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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2001/10/18 OCTOBER 18, 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 7:30 P.M. on Thursday, October 18, 2001, Municipal Court/Police Facility, 230 Roosevelt Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. Upon individual roll call, the following were noted present: ROLL CALL Councilmember Remy Quinones " Daniel Reiman " Ronald Rios " Janet Santoro " Buddy Sohayda Also noted present were Business Administrator Nicholas Goldsack and Borough Attorney Robert J. Bergen, Esq. Noted absent was Councilmember Jack Fazekas. The meeting was with a moment of Silent Prayer and The Pledge of PRAYER, PLEDGE Allegiance led by Mayor James A. Failace. Mayor Failace asked OF ALLEGIANCE everyone to remember the victims of the World Trade Center Tragedy and the men and women overseas. The Clerk stated that on October 12, 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 Rios and Reiman and unanimous APPROVAL OF MINUTES affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the minutes of August 16, 2001 were approved as transcribed and engrossed by the Clerk. Councilmember Rios read Council Commendations for members of COMMENDATIONS: the Carteret First Aid Squad who were not in attendance because he CARTERET FIRST AID saw them going on a call. He thanked the members of the Carteret First Aid Squad who were volunteers and said he felt they don't get enough recognition. He said he felt they did an outstanding job going to the World Trade Center Disaster to help with the rescue efforts and thanked them on behalf of the Council. He asked Borough Clerk Kathleen Barney to notify Ernie Evon, Wayne Carrico, Frank Kovach, Karen Afonso, Lisa Resko and Mary Evon to pick up their Commendations. Mayor Failace said Director Elg was not present he was on his way to the meeting. TOBER ~8~ 200~ ~.ETING OPENED A copy of each Resolution was placed on the table for public review IBLIC INPUT ON prior to the meeting in accordance with the Rules of Council and upon ,L RESOLUTIONS MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was opened for public input on all Resolutions. John Sudia, 40 Cypress Street, said he was looking at Resolution #01- Dffi. lENTS 334, Professional Services-Helmer, Stowell and Gelfand another thirty thousand dollars and he felt they had already raped the Borough for almost a quarter million dollars. He said he read the Resolution and felt this thirty thousand dollars was for items that have already been resolved and he felt the Borough was clobbered on. He said with Nagy, Makwinski and Dave Csimbok they all had to be settled. He asked what kind of legal work these men do and why did they need another thirty thousand dollars. Mayor Failace said he appreciated Mr. Sudia's opinion and they did agree to settle on those things including Nagy. He said the Borough Attorney could tell him why they are paying the extra thirty thousand dollars. He said this full Council agreed on a couple of these settlements. Councilmember Santoro said just for clarification any agreement that was made was because they were well into the lawsuit and a lot of that was from money spent from previous Council pushing the lawsuits forward. She said she would like clarification because she did not know why the Council is paying them thirty thousand dollars. John Sudia said thirty thousand dollars- in the first place there was a quarter of a million dollars expended the first time around. Councilmember Reiman said he did not believe they were paying them an additional thirty thousand dollars, this money from what he could tell was already expended. Borough Attorney Bergen said the money hasn't already been expended, the Council is not paying him thirty thousand dollars, they are authorizing up to thirty thousand dollars. He said the vast majority that is around twenty two thousand dollars was for the defense of Mr. Stowell in a case called Caldwell vs. Carteret. He said at the time Mr. Stowell's law firm was retained to provide consulting services for the Borough, the Borough passed an Indemnification Ordinance. He said that Ordinance provided the Borough would indemnify groups like Mr. Stowell's in regards to the services that they were providing to the Borough. He said Mr. Stowell was sued as part of this case and his firm has been defending him. Borough Attorney Bergen said he is fighting with the insurance company to get them paid. He said the insurance company has agreed to reimburse the Borough for services for at least twenty thousand dollars for some services where they had to hire their own attorneys to represent different Borough defendants. He said in that case where they are not agreeing to reimburse the Borough on the Stowell bill at this point in time. Councilmember Santoro asked if that was normal practice that the Council would indemnify an attorney that is hired by the Borough. 2 OCTOBER 18, 2001 Mayor Failace said not just him it is the same attorney the Borough COMMENTS hires. (Continued) Councilmember Santoro said Borough Attorney Bergen just mentioned Stowell in particular and she asked if that was something the Borough would normally do. Borough Attorney Bergen said he was surprised when he first saw it and they contacted their law firm because he held up the bills. He said they explained to him that the Ordinance was at their direction was instituted to provide indemnification for them. He said they did provide some legal justification for their position that by establishing that Indemnification Ordinance and if there are cases in which the Borough has to defend both the Borough and individual defendants like several Police Officers it eliminates the conflict of interest and allows the Borough to save money by hiring one attorney to represent all the defendants. He said he doesn't necessarily agree with that but felt that is one of their rationales for that particular Ordinance. Councilmember Santoro said this was someone the Council hired as a consultant not someone within the Borough and asked if they should have their own coverage. Borough Attorney Bergen said he has coverage on behalf of anything he does. He said he is authorizing payment, the Council could fight it and they could discuss that at a later point but he felt the Ordinance made it fairly clear that it was intended to provide him with coverage and it would be difficult for him to argue that it was not. Councilmember Reiman (inaudible) provides coverage for. Borough Attorney Bergen said it provides coverage for all the Municipal employees and Policemen. Councilmember Reiman said all special (inaudible) Borough Attorney Bergen said he would recommend that the Council change it because if they hire any consultants in the future they would negotiate a separate agreement that provides that if they don't have their own insurance the Council doesn't pay it. He said if they want to agree to do it but he would not recommend that they do it ever again. Councilmember Santoro asked Borough Attorney Bergen in his opinion would he advise the Council to enter into an agreement like