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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2001/06/07 JUNE ?, 2001 The Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of COUNCIL MEETING Carteret was called to order by Mayor James A. Failace approximately ?:30 P.M. on Thursday, June ?, 2001, Municipal Court/Police Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. Upon individual roll call, the following were noted present: ROLL CALL Councilmember Jack Fazekas " Remy Quinones " Daniel Reiman Ronald Rios Also noted present were Business Administrator Nicholas Goldsack and Borough Attorney Robert J. Bergen, Esq.. Noted absent were Councilmembers Janet Santoro and Buddy Sohayda. The meeting was opened with a moment of Silent Prayer and The PRAYER, PLEDGE Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor James A. Failace. OF ALLEGIANCE The Clerk stated that on June 1, 2001, in full compliance with the STATEMENT OF Open Public Meetings Act, a notice of tonight's meeting was sent to MEETING NOTICE The Home News Tribune, The Star-Ledger and posted on the bulletin board. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas and APPROVAL OF MINUTES unanimous affirmative vote of the four (4) members present, the minutes of March 15, 2001 were approved as transcribed and engrossed by the Clerk. ORDiNANCE #01-31 was introduced and adopted on First Reading ORDINANCE I01-31 and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public AMENDING & SUPPLEMENTING Hearing to be held on June 21, 2001, upon MMS&C, by ARTICLE I-GENERAL Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas. Upon individual roll call vote, PROVISIONS, CHAPTER Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman and Rios voted in the 198-PROPERTY affirmative. Councilmembers Santoro and Sohayda were noted absent. MAINTENANCE OF THE CODE, RE: REPEAT VIOLATOR <S) -- ORDINANCE #01-31 "AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING ARTICLE I 'GENERAL PROVISIONS' OF CHAPTER 198 'PROPERTY MAiNTENANCE' OF THE CODE OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" INE 7, 2001 )TED PRESENT Councilmember Sohayda was noted present at 7:32 P.M. ORDiNANCE #01-32 was introduced and adopted on First Reading tDINANCE #01-32 ~4ENDING SALARY and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public RDINANCE ~11-9, Hearing to be held on June 21, 2001, upon MMS&C, by BATTALION Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas. Upon individual roll call vote, ~IEF Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. ORDiNANCE #01-32 "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 said he supports this Ordinance the Battalion Chief has ,OPlMENTS done one heck of a job over the last couple of years and has done everything asked of him. Mayor Failace said he appreciates the job he is doing and said he felt this Council is being hypocritical because when Ted Surick was made Director of Public Works and received an -'- eight thousand-dollar increase this Council took it away from him this year. He said the Council said Mr. Surick was not doing anything different that he had not done in the last few years even though the Mayor added jobs to what he has done, he was cutting trees, doing traffic. The Mayor said he has done a number of things that were over and above what were part of his job specifications and what he is being paid for. He said many of the management people have gotten large increases and he supports it one hundred percent because they are the key team and are very important to the town as the Battalion Chief is. He said no more important than the qualified person, Mr. Surick, yet they chose to take that away and give the same type of increase to someone else. Councilmember Quinones said she would support this because she echoes the sentiments of the Mayor it is an increase that is deserved. She said she is supportive of Brian because just about everything he is asked to do he has done. She said she has to agree that she does not see how the Council could justify giving certain Supervisors raises which members of this Council and the previous Council approved. She said members of this Council have singled out Ted Surick and said he should not get the raise because mistakes were made. She said if --~ the Council wanted to talk about mistakes, with the Battalion Chief position quite a number of mistakes had been made. She asked that this Council give Mr. Surick the courtesy of reconsidering the raise that was taken away from him then putting it back in place. JUNE 7, 2001 Councilmember Rios said he introduced this Ordinance and felt it was COMMENTS a fair increase for a man who has been in this position for more than two years and has not had an increase in his salary for those responsibilities. ORDINANCE #01-33 was introduced and adopted on First Reading ORDINANCE {[01-33 and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public AMENDING SALARY Hearing to be held on June 21, 2001, upon MMS&C, by ORDINANCE #71-9, RE: AFSCME LOCAL 512291 Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Quinones abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. ORDINANCE #01-33 "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" Councilmember Quinones asked Borough Attorney Bergen why the COMMENTS Council was doing this. Borough Attorney Bergen said this was left out of the contract, it is just a correction. Mayor Failace said the contract showed ninety percent instead of a specific dollar amount. Borough Attorney Bergen said it is easier for us to manage this way and thought it was referred to at the end of the last Agenda Meeting that it would be put on when they worked out the numbers. ORDINANCE #01-34 was introduced and adopted on First Reading ORDINANCE ~:01-34 and the Clerk authorized and directed to advertise same for Public CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT Hearing to be held on June 21, 2001, upon MMS&C, by FULLY FUNDED, APPROPRIATING Councilmembers Reiman and Rios. Upon individual roll call vote, $250,000.00, RE: Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted VARIOUS ROAD in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. IMPROVEMENTS AND S IDEI~IALK PROGRAM -- ORDINANCE #01-34 "AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR VARIOUS ROAD IMPROVEMENT AND SIDEWALK PROGRAM FOR THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET, COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY, APPROPRIATING $250,000 FROM THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND OF THE BOROUGH FOR THE COST THEREFORE" lng 7, 2001 )MMENTS Mayor Failace said this is much needed and much appreciated. He said they ~vould be able to fix up Carteret Avenue where the cracks are down the middle of the road along with the Pedestrian Walkway. He said he felt this would help the town. Councilmember Reiman said the Borough has received a grant for one hundred fifty thousand dollars for a Pedestrian Walkway on Carteret Avenue this funds an additional fifty thousand dollars and puts the rest of the money in place. He said this allocates two hundred thousand dollars to pave some streets. He said once the County comes in to pave Washington and Roosevelt Avenues they have agreed to pave some side streets at cost. The Clerk stated Ordinance #01-29 was introduced and passed upon RDINANCE -~01-29 MENDING SALARY First Reading at a Regular Meeting of the Borough Council held on RDINANCE #71-9, May 17, 2001. It was duly published in the Home News Tribune on E: SECRETARY May 22, 2001 with notice that it will be considered for final passage OARD/COMMISSION after Public Hearing to be held on June 7, 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. UBLIC HEARING Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be open: There being no comments or objections to the Ordinance, the Mayor EARING CLOSED declared the Public Hearing to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Quinones and Rios ORDINANCE #01-29 "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" .DO?TED was finally adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. JUNE ?, 2001 Approved and Adopted: June 7, 2001 ORDINANCE #01-29 Introduced: May 17, 2001 (Continued) Avertised as adopted on First Reading with notice of Public Hearing: May 22, 2001 Hearing Held: June 7, 2001 Approved by: Mayor James A. Failace Advertised as Finally Adopted: June 16, 2001 The Clerk stated Ordinance #01-30 was introduced and passed upon ORDINANCE ~01-30 First Reading at a Regular Meeting of the Borough Council held on AMENDING SALARY ORDINANCE #71-9, RE: May 17, 2001. It was duly published in the Home News Tribune on BUILDING SUBCODE May 22, 2001 with notice that it will be considered for final passage OFFICIAL/PLUMBING after Public Hearing to be held on June ?, 2001 at approximately 7:30 [iHS INSPTECTOR P.M. The Ordinance was posted on the bulletin hoard and copies were made available to the general public and according to law, she read the Ordinance by title. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas and PUBLIC HEARING unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing to be open: There being no comments or objections to the Ordinance, the Mayor HEARING CLOSED declared the Public Hearing to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios ORDiNANCE #01-30 "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 ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. -- Approved and Adopted: June 7, 2001 Introduced: May 17, 2001 Advertised as adopted on First Reading with notice of Public Hearing: May 22, 2001 Heating Held: June 7, 2001 Approved by: Mayor James A. Failace Advertised as Finally Adopted: June 16, 2001 5 IN~ 7~ 2001 )TION TO Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Fazekas and Rios and unanimous lEND THE affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, a motion was CANDING made to amend the Standing Committees to allow Councilmember )NNITTEES Jack Fazekas to head the Parks Department Standing Committee instead of Councilmember Janet Santoro. )MMENTS Councilmember Quinones asked for some clarification as to who would now be serving on this Conunittee. Councilmember Fazekas said it would be himself, Councilmembers Rios and Sohayda, this would only be a switch concerning the head of the Committee. A copy of each Resolution was placed on the table for public review gE'lYING OPENED prior to the meeting in accordance with the Rules of Council and upon 3BLIC INPUT MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas and unanimous ~I ~,LL affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting gSOLUTIONS was opened for public input on all Resolutions. An Unidentified Woman asked for clarification on Resolution #01- 3MMENTS 186. Mayor Failace said the Council is authorizing the Borough Attorney to go into negotiation with North Brunswick to receive RCA Funds, a portion of their share of the Mount Laurel Agreement for low to moderate income housing. Same Unidentified Woman asked if that money would be funded towards the redevelopment (inaudible) fixing the houses that was in reference to. Mayor Failace said that money would be funding as the Council chooses, it could be given to developers or given to homeowners. Same Unidentified Woman said she signed up with the program over a year ago and was told her name would go on a list and within a year someone would contact her and she qualified to have some things done in her house. She said she was told her name was coming up and then she was told her house would not be fixed because the money is being diverted somewhere else. She said she did not feel it was fair to her that she waited a whole year and when her name came up she is no longer able to get her house fixed. Mayor Failace said it does not mean her house won't be fixed. He said he did not know for sure and he did not know how the new monies would be expended by the Council but he did know the money that is in place at this moment the Council intends to give to the homeowners in Carteret. Councilmember Reiman asked the woman if it was a Borough Official who called her or just a resident who told her. JUNE 7, 2001 Same Unidentified Woman said Mr. Riggio's office told her when she COMMENTS signed up for the program last year. Councilmember Reiman asked who recently told her that money was being diverted. Same Unidentified Woman said she saw an article in the newspaper. Councilmember Reiman said she said someone called her up. Same Unidentified Woman said she was talking to Mr. Riggio about this and he said her house would not be able to be fixed up because they were thinking about diverting the money to a developer and she was told to contact (inaudible) but you have not been able to. Councilmember Reiman said that was not the information that should or can be given out unless the Council makes a policy change; if this Council chooses to make a policy change. Mayor Failace said this Council may have not made a policy change but Frank Raia already called COAH and told them he was getting the money. Mayor Failace said he knew because he spoke to them. Councilmember Reiman asked the Woman if anyone called her from the Borough because he did not want to put anyone in a position they should not be in. He asked if any Borough Official called her to tell her that she was not going to get her house fixed. Same Unidentified Woman said after she called the office to find out where her name was on the list she was told she probably wouldn't be able to get her house fixed now and she would have to come down to a Council Meeting and find out if the money was being diverted to a developer. Councilmember Reiman asked who told her that. Same Unidentified Woman said she spoke to Mr. Riggio. Councilmember Reiman asked if Mr. Riggio told her that. Same Unidentified Woman said Mr. Riggio told her to talk to Daphne. Councilmember Reiman said he told you to speak to Daphne Miles, and advised Borough Attorney Bergen that this was a Closed Session item. He said that list is not to be given out to Daphne Miles or anyone else, that list is a classified, privileged list this Council and Mayor can not see. He said if someone in the Borough is giving that list of information out to another resident... Same Unidentified Woman interrupted to say that is not what she said, her name was on this list and her name is coming up. She said she called to check where she stood since they told her it would be a year and the year has come. She said that was when she was told that her name was still on the list and her name was coming up but she might not be able to get her house fixed because some one was giving the money to some developers. )MMENTS Councilmember Reiman said Mr. Riggio or some one in the Borough told you to speak to Daphne Miles. Same Unidentified Woman said she was told to call Daphne and she did not get a response or a call back from her. She said she called Mr. Riggio again he told her to come to the Council Meeting and that was why she was here. She said Mr. Riggio told her to look in the newspaper and she read it in the newspaper. Councilmember Reiman said the Council was in support of giving money to the homeowners to redevelop owner occupied existing homes. Same Unidentified Woman asked if she was still eligible for this. Councilmember Reiman said if she was on the list the Council is still committed to helping homeowners and Senior Citizens to continue to redevelop. He said he would like to look at using some money for new construction for Lower Roosevelt. Mayor Failace said she is on the list and if some money is diverted to a developer then the money that could have gone to her... Councilmember Reiman said that is not true because the Council is not taking away any money that is coming in or committed to any homeowner. He said the Mayor and his Director sat here three weeks ago and said there was no money out there and said it three times. He said they said there was no money in the account, no new money coming in. He said this Council is looking at bringing in one point seven million dollars, not the Administration who sat back and did nothing over the last three years to bring in new RCA money. He asked the Mayor if that was true and said they should listen to the tape. Mayor Failace said that was not true and he would listen to the tape. He said what Mr. Reiman said at that meeting was the money committed and Mr. Riggio said it was and Mr. Reiman said it was not committed because it hadn't been given to anyone yet. He said Frank Raia came to the Council to get one hundred and eighty thousand dollars and left the meeting and called COAH and told COAH that he was getting the money from Carteret. He said he spoke to COAH and John Riggio spoke to COAH and if Frank Raia told them that then we could assume members of this Council told him he was getting that money. Councilmember Reiman said thirty days ago the Mayor supported giving Mr. Raia the money. Mayor Failace said it was not thirty days ago it was in December. Councilmember Reiman said just a few months ago. Mayor Failace said he did support that at one time until he looked at all the numbers. He said he would talk to the people about the numbers at the end of this meeting because he felt it was outrageous what this man has done to Carteret and he has not done anything good. He told the lady if he has anything to do with it she would get the money as well as every other citizen in Carteret who needs it from JUNE ?