results and at that time there will be a selection. At this point it was the highest ranking senior officer. Councilmember Quinones said they both have the same rank. Councilmember Santoro told Councilmember Quinones that they had been over this. She said there is seniority and that is when the selection was and she voted yes. Mayor Failace told Attorney Bergen, that he was reading in Civil Service and he saw that it said that if three (3) or less can obtain that position then Civil Service will not entertain a test. Attorney Bergen said there will be a ranking process, ultimately, not matter what. Whether they have a formal written test he cannot tell us for sure at this particular time. He commented that the Council can ask them for one, he thinks they might have entertained that quite clearly. He said he understood they could possibly open up the test farther ranks, he thinks the issue is how many ranks you can go down to Chief in order to find a sufficient number of people to take the test and even from his understanding if you can't find enough people you can also add the scope of that test, but that clearly would be some evaluative process that is going to go on for Civil Service, either ranking them on that list from which the Council would choose to do their evaluations, but he cannot tell them for sure if they will choose to give them a formal written test. Mayor Failace said he read that if it was three (3) or less in any Civil Service thing they won't entertain a test. Attorney Bergen said not the formal written test. ORDINANCE #01-23 was introduced and adopted on First Reading and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public Hearing to be held on April 19, 2001, upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. "AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE #00-18 "THE TOWING ORDINANCE" TO REVISE THE COMMENCEMENT DATE AND LICENSE PERIOD OF THE ORDINANCE" The Clerk stated that Ordinance #01-19 was introduced and passed upon First Reading at a Regular Meeting of the Borough Council 8 of the Borough of Carteret held on March 15, 2001. It was duly published in The Home News Tribune on March 20, 2001 with notice that it will be considered for final passage after Public Hearing to be held on AprilS, 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 Fazekas and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be open. There being no further comments or objections to the Ordinance by Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be closed upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present. Upon MMS&C Councilmembers Rios and Santoro 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" was finally adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Quinones and Reiman Abstained. Councilmember Reiman said he certainly supports this contract and (inaudible) and said he found it ironic that Councilwoman Quinones would vote to give a 14% raise to the Business Administrative position and a 19% raise to other department heads and is going to abstain on a contract for Blue Collar Workers making $33,000.00 a year. He questioned how she could abstain on this contract knowing that these men deserve this raise. Councilmember Quinones said she would like to single out one (I) indi vidual that received this raise. She could have abstained on this contract for a number of reasons, including the fact that Councilmember Reiman sat in on the first negotiations and he had absolutely no right to do that being that his brother directly benefited from this contract. Aside from that, his colleges on this Council likewise voted for several high ranking individuals in the Borough who received substantial raises this year. She commented to stop singling out one (I) person. She said she did abstain and that is her position. Councilmember Reiman said unfortunately because he has a relative in this union he is unable to vote on this. He said he does 9 APRil. 5, 2001 ORDINANCE 100-19 Amending Salary OI:dinance 171-9, Re: AFSQIE Local 12291 Public Hearing Hearing Closed Adopted APRil. 5, 2001 œDINANCE #01-19 Cantinued MEEI'1}{; 0PmID Public IU¡nt on Resolutions Resolution #01-109 Resolution #01-113 Resolution #01-106 support the contract, he thinks it is fair and equitable agreemen~ but he does abstain. Councilmember Rios said this contract is long overdue. It stalled for many years. He thinks the workers in this town deserve a fair contract and fair negotiations. They have worked hard and produced a lot for us and he does not think we should have a double standard on certain individuals given an increase. He supports this and he votes yes. Councilmember Santoro said they are talking about three (3), 31/2% raises, not the absorbent 4% that was thrown out there that would be given away (inaudible) and given away whatever anybody wanted. These individuals work for their increases. They do a hard days work every single day. They are not giving us anything, they deserve this and she voted yes. APPROVED AND ADOPTED: APRIL 5, 2001 INTRODUCED: MARCH 15, 2001 Advertised as Adopted on First Reading with Notice of Public Hearing: MARCH 20, 2001 Hearing Held: APRIL 5,2001 Approved By: MAYOR JAMES A. FAILACE Advertised as Finally Adopted: FRIDAY. APRIL 13,2001 A copy of each Resolution was placed upon the table for review prior to the meeting in accordance with the Rules of Council and upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affirmati ve vote of the full Council present, the meeting was opened for public input on all resolutions. John Sudia, Cypress Street, spoke on 01-109 saying that Mr. Platt was overlooked and skipped over. Mayor Failace asked Attorney Bergen what our position is on this. Attorney Bergen said we do not discuss the merits of the case, he said he said he would only say that he would recognize to the Council that this is a settlement that they will consider and he thinks it is one that will save the taxpayers some money and there is no cost to either side and their objection to this being on the list because he is choosing to withdraw his name voluntarily. John Sudia asked about Resolution 01-113, if we signed a general release for Dennis Nagy. Attorney Bergen said the Council should not make any comments on that. Dave Crudup, 48 Bergen Street, spoke on 01-106. He asked the Council if they will have two (2) Crossing Guards stationed at the 10 intersection of Pershing and Roosevelt and asked about the one on Edward and........... Councilmember Santoro said they are discussing a third one. He said she had explained to him that they had put two (2) on for the Agenda and that is what they are doing now and she had talked to Captain Hojecki and they are still interviewing for a possible third. Mr. Crudup said the last time he talked to the Council at the Agenda Meeting someone told him it cost a lot to obtain that traffic light at the intersection of Roosevelt and Pershing. Mayor Failace said traffic lights cost a lot of money, but not a cost to the Borough because it is a carryover. Mr. Crudup asked if there is any way they can get that information also so they could contact the County. He wants to ask they why they wanted to move the traffic light. Mayor Failace said he will give him the address showing who to write to. Mr. Crudup asked what the date is that the new crossing guards should be on duty. Councilmember Santoro said they have to go through a process of hiring, which we are well aware of and they are going to be starting at the earliest time that they can. Mr. Crudup asked if she could give him an exact date. Captain Hojecki said specifically what is going to happen is after the appointments their official start date will be Monday and there is no school Monday so it will allow him to get the background and finishings up in line while school is out and get their training started. He said they are talking about two (2) weeks. Joe Gentile, Noe Street, Carteret spoke saying that in reference to 01-111, asking how they could amend an ordinance of a Police Chief when we don't have a Police Chief. He said they are appointing a Police Chief and Council person Santoro said they are going to go after the fact to Civil Service to see who is best qualified and on the resolution they have a name. Councilmember Santoro said to Mr. Gentile that she never said they were qualified, she just said for the appointment that Civil Service rules and she is just going by the rules and that is what the rules are, to let somebody in and call for a test and during that process the appointment is made. They cannot bypass Civil Service rules. Joe Gentile asked her why they put a particular person's name here appointing him as a Police Chief when they have to go to Civil Service to see who is qualified. 