this. Borough Attorney Bergen said not with an attorney and he would sit down and advise the Council. He said their argument is that the nature of their service is it was somewhat unique and they would be targeted in any of these types of lawsuits and they needed to be protected or they would not come in. He said his argument back to them is that if they don't want the work that should be reflected in the hourly bill. He said the insurance costs should be part of what the overhead costs are. He said if they bill the Borough one hundred and fifty dollars an hour he felt part of that cost should include part of what they pay for insurance is. :TOBER 18, 2001 )MMENTS Councilmember Santoro asked Borough Attorney Bergen if he said ;ontinued) some of this work was done. She asked if they did the work and the Council did not authorize the payment for the work and now are back billing the Borough for the work they did before. Borough Attorney Bergen said in a number of these cases they are on going cases such as Nagy or Csimbok and there are times when the Council authorizes certain expenditures for an attorney. He said the attorney's billing department should keep track of what has been billed and be aware of the fact that they are reaching the extent of that authorization. He said it should be their obligation to contact the Borough and advise them they need more authorization. He said this doesn't always happen but he felt it should happen that way if it is done correctly. He said you can't stop in the middle of a case and not attend a heating or provide a defense to the Borough because there is no authorization. He said in some cases the work has clearly been done, he has reviewed all the bills he might not feel it is the best way to do it but they have clearly got the services and they are obligated to pay for the services. He said they could say no but he would have a hard time defending them in court. He said the judge would ask him if they got the services and he would say yes but technically they did not authorize it ahead of time and he felt that no judge would order them to give them money. Councilmember Santoro asked about the twenty thousand for Stowell she asked if the Council was arguing that or if it was separate. Borough Attorney Bergen said his first inclination is to... and he felt this was difficult to discuss in public. John Sudia said all he was asking was why would the Council indemnify Stowell whose lawfirm carries their own liability. Borough Attorney Bergen said he wants the Council to authorize this money because he is taking the position on this bill that the Borough is obligated to pay it. He said it puts him in the best position to fight the Borough's insurance company to pay the bill on behalf of the Borough and if that fails he would look into what else would be available. John Sudia asked if Mr. Bergen was saying that the Council is appropriating thirty thousand dollars but it might not be that. He said if he knows this lawfirm as most people in Carteret do they are going to get the thirty thousand dollars plus. Borough Attorney Bergen said if Mr. Sudia notices in this Resolution unlike any others he put from here on out that all legal services provided by the Borough by this firm in the future are going to be subject to his approval. John Sudia said he felt it was just rewarding an outfit that has demoralized the Police Department and has messed up the town and raked the town for over (inaudible) Borough Attorney Bergen said he could not address that issue. OCTOBER 18, 2001 There being no further comments or objections to the Resolutions, the MEETING CLOSED Mayor 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. RESOLUTION #01-327 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-327 the Council for action. DIRECTING THE ISSUANCE OF VARIOUS Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RAFFLE LICENSES RESOLUTION #01-327 "DIRECTiNG THE ISSUANCE OF RAFFLE LICENSES TO CARTERET HIGH SCHOOL BAND PARENTS' ASSOCIATION AND ST. JOSEPH'S H.S.A." was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-328 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-328 the Council for action. APPROVING THE RENEIdAL OF ABC Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Santoro LICENSEpARTNER ~' sRE:pIJB RESOLUTION #01-328 "RESOLUTION APPROVING THE RENEWAL OF VARIOUS ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LICENSES FOR THE 2001-2002 LICENSE TERM" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. 5 ~TOBER ~8~ 200~ gSOLUTION ~01-329 RESOLUTION #01-329 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to [iOFESSIONAL the Council for action. gR¥ICES-SPADORO & fLSON, ESQS. g: SAPERSTEIN ¥. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman ~-NSKUS RESOLUTION #01-329 ~ "AUTHORIZiNG A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT WITH SPADORO AND HILSON WANSKUS V. CARTERET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers DOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. Councilmember Santoro said this is a lawsuit that was ongoing and )MMENTS happened years ago. She said they are reaching the end of it and felt it is important to continue with that firm until this closes out. *.SOLUTION #01-330 RESOLUTION #01-330 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. -- )MMENTS Borough Attomey Bergen said he felt the Council needed to discuss at the next Agenda Meeting or Closed Session how much further they wanted to go with this. He said this has brought them up to the point where they could make some claims against the Service Transportation Board with regard to Conrail but felt it would get much more expensive at this point. He said the Council would have to sit down and decide how much more they want, this gets them paid up to date on work that has been authorized. Councilmember Reiman asked if they were retained by themselves as the Borough of Carteret or if they were working with Woodbridge or anyone else on this. Borough Attorney Bergen said this was sometime before he got here. )TION TO TABLE Councilmember Reiman made a motion to Table this Resolution and Councilmember Santoro Second the motion. OCTOBER 18, 2001 Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Santoro RESOLOTION #01-330 PROFESS IONAL SERVlCES-SPADORO & HILSON, ESQS. RE: RESOLUTION #01-330 CARTERET ¥. CONRAIL "AUTHORIZING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT WITH SPADORO AND HILSON-CARTERET V. CONRAIL" was tabled. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, TABLED Reiman, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Rios abstained because he is employed Conrail. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. Borough Attomey Bergen said on a number of these the reason they COMMENTS are listed for tonight, as Councilmember Reiman knows is that nothing gets paid unless the Council authorizes it to get paid. He said they are trying to organize certain accounts because after November the Council may need to make transfers and decide to pay them later. He said they are trying to get things organized for them but it is certainly under the Council's control. RESOLUTION #01-331 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-331 the Council for action. CREATING HANDICAPPED PARKING SPACES-82 EDGAR ST. Upon MMS&C, Councilmember Rios and Reiman & 87 WARREN ST. RESOLUTION #01-331 "CREATING HANDICAPPED PARKING SPACES FOR 82 EDGAR STREET AND 87 WAJ?,REN STREET" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Sohayda abstained because this was concerning a family member. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. RESOLUTION #01-332 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-332 the Council for action. AMENDING RESOLUTION #01-294, PROPERTY Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios TAX CANCELLATION RESOLUTION #01-332 "AMENDING PROPERTY TAX CANCELLATION" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Quinones, Rciman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmembcr Fazekas was noted absent. ;TOBER 18~ 2001 gSOLOTION 01-333 RESOLUTION #01-333 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to gRTIFYlNG the Council for action. [LLIAM RICItERT- [RE OFFICIAL Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman RESOLUTION #01-333 "CERTIFYING WILLIAM E. RICHERT FIRE OFFICIAL UFD" )OPTED was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. *.SOLUTION #01-334 RESOLUTION #01-334 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to the Council for action. Councilmember Santoro said before they went into the Resolution she )MMENTS wanted to say that the Councilmembers got a letter concerning the cost for this company and one was six thousand dollars and she thought it added up to thirty. She asked if they could reduce that. Borough Attorney Bergen said the Council could do what ever they wanted to. He said it was around sixty six hundred dollars. Councilmember Santoro asked if they could reduce that to ten thousand until the Council could discuss it at the Agenda Meeting. Borough Attorney Bergen said if Councilmember Santoro looked at the bottom of the letter it states he is also owed twenty one thousand dollars. He said one of the Councilmembers could make a motion to amend the Resolution to ten thousand if they wanted to. gSOLUTION #01-334 Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Sohayda and Reiman and upon ~IENDED individual roll call vote, Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative to amend Resolution #01-334 to read $10,000.00. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. OCTOBER 18~ 2001 RESOLUTION #01-334 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-334 the Council for action. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES-HELMER, STOVIELL & GELFAND~ Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembcrs Rciman and Rios ESQS. RE: VARIOUS LITIGATION MATTERS RESOLUTION #01-334 "RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT FOR LEGAL SERVICES WITH HELMER, STOWELL & GELFAND, P.A." was adopted as amended. Upon individual roll call vote, ADOPTED AS AMENDED Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. Mayor Failace said this firm would not take more money than for the COMMENTS work they did. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from COMMUNICATIONS: PSE&G-Recommendation of improved street lighting, Emerson and PSE&G Irving Streets. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present all Communications were ordered to be received and placed on file. The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of a Communication from the BOROUGH OF Borough of South Plainfield-Resolution supporting preservation of SOUTH PLAINFIELD open space within Middlesex County. 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. Councilmember Reiman said he would like to hold off on Schoor COMMENTS DePalma for their eighteen hundred dollar bill he believed they got an NJIT Grant and felt NJIT was paying for that not Schoor DePalma. ~TOBER ~8~ 200! 3TION TO Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Santoro and ~END THE unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present a ILL LIST motion was made to amend the bill list so that $1,800.00 for Schoor and DePalma would be held. ~YMENT OF Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Quinones and Rios all bills ILLS appearing on the prepared bill list properly audited and signed were ordered to be paid as amended. Upon individual roll call vote Councilmembers Quinones, Reiman, Rios and Santoro voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Sohayda abstained on DeFino Contracting and affirmative on all others. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. F. PORTS The Clerk stated that she was in receipt of the following reports: EPARTMENT 1. Inspection of Buildings-September 2001 2. Treasurer-September 2001 Upon MMS&C, by Councilmember Rios and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, all reports were ordered to be received and placed on file. i?ANDING BUILDINGS & GROUNDS: Committee Chairperson Quinones asked 9MMITTEES Councilmember Rios to have Councilmember Fazekas have someone from the Parks Department contact Mr. Tomczuk about a tree. She said they spoke about that before at a meeting and someone was supposed to get back to Mr. Tomczuk, she said she saw him this past weekend and no one got back to him. Councilmember Rios asked for clarification as to which Mr. Tomczuk and said okay. Committee Chairperson Quinones continued her report and addressed Mr. Tom Lang. She said he asked her to review a recall on building sprinklers and she had Mr. Neibert review the Department of Community Affairs Report and he advised her that there were no recalls pertaining to any of the sprinklers in Borough buildings. She said she made a copy for Mr. Lang if he wanted it. She said on October 20th from 9:00 to 1100 at Radtan Bay Medical Center there would be a free community cancer screening and suggested anyone who wanted to take advantage of that should go since it is free to the Community. She said at the last meeting someone had a question about an event that took place at the Community Center and if there were any fund raising activities that took place at that event. She said Joann Caton, the youth coordinator for the Carteret Housing Authority 10 OCTOBER 18, 2001 Tenants Association held a birthday party for children and there were COMMENTS no fees charged or money exchanged. Councilmember Santoro said she understood from people there was a charge and the Director of the Housing questioned it. Councilmember Quinones said apparently the Director of the Housing did not convey that information to anyone else and when Ms. Caton was questioned she said there were absolutely no funds or fees charged. Councilmember Reiman asked if Mr. Gutowski was aware of any fees being charged. Stanley Gutowski asked if Mr. Reiman was asking him to speak on behalf of the Housing Authority. Councilmember Reiman said he did not ask if the rest of the Commissioners were aware, he was asking Mr. Gutowski. Stan Gutowski said he spoke to Joann Caton himself, there was nothing, no charge. Councilmember Reiman asked Business Administrator Goldsack if he spoke to the individuals involved and if