~ 2001 North Brunswick. He said it was Frank Raia's la~vyer who called COMMENTS North Brunswick and he assured the lady the Council would do what ever they could for her. Same Unidentified Woman asked what she can do and if she could find out where she stood on the list. Mayor Failace said she should wait and hope that her name comes to the top. He said she could ask Mr. Riggio where her name stood on the list. Councilmember Reiman said no; she could not do that. Mayor Failace said he was sorry he did not know that and maybe she couldn't find out when her name would come to the top. Same Unidentified Woman said she wanted to understand this, if she could never find out where her name is on the list people are getting their houses fixed up and the money runs out. She said if her name does not come up, she has been waiting a year or two thinking some one would fix her house and she wasted two years. She said when she moved in the Fire Department gave her Certificate of Occupancy after she moved in she found the electric was all messed up in the house and she is stuck with this problem, if the house bums down she is at a loss. She said she feels like she is being given the run around and being discriminated against. Mayor Failace asked Borough Attorney Bergen if she could find out where she is on the list. Borough Attorney Bergen said he does not know anything that precludes some one from knowing where they are on the list. Councilmember Rios asked Mr. Riggio if she would be able to find out if she has a chance of getting it this year without telling her anything else. John Riggio said he could discuss where she was on the list without telling her numbers. Same Unidentified Woman said Mr. Riggio told her that her name was on the list, she would be coming up soon but she felt she doesn't want to wait another year. Mayor Failace said the funds they have right now unless the Council changes anything; all the money that comes in goes to the homeowner. Councilmember Rios said he thought it was sad that Mr. Riggio told __ this woman assuming the Council made a commitment to a developer and she was not going to get any funding and the money was diverted. Councilmember Quinones said the woman said John told her the money may be allocated to a developer and that has been stated in the newspaper and discussed amongst the Council. She said Mr. Riggio did not give her false information because all the money may not be allocated for scattered site rehab. 2001 )MMENTS Mayor Failace reiterated COAH told the Council that Frank Raia called them and told them he is getting one hundred eighty thousand dollars. Councilmember Rios said he did not care what COAH said, this Council decides. Councilmember Reiman said this Council is not bringing in one point seven million dollars (inaudible, everyone speaking at once) you have misinformation coming out by Borough Officials which the Council will discuss in Closed Session. Councilmember Quinones said Councilmember Reiman was the one who said in the paper... Councilmember Reiman interrupted to say he said in the paper he would like to use some money to fix up Lower Roosevelt Avenue. Mayor Failace said he would like to clarify what Mr. Reiman said in the newspaper first we can not earmark this money for Seniors, it is illegal and out of the question, it can not be earmarked for Lower Roosevelt Avenue. He said when the money was given to Mr. Raia the Mayor went back to some old clippings for the Hill Section and the Borough lost a number of businesses up the Hill because they had to get a variance. He said he hoped that would not happen in Lower Roosevelt Avenue because if that does happen then they lose that whole Redevelopment Zone and that was from a press release Mr. Reiman sent to the newspaper saying he was giving the money to Seniors and middle income. Councilmember Reiman told the Mayor he does not support the tax abatements that were given to the Hill Section and the Mayor was on the Council several years ago when the Council earmarked five hundred thousand dollars to be used to develop the old DaVinci's or McDonald's property. He said five hundred thousand dollars of RCA money was designated for Senior Units. Mayor Failace asked if we gave the money to that man. Councilmember Reiman said other Municipalities have and secondly the Mayor said you could not designate a specific area. He said you might not be able to do that with the RCA Agreement but by saying new construction the Borough can decide by policy to go into an area and continue to give out RCA loans to certain people or developers who would pay it back. He said by giving some forgivable grants to homeowners and some loans to developers it allows that money to be re-circulated into the program he was not going to defend Mr. Raia or the tax abatements because he does not support tax abatements. He said especially since this Council has worked the last few weeks to try to find additional RCA funding. He said this Council sat here three weeks ago and he is not saying it is right or wrong or accusing anyone but they said there was no money available in this County or this region or the other two regions. He said the members of this Council reached out to this region and Communities and hopefully came up with one point seven million dollars in funding. He said he felt some of this money should be used for loans to redevelop certain areas, some of the money should be used for Seniors if it can be and the rest 10 JUNE 7, 2001 of the money should be used for owner occupied homes to continue COMMENTS the scatter rehabilitation program. Councilmember Quinones said she did not think Councilmember Reiman who reached out to other Communities (inaudible, everyone yelling at the same time). She said she would like to clarify some issues, the money was already designated to go to New Brunswick. She said Frank Raia's attorney according to people the Council spoke to in North Brunswick made the call, not anyone from this Council or this Administration and she felt the man had a vested interest in making the call. She said we have to pay ten thousand dollars to renegotiate with North Brunswick so they can send the money to Carteret. Councilmember Reiman said he would pay ten thousand dollars to get one point seven million dollars any day. Councilmember Quinones said depending on how you are going to use the money. Councilmember Reiman reiterated that he would pay ten thousand dollars to get one point seven million dollars to help the homeowners of Carteret. Councilmember Quinones told Councilmember Reiman he should not make it sound like he went out and got all this money by himself. Councilmember Reiman said he did not do it by himself, he had conversations with several people as did the Borough Attorney and the Business Administrator. Stan Gutowski asked what we were negotiating on Resolution #01-186 and asked what the sending district's client was. Councilmember Reiman said they have an agreement with New Brunswick to send a good portion of their units to New Brunswick. He said they asked Carteret in consideration of the one point seven million dollars, if we get it, they would like us to pay any addition costs at their Administration level. Stan Gutowski said that is not what he asked, what he asked was what their plan was for sending it to New Brunswick originally and wanted to know what their plan was and what the break down was on the moderate and low income housing. He said the sending district has to have a plan approved by COAH before they could do anything. He asked if they have a plan and if the Council knows what we are getting. __ Borough Attorney Bergen said that is not quite accurate, to get their housing element portion of their plan approved if they are including RCA Agreements in them, those agreements will be part of the housing element which will be approved by COAH. Stan Gutowski said they were in the newspaper and a man from North Brunswick talked about sending the money to Carteret. He said the reason they wanted to get rid of their entire housing obligation was because of the strain on the school system. He said now the Council is 11 INE 7~ 2001 )MMENTS talking about taking that money or part of it to create new housing for one hundred percent Carteret residents. Councilmember Reiman said Mr. Gutowski knows that can not be designated in writing and they can not require one hundred percent. Stan Gutowski asked how they were going to control that. Councilmember Reiman said they would try to speak to the developer. He said when we look at Cardinal China and Cleveland Arms, the gentleman who owns the building said ninety to ninety five percent of the people who live in the building... Stan Gutowski said he said ninety eight percent and that does not equal a hundred percent. He said if you continue to give the money to homeowners, one hundred percent of the money goes to Carteret residents. He said the man said ninety eight percent and asked if the Council verified that figure. Councilmember Reiman said he asked the Borough Attorney, the Business Administrator and Director of Human Development he was told... Mayor Failace interrupted to say you can't know who the name of the person is but you can (inaudible) Stan Gutowski said he could call COAH and get the information and so could the Council. Mayor Failace said let him find out where they came from and asked the Council to let him find out where they came from. He said he was glad they brought that up because Frank Raja is a liar. He said Councilmember Rios said we don't care what Frank Raia wants, and he was glad they knew whom they were dealing with when they try to give out this money. He said he felt they should be giving it to people. He said Frank Raia said ninety eight percent, in Cardinal China seven out of twenty four units are from out of Carteret. Councilmember Reiman asked if the Mayor had that in writing. Mayor Failace said he knew that and Mr. Reiman could check that himself. He said in the Hill Section out of fourteen units, nine came from outside of Carteret, one came from outside of the state. He said he does not have anything against children but in those units children were brought in to the school system. He said Frank Raia pays no money and that is the problem because he pays no money in taxes or a very minimal amount of taxes. Councilmember Reiman said he completely agreed with the Mayor that tax abatements are not correct for the Borough. He said the Senior Unit that is designed for Lower Roosevelt Avenue and the old DaVinci property which at one point was going to give the developer five hundred thousand dollars as a loan from RCA money to the Borough that they have not paid back. He said they had no tax abatement, not in lieu of (inaudible) program, they were to pay one hundred percent of their fair taxes. He said if that was something the Council wanted to look at he would support loaning money to someone to build Senior 12 JUNE 7, 2001 Units to bring money back into the Borough to go back out to the COMMENTS homeowners while they are paying their one hundred percent fair share of taxes. Mayor Failace said there was no way Mr. Reiman could give Housing and they could charge the low and moderate rents they do unless they are given a... Stan Gutowski interrupted to say one of the reasons that particular project fell through was because the developer wanted to commit all of the (inaudible) and COAH told the Council they could not take RCA money and just give it to them because they would be discriminating against everyone who is eligible for it. Mr. Gutowski asked Councilmember Sohayda if he has ever done any work for Frank Raia in this town, shades, rugs, carpets or anything. Councilmember Sohayda said no, not even one dollar's worth of work. Stan Gutowski asked Councilmember Sohayda if he anticipates doing any work for Mr. Raia. Mayor Failace said that would be a Public Portion subject. Mayor Failace, Councilmember Sohayda and Stan Gutowski were all speaking at once in very loud voices and this was inaudible to the transcriber. Rich Greenberg said he felt the Council should look at the fact that with the money coming in the residents should come first. He said every resident that needs money in this town if there is money available should get money first. He said when every house is done and everything in each house is taken care of then the Council could look at Frank Raia. He said Frank Raia made a lot of money in this town, the residents are hard working, pay a lot of taxes to the town and he felt it was time the residents get some of the money funneled back to them and get taken care of first. Councilmember Reiman said the Resolution does not mention Frank Raia and he was not going to sit there and defend someone who could defend himself. There being no further comments or objections to the Resolutions, the MEETING CLOSED Mayor declared the Public Heating to be closed, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present. 13 ]NE 7, 2001 *.SOLUTION f01-164 RESOLUTION #01-164 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to tENDNENT TO 2001 the Council for action. gMPORARY BUDGET Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RES OLUTION #01-164 "AUTHORIZING AMENDMENT TO THE 2001 TEMPORARY BUDGET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers )OPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. gSOLUTION #01-165 RESOLUTION #01-165 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to JTHORIZING SALE OF the Council for action. JNK AND BOROUGH ~NED VEHICLES & [SCELLANEOUS Upon MMS&C, by Councilmcmbers Reiman and Quinones rEMS RES OLUTION #01 - 165 "AUTHORIZING SALE OF JUNK AND BOROUGH OWNED VEHICLES AND MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS" DOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. gSOLUTION ~01-166 RESOLUTION #01-166 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to PPOINTING the Council for action. ENPORARY SEASONAL ~IPLOYEES TO THE IT'I~E LEAGUE Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones ROGRAM RESOLUTION #01-166 "APPOINTING TEMPORARY SEASONAL EMPLOYEES TO THE LITTLE LEAGUE PROGRAM FOR 2001" ~ DOPTED ~vas adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Reiman abstained on his brother Joe Reiman and voted in the affirmative on all the other names. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. 14 JUNE ?, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-167 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION ~01-167 the Council for action. APPRO¥ING TRANSFER JOHN CALDI~IELL- STREETS & ROADS DEP~I Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Sohayda RESOLUTION #01 - 167 "APPOiNTiNG JOHN CALDWELL TO THE POSITION OF LABORER" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. Councilmember Sohayda said John requested this, it was not anyone COMMENTS moving John around or pushing him out, he requested to go back into Streets and Roads. Mayor Failace said this and the upcoming Resolution were both requested. RESOLUTION #01-168 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-168 the Council for action. APPROVING TRANSFER RICHARD POGORZELSKI RECYCLING DEPARTMENT Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Sohayda and Quinones RESOLUTION #01-168 "APPOiNTING RICHARD POGORZELSKI TO THE POSITION OF RECYCLiNG OPERATOR" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. 15 INE 7, 2001 ,.'SOLUTION ~:01-169 RESOLUTION #01-169 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to tOFESSIONAL the Council for action. ~.RVICES ;SOCIATES, NOT Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Sohayda ) EXCEED $5000.00, ,3: HARRISON AVE. IMP STATION-DESIGN INSPECTION OF RESOLUTION #01-169 kSONARY BUILDING "AUTHORIZING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES T&M ASSOCIATES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers )OPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. *.SOLUTION #01-170 RESOLUTION #01-170 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to ?PROVING ABC the Council for action. [CENSE RENEWAL FOR 399/2000 & 2000/2001 [CENSE TEEN RE: UponMMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones kRTNER' S PUB RESOLUTION #01-170 "AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A NEW ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LICENSE TO PARTNER'S PUB, INC. FOR THE 1999-2000 AND 2000-2001 LICENSE TERMS" DOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll vote, Councilmember Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. ESOLUTION #01-171 RESOLUTION #01-171 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to ISTING CERTIFICATIONS the Council for action. DR TAX SALE SCHEDULED DR FORECLOSURE Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-171 "RESOLUTION LISTING CERTIFICATES OF TAX SALE SCHEDULED FOR FORECLOSURE" DOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. 