11 APRil. 5, 2001 Resolution 101-106 Cant: Resolution 101-111 APRil. 5, 2001 Public Portion Closed RESOUJITOO #01-95 Directing the Issuance of Various Raffle Licenses Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-96 Amendnent to 2001 Temporary Budget Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-97 Authorizing Execution of Cantract - AFSQIE Local #2291 Councilmember Santoro said because they can, that is how it is done all the time. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present the public portion on resolutions was closed. RESOLUTION #01-95 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-95 "DIRECTING THE ISSUANCE OF VARIOUS RAFFLE LICENSES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Council members Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-96 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-96 "AUTHORIZING AMENDMENT TO THE 2001 TEMPORARY BUDGET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios , Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOllJDQil #01-97 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro RESOLUTION #01-98 "AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF CONTRACT BETWEEN THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET AND LOCAL 2291, AFSCME, AFL-CIO" 12 was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Quinones and Reiman abstained. RESOLUTION #01-98 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas ORDINANCE #01-98 "AUTHORIZING MAYOR TO EXECUTE MIDDLESEX COUNTY 2000 URBAN FORESTRY AGREEMENT" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Counci1members Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-99 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Councilmember Reiman told the Clerk he wanted to make a motion to Table this resolution until the Agenda Meeting. He had a call out to John Riggio, there is a couple of details he wants to discuss with him. John Riggio told Councilmember Reiman if he Tables that we will miss the deadline and we will not have a budget. Councilmember Reiman told John Riggio he left a voice mail for him this morning and he didn't have the courtesy to return his call. John Riggio told him he is stopping the functioning of the UEZ. He said the deadline was five (5) days. Mayor Failace asked John Riggio if this is a percentage of the total UEZ money that is normal standard operating. John answered yes. Councilmember Reiman withdrew his motion . This IS based strictly on the percentage of the UEZ funds. John Riggio said standard operating procedure is limited money and all it pays for is a limited portion of the salary. All the (inaudible) is funded by the UEZ. No Carteret money what-so- ever. Councilmember Reiman told John Riggio that he and Nick Goldsack will sit down with him and then he said he withdrew his motion. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman 13 APRil. 5, 2001 RESOUJITOO #01-97 Adopted RESOUJITOO 101-98 Authorizing Mayor to Execute t«: 2000 Urban Forestry Agreement Adopted RESOWITOO #01-99 Authorizing UEZ Aàninistrative Budget for 2001-2001 APRil. 5, 2001 RESOUJITOO 101-99 Cant: Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-100 Appointing John Moody- Public Safety Telecamamicator Trainee Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-101 Authrozing Various Cantractors to Perfm:m REhabilitation of Hanes Pursuant to mAll Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-102 Authorizing Application for USEPA Special Project (CSO) Grant RESOLUTION #01-99 "AUTHORIZING ADMINISTRATION BUDGET FOR 2001- 2002" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Mayor Failace told Councilmember Reiman that sometimes it is difficult for everybody to get back as fastly as we would like. Councilmembers don't call other Councilmembers, or him back. You don't get the call in the same day. He explained it is standard operating procedure that the job is done. There is nothing outrageous or different. Councilmember Reiman said he did not doubt that but there is just one (I) question he and Nick Goldsack has for him about reviewing the entire budget. RESOLUTION #01-100 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro RESOLUTION #01-100 "APPOINTING FULL - TIME PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATOR TRAINEE" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-101 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-101 "AUTHORIZING PAYMENT TO VARIOUS CONTRACTORS PERFORMING REHABILITATION OF HOMES PURSUANT TO COUNCIL ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING (COAH) REGULATIONS" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-102 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Sohayda 14 RESOLUTION #01-102 "AUTHORIZING APPLICATION USEPA SPECIAL PROJECT (CSO) GRANT" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios , Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas abstained. RESOLUTION #01-103 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-103 "AUTHORIZING MAYOR TO EXECUTE 2001 BOROUGH OF CARTERET OFFICE ON AGING GRANT AGREEMENT WITH MIDDLESEX COUNTY OFFICE ON AGING" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-104 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Sohayda and Rios RESOLUTION #01-104 "APPOINTING A PERMIT CLERK IN THE INSPECTION OF BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-105 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Sohayda and Rios RESOLUTION #01-105 "CERTIFYING NOLBERTO IRIZARRY TO THE POSITION OF PUMPING STATION REPAIRER" 15 APRil. 5, 2001 RESQLUITOO #01-102 Authorizing Application for USEPA Special Project (CSO) Grant Adopted RESOLUITOO #01-103 Authorizing Mayor to Execute 2001 Office on Aging Grant AGreement Adopted RESQLUITOO 101-104 Appointing Ottavia Kurdyla - Pernri.t Clerk Adopted RESOLUITOO #01-105 Appointing School Traffic Guards APRIL 5, 2001 RESOUJITOO #01-105 Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-106 Appointing School Traffic Guards Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-107 Authorizing Exemption fran Vendor's' License Fee - Carteret First Aid Squad Adopted RESOLUl'IOO #01-108 Professional Services - Craig Coughlin, Esq. not to exceed $5000.00 Transmission Fee Adopted was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Quinones abstained. RESOLUTION #01-106 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Mayor Failace asked if we had the names of the Traffic Guards. Councilmember Santoro said the names are Debra Muniz and Alfred Aloisio. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios RESOLUTION #01-106 "APPOINTING SCHOOL TRAFFIC GUARDS" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-107 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-107 "RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXEMPTION FROM FEE REQUIREMENT PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 186 OF THE CODE OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-108 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-108 "APPOINTING CRAIG J. COUGHLIN, ESQ. AS SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR TRANSITION MA TIERS" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. 16 RESOLUTION #01-109 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios RESOLUTION #01-109 "AUTHORIZING STIPULATION OF SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Council members Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Sohayda abstained. RESOLUTION #01-110 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-110 "RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH KILLAM ASSOCIATES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-111 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Councilmember Fazekas asked Attorney Bergen if this would generate a Provisional and inform Civil Service that we tested even though there is two (2). Attorney Bergen said he cannot guarantee that there is going to be a test issued for this position, a formal written test, but, there will be a ranking of the candidates and (inaudible). It is clearly a provisional appointment. Councilmember Fazekas asked Councilmember Santoro if this means you are going to request a test......... An unidentified man interrupted saying that "you people have microphones and you don't use them." Councilmember Fazekas asked the man if he could hear him at that point. 