there was a fee involved. Business Administrator Goldsack said there was no fee at all. Councilmember Quinones said she hoped that would put an end to that issue. She said lastly she received a complaint from some of the Republican candidates about their signs being pulled off the poles. She asked anyone in the Community that sees someone pulling down campaign signs to contact the Police Department and advise them of the situation. She said she felt there was no reason for that because people pay money for the signs and felt it was not acceptable. Councilmember Santoro said that has been going on for years in Carteret and it is not against one party. She said it seems when there is an election it is the new game everyone starts tearing down signs. She said she felt it is a shame when people resort to that but it was an ongoing thing and it was not only against one party. She said she hoped everyone's signs remained up. Councilmember Quinones reported progress. Councilmember Rios said he knows it does happen to all of the candidates and he felt it was a shame. He said whoever is responsible for it should be ashamed of themselves because we live in a free and democratic society. He said with what has been going on in the world in the last month people should appreciate the freedoms we enjoy. He said he recommended to all the candidates that when the election is over they should clean up and put away. 11 ;TOBER 18, 2001 CANDING FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION: Committee Chairperson Reiman )MItl'CrEES said this was a very productive week. He said he spoke to Senator Wisniewski's office and though Carteret did not receive any additional notification the Star-Ledger printed that the Borough will receive a five hundred sixty three thousand-dollar grant for the Library Construction. He said even though the Library/Community Center has been built the grant could be used to pay down the bond debt and they could possibly bring up some additional bonding capability to be used for the Borough Hall. He thanked the Borough Administrator Nicholas Goldsack, Patrick DeBlasio and Veronica from the Library Board. He said the Council worked on this last year and the Borough Engineer put in the application this year. He said they received notification on September 26th that the Federal Government approved a one million four hundred fifty one thousand-dollar grant to be used for various sewer work. He said that was a Federal Grant this forty five percent grant the Borough has to come up with fifty five percent matching funds. He said this includes the Hermann Street sanitary sewer replacement the manhole rehabilitation Phase II, Hill District sanitary sewer rehabilitation, Harrison Avenue, the Chrome area sanitary sewer rehabilitation, Central Carteret rehabilitation, suspect areas sewer separation improvements, Hill District storm water consistent improvements. He said the total is three point six five million dollars, one point four million will be paid for by the Federal Government. He said the Mayor announced a few weeks ago that they were told the town received a Wastewater Trust Fund low interest loan. He said it is a four hundred and fifty thousand-dollar zero interest twenty-year loan to be used for demolition of the sewer plant. He said that was part of the sewer bond that was issued last year, which should bring another four hundred fifty thousand dollars for additional sewer project in Carteret. He said they have gone to bid on the Waterfront Park and are ready to award the bid and felt the construction could begin immediately and felt by the spring of next year the town should have a thirty foot by two hundred foot pier and boat ramp. He said the hold up was that last year's engineer failed to reapply for an Army Corp of Engineer approval and permit that had lapsed. He said he was just notified this week about this and would be advising the Council at the next Agenda Meeting where they were on this. He said the Council is looking at the Ordinance to restrict road openings and mandate escrow monies to be deposited by utilities, which they would also be discussing at the next Agenda Meeting. He reported progress. FIRE: Committee Chairperson Rios said on Friday the Volunteer Firefighters conducted their annual "live burn" and training at the Fire Academy. He thanked the Firefighters who have been attending some of the funerals in New York City for the Fireftghters. He said the town also sent a firetruck to participate in one of the funerals at the request of the New York Fire Department. He said they lost so much equipment in the disaster they needed help for the funerals. He said thanked the members of the Carteret High School Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.). He said the students collected over six hundred and forty five dollars from their fellow students and presented the check to the Carteret Fire Department for the New York 12 OCTOBER 18, 2001 City Widows and Children's Fund. He congratulated all the students STANDING COMMITTEES for their generous donation and support. He said the Borough firefighters have been training on the new truck, engine #4 that will be put in service shortly. He said the winner of the Name the Firetruck Contest is second grader Nancy Kasnowski from Holy Family School. He said the Fire Chief, the Battalion Chief, picked the winning name and the Volunteer Chief the name of the truck is "Fighting Four" since it is truck number four. He said for winning the contest Nancy will get a ride to school in the Firetmck. He said this Saturday the annual Open House was held and it was a success, there were over six hundred free raffle tickets given away for the donated prizes. He thanked all the local businesses and industry that donated the items that were raffled off. He said they are going to have an EMS Strategy Meeting with the Chiefs of the Fire and Police Department. He said he asked Rural Metro for a proposal since they gave the Borough their ninety day notice that they would not be able to provide the services they are providing now where they accept what the insurance companies give. He said he asked them for a proposal for what they would charge for five-day or seven-day operation. He said Councilmember Santoro and Reiman and the First Aid Squad would also be at the meeting. He said that is something that would have to be addressed and hoped they would be able to come to a conclusion on this matter. He said the Council is trying to alleviate the traffic in West Carteret. He said the engineer is working on it and reviewed some of the issues with the County Engineer's Office. He said right now it is in the stage where they are making inquires on alleviating the traffic. He said one of the possible proposals was to make the left- hand turn signal stay longer going off the bridge going into West Carteret. He said another thing would be the trucks coming into Carteret from Rahway going right onto Blair Road could go around that way and hoped that would alleviate some of the truck traffic on Roosevelt Avenue. He said the Council has been getting complaints about truck traffic in West Carteret. He said this past week there was a meeting at the Community Center formulated by Assemblyman Wisniewski on "Identity Theft". He said it was very informative as to how people try to steal other people's identity or Social Security numbers. He said for anyone who missed the meeting they could either contact him or Assemblyman Wisniewski's office at 316-1885. He said Assemblyman Wisniewski's office has many pamphlets and someone in his office from the State Department of Banking and Insurance to bring awareness to people to be on alert for these different criminals who could really ruin someone's credit rating and livelihood. He reported progress. PARKS AND RECREATION: Councilmember Rios in the absence of Committee Chairperson Fazekas reported progress. 