16 JUNE 7, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-172 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION ~01-172 APPOINTING the Council for action. MICHAEL KUSHNER- DIRECTOR OF UMPIRES Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones RES OLUTION #01-172 "APPOINTING TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES FOR 2001 SOFTBALL/LITTLE LEAGUE PROGRAM" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-173 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION ~01-173 APPROVING CONTRACT the Council for action. WITH PRINCETON AFFAIRS GROUP, RE: Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios URBAN ENTERPRISE ZONE PROGRAM RESOLUTION #01-173 LEGISLATION "AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT WITH PRINCETON PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. Mayor Failace said this is Carteret's fair share of the Princeton Affairs COMMENTS Group lobby for the UEZ territories to get it extended and Carteret could get something out of this. He said it is broken down by the UEZ (inaudible) and the Municipalities. (inaudible, more than one person speaking at once) Mayor Failace said the portion of the money that was the expense to lobby in Trenton for the extension of the UEZ that was broken down in their fair share. Nicholas Goldsack Business Administrator said Carteret has expended five hundred and twenty one dollars so far. 17 3NE ?, 2001 ~-SOLUTION ~01-174 RESOLUTION #01-174 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to [iOFESSIONAL the Council for action. F. RVICES-T&M ~SOCIATES ~ NOT EXCEED $9800.00- Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Sohayda and Rios HILL DISTRICT fORM SEWER ~IPROVEMENTS RESOLUTION #01-1 ?4 "AUTHORIZiNG A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT FOR ENGiNEERiNG SERVICES T & M ASSOCIATES" DOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. ESOLUTION #01-115 RESOLUTION #01-175 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to ROFESSIONAL the Council for action. ERVICES- T&M SSOClATES ~ NOT 3 EXCEED $ 29,300.00 Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios E: SEWAGE REATMENT PLANT -- EMOLITION RESOLUTION #01-175 "AUTHORIZiNG A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES T & M ASSOCIATES" DOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. 9MMENTS Councilmember Fazekas said he wanted everyone to know why he was abstaining on T & M. He said it was because his son did his internship at T & M and he did not want there to be any conflict, for anyone to raise a question or for there to be any problems so he would abstain on T & M for the rest of the year. 18 JUNE ?, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-176 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-176 APPROVING TEMPORARY the Council for action. EXTENSION OF SCAVENGER SERVICES CONTRACT Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Sohayda and Rios RES OLUTION #01-176 "RESOLUTION AUTHORIZiNG THE TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF SCAVENGER SERVICES CONTRACT IN THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, ADOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-177 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-171 PROFESSIONAL SERVICI~ the Council for action. JAMES CLARKIN, ESQ. NOT TO EXCEED Councilmcmber Reiman said before they move for the adoption, he $5000.00 RE: UNOCAL thought this was for five thousand dollars. Borough Attorney Bergen said it is five thousand dollars. He said it was originally five and it went down from ten. Upon MMS&C, by the Councilmembers Reiman and Sohayda RESOLUTION flO 1-177 "AUTHORIZING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT FOR LEGAL SERVICES WITH JAMES F. CLARKIN, III, ESQ." was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was absent. 19 JNE 7~ 2001 RESOLUTION #01-178 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to e. SOLUTION #01-178 ~OFESSIONAL the Council for action. gRVlCES-T&N 5SOClATES, NOT EXCEED $10,000 Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios USEPA CSO GRANT RESOLUTION #01 - 178 "AUTHORIZiNG A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH T & M ASSOCIATES" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers DOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. Councilmember Reiman said the Council could not go into specifics ONNENTS about this but they are hiring an outside Counsel to represent the Borough to look at some back sewer fees from the Engineer from years back. He said once they negotiate and come up with exactly how much (inaudible) we can announce that. He said it should be a very high number (inaudible) to our sewer department but was nothing compared to what the town would gain back. ESOLUTION #01-179 RESOLUTION #01-179 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to PPROVING the Council for action. ENORANDUM OF GREEMENT WITH FSCNE LOCAL 2291 Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Sohayda LABORERS RESOLUTION #01-179 "APPROViNG A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT" .DOPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Quinones abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. :ONNENTS Mayor Failace said when the Council negotiated with AFSCME Local 2291 they set up a two-tier wage for new employees and this was not spelled out in the contract this year. 20 JUNE 7, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-180 wasintroducedbythe Mayor andre~edto RESOLUTION #01-180 the Council~raction. AWARDING CONTRACT FOR INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER MONITOR TO GARDEN STATE Upon MMS&C, CouncilmembersRiosand Reiman LABORATORIES, INC. RESOLUTION #01-180 "AWARD CONTRACT FOR iNDUSTRIAL WASTE WATER MONITORiNG" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-181 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION I01-181 PROFESSIONAL SERVICE the Council for action. SPADORO & HILSON NOT TO EXCEED Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas $ 75,000.00-RE: SAPERSTEIN V. WANSKUS, ET ALS. RESOLUTION #01-181 "AUTHORIZING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT WITH SPADORO & HILSON" ~vas adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. Borough Attorney Bergen said this a case where the Borough is a COMMENTS defendant for which there is no insurance; normally the insurance company would pay the cost of the town's attorney. He said this is a case where claims have been made against the Borough well in excess of several hundred thousand dollars and this is the cost they were paying the attorney to defend them in this case in a possible counter claim. RESOLUTION #01-182 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-182 APPOINTING AL GINDA the Council for action. LABORER Councilmember Rios said he would like to remove the name and amend the Resolution. Councilmber Reiman said Al Ginda decided not to accept employment with the Borough. 21 JNg 7, 2001 3MMENTS Councilmember Quinones asked Councilmember Rios who the other naiTle was. Councilmember Rios said Glen Sitar. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Fazekas and Rios ESOLUTION #01-182 RESOLUTION #01-182 PPOIIqTING AL GINDA t~BORER "APPOINTiNG AL GINDA TO THE POSITION OF LABORER iN THE STREETS AND ROADS DEPARTMENT" was amended. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers MENDED Fazekas, Reiman and Rios voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Sohayda and Quinones abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. OMI{ENTS Mayor Failace said the Council had three names on this and thought they discussed the positions but not the names. Councilmember Reiman said the Council discussed the positions with the Public Works Committee. He said the Public Works Corntnittee ~vas going to handle the interviews. ESOLUTION #01-182 Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Fazekas and Sohayda PPOINTING LEN SITAR-LABORER RESOLUTION #01-182 "APPOiNTiNG AL GINDA TO THE POSITION OF LABORER 1N THE STREETS AND ROADS DEPARTMENT" DOPTED was adopted as amended. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Quinones abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. 22 JUNE 7, 2001 RESOLUTION #01-183 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-183 the Council for action. APPOINTING DONALD MEDVETZ- LABORER Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-183 "APPOiNTiNG DONALD MEDVETZ TO THE POSITION OF LABORER iN THE STREETS AND ROADS DEPARTMENT" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmember Fazekas, ADOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-184 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-184 the Council for action. APPOINTING JOHN }/ITO}/SKI- LABORER Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas RESOLUTION #01-184 "APPOiNTING JOHN WITKOWKSI TO THE POSITION OF LABORER IN THE STREETS AND ROADS DEPARTMENT" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the ADOPTED affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-185 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-185 the Council for action. AI/ARD OF BID-SEWER JET AND CATCH BASIN CLEANER Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-185 "AWARDING BID FOR A SEWER JET AND CATCH BASIN CLEANER" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. 23 ONE 7, 2001 OMMENTS Councilmember Reiman said the Council decided to finance this through an administrative change of money allocated from last year's Sewer Bond Ordinance. He said the Resolution says $212,750.00 he believed that we are getting $187,000.00, $25,000.00 as a trade in on the old Jet Vac. Track that is twenty years old. He said they could use this as soon as possible. Councilmember Sohayda told Councilmember Reiman he was right, it is twenty five thousand for the truck and one hundred and eighty seven thousand dollars. Councilmember Rios asked what the delivery date was. Councilmember Sohayda said the Council acted on this seven weeks ago, they should have had it in less than three weeks. ~.SOLUTION f01-186 RESOLUTION #01-186 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to [ITHORIZING the Council for action. EGOTIATIONS WITH DRTH BRUNSWICK, E: RCA AGREEMENT Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios RESOLUTION #01-186 "RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE NEGOTIATION OF A RCA AGREEMENT WITH THE TOWNSHIP OF NORTH BRUNSWICK" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Reiman, DOPTED Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers Fazekas and Quinones abstained. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. PPLICATIONS .' The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of an application from ABC 8C LICENSE License Transfer (#1201-33-029-003) from McCutchenon to Acciardi. RANSFER FROM Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas and unanimous CCUTCHENON - affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present it was ordered gCIARDI to be placed on file. ~,RTERET JEWISH The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of an application from Carteret w ~MMUNITY CENTER Jewish Community Center-Amend BL# 1607 & RL# 1608, Re: Add ~tEND BL#1607 & Dates. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Fazekas and L#1608, RE: unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present it gA AGREEMENT was ordered to be approved. 24 JUNE 7, 2001 The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from COMMUNICATIONS: Borough of Milltown-Resolution supporting an increase in the senior BOROUGH OF NILLTOWN citizen income limitation on property tax deductions. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP Washington Township-Resolution requesting NJ Legislature provide urgent relief to the citizens arising from the financial burden placed on them by NJ property tax. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from PSE&G PSE&G-Petition for an increase in Gas Rates. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from DCA DCA-Proposed Amendments to State Planning Rules. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from the BOROUGH OF Borough of Sayreville-Resolution supporting S-1288 and A-2413, Re: SAYREVILLE Funding for Clean Communities Grant Programs. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from the SPOTSWOOD Borough of Spotswood-a) Resolution supporting S-842 and A-1712, Re: Authorizing assessment of development impact fees by municipalities, b) Resolution urging shifting reliance for school funding from property taxes to a more progressive and fair mechanism. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present all Communications were ordered to be received and placed on file. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Fazekas all bills PAYMENT OF BILLS appearing on the prepared list properly audited and signed were ordered to be paid. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Fazekas, Quinones, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Reiman abstained on Shop-Rite and voted in the affirmative on the rest of the list. Councilmember Santoro was noted absent. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of the following reports: REPORTS DEPARTNENT 1. BoardofHealth-April 2001. 2. Clerk's Office-May 2001 3. Social Services-Mamh & April 2001. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Sohayda and Fazekas and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, all reports were ordered to be received and placed on file. 25 INE 7, 2001 CANDING BUILDINGS & GROUNDS: Committee Chairperson Quinones )MMIT'rEES thanked everyone who participated in the Memorial Day Services, many Borough Departments showed up, it was quite a time out. She said the Council received a letter from the acting Governor's office about a program that just passed called the Senior Gold Prescription Discount Act. She said this law is currently being funded by money from the National Tobacco Settlement and in the letter Acting Governor DiFrancesco asked them to spread the word about the program so seniors know what is available. She said applications would be mailed to pharmacies, County offices, the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services. She said she would distribute the forms as well to elderly or disabled individuals who make up to eighteen thousand five hundred and eighty seven dollars a year and married couples who earn up to twenty-two thousand seven ninety one. She said there has been some work to the basement of Borough Hall recently, the carpeting was removed to deal with the mold issue. She said they are having a service come in to disinfect the area, which would alleviate the problem on a temporary basis. She said some people might have read the newspaper, she heads the Buildings and Grounds Committee and she made a decision to put a Task Force together to deal with this issue she felt it should be addressed. She said she would be putting the Task Force together and she would be asking for recommendations and suggestions on how to deal with the building. She reported progress. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION: Committee Chairperson Reiman said they had some news today about the bond refunding and refinancing that were sold on Wall Street today at a lower interest rate than the Council anticipated. He said they had some additional savings they were originally going to try to bundle the two issuances together, this was the 7.6 million in bond issued in 1993, the five million dollars in notes were from the 1999 Council issued and were carried over. They would be issued at the end of the year the Council would be cutting the cost of the issuance in half. He said the savings on the 7.6 million-dollar bonds would be a gross savings of three hundred and eight thousand dollars in interest. He said they would be using one hundred twenty thousand dollars this year and one hundred fifty one thousand dollars next year and the remainder over the remaining seven years he felt this would be good news because it would be an additional tax relief. He said on the downside, the proposed eight-cent tax increase was reduced by the hard work of the Council and has been reduced to four cents. He said the Council was hoping for three hundred thousand dollars in Discretionary Aid Carteret got last year but had not received a penny to date and they are being told there would not be a second round of funding. He said at the moment the taxpayers are looking at a four-cent tax increase, which would be equivalent to forty-eight dollars. He said the Council would look at that to see if they could reduce it anymore. He said he asked Business Administrator Goldsack to research information for the next meeting so the Council could put an Ordinance on establishing the Borough of Carteret Historical Society Committee. He felt this would be a good thing for the town and they could use some space in the atrium of the new Community Center to display some artifacts they have found dating back to the nineteen twenties. He felt by creating this committee the town could file for State, County and Federal Grants to fund this Historical Society. He reported progress. 