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