13 :TOBER 18~ 200~ fANDING POLICE: Committee Chairperson Santoro said she wished Michael }MMITTEES Bucsak from the Parks Department a speedy recovery and hoped he would be returning to work soon. She said she felt Councilmember Reiman was doing an excellent job on Finance and his hard work and dedication is paying off with the grant money that is coming in. She said some of the Police Officers are going to be volunteering twelve- hour shifts to help with the work that is being done at the Staten Island Landfill. She said the debris from the World Trade Center disaster in New York is being taken to Staten Island. She said they have to look through every single piece of debris that is going to Staten Island and there are Police Officers will be volunteering and going to that site. She said when this is all over and the Council has a complete list of the people who volunteered their time the Council would honor each of them. She said because of the concern on the radio and the t.v. about packages or persons there is an elevated concern that goes on and she wanted the residents to feel at ease to know that the Police Department take everything serious and follow everything up and help every way they can. She said the Domestic Violence Task Force, which they tried to resurrect numerous times in Carteret. She said right now Bob Terebetski, Susan Holowchuk, Bob Spolizino are on the Task Force. She said they did ask for volunteers and there are four volunteers who have signed up but felt that would not do it. She said she would be asking for volunteers at every Council and Agenda Meeting for the next month until they set up a meeting a month from now. She said she asked that everyone interested in getting involved on this Task Force should contact her or the Police Department she felt it is a growing problem. She said she felt it was very important and the only way this could work was through volunteers and people who wish to help. She reported progress. PUBLIC WORKS: Committee Chairperson Sohayda said the Recycling Department has been keeping up with their daily tasks of notifying the Streets and Roads Department. He said if anyone is looking for the blue recycling barrels for the newspapers they should not look for them until after January 2002 since they are out of stock and would not be available until then. He said the Street and Roads Department has been keeping up with picking up recycables as well as their daily routes and resident calls. He said the Garage is keeping up with maintenance on a regular basis. He said there are some problems with lines in the sewers at the garage that they would be dealing with in the next couple of weeks. He said the Sewer Department has been very busy with resident complaints in the Dorothy Street area. He said the Halloween Parade is on October 27th and the Soap Box Derby is on November 3rd. He reported progress. BOARD OF EDUCATION: Councilmember Santoro in the absence of Committee Chairperson Fazekas reported progress. 14 OCTOBER 18~ 2001 Mayor Failace said he hoped with all the money this Council says they MAYOR FAILACE are getting they would be as successful in getting the money as prior Council was. He said he had a great time at the Fire House Open House and felt it was a great success. He said he is afraid of heights and he would not get into the bucket truck as many of the children did. Mayor Failace said Director Elg was there and he wanted to honor him since he would be leaving at the end of the month. He said he felt Director Elg has done one heck of a job for the Borough and he appreciated everything he has done since the day he got here. He said Director Elg has improved relationships with surrounding agencies and the County Prosecutor's Office. He said promotions or assignments were based on merit and nothing else. He said Director Elg created an extremely successful and talented Special Investigations Unit staffed by real professionals that he felt made a real difference in Carteret. He said Director Elg listened and responded to complaints about traffic, prostitution, open air drug transactions which included the closing of Rodriguez's Market in Chrome. He said Director Elg applied for over two hundred thousand dollars in grants and thought they just got a grant that was applied for three years ago when he started working for the Borough. He said Director Elg modernized the equipment and improved the working area in the Police Station and felt the Police vehicles are better equipped than they have ever been. He said he provided opportunities to Police Officers for six months with the Middlesex County Task Force on a rotating basis. He said training opportunities have increased over the past two and a half years for all members of the department. He said he felt the depamnent is more structured and allows for more Police Officers and less Supervisors. Mayor Failace continued to read from his prepared listed of accomplishments Director Elg has made since being hired. He said he felt the Police Director was brought in by himself and the prior Council to do a job and he has done one reck of a job. He said he apologized for some of the indignities Director Elg had to receive recently and said the plaque he was presenting Director Elg with was purchased by him and not the Borough. He thanked Director Elg for everything he has done for the Borough and felt the Borough's loss was Michigan's gain. Councilmember Santoro apologized as Police Commissioner to COMMENTS Director Elg she was not aware this was taking place this evening or she would have had something to say. She said when Director Elg came into Carteret he was not told everything that would be going to take place in Carteret and felt he did an excellent job under the circumstances. She said she made a promise to him she would not speak of different things they had discussed and hasn't. She wished him luck and told him to have a good time. Director Elg thanked the Police Officers and the citizens of Carteret. He said there have been some ups and downs and felt the men and women of the Carteret Police Department are some of the finest officers he has had the opportunity to work with. He said they are very dedicated personnel and felt the citizens of Carteret should be very proud of the department. He said they do a very good job and thanked everyone for the opportunity to let him serve as Police Director for the last two and a half years. 