26 JUNE 7, 2001 Councilmember Santoro was noted present at 8:35 P.M. NOTED PRESENT Councilmember Quinones said she wanted to clarify something, COMMENTS residents would be receiving a letter from the tax assessor's office about the REAP Program. She urged everyone to respond to the letter if they receive it. She said some funding is available for communities that engage in shared services and thought it totaled seven hundred thousand dollars which is redistributed to the taxpayers but would not be deducted in the tax bills if they don't respond. Conunittee Chairperson Rios said on May 25th the Volunteer Fire STANDING COMMITTEES Department conducted their annual live bum training at the Middlesex (Continued) County Fire Academy. He congratulated the three firefighters who completed the ~veeklong training class on fire investigations. He said Eric Kjems and Sam Goddess successfully completed their EMT training and thanked all the firefighters who participated in the Memorial Day parade and services. He said the new air conditioning system for the Community Center should be installed by the end of the week. He said Ethnic Day will be September 8th the firefighters and Emergency Management are working together in preparation of the fireworks display. He reported progress. PARKS & RECREATION: Committee Chairperson Fazekas said he had a meeting with the Parks Department yesterday when he was given details by Bob Kately on the activities and projects that had been going on at the Parks. He thanked the Parks Department for the Memorial Day Services; he felt the parks were in great condition. He said the crosses did not have names on them and he heard a few comments on that from some residents. He said he would try to speak to the Veterans because there is a special way they want the names to be printed on the crosses and the would speak to the Boy Scouts to get this accomplished this year ahead of time instead of waiting for next year. He said the schedule of events for June included the PBA Fishing Derby which would be held on June 16th 8 A.M. to 1 P.M. Handicapped Fishing Derby would be held June 24th at 10 A.M. and the Volunteer Fireman Picnic on Jtme 16th. He said tomorrow would be the last day for applications to be accepted at Borough Hall for the Summer Youth Recreation Program which starts July 9t". He said this program would mn for six weeks from ten until two o'clock. He said he had requested some information when he took over this department and there was some question as to what equipment is going to be placed in the parks. He said he would be doing a Parks inspection he had done this previously and stopped two years ago when Councilmember Crilley took over the parks and was taking care of them. He said he would go back to doing these inspections. He said the town has nine years left on the referendum that was passed last year to improve the Parks and the Council has a tentative plan and guideline for what the Council wants to do in the upcoming years. He reported progress. 27 ]NE 7, 2001 ~)M{4ENTS Mayor Failace said they had a hundred thousand dollars in referendum and a hundred thousand from last year, a hundred thousand was taken out. Councilmember Fazekas said the Mayor was right and felt the importance of the referendum was to emphasis the Parks because the town has quite a few parks and they have a solid plan for the next nine years. He said he felt they could improve the parks and bring them back to where they were. Councilmember Santoro said a hundred thousand dollars was taken out of the Parks budget last year. She said they have filed for a one hundred and fifty thousand-dollar grant from the County who has asked for more information and a breakdown on the equipment the town wants to put in the Parks. She said the Council has also filed for four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in Green Acre Funding and felt the Parks would not be lacking because the Council is moving in that direction. Mayor Failace said Councilmember Crilley had a program that by the year two thousand and five the town would spend one million dollars in the Parks and he felt the Parks would have been done. He said they are asking for four hundred and fifty thousand dollars from the County for an amphitheater and some other things the town would not be able to afford at this point. He said for the basics the Council should have left that money in the budget. Councilmember Santoro said she appreciated the Mayor's opinion but she felt if the town could get money from a grant or from other areas that would benefit the taxpayers instead of the taxpayers funding it. She said the Council does intend on moving forward with the Parks and they don't intend on cutting back and are looking for other avenues to get the money for the Parks. ;TANDING POLICE: Committee Chairperson Santoro said she would like to :OMMITTEES remind everyone that she had sign up sheets for the Neighborhood Crime Watch Program and they should sign up to be involved. She said there are sign ups for the residents to sign up and get involved because it is your town and this is the opportunity for youth to get involved in their areas. She said anyone interested could get in touch with the Police Department to sign up. She said the Domestic Violence Task Force is being set up, anyone interested could contact the Police Department. She reported progress. PUBLIC WORKS: Committee Chairperson Sohayda jokingly asked what Councilmember Reiman and Business Administrator Goldsack were doing in the attic. 28 JUNE 7, 2001 Business Administrator Goldsack said they were looking at historical COMMENTS records. Committee Chairperson Sohayda continued his report and said the STANDING COMMITTEES Borough Garage is doing daily maintenance on all the vehicles. He (Continued) said Mr. Setar, School Board Member told him the town could get free vehicles form PSE&G when they are done with them. He said they have investigated this and put in the town's request. He said they were told the town's request was not valid but they would entertain any truck that comes close to the town's request at any given time that they are done with the vehicles. He said the town might be in line for a truck from their Fleet Maintenance Department. He said the Sewer Department has been cleaning the sewers and the inlets on a daily basis, maintaining the pumps and the stations. He said the Streets and Roads Department has called PSE&G six times for the lights that refuse to go on in Lower Roosevelt Avenue and invited everyone to keep calling PSE&G on a daily basis, they might repair the lights according to the amount of calls. He said they have three tentative employees for the Department of Public Works and have lost seven employees over the years and are only replacing three. He said the potholes are being filled on a daily basis and it seems to be that there are more of them popping up quicker than they can fill and flatten them. He reported progress. BOARD OF EDUCATION: Committee Chairperson Fazekas said he would be scheduling a meeting next week. He said he notified the Board of Education that Comcast installed the fiber optic panels yesterday for the town to bring Comcast to our access channel thirty- five. He said we should be able to put up a bulletin board in the next month, he would be going to each department and the Board of Education to obtain information concerning this so they could post the information on the Community Bulletin Board. He said Comcast has given the town some software and hardware to do this without incurring any cost to the Borough. He reported progress. Councilmember Sohayda said he left something out of his report, both of the front-end loaders and the garbage truck are back on the road. He said they have been maintaining the fire trucks all last week as well. 29 ]NE 7, 2001 IOCLAMATION: Mayor Failace read the following proclamation and presented it to Lou )REAN lIAR Mangieri: *.TERANS MONTH ~IU ARMISTICE ~.y "KOREAN WAR VETERANS MONTH AND ARMISTICE DAY" WHEREAS, on June 25, 1950 Communist North Korean Troops crossed over the 38th Parallel invading South Korea; and WHEREAS, the United Nations declared the invasion a clear cut act of aggression and came to the defense of South Korea; and WHEREAS, thousands of American Troops were rushed into Korea without proper training and without proper equipment and supplies; and WHEREAS, during the first year of fighting, the United States Forces suffered some of the worst defeats in United States Military History; and WHEREAS, the Korean War has become known as the Forgotten War, remembered only by its surviving veterans; and WHEREAS, the Korean Veterans are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the start of the Korean War, June 25, 1950; and WHEREAS, the surviving veterans will meet again on July 27, 2001 and the 48th Anniversary of the Cease Fire at Arlington Cemetery to honor their Fallen Comrades; and WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States, with the enactment of Public Law 194-19 has decreed that beginning in the year 1995 and each year until the Year 2003, July 27th be designated as "Korean War Veterans Armistice Day" and the citizens of the United States of America have been called upon to observe said date each year with appropriate ceremonies in honor of the Americans who died as a result of their service in Koreas; NOW, THEREFORE, I JAMES FAILACE, MAYOR OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, do hereby proclaim the period of JUNE 25, 2001 THRU JULY 27, 2001 "KOREAN WAR VETERANS MONTH" AND DECLARE JULY 27, 2001 "KOREAN WAR VETERANS ARMISTICE DAY" and do here by call upon all public buildings, schools, churches, organizations, business establishments and residents of our community to display the Flag of the United States of America with pride and remembrance those Korean War Veterans who so proudly served their country in a time of trouble and to especially pay tribute to those who gave their lives in cause for Freedom. 30 JUNE 7, 2001 Mayor Failace said he received a letter from the Department of CONt'IIgNT$ Environmental Protection and read it aloud. He said he sent a copy to all the Councilmembers and the original to the Borough's Engineers, T&M Associates. He said the survey that came with this letter needs to completed by June 19th and there is a possibility there is free money out there if we needed it to continue with the sewers. He thanked everyone who was involved and took part in the Memorial Day Parade. He thanked Councilmember Quinones for marching with him and Councilmember Fazekas for being at the monument. He said he was a little disappointed, two years ago the Police and Fireman were told they weren't going to get a day off for marching in the Memorial Day Parade. He said he felt they should do it because they want to and should not get ten hours pay for marching a couple of hours. He asked Councilmembers Santoro, Rios or Sohayda why they changed this. Councilmember Santoro said she felt it was punitive when the Mayor took it away from them, they had always received it and she felt it should be implemented back. She said there were the same amount marching with or without this and she felt they deserve it. Mayor Failace said this was not discussed with the Council and when he did what he did he discussed it with the Council before he took it away. He said he felt that was a day that should be given of our time and there was no need to get a full day's pay for a couple hours of time. He said that was his opinion and something he felt the town could do for the Veterans. Councilmember Santoro said that was the Mayor's opinion and she felt the members of the Police and Fire Departments are individuals who give their time and said the Mayor should not forget it. She said so do the Veterans and no one is taking that away from them. She said this is something that they had received in the past and last year Mayor Failace took it away from them during the course of taking numerous items away from them. She said she felt it was punitive and she put it back the way it was it was not something that the Council created. She said these people give a lot of their time to the children, seniors, etc. She said she believed they deserved it. Mayor Failace said Councilmember Santoro's opinion was that it was punitive but he felt there was no need to pay a ten hour day for a couple of hours at a cost of six thousand dollars in the Police Department alone. He said it should have been given to the Veterans but he knew what they have done but felt that had nothing to do with it. He said it should have never been given back to them. He said two years ago when he took it away from them the Fireman marched in uniform and he was proud of them and the Police Department marched in T-shirts. He said he felt both unions should have come out this time without pay. Mayor Failace told Councilmember Fazekas he thanked God that he took over the Parks because the inmates are rtmning the asylum down there. He said two weeks prior to the Memorial Day festivities he received a call from Barbara Sica who asked him if she could have the Mayor's Memorial fixed up because she felt it looked like hell. He said he told her there was no reason for her to do that, it was the town's job. He said he asked Nicholas Goldsack, Business Administrator to contact Bob Kately to have it done, fixed, put flowers there or shrubs, do something he said he went the Saturday before Memorial Day, there were only a few very sparse flowers there. He 31 JNE 7· 2001 2)MMENTS said he called Mr. Kately from the Parks because the Mayor was mad, Mr. Kately told him the men did not have time and Mr. Kately said he did not see the urgency of this being done. He said he has seen three men mow the grass on the islands two in the front and one in the back and has never seen anything like that. He said he asked this be done at the request of the former Mayor's wife. He felt it was sad on Memorial Day that people who visit the park have to look at that piece of garbage the monument has become. He told Councilmember Fazekas he was glad he took over the Parks. He said the town bought flats of flowers which are now dead because the Parks Department did not have enough time to plant them, he gave them to Councilmember Fazekas to do something with. Councilmember Santoro said since the Mayor was bashing the Parks Department, she said he sits up there and he criticizes and he never compliments. She said it was amazing because he lacks the foresight of what they do. She said as far as Barbara Sica and the monument, there was contact with Mr. Kately and they were looking to fix the monument. She said it wasn't done when the Mayor wanted it done and she would back Mr. Kately and his opinion. Mayor Failace said this should have been done before Memorial Day and he has been up on the Council or as Mayor a long enough time to know what is going on. He read a letter from the Carteret Office of the Disabled, which asked for Councilmember Santoro be removed because no one could answer their questions or concerns or it took a very long time before anyone got back to them. Councilmember Santoro said it was all right that Councilmember O'Brien sat on the Board for a year and never attended the meetings but the Mayor never opened his mouth. She said he is only saying this because it is her and she did attend a meeting. Mayor Failace said Councilmember Santoro did not let her finish he said the letter was signed by Joanne Kissleman. He urged the Council to remove Councilmember Santoro from the Board of the Disabled. He said he felt Carteret's disabled citizens need to be taken care of. He said since Councilmember Quinones was given one Committee to head. Councilmember Santoro said Councilmember Quinones doesn't even run that Committee since she has never had a Committee meeting. Councilmember Quinones said she has done more with the time she has had this Comamittee than Councilmember Santoro has done all last year. Mayor Failace asked the Council remove Councilmember Santoro and replace her with Councilmember Quinones. Councilmember Santoro said she would actively step aside. She said she felt it was amazing that Councilmember Quinones would be able to attend these meetings when she is not able to hold her own Committee Meetings. She said the Mayor did not have to stand up there and cause a distraction, ail he had to do was ask. 32 JUNE 7, 2001 Mayor Failace said he was not causing a distraction, he was reading a COMMENTS letter that was sent to him and he felt it needed to be addressed. He said he would like to talk about Ethnic Day, which he wanted to do at the beginning of the year but gave to the Parks and Recreation Commission. He said at this moment he has worked with Taqualla Ransdell who he felt has done a heck of a job all by herself. He said he gave Taqualla his Aide, Jeff Pino to help her because she could not get any help from the Councilmember. He said Taqualla has no Committee at this point, maybe she might have a Committee next week but it is six months into this. He asked the Council to ensure that Carteret has a good Ethnic Day he felt the citizens of Carteret deserve it. He asked the Council to remove Councilmember Santoro and he would take over Ethnic Day. Councilmember Santoro said she would not step aside from Ethnic Day, everything is on schedule. She said she has met with Taqualla yesterday and the Mayor is