17 APRIL 5, 2001 RESQLUITOO #01-109 Authorizing StilUlatiœ of Sett1mmt ad Disni.ssal 1è: M. PJatt Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-110 Professional Services - Killan Associates, Re: Various Projects Adopted RESOLUITOO 101-111 Appointing John Pieczyski - Police Otief APRil. 5, 2001 RESOUJITOO #01-111 Cant: The man said no. Councilmember Fazekas told Councilmember Santoro as the Police Commissioner he is going to recommend a Civil Service Test. He voted yes. Councilmember Quinones said she was having some trouble with this appointment. She explained that one of the main things with appointing a Police Director was there were a lot of problems in the Department at the time and the Police (inaudible) that was in charge just felt that bringing someone in that was from the outside and neutral would help to alleviate some of that and regardless of whether one supports a Chief verses a Police Director he doesn't think there is anyone in the Police Department that can legitimately deny that the Police Department is not better off today then a couple of years ago. She thinks there has been a tremendous amount of improvement. It is not just in the facilities here but to the way the operations have to run and one of the things she feels is most significant is when there were promotions to be made for anything, people were given an opportunity to interview, put forth their credentials and why they should be selected for a certain position and that never happened. The person was essentially selected, she did not know on what criteria, because this announced at 12:30 at night at the last Agenda Meeting and Councilmember Santoro basically said she was putting a resolution on to appoint John Pieczyski, Acting Chief of Police, no explanation as to what the criteria was, whether she even talked to the other Captain, which she found out she did not. Actually she asked her if she had paid him the courtesy of the phone call and she said that she had not spoken to him yet and she believed did not speak to him until this week. She finds this whole project to be absolutely atrocious, that she would totally disregard another member of the department that totally qualifies for the position and possibly Lieutenants who may have also been considered for that position and picked somebody with no rhyme or reason other than that person has, in her mind, the highest ranking officer and essentially because of that she cannot vote on this because then that is ratifying a process that she does not believe in and she votes No. Councilmember Reiman said a couple of years the Police Committee recommended the Council went with a Police Director. This resolution brings back alive the position of Police Chief and appoints somebody that served as the senior Captain in his position. He commented that certainly both Captains they have are well qualified. The Committee recommended last week at the Agenda Meeting that the Council's choice based upon one being the Senior individual until Civil Service can have the test and they can make their determination then. Captains Pieczyski and Hojecki are both well qualified respectful individuals. He voted yes. 18 Councilmember Santoro said if the Police Department is better off today than it was years ago she commends the people within the Police Department. It doesn't happen magically when an individual walks in on the top and creates a new department. It came from the people within the department that have always been hard working and done their jobs. The person at the top should be somebody that could be their leader, someone they could work with and what better than someone they have worked with over twenty (20) some odd years. As far as Remy questioning how they selected and why they did it the way they did it. She said they felt eliminating quote "politics", eliminating selectiveness because there are so many individuals that can be considered for this position, to wait for the actual testing that they picked the Senior Ranking Officer and she told Councilmember Quinones that he is the person, when she was on the Police Committee, that she picked over another individual, so she commented that she guessed they both agreed. Councilmember Quinones said she had interviewed all of them and gave then the opportunity to show her and all the people on the committee why they deserved that position. She said Councilmember Santoro had not even given the other candidate the courtesy of phone call to let him know she was making that decision. She questioned how she could do that. Councilmember Santoro said that phone calls were made Friday morning to all individuals........ Councilmember Quinones interrupted commenting that it was a week before she was going to make a decision. Councilmember Santoro commented to Councilmember Quinones that when she was on that committee she did as she saw fit and now they are doing as they see fit. She had based her decision on her opinion and this is their opinion and their decision. Councilmember Quinones said she took recommendations from officers within the department, which she also did not do. Councilmember Santoro voted yes. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Santoro and Rios RESOLUTION #01-111 "APPOINTING JOHN PIECZYSKI TO THE POSITION OF CHIEF OF POLICE IN THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Quinones voted No. 19 APRil. 5, 2001 RESOLUITOO 101-111 Cant: Adopted APRil. 5, 2001 RESOUJITOO #01-111 Cœments Mayor Failace told the Clerk that once again they keep speaking about this test that Civil Service is going to do and they will see. He said number one, he goes with the Councilwoman that there was no interview process. He said this was given to them at more like 12:00 on a Thursday night. There is always the due process, so we are looking at education, a young captain who has gone to one of the most expedient schools. He believes a Command Officer, Officer's Training right now, that wasn't addressed. Again quite honestly, the Director has a Bachelor's and Master's Degree and a possible finishing of another Master's Degree very shortly and he did not get all of this at our expense. He commented that this Council does not also realize that there is a Chain of Commands in the Police Department. He said there was no interview process and when he called one (I) of the Captains to talk about it he did not know what he was talking about, he hadn't even heard about it and he felt bad that he had broke the bad news to him. He thinks it is kind of sad that we say we will wait until Civil Service possibly gives or doesn't give the test and then they will interview. He said he has looked at the files of both Captains. Councilmember Santoro asked if that was when you also told him you could remove them from the building. Mayor Failace said yes. Councilmember Reiman said something about calling the Prosecutor's Office and having the Personnel Files sent into his office. Mayor Failace said they left the Police Building and then he gave them right back to him. He said if anyone thinks it is not proper what he did, he asked the Clerk originally, not that she is an attorney, if he was allowed bring them back here and she said she thought she could. When they were brought to him, it was questioned as to whether he could and he called the attorney. He followed everything that was proper, so he said not to make any insinuations about what he did or what he didn't. Councilmember Reiman said just to clarify they had left the Police Department he believes the Captain (inaudible) get a hold of the attorney so he asked the County Prosecutor if they could leave. Mayor Failace said whether they did or not, he did not even go that far. He said take them back he doesn't even want them, but the bottom line is at least he thought to look and see and it is said that the process was not done correctly or the right way. Councilmember Santoro told him that was in his eyes and she said the thing that is sad is that this is a positive thing for Carteret and again he is going to sit there and look at a different side of it and they are going to take an individual who is definitely qualified for this position, must have the support of the people within that 20 department and you are still looking for another reason to put something wrong with it. Mayor Failace said there is nothing quite amazing about that. When they interviewed for a Director we opened it to the Department and anyone that could have applied for it applied for it. We interviewed. Councilmember Rios said that he interviewed when he just said prior to this that you wanted (inaudible) politics so you didn't want anyone from within. Mayor Failace said they were allowed to fill out an interview form for that position. Councilmember Rios said that he just said five (5) minutes ago....... Mayor Failace said he didn't say anything........ Councilmember Rios and Mayor Failace argued back and forth for a short period of time. Councilmember Rios said Ms. Quinones said she did not want anyone from the Department. Councilmember Quinones said she did not say that. She said that there had been problems with the Chief of Police who was here before and one way that they thought to resolve that was to bring someone in from the outside, that is entirely different then not giving them the opportunity to interview. Councilmember Rios said they gave them the opportunity to interview but they had their mind made up, where they pre-judged their determination....... Councilmember Quinones said just like he did when he picked Captain Hojecki. Councilmember Rios again mentioned that she did not want anyone from the Department for the Director. Councilmember Quinones said that is not what she said. Mayor Failace said he thought the process is being done backwards. We will give the test and then we will interview some of the guys and right now there is only two (2) men that can sit for that test. If you could only go down two (2) ranks he believes from Deputy Chief, but he believes we have no Deputy Chief so we go down to Captain. We will find out. Councilmember Rios asked Mayor Failace if he is telling him he never appointed a person to a position in this Borough and that 21 APRIL 5, 2001 RESOLUITOO 101-111 Cœments APRil. 5, 2001 RESOUJITOO #01-111 Cœments RESOUJITOO #01-112 Appointing William Richert - Temporary Fire Prevention Inspector, ICS Adopted RESOUJITOO #01-113 Authorizing Stip.Jlatim of ~ arl (ße:lli. Relœse, ~: D. ~ generated a Civil Service List and then appointed them permanentl y. Mayor Failace told Councilmember Rios that he is talking about different levels. You don't talk about appointing a typist, etc. There is a difference between your Chief of Police or Captain. Councilmember Rios asked if that was backwards. Mayor Failace told him no, he may not think so, he is saying you can do that but there is a difference. He is saying when we did Captain there is those who were interviewed first and then asked if he was correct. They were also asked to give......... Councilmember Rios asked the Mayor again if he has never appointed a......... Mayor Failace said absolutely, he has appointed a Clerk Typist, a Laborer, etc. Councilmember Rios said, then the tests went out and then you formally appointed that position to that person. Mayor Failace said he didn't think any of those tests were called for. Councilmember Rios asked him if he said he was doing it backwards. Mayor Failace said no. He once again commented that there is a difference between a Chief of Police and other positions that he may be talking about. RESOLUTION #01-112 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios RESOLUTION #01-112 "APPOINTING WILLIAM RICHERT TO THE POSITION OF FIRE PROTECTION INSPECTOR, ICS, FOR THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" was adopted. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-113 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. 22 Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Santoro RESOLUTION #01-113 "AUTHORIZING STIPULATION OF SETTLEMENT AND GENERAL RELEASE" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. RESOLUTION #01-114 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-114 "ACCEPTING DOWNTOWN AND BUSINESS DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT GRANT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND BOROUGH CLERK TO EXECUTE DOCUMENTS" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Reiman thanked Councilmember Santoro for working hard on this grant with the county. Mayor Failace thanked John Riggio for putting the whole thing together and doing all the work. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas all bills appearing upon prepared list, properly audited and signed were ordered to be paid. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazkeas, Quinones, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Council member Reiman abstained because he doesn't vote on anything with Shop Rite in it. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of the following reports: Board of Health - February 2001 Clerk's Office - March 2001 Social Services - January & February 2001 23 APRil. 5, 2001 RESOLUITOO 101-113 Cant: Adopted RESOLUITOO #01-114 Authorizing Mayor to Execute Downtown and Business District :ünprovanent Fund Grant Agreement Adopted PA'iMFNf OF BILL5 REPORl'S Departments AlRIL 5, :un <XHm'l'EES Cont: Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present all reports were ordered to be received and placed on File. BUILDINGS & GROUNDS - Committee Chairperson Quinones reported they had the opening of the Community Center and Dedication. They are still ironing out some of the scheduling with moving some people over. There is " Meals on Wheels" and there is room for more people to participate. There was a new heating service installed in the Social Services Building and she has asked Tony Neibert to coordinate with our Engineer for following through on it and the Emergency Exit Door for the Police Building and some items in the Fire House that need to be addressed. They have also retained a Cleaning Solution Specialist to abate any problems in Borough Hall in the lower level, such as removing the carpeting and sanitizing the area. She said as usual Jason and Arnold are doing a good job. Progress. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION: Committee Chairperson Reiman said as the public mayor may not be aware the proposed tax increase has been cut from eight (8) cents to four (4) cents, so we are now awaiting numbers from a state agency. He went on to say there was a letter and articles in the News Tribune and Ledger yesterday about an issue with the Turnpike. The Board of Health was asked to look into the issues. A Notice of Violation was issued to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and they had a five (5) man crew cleaning up yesterday part of Roosevelt Avenue and the Turnpike Interchange in Carteret. He said that Tony Neibert is back and is continuing his inspections. He said we have a list of Borough owned land and equipment that they are going to auction off. Then they will bring in some revenue to the Borough . He also spoke of some landlocked property the Borough owns in Carteret. Mayor Failace said he thinks we should talk about that at the Council Meeting. Councilmember Reiman said it is being itemized and turned over for discussion at the Agenda Meeting. Councilmember Rios asked Councilmember Quinones about the progress on our microphones. Councilmember Quinones said she gave him the report from the individual that came in. It didn't seem like the Council was that interested in proceeding about it. She said she would take another look at it if he wanted her to. Councilmember Rios said if she would and then bring it up at the next Agenda Meeting. Attorney Bergen asked if we are going in conjunction with the courts to buy this. 24 Councilmember Rios said yes. FIRE: Committee Chairperson Rios spoke saying on March 18th the Fire Department conducted a joint training drill with the Woodbridge Fire Department for forceful entry techniques, etc. He went on to say recently the Fire Department participated in a "Reach Across America Program" in our schools and it was such a success that the Firefighters have offered to visit the school on weekly basis to read for the younger students. Five (5) Firefighters have volunteered to attend a Pre-Juvenille Fire (Inaudible) Training Program in Middlesex Fire Academy. It teaches Firefighters how to interview and deal with children who set fires. Our Fire Department has also started a new program called a "File of Life" He said he hoped our newspapers would pick this up because it is important. It is offered to any Carteret senior citizen or any resident with special medical needs. They are required