15 ;TOBER 18~ 2001 3MMENTS Mayor Failace said he received something from Tom Meeham, father 2ontinued) of Colleen Meeham Barkow who was killed in the September Ilth tragedy at the World Trade Center. He showed each and every bomb that is dropped over Afghanistan has the name of one of the victims painted on it. He said everyone a picture of a bomb with Colleen's name on it. He said he felt it was heart wrenching to see and wasn't sure there was any justice in this. He asked the Department Heads to give him logs of their time since the Business Administrator was asked to. He said he felt it was unfair for the Business Administrator to have to do this and if he had to do this he felt it was only fair other Department Heads should. He said he received logs from everyone but the Police Chief. He said the Ordinance says the appropriate authority and he is not the appropriate authority. He said he felt that was okay but he was part of making that Ordinance. He said he felt he had the right to ask the Chief of Police as all the other Department Heads but Councilmember Santoro felt the Chief of Police does not have to respond to him because he is not the appropriate authority but still asks the Chief for the information. He said he is not trying to nm the Police Department or trying to tell the Chief what to do but felt it was just another thing this Council says he can't do. He said they did not say he couldn't ask for it, they said he could not have it. Councilmember Santoro said the Council discussed this at an Agenda Meeting. She said Business Administrator Nicholas Goldsack had questions about what his job responsibilities were and the Councilmember in charge of Mr. Goldsack's committee requested a log to find out what was going on and this was discussed at a meeting. She said the Mayor said he had never requested anything from the Department Heads before when he was a Councilmember or during his term as Mayor so he decided to request this now. She asked Mayor Failace if he was really concerned with what the Department Heads were doing or was it payback. She said there is a log of incoming calls and there is nothing hidden in the Police Department. She said she resents the fact the Mayor would imply something like that. She said if the Mayor wants that information he could ask her or any member of the Committee for it. She said she felt the Mayor should not be interfering when she felt there is no basis for that being done especially with the Police Department where there are more than enough logs that take place every day. She said she felt it was a waste of time and very punitive. Mayor Failace said he had every right to ask as Councilmember Reiman had the right to ask the Mayor's Chief of Staff for his schedule of what he does every minute while working for the Borough. He said Councilmember Santoro may consider it punitive but he felt as Mayor he has asked in the past for Borough workers and Department Heads to give him schedules of what is going on during their day for a couple of weeks at a time. He said he has that fight, Councilmember Santoro may find it punitive but he said he is looking to find out what is going on in the Borough. He said he is not here every day like Councilmember Santoro and as Mayor he felt he had enough things taken away from him and he just wanted to know what his Supervisors and Department Heads were doing. Councilmember Santoro said the Mayor should just ask. She said the Councilmembers are here on an ongoing basis as the Mayor said and 16 OCTOBER 18, 2001 he could ask them since they could inform him of what is going on. COMMENTS She said the Mayor chooses not to work with the Council. (Continued) Councilmember Reiman asked Business Administrator Goldsack for what he does on a day to day operation of the Borough including what government officials he has reached out to or any grants he discussed. He said it was just to give the Council an idea of what is done during the day he didn't need to know Mr. Goldsack was returning phone calls to family members or what he was doing every minute of the day. Mayor Failace said Nicholas Goldsack was the only person who gave a minute by minute but other Department Heads did tell him what they did every day. Councilmember Reiman asked if Mayor Failace has asked for that before in the three years he has been Mayor. Mayor Failace said he has requested a number of things but he did not know what that means. Councilmember Reiman said he felt it was just vindictive to the Department Heads. Mayor Failace said that could be Councilmember Reiman's position but that is not necessarily his position. He said he is the Mayor of this Borough whether the Council likes it or not and he has the right to ask for the information and he does not get much information but he only asks for a little information and he has every right to get it. Councilmember Rios said the Mayor did not ask anyone until Councilmember Reiman asked for the daily log from Business Administrator Goldsack. Mayor Failace said Cotmcilmember Rios has the sense of what was or wasn't done in the past. He said whenever it was done it is his prerogative and he did not need to explain. (Inaudible everyone talking at once) Mayor Failace said the Fire Chief and Street and Roads had no problem doing this he would not be asking for this forever. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous PUBLIC DISCUSSION affirmative vote of the (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was opened to the public for discussion. 17 ~OBER 18, 2001 ~)MMENTS James Mancuso, Jackson Avenue asked if someone on the Council asked what Nicholas Goldsack, Business Administrator's job description was because it was in the Open City Ordinance Book. Councilmember Santoro said Mr. Mancuso was at the meeting where she read the job description for Mr. Goldsack. She said everyone in the town has a job description but that does not mean they follow it. Patricia Rodriguez said she had an issue with 66 Edwin Street and needed it taken care of. Carolyn Rodriguez, daughter of Patricia Rodriguez said people are in the garage smoking pot. Patricia Rodriguez said she doesn't have to live like this any longer she wanted the garage taken down. She asked if the Council has gone out to bid on this and felt it was easy to take down since there are no utilities inside. Councilmember Reiman said they have the requisition that was just signed. Jim Stone said there was a discussion in the winter and felt now that the Country is at war it was important. He said there was free schooling in New Mexico for the Police and Fireman who volunteered to go to the training for free. He asked if anyone ever went. Councilmember Santoro said four individuals went. She said those four individuals came back as instructors. Mayor Failace said everyone had the opportunity to go for free, Police, Fire, OEM, the Mayor, and the Police Director. He said he wanted to give every Officer the opportunity but the Council felt four would be enough. He said as he said that day he believed in today's environment no one