misinforming the public again. She said there is no problem, the problem is it is not who the Mayor wants to control Ethnic Day. She said Ethnic Day would be a huge success as it is every year. Mayor Failace asked Councilmember Santoro who was on the Committee because he felt Taqualla Ransdell could not do it by herself. Councilmember Santoro said there would be a list submitted to him, and asked if they need a Committee. She said he would have a list tomorrow. She said last year she never saw a list of people and if the job is getting done the Mayor should not worry about what she is doing. Mayor Failace said if anyone wanted to find out what was getting done they should speak to Taqualla Ransdell because everything was not getting done. He said Taqualla has come into his office over the last month so flustered not knowing what to do. He said that was when he gave her his Aide, Jeff Pino to help and lead her in the right direction because the Mayor did not want Ethnic Day to fail. He said Taqualla tried to contact the Councilwoman and failed, she did not speak to her in quite a while. Councilmember Santoro said the Mayor was changing the facts. Mayor Failace said he was not changing the facts. He said there is no committee and there hasn't been a committee and we are already into June and he felt Taqualla Ransdell could not do this by herself. He said Taqualla is a dynamic young lady but he felt she could not do this herself. Councilmember Santoro said they should go to a vote of the Council to ask if she could stay in charge of Ethnic Day. (inaudible, a lot of people speaking at once) Mayor Failace said he could speak about RCA because he has a lot of time. He said as Councilmember Rios said Frank Raia doesn't tell the Council to do this or that and he agreed with Councilmember Rios. He said Frank Raia has already called COAH and told them he was 33 2001 I, lttE~T$ getting money from Carteret but the Council says he is not. He said he and John Riggio are under the impression Mr. Raia is getting money because COAH said he was because Frank Raia said he was getting money. He said he would like to clarify something, Frank Raia comes back to the Council and says he has a commitment from Carteret and Carteret owes him the money. He said he sat on the Council with Councilmember Fazekas and the Council owes Mr. Raia not one penny and there is no commitment from us. Borough Attorney Bergen interrupted to ask the Mayor if he was sure he wanted to discuss this. Mayor Failace said he had no problem because everything was the truth. He said Pete Sica said he wanted to give Mr. Raia a five hundred thousand-dollar grant and the Council changed it to a loan. He said he had the same story Mr. Raia came to this Council with that he came to the Council years ago with and Mayor Sica said to him he could take his five thousand dollars or leave it. He said the Council does not owe Frank Raia one penny he said he felt Mr. Raia has taken enough from the Borough. He said as of May, Frank Raia got a million dollars and the people got nine hundred thousand. He said Mr. Raia is paying it back at ten thousand dollars a year. He said Mr. Raia is paying forty nine thousand dollars in taxes on five million dollars worth of property but told the Council he pays fifty thousand dollars and more for sewer user fees but he pays twenty seven thousand dollars. He said the Council should understand that Frank Raia is not telling the truth and anyone could go to Patrick DeBlasio and get the information about the taxes and sewer user fees. He said he went back to some articles on the Borough and Frank Raia where he said he doesn't mind investing money in Carteret because we are building a school, a marina, a shopper's mall. He said Raia said in the article that he looked at Carteret as an IRA, a pension plan for his family. He said in the same article Councilmember Santoro, who was President of the School Board at that time, questioned who was going to pay the money the School Board loses. Mayor Failace said he understood what Mr. Raia is doing and commended him for doing what he is doing but he as a taxpayer was concerned where the difference gets made up. He said Frank Raia has not given this town anything he felt the Council should continue to give the money to scattered site rehabilitation for the citizens of Carteret so they would be sure one hundred percent of the citizens get the money. He said Mr. Raia lied and he also lied when he told the Council that ninety eight percent of the people in his units are citizens of Carteret. He said there was a problem with that and these people came from other places, even out of the state. He said he has nothing against low to moderate income but felt Carteret has done their share and they need to give it to the citizens of Carteret and insure they get every penny of the money. He said they do have development that will come in and develop Lower Roosevelt Avenue. He said if the Council did not believe him the Council should put it on his shoulders and he would take care of it. He said when Mr. Raia did Cleveland Arms, he did not get any money from the Borough to do that, and he did it himself. He said he let a piece of property sit on Roosevelt Avenue and Industrial Road that he hasn't gotten any money for which is why he could not do it. Mayor Failace said Mr. Raia was doing a five million-dollar project in Hoboken and asked nothing from Hoboken to do that. He said 34 JUNE ?, 2001 according to the roles of COAH; this money should go to each citizen COMMENTS in town. Councilmember Reiman said no one on the Council brought up giving Frank Raia or anyone else money. He said they spoke about getting one point seven million dollars in additional RCA money to help the town. He said professional people, Director of Community Development and the Borough's Chief of Staff who disagrees with the Council. He said they looked at the advice that was given, he is still reviewing it and making discussions. He felt to beat up the Council for turning over all the money to Frank Raia or anyone else was not tree. He said the Administration said three weeks ago there was no additional money available he said the Council did not unilaterally go out and get one point seven million dollars, they had contacts that gave them the proper... Mayor Failace interrupted and said Councilmember Reiman knew who got the money, he did not get the money, Frank Raia's lawyer was getting a good portion of the money. Councilmember Reiman said Frank Raia's lawyer gave the Council information as far as a name and a site or town which would be looking to transfer some RCA funds. He said how did we get the Readington Agreement for East Amwell or Cranberry, but the Mayor sits up there and hoped to give out a five hundred thousand dollar loan for a Senior Complex that never went through. He said he would have supported the project for the Senior Complex because they would pay one hundred percent of their tax value, there is no tax abatement, they would pay back ten to twenty thousand dollars a year that would go back to the homeowners. He said a program like that where the money is recycled; where a portion of it is a loan to a development company and the money comes back he did not know how the town could lose with a program like this. He said he supported giving out the vast majority of money to owner occupied rehabilitation and felt they have to continue to help the homeowners with scattered site rehabilitation which would help the homeowners. He said they would also have to look at Lower Roosevelt Avenue because he felt when you look at the Hill District and Roosevelt Avenue up the Hill compared to what it looked like five years ago, it is a vast improvement today. He said he understood it was a potential policy change but nothing on the agenda tonight, not one Resolution that brings up Frank Raia. He said he would like a copy of the information the Mayor had talking about COAH and how many Carteret people were in Mr. Raia's buildings. Mayor Failace said he said that the Council should be very weary because of the number statements that Mr. Raia made at the last meeting. He said the Council should be very weary Mr. Raia is not telling the truth to them. Councilmember Reiman said he would be very weary if Mr. Raia did call COAH because he would have a problem with that. Mayor Failace said he did call them and told Councilmember Reiman to check with COAH. 35 ~NE 7~ 2001 9MMENTS Councilmember Reiman said the Council should look to see what they could do, Frank Raia does not speak for the Borough, only the Mayor and Council do. Councilmember Rios said Mr. Raia could say whatever he wants but that does not mean he is committing this Council. He said the Mayor was giving everyone that impression. He said Mr. Raia speaks for himself and the Council speaks for themselves. Mayor Failace said he did not disagree with that, Mr. Raia says what he wants to say, the Council will do what they have to do. He said Mr. Raia is under the impression that he is getting money from Carteret or he would have not called COAH to tell them that. Councilmember Rios said Mr. Raia could think anything he wants but this Council has not made a commitment as far as what they are going to do with that money. He said what bothers him is the bad press this Council could be getting that would possibly jeopardize that money, everyone on this Council would like to see the money come to the Borough. Mayor Failace said his point in telling the Council the information was to make you understand that the information they got was not necessarily tree. He said the Council should think twice if they are thinking about giving Mr. Raia any money. Councilmember Santoro said she had a question about troth, she remembered three weeks ago asking if there was any other money out there and no one told the Council if there was or if there was a possibility of getting money. She asked if that was an untruth or a changed. She said some of the Council might look at it as things have possibly changed and the money is found but she felt maybe that was an untruth. Mayor Failace said he did know what that had to do with it. Councilmember Santoro said the Mayor was talking about someone who states something that is not true and he was saying the Council is moving on it. She said the Council asked three weeks ago if there was any other RCA monies out there. She said the Council sat at an Agenda Meeting and looked at the possibility. She asked what the answer was. Mayor Failace said no, and he guessed Councilmember Santoro expected that the person in charge sits in the office and calls every Municipality every day. He said that money was already committed to New Brunswick from North Brunswick. He said there are a lot of other things that need to be done and the work is out there. He said Carteret would take your funds if your plan is agreeable to what Carteret wants to do. Councilmember Santoro said she wanted to go back to what is untrue and changes. She said that changed from that point because the Borough Director or someone who is looking for funds may not be aware of the situation and finds out after there is money available. She said the Mayor was implying that this developer is out there speaking for the Council. She asked the Mayor if he was implying that. 36 JUNE 7, 2001 Mayor Failace said as he told Councilmember Rios the reason he was COMMENTS telling the Council was because he felt thc Council should know what Mr. Raia is doing. Councilmember Santoro said the Council should get the money before it was decided where it goes. She said everyone needs to get behind this as a positive issue to move ahead to receive the money or it would be a blanket issue. She reiterated that three weeks ago there was no money available and now there was a possibility that there is money available to Carteret and she felt as Mayor and Council everyone should be concentrating on receiving the money. Councilmember Rios asked if it was a troth, an untruth, a myth, a lie or a misconception that Mr. Riggio told the woman in the audience that she has no possible chance of getting money. He said she was concerned that she was told the money was diverted. Mayor Failace said that the money might be diverted it was in the newspaper that the money might be diverted. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Quinones and Sohayda POBLIC DISCUSSION unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was opened to the public for discussion. Mary Fontaine said on May 19th the Carteret Community Action COMMENTS Committee spearheaded a clean up in Chrome. She thanked Councilmember Reiman, Mayor Failace, Councilmember Rios, the Fire Department and the Police Department for their help. She said it was a success and they would be having another clean up. She said the clean up was spearheaded by a group that is not political it is a community based group. Suzanne Loufty, member of the Board of Education, said she is not representing the opinions of the Board of Education she is representing her opinion. She told Councilmember Sohayda that he said it was a good shot at the money. She asked how thirty four million dollars sounded to him and what if the taxpayers were stuck with that thirty four million dollars due to development; due to whichever Councilmembers or developers. She said it didn't matter who it was because of but the taxpayers would be stuck with lease purchases and we have over crowded classrooms. She said now there are three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. She said the Council is getting one point seven million dollars, she asked how much would the taxpayers have to pay in taxes. She said if each house had two children where would they put them, she wanted to know if the Council would take the children in their homes or open nurseries. She said Councilmember Santoro was concerned when she was on the Board of Education. Councilmember Santoro said she was concerned and if Ms. Loufty wanted to address her she could go into it, but felt Ms. Loufty was way off base and until she got her facts straight she shouldn't try to talk about this. 37 INE 7, 2001 JBLIC DISCUSSION Suzanne Loufty said Councilmember Santoro was not at the meeting )Mt, lENTS to vote on this so she would not address her. Councilmember Santoro said because she was not there does not mean she was not aware of it and felt Ms. Loufly should make her point. Suzanne Loufty said she would read why Carteret would be getting the money from the town that was giving the money. She read that there was concern about development of any type and its affect on the Board of Education capacity. She said North Brunswick's Administrator said this is a move to slow the housing construction. She said they are giving away the money because they are worried about the affect of redevelopment on the Board of Education. She said Carteret is at their capacity with the Board of Education and has a budget of fifty eight million dollars for teachers and they have to minimize class size and she felt this was just the tip of the iceberg. Councilmember Santoro asked if Ms. Loufty felt the Council should not go for one point seven million dollars that might benefit the homeowners of the town. Suzanne Loufty said she felt Councilmember Santoro understood exactly what she was trying to say. She said Carteret was already at saturation when it came to redevelopment. She said she felt if the Council took the money to fix what was broken that would be good for the community. She said one point seven million dollars is nothing because the lease purchase would be another thirty four million dollars on the backs of the taxpayers. She asked the Council before voting on any redevelopment they should consider the taxpayers, Carteret could not afford any more houses, they would have children. She said as a School Board member she knows there is no room for anymore children and the taxpayers would have another lease purchase. Councilmember Santoro asked how Ms. Loufty knew there was a lease purchase coming up or if she was aware of something the Council did not know about and needed to be aware of. Suzanne Loufly asked where they would be getting the funds and where they would put the children. Councilmember Sohayda asked where the children were coming from. Suzanne Loufty said the children would be coming from the new houses that were being built by Columbus School. Councilmember Rios said the housing built across from Columbus School was committed years ago. Suzanne Loufly said the Council should stop blaming the former Administration and this Council would be gone some day and she felt nothing lasted forever. She said the Council should be honorable and stop this here and help save the taxpayers now. James Mancuso, Jackson Avenue, said he was on the Planning Board when they approved the (inaudible) project. He said the Board of Education came to the Planning Board with the same concerns about the children coming in. He said they went to the developer and asked 38 JUNE 7, 2001 for details on the children and they told them there would be twelve or PUBLIC DISCUSSION fourteen children coming into the school system. He said he was at a COMMENTS Board of Education