to fill out a card listing their health information, medical history, emergency contact numbers and other important information. The card is placed in a magnetic holder on the refrigerator for easy access. This program has been such a success that representative of AARP have contacted firefighters to learn more about the program. He said anyone interested in the program should contact Fire Headquarters at 541-8000. Progress. PARKS & RECREATION: Committee Chairperson Santoro said this Sunday, April 8th at Carteret Park will be the annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Honorary PBA and the PBA. It begins at 2:00 p.m. At Veterans Field they have added an on deck area for the players, which as a fenced in area it should eliminate a potentially dangerous situation when the other players are swinging the bats because they will be in a separated area. Opening Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 21st and for information call the Little League Office at 541-2999. She said last night she and Mr. Kately met with the Little League and the Girls Softball League. At the last Agenda there was a big discussion on the field, boys verses girls and the mounds verses no mounds and they met Wednesday night and they sat down and talked to each other and they have come up with a terrific solution that they are both happy with and then hopefully next year they will discuss it again. She said they are looking at bringing in a portable mound in the fall. POLICE: Committee Chairperson Santoro congratulated Chief Pieczyski at this point and commented that he is a wonderful individual and thinks he will do a fine job and looks for support for him. She said in March there was many different courses of training for the Officers. She said these are something that we are dedicated to and will continue to do as the year progresses. Councilmember Santoro said in reference to neither Parks or Police, she did receive today, a call from Congressman Menendez's Aide in Wasington, saying that the Congressman will be formally requesting inclusion in the Appropriation Bill for 25 APRil. 5, 2001 aHIITl'EES Cant: APRil. 5, 2001 ~ Cont: Carteret for $100,000.00 for improvements for Borough Hall. The bill is the Veterans and Housing and Urban Development Appropriation Bill. We do have money we are asking for in our Assembly and Senate for Borough Hall for 2.4 million dollars, but we can't stop until we do realize some of this money. Congressman Menendez has always tried to help Carteret and down in Washington he works very hard for the districts he represents. She said she feels comfortable and confident that with him behind us we will probably be able to get some money to help us in the renovation of Borough Hall. She said we have to keep looking because eventually one of them will come in. Councilmember Rios suggested that it might be wise for us to try to (unaudible) him or other Congressmen on that committee with phone calls in support of that bill. Councilmember Reiman said he would like to put a resolution on in support of that bill. Councilmember Santoro said they will discuss it at the Agenda. PUBLIC WORKS: Committee Chairperson Sohayda said the Recycling Department is keeping up with its normal tasks. Streets and Roads and Recycling and also for the yard, they are putting in for a new list for bringing the wood at the Recycling Center. They are going to be asking for name and license plate. There is a large amount of contractors who are dropping wood off and paying significant dollars to have this wood removed. He said under Mayor Sica we paid nothing for leaves and wood removal because the place where it went also sold it after they got it from us and didn't charge us for it. Now we have to keep a little better hand on it. He went on to say in the Sewer Department we have two (2) new trucks for the cleaning of the sewers. They have a third coming in tomorrow morning to see the difference in these trucks. They are pretty impressive. Councilman Reiman was there. There is a significant dollar difference in each truck too. They have been cleaning Bergen and Essex Streets regularly with these trucks to see how they compare under what we believe is our hardest conditions. We have leamed that there are a lot of recyclables in the sewer and that the trees in the neighborhood are breaking through these sewer lines and creating a large problem. These new trucks have the capabilities of having tree rooters on the truck. As far as Streets and Roads everybody has been patching and putting up signs and if anybody has any notification of pot holes, etc. do not hesitate to call 541-3881. He then went on to say he received a letter from the Political Action Committee from the Zion Church saying he was rude to Mr. Jones. He commented that Mr. Jones was not in the audience this evening and he went on to ask the members of his committee to accept his apology and he went on to apologize. Other then that Progress. BOARD OF EDUCATION - Committee Chairperson Fazekas spoke saying he rescheduled the meeting with the Board of Education for Wednesday and he is trying to get some agreements 26 and hopefully some grant money he applied for and requested. He had missed the last Council Meeting, he was meeting with County Officials about a (CDC), which is a County Data Center. This was just a rough draft. He was trying on a County level to do something they could do on a Local level. Basically it tabled. Shared services for technology and to consolidate it on a county level. It would increase our buying power, consolidate some of our work, in terms of what we could do with technology. It seems like he never presented it correctly and he would have to do a better job at that. He was successful though, with Comcast that he had pre-quoted earlier concerning our cables and it appears that we will be able to get one (I) of the channels of the three (3) that had been promised to us in 1994. One of those would be available as a public bulletin board that we can share as the Borough and also the Board of Education until they get their own channel. He also was told at the end of this year there will be a letter going out which is called 626, which is a letter to notify the Borough that the Comcast Agreement is due up in 2003. That is where we are suppose to establish a Advisory Board to make recommendations on the next agreement concerning fee, type of training, it could be what is owed to the Borough. Other municipalities have divided this Advisory Board and he thinks it is wise for us to probably pool with the other Boroughs. He said he also has a Department Head meeting going over our technology and also our ordinance concerning an Internet Access and also went over the entire Borough IT Structure and hopefully they will be able to implement the next phase which will provide Email to the Borough employees and they had a little trouble with Comcast and there seems to be a little difficulty with the representing. Progress. At approximately 8:50 p.m., Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. Councilmember Reiman said he wanted to add to the Finance and Administration. There was a question from the audience two (2) weeks ago regarding Green Acres and John Street parking. He said he has directed the Business Administrator and he knows he has contacted Mr. Riggio to look into John Street parking from the old Master Plan and he has also contacted the County. Apparently some of the property now is Green Acres money, behind John Street that is Green Acres Park and we have no clear title to this but we are attempting to establish, at one point in time, the Borough took over ownership of this property and they do need to contact the County to do a Title Search and Deed Search of the property. He just wanted to let the audience know that we are investigating this. Councilmember Rios spoke asking Councilmember Reiman to speak about what they had done on Saturday, ttmSaturday was Career Day at Liberty State Park and the Borough Council and 27 APRil. 5, 2001 ŒH\TITEES Cant: Cotmci1member Fazekas noted absent APRil. 