knows what could happen. He said the bottom line is because he wanted to send the Officers and felt there was no reason not to send all of the Officers, Firemen and OEM that wanted to go since it was no cost to the Borough. He said they could have all been trained there, no one goes to a course for four days and come back as an instructor. Councilmember Santoro asked if the Mayor was saying they are not instructors. Mayor Failace said they may be able to give an overview but it was not the same as going to the course. He reiterated that the Council did not agree with this because he wanted it. He said it was free to the Borough and did not cost one penny to the Borough. Councilmember Santoro said this was not a decision that she made or just the Committee made, they sat with other Officers. She said the acting Chief was against sending anymore people there. She said it was not their decision to get back at the Mayor, it was a decision based on if the town could afford to send individuals whether it was free or not on their own time. She said they had to consider whether they where covered by insurance if there were injuries that took place and there was other training that took place and they needed to look at the 18 OCTOBER 18, 2001 whole picture. She said John Pieczyski was the one who said he did PUBLIC DISCIISSION not believe it should not continue and he recommended that to the Committee. Mayor Failace said he felt he was correct and the residents could make the decision on whether he was correct or not about wanting to send the Officers there. He said there was no insurance the Borough had to worry about, they were covered. He said many of them wanted to go on their own time, their own days offbut the Council still did not think they should send them. Jim Stone said that was the impression he was under but he missed a few meetings. He said he thought there were people lined up to go and they were going to spend their own time offto go. Councilmember Santoro said it was never completely cleared up about the workrnen's comp. She said they could go back to the Officers right now and ask if this was an ongoing problem they are worried about. She said even though four Officers attended this training the bombing still happened in New York and felt no matter how prepared they are they may not be at the right place at the right time. Jim Stone said he was afraid this would happen in our high school or Shop-Rite and the people of the town are nervous. Councilmember Santoro said she lost a family member in the World Trade Center so there was no one who understood better than she did. She said she felt the Police Department was taking every precaution and are aware of what needs to be done and they are looking out for suspicious packages or individuals. She said the schools are aware and it is a heightened alert everywhere and felt we are in a state where they can not take anything for granted. Jim Stone said he felt in the environment we live in today everyone who wants to be trained should be trained and felt it was necessary and felt it should be part of police and fireman's job. He said not to send four people since they were getting this training for free it did not make sense to him. He said he felt sorry that Councilmember Santoro lost someone in the Trade Center but her responsibility was to protect the town. Councilmember Santoro said she does protect the town but she does not pretend to run the Police Department she goes on recommendations from the people who are familiar with this. Tom Lang said the metal guardrail by McDonald's the County fixed a few months ago was hit again. He asked the Council to call whoever they called before to fix it they could address it again. He said the traffic coming offthe Turnpike into Carteret at 4:30 P.M. is scary. He said if an ambulance or fire truck has to go West Carteret he felt it was scary and he did not know what had to be done. He said he didn't know who had to be involved if it should be the County or the Turnpike who should be involved with the town. He asked if anything would be happening with that intersection or we had a Traffic Division to move traffic along. 19 :TOBER 18, 2001 )MMENTS Councilmember Santoro said they just recreated a Traffic Division that had been done away with. She said they were putting this back in, Sergeant McFadden is in charge of Traffic. She said the Turnpike traffic was an ongoing problem and there are proposals out there to take care of the problem. She said she lives in West Carteret and knows daily what kind of problem Mr. Lang is talking about coming and going over the bridge. Tom Lang said everyday there are five lanes that merge into two and felt it was horrible. Mayor Failace said he and the Council know the problem and have spoken to the Turnpike and the County. He said there are plans and things in the works but they really can not discuss a lot of that because it is preliminary. He said what is going to be done will be done and will probably be five years before it gets done, the Council understands that and is trying to remedy the problem the best they can. Tom Lang again reiterated that he watches the trucks making U-tums in the McDonald's parking lot to get back onto the Turnpike... Councilmember Rios interrupted to say Mr. Lang was right and the Council is all on the same page and concerned about the problem and they are addressing this. He said for now that is why they are trying to alleviate the track traffic coming and going towards West Carteret as far as the left hand signal. He said it is not that easy, they don't know exactly what they would be doing but they are going to be addressing it and it would take time because of the bureaucracy. Tom Lang asked how many Police Officers in the town are being used for Security for the tank farms or buildings along the Kill. Mayor Failace said our Police Officers are at the gates at Kinder Morgan and Amoco as street jobs. Tom Lang asked about the vessels that are coming in, if they get checked. Mayor Failace said absolutely, the Coast Guard has been down there. Councilmember Santoro said the town is notified and they are aware when they come in. Business Administrator Nicholas Goldsack said they eliminate to two vessels. Tom Lang said he was off from work yesterday and the mailman came to his house to give him the mail with rubber gloves, which alarmed him. Mayor Failace said they are doing everything in their power, the Police and the industries are doing everything they can with extra security. Tom Lang asked if the town had a contract with Rural/Metro. Councilmember Rios said right now the First Aid Squad has a contract with Rural/Metro. He said they guarantee that until March of 2002 20 OCTOBER ~8~ 200~ they will provide services from 6 A.M. until 6 P.M. Monday through PUBLIC DISCUSSION Friday. He said there is also a clause in the contract that says they can give a ninety-day notice to get out of the contract, which they did. He said he spoke to their Vice President who assured Councilmember Rios that Rural/Metro would not leave the town high and dry without protection and would make the