meeting and Mrs. Bonventure stated that the Planning Board approved the project, which would be bringing a lot of children into the town. He said Ms. Bonventure neglected to say the night before the chairman of the Zoning and Planning Board voted yes and was one of two who voted for the property by Mr. Baumgartner's to put in new housing and had applied for all Section 8's. He asked Councilmember Sohayda if the signs for the cell phones were ordered. Councilmember Sohayda said he did not think so. James Mancuso said he was talking to the DOT and some one should check Title 39 because they would need an okay from the DOT before installing the signs. Councilmember Sohayda said he thought the Council was considering repealing that. James Mancuso said he understood the Attorney got letters concerning the trains. Borough Attorney Bergen said Mr. Mancuso brought that up at the last Council Meeting. He said that was a while ago and Mr. Mancuso said the lawyer had not done anything about it. James Mancuso said the letter was from March and wanted to know what the procedure was when hiring someone to do something for the Council and if they gave the Council a report as the time went on. Councilmember Santoro said they don't give the Council a report. She said when he was hired last January there was never a report. James Mancuso said for the same attorney that was hired April 6, 2000, March of this year the attorney sent out letters. He said in a year nothing was done. He said no one checked on it no one said anything about it and he did not give the Council any progress report. He said the only reason the letters went out in March was that he brought it up in January and called to find out what was going on. Borough Attorney Bergen asked if he should address what the lawyer told him after Mr. Mancuso was done with everything. James Mancuso said several times he asked the Council about the s~veeper on Roosevelt Avenue. He said the Council should go into the B orough's Ordinance book under section 222-28 which lists the streets in Carteret by Ordinance that are to be swept. He said Roosevelt Avenue is not one of them but the men do it a couple of times a week. He said he does not know why the town takes our manpower on an average of eight hours a week. Councilmember Sohayda said he checked with the County and requested this. James Mancuso said by our Ordinance Roosevelt Avenue is not one of the streets that is to be swept and he did not see why the Borough takes their manpower at an average of eight hours a week. He asked 39 JNE ?, 2001 JBLIC DISCUSSION Councilmember Sohayda if he was saying if the County decides not to )MNENTS do anything the Borough would take it back. Councilmember Sohayda said that was how he felt because the people deserve to have clean streets. James Mancuso said Carteret should do what every other town does and make the County take care of it because it is their road. He said it is a Board of Health issue and the County can not refuse to do it. Councilmember Sohayda said they would only do this for a celebration or a parade. James Mancuso said he suggested Councilmember Sohayda check with the County Board of Health or the State Board of Health. He said he spoke to the State and they said the County would have to do something if it became a Board of Health issue. Mayor Failace said someone should make a phone call. James Mancuso said he did not understand how the County tells the Borough what to do. Councilmember Santoro asked Mr. Mancuso which Committee he sat on while he was a Councilmember and asked if he ever looked into this and was he aware the men were sweeping Roosevelt Avenue at that time. James Mancuso said he was on Streets and Roads and he never looked into this and was not aware they were sweeping at the time. He said he asked at the end of his term and was told they made an agreement. He said he went to Trenton and New Brunswick for an agreement like the agreement we have with the lights, the only town with such an agreement with the State. Councilmember Santoro said she felt Nick Goldsack should be looking into this. James Mancuso said one hundred eighty thousand dollars would be repaid to Carteret over a thirty-year period came out to six thousand dollars a year. Councilmember Reiman asked Mr. Mancuso what one hundred eighty thousand dollars. James Mancuso said one hundred and eighty thousand dollars they might give to someone and if they do give this it would be back pay. He said at the rate of inflation the six thousand dollars would be worth twenty one hundred dollars. He said before you know it the six thousand goes to five, than four, than three, than two, than one. Mayor Failace said this Council has made it perfectly clear they have not made a commitment. James Mancuso said he did not say anything but the thing that amazed him was Mr. Raia is building a three hundred and eighty million-dollar project, and Carteret gets nothing. He said he knew Mr. Raia for 40 JUNE ?, 2001 thirty-five years, yet one hundred and eighty thousand dollars out of a PUBLIC DISCUSSION man's pocket who is a millionaire and the Council is sitting at odds C0MNENTS with one another over it and he felt it was terrible. Mayor Failace said the Council has not made a commitment. James Mancuso said he felt it was about time this town started going up and giving the people that are paying the taxes and supporting all the programs a break. Councilmember Reiman asked Business Administrator Goldsack to answer him in front of the public even though Councilmember Reiman has asked him about this at other times. He asked if Mr. Goldsack's opinion was that the Council did make a commitment and asked for his opinion. Business Administrator Goldsack said based on an Ordinance that was passed in 1997 providing for a payment in lieu of taxes on specific properties, which included a project Mr. Raja, wanted to finish. He said it was his opinion based on that Ordinance in fact the commitment providing the payment in lieu of taxes was made and the former Community Development Director, on his understanding, on information provided to Mr. Goldsack while on the Community Development Board with the County. He said the County made a commitment of two hundred and forty thousand dollars to Mr. Raja. He said this was contingent upon the Borough dividing the funds to finish that one specific project. Councilmember Reiman asked if Business Administrator Goldsack believed the Borough had a commitment. Business Administrator Goldsack said yes based on the information he had. Councilmember Reiman asked Mr. Goldsack if he felt the Council should consider down the road a hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Unidentified Woman asked "consider it for what?" Councilmember Reiman said it is being thrown around (inaudible) salary. Borough Administrator Goldsack said if the Cotmcil chose to do so in his opinion he felt it should be a loan. Borough Attorney Bergen said he felt this conversation should not go on any longer with regard to whether the Council pays Mr. Raja or he is owed any money or not. He said his only advice to the Council is to not discuss this anymore at this time, he could not say anymore but if they wanted to continue the conversation, he could not stop them. Dave Crudup, 48 Bergen Street, asked what the Borough intended to do with the abandoned houses through out the Borough. He said some individuals are moving into these abandoned houses with no utilities. He showed the Council pictures of one of the houses someone was living in by the park near where he worshiped. He asked if the owner of the property could be made to board the property up so no one 41 INE 7~ 2001 LIBLIC DISCUSSION would be able to get in or out of the building. He felt the police should ONNENTS patrol the area to see what kind of activity is going on since it is near a park and a church. Councilmember Quinones told Borough Attorney Bergen to meet with Tony Neibert and speak to him about the options the Council has in terms of local Ordinances or State Ordinances because this issue comes up a lot. She said she felt the Council should have some policy in place on what restrictions there are. Borough Attorney Bergen said we do have an Ordinance and we do have a State Statute. He said Tony Neibert has started selecting some properties and Mr. Neibert and himself were working together. He said Mr. Neibert sent him copies of the letters he sent to the landlord and they would be walking through the process together. He said there might be some areas in which there would be conflict between the Statute and whether they had the due process right but they would be working on that. He said it would be difficult to do this all at once and felt Mr. Neibert was doing this the right way a few at a time. He said they would be working through the first few and moving on the next, if they did every building in town it would be beyond their control. Dave Crudup asked if Councilmember Reiman had some of the buildings in Chrome boarded up. Councilmember Reiman said there were three buildings in the Chrome area that were issued violation notices from Mr. Neibert. He said he spoke to Mr. Neibert who said these property owners were notified they have thirty days before the buildings are demolished. He said Mr. Neibert is confident and Mr. Reiman was confident that within forty five to sixty days if the property owner has not done anything they could go there and knock the building down. He said they were taking bids and had set aside twenty thousand dollars in the budget to knock down the buildings and clean up the lots. He said they would put a lien on the properties and in due time auction them off. Mayor Failace said Mr. Crudup has come to the Council in the past and they have set up the procedure and they have started with the program. He said it will never be fast enough, but once they get rolling he felt it would get better. Borough Attorney Bergen said if the Council did an analysis of what they could do, he would get it together. Councilmember Quinones said they brought up the due process issue and (inaudible) limited to doing anything because of that. Borough Attorney Bergen said if they could not find the landowner and they have to serve notice upon them, there might be a due process problem to move against some properties they would need to be careful of. He said that is why Mr. Neibert has selected a few and generally if they could find the owner to get proper service on them they would be able to move quickly on a number of the properties. Councilmember Santoro said the Council would like Tony Neibert to attend the next Agenda Meeting to explain the process and what he and Mr. Bergen were doing. 42 JUNE 7, 2001 Borough Attorney Bergen said some of the other due process is that PUBLIC DISCUSSION there will be hearings on some of these issues. He said there might be COMI~ENTS some one who owns a building that comes in to the Council to say they lost their job and they could not raise the money right now. He said if there was some value in it, the town might have a problem in that. He said someone might come to them and say their building was burned and they might be waiting for fire insurance money. He said someone might ask the Borough to knock the building down if there was some value in it. He said that would be a decision they would have to make because you want the building tom down and there is a story on the other side that may have some equities to it that they have to consider. Dave Cmdup said the two properties were sold to a developer, he asked why the Council could not get the developer to board up the building to keep everything out. Borough Attorney Bergen said as he said at the last meeting if people would tell him the owners they could track down their attorneys. Dave Crndup said if he could find out who owns the property he was sure the Borough could find out who owns the property, you could ask some one on Main Street in Woodbridge who owned property in the Chrome area. He said he felt it was an eyesore and with the traffic going in and out of there some one would set the building on fire and everyone would have a problem. Patricia Rodriquez, 72 Edwin Street, said the house two doors down from her is an abandoned building and has a red sign on it. She said no one can imagine having to pay six hundred to seven hundred dollars in extermination bills because these houses are full of garbage, riffraff lives in these buildings. She said her husband was out of work for a year and four hundred dollars was coming into her house and she was writing a check to an exterminator for six hundred dollars every month for ten years. She said there is a lot of inter fighting about what the funds would be used for, whether it was going to be used to fix up homes or for development. She said she did not make a lot of money last year and she would like to apply for the funds, but when she walks down Roosevelt Avenue she felt she would lose her mind unless every building is redeveloped. She said the area has more hookers than they have on Forty Second Street in New York and felt it was terrible that her seven year old had to ask Councilmember Santoro at a meeting what she could do to get rid of the hookers. She said there was a fire in her house on the second floor and she thanked the members of the Carteret Fire and Police Departments and all the volunteers who responded. She said if it was not for the two-minute response time she would have lost her house. Michelle Grandell asked the Mayor how long he has lived in Carteret. Mayor Failace said twenty-seven years. Michelle Grandell said she has lived up the Hill in Carteret for thirty years and has seen what the Hill used to look like before it was redeveloped. She asked the Mayor to refresh her memory on what businesses were lost. 43 INE 7~ 2001 IBLIC DISCUSSION Mayor Failace said they went to the Zoning Board and he had the )MMENTS information but couldn't tell her each of the businesses. He said they were zoned for residential and commercial use. Michelle Grandell asked if the Mayor meant the zoning was changed. She asked what going; thriving businesses were on that street. Mayor Failace said the same, as there is- no going; thriving businesses on Lower Roosevelt Avenue. He said they would get that back and did not have to use RCA money to do that. He said if they use the same plan they are using now, creating a Redevelopment Agency, he felt they could have done the exact same thing in the Hill Section. Michelle Grandell asked if the Mayor was on the Council then. Mayor Failace said the Hill project was before him, but he was out there fighting against it. He said he was also there fighting the (inaudible) and walking the picket line. Michelle Grandell said that is exactly what Roosevelt Avenue was before it was redeveloped. She said she did not understand why the Mayor says a redevelopment of that kind does not benefit the taxpayers of Carteret. She said six months after that project was done, her house went up twenty-five thousand dollars in value as did every taxpayer's house for blocks around. She said the Mayor said there are mysterious developers. Mayor Failace interrupted and said there is nothing mysterious about it, he has their cards. Michelle Grandell said he has had their cards for eight years. Mayor Failace said he has not had the cards for eight years and the Council was in the process of a redevelopment area dedicated to Lower Roosevelt Avenue. He said when they started that process that was when the developers started coming to him. Michelle Grandell said the Mayor said this when the Hill project was going on. She said he said it at Planning Board meetings that he has developers willing to come into Carteret and she asked where they were. Mayor Failace said they have created a redevelopment area and have a redevelopment plan and are beginning to move forward with this Council to give it back to the Planning Board and when it is done. He said those things would be taken care of by the Redevelopment Agency. He said that is why they did it that way. He said Ms. Grandell could come to his office. Councilmember Santoro said at that time the Mayor would give Ms. Grandell the names. Mayor Failace said he has a number of names in the office of people who came to him that he would give to the Redevelopment Agency, he did not have a problem with that. He said the Redevelopment Agency that is set up right now has not asked him about developers or asked any one anything in the last two weeks. 