5, 2001 aHITITEES Cant: PROCUMATIOO Autism Awareness Month 2001 Mayor had given permission for our committee to use one of the Borough buses. They did take one of the teachers from the High School and ten (10) students. He had sent a letter out to all the Community Action Groups and Churches in the Borough inviting them to attend this and they did get the ten (10) students and he thanked Ms. Naples. The students learned a lot and it was a good experience and he thanked Councilman Rios and again thanked the Council for the bus. Councilmember Rios said it was a good day and it showed students that is trades available for the students who may not pursue a college education. He thanked the Mayor and Council. The Mayor read the following proclamation into the record: AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH 2001 WHEREAS, autism is a pervasive developmental disorder affecting the social, learning and behavioral skills of those affected by it; and WHEREAS, autism was once thought to be a relatively rare disorder, affecting only one in 10,000 people; and WHEREAS, as more and more health professionals become proficient in diagnosing autism, more children are being diagnosed on the autistic spectrum, resulting in rates as low as one in 500 children; and WHEREAS, while there is no cure for autism, it is well- documented that if an individual with autism receives treatment early in their lives, it is often possible for that individual to make significant improvement; and WHEREAS, the New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community (COSAC) is spearheading an awareness effort in order to educate parents, professionals and the general public about autism and its effects; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I, MAYOR JAMES A. FAILACE do hereby proclaim April, 2001 as AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH in the BOROUGH OF CARTERET, and urge all employees and residents to participate in our municipality's Autism Awareness Month activities, in order to become better educated on the subject of autistic spectrum di sorders. Mayor Failace then said on May 5th the area Special Olympics would be held in Carteret. This is the second time in about ten (10) years. It is a wonderful time for them and he would like to maybe get the High School Band to play for it and get as many residents as possible to attend it. After this they would move on to the Special Olympics in Trenton. 28 Mayor Failace then said that former Councilmember Jim Mancuso had gotten some paint donated to us and he spoke to the Council about it at the Agenda Meeting. He has to speak to the Supervisor of Parks about the possibility of painting our Skate Park. It would be organized graffiti by our young people to have it look as they would like it to look. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was declared open for public discussion. Jim Mancuso, Carteret A venue, said he spoke to Bob already and he is all for the painting of the Skate Park if the Council okays it. Another thing he questioned is in reference to the Industrial Road, about two (2) years ago Mr. Giordiano dumped dirt on the back of the road. He has been in and out of court and there was an arrest warrant for him and he didn't get arrested. The just of the matter is he has made over a couple of hundred thousand dollars dumping the dirt there. So far he has been fined a thousand dollars. He was told to remove it so many times and he has been back and forth in court. That is the road where you are getting all the flooding on the opposite side of the highway. Councilmember Reiman asked where this has happened. Mr. Mancuso said down the Industrial Road where the De Bella property is, past the car wash. That property there was six (6) feet below the road level and now is three (3) feet above the road level. He said today he went by there and there is four (4) new piles. He said it is contaminated clay that he cannot get rid of from Woodbridge. They don't know if the dirt is contaminated. Our engineers reported that it may be undermining the road because of the pressure of the dirt up against the road when it rains hard and the dirt gets wet, yet he is constantly putting dirt there. He commented that he thought the man should be arrested. Councilmember Reiman said that they could direct Borough Attorney Bergen to talk to the DEP. He then went on to say just so the Council is aware, Mr. Mancuso is the Chairman of the Planning Board and the Mayor and himself had sat on the Planning Board, going back about a year and change. South Shore Properties is looking for an application for a site plan for bringing in the dirt and he denied that and ordered them to remove it. It has been tied up in court the last year and one half. He commented to Mr. Mancuso that if what he said about them bringing in more dirt is true then he imagined if the police see them, at the time, they could cite them. 29 APRil. 5, 2001 PUBLIC DIsruSSIOO Skate Park GiOl:diano, Re: Ibnping of Dirt on Industrial Rd. APRIL 5, 2001 Dirt Dunping Cant: AME Zion <1turch Greg Denton Private Entity Grant Housing Authority Letter Jim Mancuso said he did not see why someone cannot call the DEP to come in there, when the place is contaminated He questioned how he could just arbitrarily dump there. Councilmember Reiman said they would contact the Board of Health. Councilmember Quinones asked Attorney Bergen if he would talk to the Prosecutor about this. Mary Fontaine then spoke saying she would like to correct Councilmember Sohayda. The group that is down at the Peoples AME Zion Church is not a political group. It is Carteret Community Action Committee and it is open to anybody in Carteret that would like to come. It is not political, it is community. Greg Denton, President of the PBA then spoke saying the PBA supports the position of Chief, not so much the appointment of John Pieczyski, but, appointing John Pieczyski is the fairest way to have done it. It supports the senior and then one, two and three. The highest ranking is the proper way and this is moving the department forward. Stanley Gutowski said at the last Council Meeting he asked the administration about the Private Entity Grant and was asking if there was any information on it. Attorney Bergen said it is an outside grant and should be outside police work and that is clearly what it is and it is presumable to charge different rates. Stan Gutowski said he has a question for the Council and said he had spoken to Councilmembers Fazekas and Quinones and asked the other members of the Council if they were aware of the letter that was sent to the Housing Authority. The letter represented speaking on behalf of the Council. He said he had the letter present and he read what the letter said, stating that "any member of the Housing Authority wishing to come before this Council and representing themselves as members of the Housing Authority should request to be placed on the Agenda and notify the Council on what they wish to talk about." He questioned if a letter like this was sent to any other Board or unit in this town. Councilmember Reiman told Mr. Gutowski that he stated that he was there to speak on "behalf' of the Housing Authority. Councilmember Quinones commented even if he did why did he need permission to speak and give them prior notice. Council member Reiman said they would simply need to know if he showed up to express his views or the views of this actual independent agency. 30 Councilmember Quinones questioned if they would need prior notice to make that determination. Stanley Gutowski asked if this was sent to any other board in town. Council member Reiman said certainly. Stanley Gutowski asked if he sent it to the Planning Board because people have come here and said they are from the Planning Board and then asked if he sent it to the Board of Education. Councilmember Reiman said no one was speaking on behalf of them. Councilmember Quinones said he sent that letter on behalf of her, she is a Councilmember and he never told her about it. Stanley Gutowski said he just asked the Council about the letter and they knew nothing about it, so he hears that he is accusing him, that he represented himself. . . . . . Councilmember Reiman said something inaudible. Stanley Gutowski asked Councilmember Reiman if he approved it. Did he tell him to do it and then commented "Come on Dan, pass the buck." Councilmember Reiman said he just told him in the audience he directed the Business Administrator to contact the Housing Authority in letter form and ask them if they want to do a presentation or someone wants to come in hear and speak....... Stanley Gutowski said they want to deny him his right to stand here and ask questions. Councilmember Reiman said as a citizen, absolutely not. Stanley Gutowski said he has an appointment and he has a job to do at the Housing Authority. If he has a concern he will come here and ask. He then asked who the Council was who wanted to be notified and commented "you, Councilman Reiman." He commented that the Council didn't even know he sent the letter. Councilmember Reiman told Mr. Gutowski that he said he was there to represent the Housing Authority but the only people who could represent the Housing Authority are the Chairperson and the Executi ve Director. Stanley Gutowski said he is a member and he can talk about it. Councilmember Reiman said he can talk about it but he cannot represent it. 31 APRIL 5, 2001 Housing Authority Cant: APRil. 