Source: http://www.englishtownnj.com/minutes_council/2008/November12,2008.htm
Timestamp: 2018-02-21 13:05:42
Document Index: 491190792

Matched Legal Cases: ['§2', '§2', '§2', '§2', '§2', '§2', '§2', '§2']

4. Proclamation – Proclaiming November 2008 as National Caregivers Month
5. Approval of Minutes – September 10, 2008
8. Open Public Portion - Limited to Agenda Items Only
A. Ordinance No. 2008-11 – First Reading & Reintroduction
B. Ordinance No. 2008-12 – First Reading & Introduction
C. Resolution No. 2008-194
D. Resolution No. 2008-195
Continued preparation of Housing Element & Fair Share Plan
E. Resolution No. 2008-196
Municipal Court – Bullet Resistant Window
F. Resolution No. 2008-197
Release of Performance Bond – Baker Residential
G. Resolution No. 2008-198
H. Resolution No. 2008-199
12. Public Portion – non-agenda items
Also present were Peter Gorbatuk, Acting Municipal Clerk, Laurie Finger, Borough Administrator, Stuart J. Moskovitz, Borough Attorney and Tom Herits, Borough Engineer.
Proclamation – Proclaiming November 2008 as National Caregivers Month
There being no corrections, deletions or additions, a motion to approve the Minutes of September 10, 2008 was offered by C/Soden and seconded by C/Simon. Passed on the following roll call:
Councilwoman Leonardis has nothing to report at this time.
Halloween Party went very well; thanked volunteers for their help and also Fire Department for use of their building.
Thanked everyone for coming out tonight.
Thanked everyone who voted for her.
Police Activity Report for October 20th thru November 9th total calls were 555 which 152 were motor vehicle stops, routine calls for service 318. Additionally reads aloud arrest report from January 1st thru November 4th.
Attended the Joint Summit Meeting on October 27th along with C/Soden and Laurie Finger, Borough Administrator. Officials were just elected and they are still forming the group.
Starting in December, C/Robilotti would like to reach out to the community by being available at Borough Hall once a month for the residents to speak with her on a one to one basis. She will supply coffee.
Attended the Scenic Byway Meeting with C/Carr, which will be elaborated in her committee report.
At the Scenic Byway meeting that we attended they did a presentation on what it would take to apply to become part of the Scenic Byway. They are trying to do a scenic byway that leads from Upper Freehold Township down to Freehold and would like to do it as one long contingent although the criteria of each town being a scenic byway may differ.
C/Soden and I met with some of the representatives of the Improvement Authority about a month ago; I had asked our Auditor to give us the numbers on our investments to see if there will be any savings in participating in the Improvement Authority.
We need an alternative site for the Holiday Hayride because a huge amount of artifacts have been donated to the Village Inn and the Board does not want them disrupted.
Councilman Simon has nothing to report at this time:
· Darlene Jay of Maser Consulting is working on our Third Round COAH Certification and has requested that we have a joint meeting with the Planning/Zoning Board either on December 15th which would be our regular scheduled meeting, December 16th which would be their regular meeting or December 17th which could not be held here due to Court night and would have to be held in The Village Inn.
Mayor Reynolds asks that Peter Gorbatuk, Acting Municipal Clerk contact Darlene Jay to see if December 15th is good.
Would like Council to look over the 2009 Council Meeting Schedule included in their packets for any changes and confirmation for the next Council Meeting.
We received correspondence from Joint Insurance Fund regarding the Elected Officials Training Seminars. Please respond with your intention of attending and I will inform them.
Mayor Reynolds states the closest seminar is in Wall Township on December 11th at 7:00 P.M.
The County Road Department has put up the Duck Crossing Signs by Weamaconk Lake and Agway.
Received thank you letter from Kaleidoscope of Hope for proclaiming September Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
BOROUGH OF ENGLISHTOWN FIRST READING & REINTRODUCTION
The Borough will cover job related injuries and illnesses as set forth in the personnel policy of the Borough of Englishtown, provided that the occupational injury or illness is reported immediately to the supervisor or
Department Head, all required medical treatment was performed by a Workers’ Compensation Physician appointed by the joint insurance fund and other terms and conditions set forth in the personnel policy have been met.
First Reading and Reintroduction on Ordinance No.2008-11 was passed on the following roll call:
Peter Gorbatuk, Acting Municipal Clerk states the Public Hearing and Adoption on Ordinance No.2008-11 is scheduled for the November 24, 2008 Council Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Borough Hall.
WHEREAS, N.J.S.A. 39:4-138 currently prohibits parking in front of a public or private driveway even by the resident of the property; and
WHEREAS, N.J.S.A. 39:4-138.3 permits the Borough to allow the parking of motor vehicles in front of private driveways in certain circumstances; and
WHEREAS, the Borough wishes to enable homeowners and residents to avail themselves of this opportunity;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Borough Council of the Borough of Englishtown that Chapter 2.121 of the Code of the Borough of Englishtown is hereby amended as follows:
I. Section 2.121.51 shall be renumbered and codified as 2.121.21.
II. There shall be a new Article II of Chapter 2.121 entitled “Parking Permitted.”
III. The following new sections shall be added to Chapter 2.121:
§2.121.22 through §2.121.25 shall be identified as “reserved” and saved for future use as part of Article I.
§2.121.26. Parking in front of driveways.