44 JUNE 7, 2001 Michelle Grandell said if the Mayor is so dead set against Frank Raia PUBLIC DISCUSSION and she personally felt Mr. Raia was a God. She said she felt Mr. Raia COMMENTS has done a magnificent job and has a proven track record for keeping up his property, which have increased in value. Mayor Failace said the town does not get that increase in value, Frank Raia does. Michelle Grandell said the area does, but the Mayor does not live there. Mayor Failace said he felt that was an unfair statement. He said he does not live in Lower Roosevelt Avenue but he does have a concern about getting it done. He said if they would have created a Redevelopment Agency years ago, in reference to the Hill Section, he felt they could have gotten it done the same way they are doing this now. Michelle Grandell told the Mayor that hindsight is twenty-twenty. Mayor Failace said he was not talking about hindsight, he was talking about moving forward. Michelle Grandell said she agreed with that and asked the Mayor why he could not present these developers to the Council. Mayor Failace said he would present the cards at the next Agenda Meeting. He said he did not understand the need but he would present the cards of the people who came to his office, there is one developer that the Council meets with every Saturday morning who is looking at buying property and has purchased property in Lower Roosevelt Avenue. Michelle Grandell said that was nice and felt he was bashing Frank Raia's plan but there were no other options. Mayor Failace said there are other options, there is another developer that has spoken to members of this Council. Councilmember Santoro asked if they met on Saturday mornings. Mayor Failace said yes, they met at the Bus Stop and he was there at the same time. He said there is nothing wrong with that and he had no problem with it and they should talk to him. He said he talked to some developers and the Council spoke to some developers. He said some developers were at the meetings where they spoke about setting up the Redevelopment Agency. He said the one the Councilmembers spoke to was at that meeting and he is making an active effort to purchase property in that area. He said it is happening and it is working and it is not Frank Raia and they are not giving out any RCA money. He said they are doing it with his own money and the people he spoke to are not asking for RCA money. Michelle Grandell said she was glad there were other alternatives. 45 2001 UBLIC DISCUSSION Councilmember Reiman said he wasn't here then but remembered OMMENYS sitting in the audience and had a question about how many developers then were willing to come into Carteret... Mayor Failace interrupted to say none but if they set up a Redevelopment Agency he felt there would have been a different way to go. He said that is hindsight and he was not saying that but moving forward that is what they are doing and it is the right way. Pat Tozzi said he has been instructed by the Board of Health to bring this up. He said a year ago they got an approval for a ramp to be put in at the Board of Health to enable the handicapped people in the town to go to the clinics. He said everything was approved until T&M Associates came in and then the project died and they have not heard anything. He said as Vice President of the Board of Health he would personally go over the Council's head and write a letter to the State to say the handicapped of Carteret are neglected and are unable to get the tests they are entitled to because there is no ramp into the building. Mayor Failace said he was not saying this fell through a crack but Mr. Tozzi has jarred some of the Councilmember's memories. Pat Tozzi asked why the town could not buy the Sewer Jet and Catch Basin Cleaner out of UEZ money. He said the town has so much UEZ money and other communities buy equipment from UEZ money. Mayor Failace said other communities bought equipment a few years ago from UEZ money but it was changed, they tried to get the fire truck from UEZ money but you can't do it now. He said he agreed and it would be great if they could but they can't. Pat Tozzi said on the communications number 32, 33 and 37b he is very involved with tax deductions for Senior Citizens and property taxes that are paid to the schools. He asked for a copy of these communications before they are put on for the meetings because as the AARP representative he has recommendations and is very involved in Middlesex County concerning these subjects. He said he recently appeared before the School Board, the Superintendent had a Resolution stating they should not be using property owners to pay for the schools. He said he has appeared before members of the Assembly who asked him where they would get funds to take care of the school system if they did not get them from the property taxes. He said he told them that they should increase the sales tax and use that money or get the income tax money that was originally set up to pay for the schools or utilize the funding taxes from gas, etc. He said they told him that he was not a politician but if he came up with a Resolution or an answer and if he took funds from one place how could they provide for other things. Borough Attorney Bergen said he would give Mr. Tozzi his card and he would be glad to discuss this with him. Pat Tozzi said Councilmember Quinones mentioned a letter from the Governor and if she gave the right figures he felt there was something wrong somewhere. He said those figures are below a person authorized for PAAD and he felt there was something wrong. 46 JUNE 7, 2001 Councilmember Quinones said she would show him the letter because PUBLIC DISCUSSION she had it with her. COMMENTS Pat Tozzi said he would review it and give the Council his recommendations. He said he was a very intelligent and versatile good looking, handsome Senior Citizen. Mayor Failace jokingly said today was Chico Basilici's one-hundredth birthday. Stan Gutowski, New Jersey Avenue asked the Mayor and or the Attorney what the consequences would be discussing contracts that have already been signed and acted upon and if it was public information. Mayor Failace said what contracts. Stan Gutowski said Frank Raia, the contracts that the Borough has signed. Mayor Failace said he did not mean to speak for Borough Attorney Bergen but Mr. Gutowski was not saying what was signed but he meant what the Borough had a commitment to. Borough Attorney Bergen said he has not been privy to what has gone on in the past but there are claims that they are not following the agreements. Stan Gutowski asked Attorney Bergen if he has reviewed the contracts. Borough Attorney Bergen said he has them, he looked through them quickly. He said he had a package from Business Administrator Goldsack to look over the RCA's. He said whether it is or it isn't what Mr. Gutowski was claiming that the Council has violated those agreements and the Council is saying he hasn't. He said they are discussing communications that occurred between him and someone else he did not think it was in the Borough's best interest to do that in public. He said if he someday sued the Borough because he was not privy to all those conversations and he does not know what affect they have on the agreements. Stan Gutowski said when Mr. Bergen reads the contracts he will see that it says each one designates five thousand dollars and we have to fill our commitment. He asked Business Administrator Goldsack or a Councilmember about a commitment. He said he is basing his opinion of the Council on what they think about giving a particular developer one hundred and eighty thousand dollars because of a commitment. He said in the newspaper Councilmember Reiman said the Council was giving one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, eighty thousand dollars as a loan and one hundred thousand dollars as a non-payable grant. Councilmember Reiman said he might have. Stan Gutowski said Councilmember Reiman did say that it is in the newspaper, he could bring it in. He said what the commitment says is 47 lng ?, 2001 IBLIC DISCUSSION the town has to include RCA money. He said a payment in lieu of )MMENTS taxes is just that and it is a development commitment which is given out every day to every city in New Jersey. He said there is nothing that says RCA money has to be attached to that particular agreement. He said if you go back and review the agreements they specifically say five hundred thousand dollars in each agreement. He said he got a payment in lieu of taxes, he got his incentive to complete his housing project on the Hill four to five years ago and he has done nothing since then. He said now he is looking for a hundred eighty thousand dollars that he contends the Borough owes him. He said the Council should review the documentation, Mr. Raia got all that was committed to him. He asked if the Mayor changed the policy concerning the Memorial Day Parade. He asked if the policy in relation to the Police Department; if an officer falls in the line of duty the other officers that go to the funeral get paid for that because they were paid for that in the passed. Councilmember Santoro said no, and thanked Mr. Gutowski. Mayor Failace said for Cleveland Arms Frank Raia was given a (inaudible) but no RCA money, that was the incentive. Tom Lang, Colgan Avenue, asked when an amendment was made to any Resolution does there have to be a majority of the Councilmembers to approve the amendment. Borough Attorney Bergen said they have had that conversation many times before when a Councilmember abstained and the vote counts as an affirmative vote. He said the abstentions drop out and the majority to pass something goes down. He said a Council of five members you need a majority of three to pass it. He said if two people abstain the Council needs a majority of three you would need two affirmative votes for the Resolution to pass. He said that is why they say an abstention winds up counting as an affirmative vote generally because it reduces the number of the majority it takes to pass something. Tom Lang asked if they reduce themselves by abstaining would it be a quorum. Borough Attorney Bergen said yes, a quorum for purposes of conducting a meeting is all the Council needs. He said if only three people were available, two people could vote on a particular Resolution. He said there are times were a specific majority is required over and above a simple majority under certain statutes for certain appointments. He said in those cases an abstention counts as a negative vote. Tom Lang said on Resolution #01-182 for the record there were two abstentions and three yes votes. '~- Borough Attorney Bergen said in that particular vote the Council would have needed two people to vote affirmatively for the Resolution to pass. Tom Lang asked Councilmember Sohayda again about the streetlights on Carteret Avenue that were out. He said they have all been fixed or replaced. 48 JUNE 7, 2001 Councilmember Sohayda said they have not been touched, they all PUBLIC DISCUSSION needed a new ballast. COMMENTS Tom Lang said every light is lit and he thought it was because of something Councilmember Sohayda did to get them fixed. He explained how the poles were numbered and the repair department went about fixing them. He said they would not come to the town for one or two lights, they would come down for ten lights. Councilmember Sohayda said six phone calls were made for streetlights in the Lower Roosevelt Avenue area. He said three calls were from the Police Department, one from Mr. Surick and one from him. He asked Councilmember Rios about the tanker spill that happened in front of McDonald's that the town responded to and cleaned up. He asked how that worked as far as getting reimbursed from the County HAZMAT. He asked what the total cost of the clean up was and if there was any reimbursement from the County yet. Councilmember Rios said he doesn't believe they have got anything from them. Brian O'Connor, Fire Chief, said today the Fire Department received a check for $540.00. Mayor Failace and Brian O'Connor spoke about the check in a very low voice, which was inaudible. Tom Lang asked Mr. O'Connor if the Borough was justifiably compensated for services in his opinion. Mayor Failace said it is what they claimed and not necessarily what it cost the town. Tom Lang asked if it cost the Borough more to service the incident than what they were reimbursed. He said why should the Borough take the loss if it was their job to respond and clean up and are not doing it because it was cheaper to let the town do it. Councilmember Rios said they got five hundred and forty dollars and they were still waiting for Public Works money. Brian O'Connor said it covered the overtime cost of manpower but it does not cover the manpower in fire prevention units. He said there is only certain recoupable funds they could get. Tom Lang said for an example if the town turned out two trucks they would only give the town twenty dollars per truck and for manpower they would only give you a dollar for every man that comes out. Brian O'Connor said they wouldn't pay for volunteers. Conncilmember Reiman said the Mayor and himself discussed a Bill from the Senate about repaying Municipalities for accidents and responses on State highways and roads and they wanted to put a Resolution on to support that but they would eliminate any money coming back from response on the Turnpike. He said the town 49 lng 7~ 2001 JBLIC DISCUSSION responds to many accidents on the Turnpike and he has information )MHlgNTS from last year that was forwarded to him from the Fire Department concerning this. He said he wanted to send this information to the State Senate for them to amend the Bill. Tom Lang asked if there was anything we could do about that or was it just a way of life. Councilmember Reiman said he could not make the State reimburse the town. Tom Lang said he worked for the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway for several months and was on the EZ Pass. He said the Governor wanted to do away with tolls and several people were up in arms and that did not happen. He said between the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway five hundred and fifty million dollars has been spent on EZ Pass over the past five years. He said EZ Pass was supposed to make things easier and eliminate congestion but now they are talking about knocking it down. He said he wanted to bring this to the Council's attention because there would be an election coming up and Shundler stated that within the first nine months after his election he would eliminate the tolls and he felt that would be a bad move. He said Bob Franks also committed to eliminating the tolls, James McGreevey did not commit to getting rid of the tolls but he agrees with it. Mayor Failace said, as Mr. Lang knows this is a campaign issue and the opinion is the people want the tolls removed but they are not looking at the cost. He said there was a meeting with the Turnpike but the Mayor had to attend a graduation at the Gateway School. Tom Lang asked if there was any correspondence or report on the meeting. Councilmember Santoro said they should be getting reports on this shortly. She said she felt confident in the next six weeks the Borough would be getting a meeting with the Turnpike where they would be presenting some kind of plan. Councilmember Rios said he attended the meeting also and the public should know that the Turnpike is committed to making improvements to Exit 12, they gave the Council their word and he felt it was a step in the right direction. Tom Lang said the State requires members of the Redevelopment Committee to go to two classes. He said they want money for registration and asked if the members should lay that money out. Councilmember Reiman said seventy five thousand dollars has been set aside for this and the money will be paid from the account. Mayor Failace said Mr. Lang should see the Business Administrator or Patrick DeBlasio about this. Tom Lang spoke about when the class would be held and asked if they were the classes that they would be taking or if they would be getting 50 JUNE 7, 2001 someone else in. He said they haven't had a meeting because the last PUBLIC DISCUSSION meeting was cancelled and they have no agenda. COMMENTS Councilmember Reiman said the meeting was not posted properly. Borough Attorney Bergen asked if he was contacted about classes directly. Tom Lang said he was contacted by the Clerk's Office and by Rutgers University. Borough Attorney Bergen said he would like a copy because they spend a lot of time trying to get someone to call him back to tell them how they got the program. Tom Lang said the Redevelopment Agency's next move is to wait for the Council to make a move. Mayor Failace said the Council has to wait for the Planning Board Attorney, and the Borough Attorney has been working with the Planning Board Attorney to finalize what they have to do but felt it should not stop any progress from the committee calling people in or having discussions. Borough Attorney Bergen said at the next Agenda Meeting they would have a heating and adopt it formally. Tom Lang said he was under the impression that if they had no Agenda they could not move forward and they were waiting for the Council's recommendation to the Planning Board. Councilmember Santoro said that was on the set plan but the committee has other items they could start adopting and go over the by-laws and things they need to set up. Councilmember Reiman said they might want to meet with some Executive Directors from other areas like Perth Amboy and view what they have done. Tom Lang said he needs some guidelines because he does not know where the properties are. He said he needed some input or direction and did not want to take time off from work where he makes four hundred dollars. He said he does not want to do nothing all