5, 2001 Housing Authority Cant: Councilmember Quinones questioned who said that and asked Attorney Bergen if there was a rule that they have to give prior notice to a Council if they want to come and represent it. Councilmember Reiman said that is a courtesy request asking if they want to represent the Housing Authority on a specific issue or news that they simply ask us and we will put them on the Agenda. He told Mr. Gutowski that when he contacted the Executive Director he told him he was not aware to his knowledge that the Board of Commissioners never asked him to represent their views so he was representing the views of Stanley Gutowski and that is fine. Councilmember Quinones said she thinks he said he was a member but whether he said he was a member or not, she hates to get into what she considers dangerous areas, telling people that they do not have the right to come here........... Councilmember Reiman told Councilmember Quinones that it was not true and he asked her how she would dare say that. Councilmember Quinones asked him how he would dare put her name to a letter that she had no knowledge of and she certainly would not support. Councilmember Rios said he thinks the intent of Councilmember Reiman was for anyone from any board, if they wish to come up and speak before the Council, should have permission to do so from the Council. He does not feel that is so bad. Stanley Gutowski told Councilmember Rios that it may not be so bad but to single out a single agency........this Borough was just involved in a discrimination suit that was recently settled and this borders on the same thing. If you do not send this to every board and agency in town it is discriminating against the Carteret Housing Authority and its membership by denying them the right to come here and speak on an issue that involves the Housing Authority. A voice in audible to the transcriber said, "Absolutely not, absolutely not." Stanley Gutowski asked the person with the inaudible voice if they even ran it by him and if they did the person would have told him not to send it. Councilmember Reiman asked if there was anything wrong with (inaudible). Attorney Bergen said there is nothing wrong with the Council requesting (inaudible). Councilmember Quinones said if in fact the Council discussed and requested it, but certain members were not told about it. 32 Stanley Gutowski asked if it was discussed at the last Agenda Meeting. Councilmember Quinones said no. Stanley Gutowski commented that they mentioned prosecutor up here and he knows Daphne Miles has something to say on behalf of the Housing Authority but the Attorney General is involved already for discrimination. Mayor Failace said he listened to the tapes of the meeting and certainly Mr. Gutowski did not say he was here representing, he did say he is (inaudible) of. Councilmember Reiman said when somebody comes on behalf of an Agency or Commission, this Council needs to know that they are speaking on behalf of that Agency or Commission or speaking simply as an individual. That is the only point that is being made. He questioned if the Council needs to send out a letter about that to all the Agencies and Commissions. Mayor Failace told Councilmember Reiman, first of all, that they complained that they are members of the Board of Education, but the issue is that anyone ftom one of the Boards or Commissions can come up here, having every right to ask questions. He personally would say not to send that letter to any of the Boards. He commented that they haven't had any problems in the past with it. Councilmember Quinones said she wanted to say, for the record, that if any Councilmember wants to send out a letter addressing itself ftom the entire Council they should at least clear it with everybody because she does not support that at all. Daphne Miles, 25 Pulaski Avenue then spoke saying she is a member of the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and if she wasn't she would still say what she was going to say. She directed this to the Mayor and Council that she just forwarded her letter to the Attorney General because she wants him to give her a ruling on this. She told Councilmember Reiman that she has been coming here for about three (3) years and have seen many organizations come and speak before the Governing Body and address themselves representing their organizations. She will wait for the ruling to come back and if it is in her favor she will maybe take it to the next step. Daphne Miles and Councilmember Reiman argued back and forth shortly. Daphne Miles then went on to say that she sits on the Housing Authority as a Commissioner. It is not a paid position and she gets phone calls every hour about something and some of those phone calls don't allow her just to talk on the phone. Many times she gets 33 APRil. 5, 2001 Housing Authority Cant: DapIme Hiles APRil. 5, 2001 Daphne Miles Cant: up one or two or three o'clock in the morning that she would get up and she does not get paid for it. She told Councilmember Reiman that she will not allow him to think he has that much power that he can tell her when or when she cannot speak, and on behalf of who she cannot speak because every time she has come up to the microphone she always said she is Daphne Miles, 25 Pulaski Street and if it pertains to the Housing Authority she will speak on it because 99% of the times she is speaking on her opinion. So she said it just makes you wonder why all of a sudden the commissioners get a letter saying that when we want to speak on the problems of the Housing Authority we have to get the approval of this Council. She commented that was ridiculous. She said she will wait for the ruling to come back. She said she talked out to the DCA and they do not believe that the Council has the right to send out that kind ofletter. She commented if that was the case he should have sent it out to every Borough Official because he is not going to tell her that they don't come up here and represent and they don't always come to him. She told Councilmember Reiman that he will never be able to stop her because she is a resident and taxpayer of Carteret. Councilmember Reiman asked Attorney Bergen if it is legal for a member of authority, or a commission or agency to come up and represent themselves in speaking on that organization without that organization's consent. Attorney Bergen said he didn't know of any particular law that prohibits it. He went on to say one way to resolve it if they have a problem if someone gets up instead of him, may want to ask him if this is a position that the Board has formally taken either by vote or by any other means to let you know it is a position the board has taken and ask them to come up before the Council. Councilmember Reiman asked Daphne Miles if the Housing Authority has voted one way or another on that issue. Daphen Miles questioned what issue. Councilmember Reiman said the issue that Mr. Gutowski made pertaining to police and security. Daphne Miles said it is not an issue because we don't have that kind of grant the Village and the Manor have. They have (inaudible) as a set price. Councilmember Reiman asked if that meant the Housing Authority had no position on it. Attorney Bergen said the grant that they are talking about has not gone to the Housing Authority. Councilmember Reiman said he understood that but asked if someone would like to represent the Housing Authority on that issue and asked if the Board had taken a stand one way or another. 