transition as smooth as possible. He said they spoke about providing a service and options for the town at a nominal fee and he would be mailing the information before the meeting on Wednesday. Tom Lang said in his opinion he felt the Borough should pay them one dollar. He said every time Rural/Metro comes in and does a call they charge the customer more or less three hundred fifty dollars to take them to the hospital. He said he felt they were not coming into an area to make money, they are there to provide a service. Councilmember Rios said their representative said the volume they thought they were getting when they took on Carteret is not there and that was a business decision it was not feasible to come in since they agreed on taking just the mount taken in from the insurance company. He said now more or less what they are saying is it is not profitable. Mayor Failace said the citizen doesn't have to pay a penny out of their pocket, if they have insurance and the insurance company pays. If they don't have insurance it is done, it is a done deal and they are actually loosing money in Carteret by being here. He said they don't have a lot of calls in Carteret but they have performed a service, helped the First Aid and did a great job. Councilmember Rios said he thought there were a lot of calls in Carteret and to him there were but from a business end of it he could see it was not profitable for them to stay in town. Tom Lang said maybe they could look into "Shared Services" with a surrounding town. Mayor Failace said they do, they respond from Woodbridge and other towns. Councilmember Rios said sometimes they had problems with calls from "Mutual Aid" Carteret has a policy as far as "Mutual Aid" with Port Reading, Avenel, Colonia, Rahway but sometimes the response time isn't what they would like. He said he wasn't criticizing any First Aid person but there weren't enough people. Mayor Failace said our First Aid Squad does a great job, there are just not enough people. Tom Lang said unfortunately people have to have two and three jobs to stay in town, pay the taxes, etc. and was something he felt the Council should keep their eye on to make sure the Borough was one hundred percent covered. Councilmember Rios said these were the options they were going to look into, whether they were going to hire Rural/Metro, hire their own, or getting some kind of agreement with some other First Aid Squads but he felt they have to address this now before they leave. 21 :TOBER 18~ 2001 }MMENTS Tom Lang asked if there were any monies out there to renovate or construct a new Borough Hall. He asked if the building could be considered a Historical Building. He said if it was considered Historic they could get County or State Aid or money. Mayor Failace said it would cost you five times as much to refurbish the building. Councilmember Quinones said there is an application in for that. Councilmember Santoro said there are two applications, one with Congressman Menendez's Office for a million dollars and one with Assemblymembers Wisniewski and Friscia for two million dollars. Councilmember Reiman said the Library grant the Borough just got for five hundred sixty three thousand dollars they would be using to pay down the back end of the bond. He said that could not be used directly for Borough Hall, it was specifically for the Library and if they pay down the bond they would be getting some bonding capability. Tom Lang said he felt the next major project should be doing something for Borough Hall since he felt it was really falling down. He asked when the last time a health inspector has been in the Borough Hall concerning the mold or asbestos. Councilmember Quinones said a couple of months ago and they have been cleaning out in there. Mayor Failace said they are in regularly. John Sudia asked if the Borough Attorney could research the Municipality Police Powers to see if something could be done and the Municipality could take certain actions when it concerns the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the town. He said they have used this before where a Municipality could come in and demolish buildings that are detrimental or dangerous to the health, welfare of the citizens of Carteret, he felt this could be used to help with Mrs. Rodriguez's problem on Edwin Street. He said he was at a Zoning Board meeting and a digital radio company would be adding equipment to the tower. He said he questioned the Zoning Board if this would have a detrimental effect to the Municipality. He said he also asked what sort of income that would mean for Carteret and he was amazed to find out they are only paying three hundred dollars a month to the Borough. He said the Zoning Board Chairman said the Council made the deal and he should check with them. He asked if someone could research that to see what the situation is with the radio company. Mayor Failace said the Borough gets more than three thousand dollars a year. Business Administxator Goldsack said anytime there is an add-on to the tower, the Borough gets additional rent paid to us over the original amount. 22 OCTOBER 18, 2001 Mayor Failace said they could research it but he knew that was more PUBLIC DISCUSSION money than the original agreement. John Sudia said the attorney for the company said at the meeting it was three hundred dollars a month. Borough Clerk Kathleen Barney said twenty thousand dollars. John Sudia said three hundred dollars seemed like a very nominal fee for the use of a tower. Mayor Failace said that was for the add-on, over and above what they get from Sprint already. He told Mr. Sudia that Borough Attorney Bergen could get him that information if he stopped by. RESOLUTION #01-335 was introduced by the Mayor and referred to RESOLUTION #01-335 RESOLUTION TO GO the Council for action. INTO CLOSED SESSION Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Sohayda and Rios RESOLUTION #01-335 -- "RESOLUTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION" was adopted. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers ADOPTED Quinones, Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. At approximately 8:47 P.M. a Closed Session was held. CLOSED SESSION At approximately 8:57 P.M., upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios MEETING OPENED and Quinones and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) TO PUBLIC Councilmembers present, the meeting was opened to the public. Upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Rios and Reiman a motion was MOTION TO RESCIND made to rescind last week's motion concerning Michael Buscak's MOTION ON MICHAEL Leave of Absence. Upon individual roll call vote, Councilmembers BUSCAK-LEAYE OF Reiman, Rios, Santoro and Sohayda voted in the affirmative. ABSENCE Councilmember Quinones abstained. Councilmember Fazekas was noted absent. 23 ,TOBER ~8~ 2001 There being no further discussion, upon MMS&C, by )JOURNED Councilmembers Reiman and Rios and unanimous affirmative vote of the five (5) Councilmembers present, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:58 P.M. Respectfully submitted, EEN M. Municipal Clerk KMB/cp 24