night because the meeting was cancelled and he lost a night's pay. Mayor Failace said the members of the Redevelopment Agency should have the information, as far as the area and in the book there is a mapped out area. Councilmember Santoro said he should see Nick Goldsack, Business Administrator for the book. Tom Lang said he has the book but he was not sure what they could or could not do and asked if they should wait until after the classes to see what they could do. 51 JNE 7, 2001 UBLIC DISCUSSION Mayor Failace said he understood there wasn't going to be a meeting ONMENTS this month because of the summer. Tom Lang said if the Planning Board took action they would call for a June meeting. Borough Attorney Bergen said one of the first things Mr. Lang might want to do is review the plan itself because the Council would adopt the map by Resolution and then the final plan. He said the Council goes to the Planning Board for their recommendations and then they by Ordinance implement that plan. He said if the members have issues with regard to that plan they might want to go over the plan as it exists now and make some recommendations or make an addendum to the plan before getting it approved by the Council and Planning Board. Tom Lang said he has had since February to look at the book. Borough Attorney Bergen said Mr. Lang might want to call the planner that developed the plan to go over it. Tim Horton, Captain, Carteret Fire Department, said he started in the Fire Department in 1972 and they call it compensatory time which has been in effect since then. He said he would like to clear something up, they are not getting paid for that time, and it is specifically in there to be taken at no cost to the Borough. He said it could not be taken as overtime or anything that would cost the Borough. He said they take this for things such as doctor's visits or family problems they use the time for that. He said he could not speak for the Police Department but the Fire Department uses their time this way so they don't have to call in sick and do not cost the Borough any money. He thanked the Korean Veterans. James Mancuso said children are crossing the street on Roosevelt Avenue by Tommy's Hot Dogs. He said there are no crosswalks on Roosevelt Avenue, there is a crossing guard there but there are no markings. He said they have been asked to mark Roosevelt Avenue for the last year but they still are not done. Councilmember Reiman said they are trying to put laborers in traffic maintenance. Councilmember Sohayda said the machine just came back, it was fixed once, came back but had to be fixed again. James Mancuso said it was something else the County should be doing. Patrick Crilley, 4 Capp Street, asked if the Council felt it would be beneficial to keep the old truck as a second truck. He said the twenty five thousand dollars they would be getting for the sewer truck trade in he felt it was usable and the men could get twice as much done. Councilmember Sohayda said that truck is so old and a job might take three hours to do in the old truck but fifteen minutes in the new truck. Patrick Crilley said he always thought the intention was to get a second truck and keep that truck. He said if it was not beneficial he 52 JUNE 7~ 2001 was not going to argue that. He asked Borough Attorney Bergen if PUBLIC DISCUSSION any Councilmember or the Police Committee Chairman have the right COl'II'lENTS to extend a benefit to any organization without coming in front of the Council specifically reinstating the benefit of paid time off. Borough Attorney Bergen said he was hoping no one would ask that question because he felt there was another important issue as to whether or not someone has time. He said if it is overtime and the person gets comp time there are issues with the fair labor standard act that have to be complied with. He said it was not a Councilmember's authority to give or take away because there might be some wage laws regulating what has to be given. He said if it is overtime the person might be entitled to comp time or time and a half. He said he could not tell Mr. Crilley what they are entitled to or not but he asked what the law says. Patrick Crilley said this reflects a change that is not in the contract. He said he felt even though it was passed practice for many years and was discontinued but he could not remember if it was discontinued by a vote of the Council at a Public Meeting or a poll at an Agenda Meeting. He said it was brought before the whole Council and may be they did it incorrectly when they eliminated it two years ago. He said there has been a new signed contract since that time and he felt this was a change to the contract whether it was put in the contract or done verbally he did not believe they overstepped their bounds. He said he felt this decision has to come before the full Council and asked Mr. Bergen to investigate that. Councilmember Santoro said he could get back to her on that but it was a choice by the committee. Patrick Crilley said whether it was a choice of the committee or of herself as the Chairperson he still felt it had to come before a vote just as they amended another contract for whatever reason. Councilmember Santoro said that would not be a problem as long as the Attorney told them what to do and she would have to look at that. Borough Attorney Bergen said he wanted to understand that no one was ordering them to work without pay. Patrick Crilley said no but they were giving them an additional benefit. Mayor Failace said they gave them a day off for mamhing in the parade. Councilmember Santoro said in the past there was none. Mayor Failace said they did it in the past and they took it way for two years ago. Borough Attorney Bergen said the Council does not order them to march and give them time or money. Mayor Failace said the Council does not order them to do anything, they do it on their own and those that march get another day off. 53 2001 Patrick Crilley told Councilmember Fazekas he welcomed his JBLIC DISCOSSION involvement with the Parks Department. He said everyone knows the )I, IHENTS Parks Department is near and dear to him. He said he was there a few years ago chastising Councilmember Fazekas for not having a Committee and he hoped Councilmember Fazekas finished out his term contrary to the rumors. He said Councilmember Fazekas has mentioned his nine-year plan and wanted him to know the Parks need to be ADA Safety Compliant by 2005. He urged the Council as he has done before to consider the hundred thousand dollars they took out for the Parks Department to achieve the compliance and go back to the plan to upgrade all of the parks. He said he knew the Council was applying for grants and the town has done well with Green Acres but. Councilmember Santoro interrupted to say this is not Green Acres, the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars is a reinvestment that is separate from Green Acres and the Council should have the answer within two weeks. She said that was specifically for Park equipment to bring the town into compliance. Patrick Crilley said that was a one shot deal. Councilmember Santoro said they could achieve a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in comparable money, not from the taxpayers and felt it would be beneficial. Patrick Crilley said the Council would be finalizing the budget for this year and he hoped they did not miss any opportunities because the law says this needs to be done. He said he did not know why they could not do this sooner than 2005. He said the Council did a good job coming in with a four-cent increase at forty-eight dollars. He said he did not think sixty dollars is a terrible thing to pay on the average for the one point. He asked if the installation date was in September because people have been asking him. He said the people who are scheduled to do the installation called him and he told them to call the Parks Department. He said he thought the company might feel there was an urgency to get this done but he did not know if there were any penalties but they were paid. He said Councilmember Fazekas might want to follow up on that because there was an urgency from the people in the neighborhood to get it done. Robert Kately, Parks Supervisor said they got the equipment seven months ago and his goal was to get it installed in September and he felt they were right on schedule. He said he had to respond to the Mayor's statement. He said in November or December a local masonry contractor donated his labor to erect a small memorial for former Mayor Peter Sica. He said Joanne Kisselman Chairperson of the Board of Disabled who pushed for this project donated the bricks. He said the Mayor was misleading everyone by saying the Parks Department was not doing anything. He said that was not true. He said the bricks were donated and the Parks Department bought some top stone for two hundred dollars and the cement and foundation, which was another two hundred dollars. He said he had a man assist Mr. Semenza while doing the job, which took a day and a half to two days. He said shortly after that Mrs. Kissleman wanted to buy a tree and he said the town should buy it but Mrs. Kisselman insisted they buy the tree. He said they bought a very fragile tree, which was 54 JUNE 7, 2001 planted in a very high traffic area and the tree lasted a month and a PUBLIC DISCUSSION half to two months. COMMENTS Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent at 10:30 P.M. NOTED ABSENT Robert Kately, Parks Supervisor, said a few weeks after the tree died COMMENTS Mrs. Sica came to him and suggested they plant another tree. He said the tree was planted where the soil was extremely compacted and should be removed and replaced with fresh topsoil and Mrs. Sica wanted to pay her own personal landscaper to improve the whole area. He said he explained to Mrs. Sica that the town was going to do this because the Mayor wanted them to do this but the only condition was they get to it when they had the time since it would be a couple week project. He said they both agreed and they went down and made a design according to what she wanted. He said she picked out samples of the decorative brick she wanted around the monument, when she brought it back he put in a purchase order for seven hundred and fifly dollars. He said when the bricks came in he put it in storage and again explained to Mrs. Sica that he would do this when he had a chance to do it and there was never any mention of Memorial Day, a service or anything of that kind. He said two weeks before Memorial Day Nick Goldsack, Business Administrator asked if he could do something and he told him they were on it. He said they removed and replaced the clay dirt and replaced it with six hundred dollars of topsoil. He said unfortunately it rained the entire week before and it was mud. He said he planted twenty to twenty five flowers around Mayor Sica's monument. He said every year the Parks Department buys five hundred dollars worth of flowers and the bulk of the flowers are set aside for Memorial Day. He said they wait for the last possible minute to plant the flowers because the kids have a tendency to destroy them. He said he could plant the flowers on Friday and they would be destroyed on Saturday and there are no flowers for the service on Sunday. He said this year they spend six hundred and fifty dollars because they added two additional flower boxes around town. He said the flowers were bought in two stages, the first batch was bought a week before Memorial Day, the majority of the flowers were planted at the monument and the Parks Department received a lot of compliments on that. He said the second batch was delivered when he was not in the Parks office and when he returned there were ten flats of flowers that were unacceptable and he would have not paid for if he was there to receive them. He said seven of the flats were of the pictures the Mayor had and out of the three remaining flats most of those flowers were around Mayor Sica's monument and some are by Tommy's Hot Dogs, some are by McDonald's. He said the seven flats the Mayor has pictures of were the flowers he refused to pay for and this was two days before the weekend. He said he immediately called the landscaper and gave his phone number to the Business Administrator to give to the Mayor to call. He said he told the landscaper he would not accept those seven flats of flowers, which were just removed five days ago. He said the landscaper removed them and replaced them with forty-eight geraniums, which was more than the cost of the seven flats of flowers. He said he felt the Mayor did not have to make a public spectacle of this, all he had to do was... 55 NE 7~ 2001 )TED ABSENT Councilmember Quinones was noted absent at 10:30 P.M. Councilmember Reiman said they do not allow Department Heads to 3MMENTS come to Council meetings and argue with the Mayor and Council. Mayor Failace said Mr. Kately could talk to him, it was nothing bad. He said as far as he was concerned as long as Mr. Kately did not curse and scream at him he could say anything he wanted to. Robert Kately said the Mayor should have made a simple phone call to ask what the seven flats of flowers were doing in the park dead. He said he would have told the Mayor and felt there was no need to make this a public spectacle. He said as far as the "nuts down at the insane asylum in the Park", again he felt that was totally uncalled for. He said for the last two years he has headed this department and has headed the nuts that worked for the department and was personally very proud of what they do in the Parks Department. He said he would defend anything they do and anything he does anytime in front of anyone. He said because he was not the person the Mayor wanted to head the department there was no need to try and publicly humiliate him. NOTED PRESENT Councilmember Fazekas was noted present at 10:35 P.M. Mayor Failace said if Mr. Kately was going to get to that point there COMMENTS would be a problem. He said he told Nick Goldsack that he wanted Mayor Sica's monument fixed up in any way shape or form and Mr. Kately told the Mayor he did not feel there was any urgency. Councilmember Santoro said she did not know the Mayor spoke to Mr. Kately to authorize this. Mayor Failace said he did not talk to Mr. Kately, he told Barbara Sica that he would not allow her to pay for any of this. Councilmember Santoro said she did not know at that time the town was doing this. Mayor Failace said he asked the Business Administrator and did not expect the Parks Department to put everything down and spend thousands of dollars. He asked Nicholas Goldsack, Business Administrator to see Mr. Kately and have the monument look presentable for Memorial Day but he felt it looked terrible. He said he called Nick Goldsack on the phone Saturday and he did not like the answers but if everyone was too busy and there was no urgency... Robert Kately said he spoke to Mrs. Sica and Mrs. Kissleman several times this week. He said Mrs. Sica does not have a problem with that not being done. He asked the Mayor to walk in the park and see what 56 JUNE 7, 2001 the men have done since the beginning of the week. He said PUBLIC DISCUSSION unfortunately his efforts went to the Veterans for Memorial Day. COMMENTS Mayor Failace said that was not unfortunate and asked Mr. Kately not to do that. He said the bottom line is he is a Vietnam Veteran and he appreciated what the Parks Department did for them and that the monument looked good. He said he told Nicholas Goldsack, Business Administrator he wanted it done for Mayor Sica's wife, no matter what it took. He said Mr. Kately said he had no time and the men were too busy. He said he did not tell Nick he wanted all the stone work done, he wanted it made presentable but he felt it was not presentable. Councilmember Santoro said this is an item that should be discussed one on one with the Business Administrator, and not during a meeting. She said the Mayor never spoke to her and she was in charge of the Parks. She said the Mayor criticizes when the Council doesn't discuss things but she did not know about this. Councilmember Santoro made a motion to go into Closed Session for NOTION MADE personnel matters. RESOLUTION #01-187 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-187 the Council for action. RESOLUTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Santoro and Sohayda RES OLUTION #01-187 "RESOLUTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Conncilmembers ADOPTED Fazekas, Rciman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Conncilmember Quinones was noted absent. At approximately 10:36 P.M. a Closed Session was held. CLOSED SESSION At approximately 10:39 P.M., upon MMS&C, by Councilmcmbers MEETING OPENED Rios and Sohayda and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present, the meeting was opened to the public. 57 NE ? , 2001 There being no further business or discussion, upon MMS&C, by DJOURNED Councilmembers Quinones and Sohayda and unanimous affirmative vote of the full Council present, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:40 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Municipal Clerk KMB/cp 58