34 Daphne Miles said they have taken a stand saying that they cannot pay the kind of money that the other part that connects us is getting ready to pay. Councilmember Reiman asked if the Board voted on that. Daphne Miles said there is nothing to say. The money says it. Patricia Rodriquez spoke saying she is a member of the Carteret Community Action Council, the Police Watch and a member of St. Joseph's Church. She went on to say on Saturday night her seventeen (17) year old son was car jacked out of Carmen's Pizzeria and held captive for three (3) hours. Even though the crime took place at the township of Woodbridge there was great response by the Carteret Police Department, Debbie the Dispatcher, two (2) of our newer officers and all the men that were out on the road helped resolve the situation on Roosevelt Avenue and they received the safe return of her son. She thanked everyone involved in the search for her son. Frank Wall, 19 Wedgewood Drive. He said he is here on behalf of the Maintenance people on the Turnpike to thank Councilmember Reiman for sending the letter into the paper. There was twelve (12) maintenance people held over last night on overtime to clean the place up. He then went on to thank the Road Department for doing a good job on the pot holes and then thanked the police for giving out tickets by the light and slowing down the traffic. A man whose name was inaudible to the transcriber said he was from 30 Atlantic Street and he lived in Carteret for eleven (11) years. He drives a taxi cab and he parks in his driveway all night. He said he was told by the Police Department that he was not allowed to drive into Carteret. Attorney Bergen told him he could drive it from work to home in Carteret. He said he is not sure but there may be an ordinance prohibiting parking the taxi in a residential zone. Mayor Failace told the man that Captain Hojecki will speak to him. James Mancuso asked if anyone knew when the signs prohibiting cell phones would be put in Carteret. Councilmember Reiman said he will check on it. Pat Tozzi said he is speaking as the AARP State Representative Tax Aide. He said they have been doing taxes for the Senior Citizens for the past eight (8) years in Carteret. He said they got very good cooperation from the Tax Office for the past three (3) years as they implemented the Property Tax Relief. He said thirty- five (35) percent of their Senior Citizens are of low income and they are entitled to this, but, they have to get documents signed by the Tax Office and he thanked the people of the Tax Office. 35 APRil. 5, 2001 Daphne Hiles/Housing Authority Cant: Patricia Rodriquez Frank Wall Taxi Cabs Signs, Re: Cell Phones AARP State ~ve Thx Aiœ AmIL 5, 2001 Mr.Radwaan Joe Gentile Director of Public Works Police Director/ (bief Mr. Radwaan thanked everyone for their support and he also thanked Mr. Mangieri and the Board of Education. He asked Councilmember Santoro how many years she was President and Vice President of the Board of Education. Councilmember Santoro said she was President one (I) year and Vice President five (5) years during the years 1990 to 1996. Attorney Bergen advised Councilmember Santoro not to speak any further on this. Joe Gentile, Oak Street, Carteret. He congratulated the Police Chief and said he hopes he gets the Police Chief salary. His question to the Council is that they said earlier that they would save $8000.00 by getting rid of the Director of Public Works. They are concerned about saving money and so is he, however he does not see how they are going to save any money by making a Police Chief and (inaudible) after the Chiefs pay. He commented that the Director Elg had just signed a contract for three (3) years starting in January. He questioned why they need two (2) people doing the same job when they are trying to save money. Mayor Failace told Mr. Gentile that they won't have two (2) people for the same job. He explained that the Chief of Police will run the day to day operations of the Borough. The Director will no longer do that. He will do policy and budgets. Mr. Gentile asked how that would save the Borough money. Councilmember Santoro said she wanted to go back to the Director of Streets and Roads and she commented that she didn't hear the concerns of the saving of the money, as the position was done incorrectly. At that point is that there was an ordinance disallowing Parks to go under that position. Mr. Gentile asked the Mayor how they would be saving the $8000.00 and someone has to do this job, he is promoted to it. Councilmember Reiman said what had happened is the Council wanted to put Parks under the Borough Ordinance that is currently effective, but, they weren't able to do that. They asked the Borough Attorney and even the Mayor agreed that we had a couple of options, one would have been to eliminate the position and he would have been in support of that and one would have been to restructure the Administrative Ordinance and allow (inaudible) for a chain in commands. Councilmember Santoro said as far as the Director and Chief, at this point, we are paying two (2) salaries and he is right the Police Committee will have to look and see if we are spending our money the way we want to, or if there is different way they can possibly save. 36 Mr. Gentile commented that she keeps saying she is going to the County and the State, so he asked why she doesn't go to the Freeholders, especially Crabie1, who promised Carteret three (3) years in a row, that he is going to get money into Carteret. He commented to tell him that Joe Gentile is still waiting to get the Exit 12 ........ the plans for that were already made up so they don't have to spend anymore money to get more plans for Exit 12. He said we don't need a 12A. It will only benefit Linden. Mayor Failace said he spoke at the last meeting and he has spoken to our Council already and our engineer and it said that Exit 12A is nothing to Carteret. Councilmember Rios said he believed that he had heard sentiment from each Councilmember saying that they are against l2A. Councilmember Reiman told Mr. Gentile, just to let him know that the Borough Engineer got a look at this contract from the county and he believes he has obtained copies of some of the plans for this (inaudible) and he believes the Mayor is aware of, from a couple of years ago, so, presenting it to the Council we can at least give our input and we need to take out the county's input and we can go to the state (inaudible). Mayor Failace said a year ago the County, the Turnpike, etc. with these alternatives, so everyone is aware of the alternatives that were out there to fix the Turnpike and the problem with the Turnpike. Sam Lugo, 24 Fitch Street, Carteret. He wanted to thank the Council that voted for the contract and settled with this finally. It has been a long time coming. It is a fair contract on both sides and he applauds them and thanks them on behalf of all the Borough workers. Kevin Urban, 33 Atlantic Street. His concern tonight is the deal with the Turnpike. He said they fore stated that Roosevelt Avenue is a county road. His question is to facilitate the flow of traffic off the Turnpike through the Easy Pass, why can't the Council contact the State Police and maybe a County Agency and have the police direct traffic there. Mayor Failace said they could maybe talk to the County to adjust the time of the light. Kevin Urban said the second part of the question is they have heard a lot of discussion regarding the Turnpike and he questioned if the Council could look into the budget to see if any money was allocated by the Turnpike Authority for any future developments on to that. Mayor Failace said what they allocated money to is study and it seems that what came out of the study is Exit 12A and to him and 37 APRIL 5, 2001 Joe Gentile Exit 12 San ù.Jgo Kevin Urban APRil. 5, 2001 Mr.Raadwan R&')(JUJl'IOO #01-115 Resolution to go into Closed Session Adopted ~ CLOSED MEEI'll(; 0PmID ADJOORNED the Council that means nothing. He said they have alternatives that the Engineer is working on. Mr. Raadwan apologized to Councilmember Santoro for questioning her earlier in the meeting. RESOLUTION #01-115 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios RESOLUTION #01-115 "RESOLUTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. At approximately 9:45 p.m., this meeting was closed. Upon MMS&C by Councilmember by Councilmembers Sohayda and Reiman and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present this meeting was opened to the public at approximately 10:25 p.m. There being no further business or discussion, upon MMS&C by Councilmembers Sohayda and Reiman and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, this meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, --, ~/.~~ KÁ.THLEENM.B y ~ Municipal Clerk KMB/lr 38