Parking shall be permitted in front of private driveways whenever both the motor vehicle and driveway involved are owned by the same person, whenever the motor vehicle is owned by a member of the same household as the owner of the private driveway, or whenever the owner of the private driveway authorizes the parking of a motor vehicle in front of the private driveway. Parking will be permitted in accordance with this section only if the following conditions are met:
a. such parking is not otherwise prohibited;
b. the permitting of the parking will not interfere with the normal flow of traffic; and
c. a permit has been obtained and displayed in accordance with this ordinance.
§2.121.27. Obtaining of Permits.
The Borough, upon presentation of a proper application, to be designed, provided and received completed by the Municipal Clerk, shall provide a permit to allow parking in accordance with section §2.121.26 herein, provided there is no statute or ordinance otherwise prohibiting such parking, and further providing there is no other reason to prohibit such issuance involving the safety of the travelers of the road in question or the general community.
The permit shall identify the location of the driveway in front of which the parking of a motor vehicle is permitted. The permit shall only be issued to the owner of the private driveway or a member of the same household as the owner of the private driveway.
The permit shall be 5 ½ inches by 8 ½ inches in size, shall bear an appropriate certification of authenticity and shall be displayed prominently within the vehicle when it is parked so as to be seen from the middle of the street, on top of the dashboard by the right front passenger seat. The permit shall have inscribed upon it in indelible ink the license number of the vehicle for which it will be used, and the address of the driveway for which the permit will allow parking.
§2.121.28. Limitations.
An owner of a private driveway shall be eligible to apply for no more than three permits for his own motor vehicles or for use by other parties authorized by the owner to park in front of the private driveway.
Each member of the owner’s household who owns a motor vehicle shall also be eligible to apply for a permit issued under this ordinance.
§2.121.29. Fees.
The Borough shall not charge a fee in connection with the application for or issuance of the permit. However, a fee of $50.00 will be required for replacement of any lost permit.
§2.121.30. Violations.
In the event a motor vehicle is parked in front of a private driveway in which a properly obtained and applicable permit is not displayed, the owner of the motor vehicle shall be subject to the penalties set forth by state law for violation of N.J.S.A. 39:3-138.
First Reading and Introduction on Ordinance No.2008-12 was passed on the following roll call:
Peter Gorbatuk, Acting Municipal Clerk states the Public Hearing and Adoption on Ordinance No.2008-12 is scheduled for the November 24, 2008 Council Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Borough Hall.
RESOLUTION NO. 2008-194
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey that the transfers in the amount of $11,643.00 be made in the 2008 budget as attached.
From: Salary & Wage Adjustment $11,643.00
General Admin S&W $ 100.00 Salary Retro
Municipal Clerk S&W $2,275.00 Salary Retro
Finance S&W $1,525.00 Salary Retro
Tax Collection S&W $ 100.00 Salary Retro
Tax Assessor S&W $ 250.00 Salary Retro
Code Enforcement S&W $ 620.00 Salary Retro
Emergency Management S&W $ 73.00 Salary Retro
Fire Official S&W $ 250.00 Salary Retro
Streets & Roads S&W $ 400.00 Salary Retro
Recycling S&W $ 50.00 Salary Retro
Engineering OE $6,000.00 Housing Element & Fair
Share Plan (COAH)
There may be a mathematical error.
There is an error and we will correct that.
Mayor Reynolds requests motion to amend Resolution No.2008-194.
A motion to amend Resolution No. 2008-194 was offered by C/Carr and seconded by C/Robilotti.
RESOLUTION NO. 2008-195
Continued Preparation of Housing Element & Fair Share Plan - $7,500.00
One River Centre Drive – Bldg Two
RESOLUTION NO. 2008-196
Municipal Court – Bullet Resistant Window - $2,849.00
Purchased From: Pacific Bulletproof Co.
4035 Leaverton Court
WHEREAS, Mr. Anthony Rossi of Baker Residential requested the release of the Performance Bond and has sent via certified mail notice of public hearing, which was held at the Regular Council Meeting of October 22, 2008, to all property owners within 200 feet of the Oxford Crossing Project, as mandated by Borough Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, by letter, dated October 1, 2008, the Borough Engineer recommended the Release of the Performance Bond since all the prior deficiencies have been corrected and are now found satisfactory; and
WHEREAS, the Borough Engineer recommends the posting of a 2 year maintenance bond in the amount of $69,108.03, which was received and dated October 21, 2008, Bond No. 105170255 expiring October 23, 2010; and
WHEREAS, the Borough Engineer also requests through a memo dated October 1, 2008 that all outstanding bills be paid prior to the release of the Performance Bond.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey that the release of Performance Bond No. 104462558 in the amount of $414,648.18 and the 10% cash portion in the amount of $49,465.20 which includes interest income earned through September 30, 2008 is hereby authorized to be released to Baker Residential and Maintenance Bond No.105170255 in the amount of $69,108.03 is hereby accepted.
1. The said approved requisitions amounting to the sum of $8,773.19
are hereby authorized to be processed into purchase orders on November 12, 2008.
RESOLUTION NO. 2008-199
1. The said approved vouchers amounting to the sum of $263,009.82
are hereby authorized to be paid on November 12, 2008.
Tax Collectors Report Month of October, 2008
Taxes, 2009 $ 66.98
Taxes, 2008 $530,334.30
Taxes, 2007 $ 3.08
Interest $ 962.30
Duplicate Bill Fee $ 415.00
Total Net $531,781.66
Mayor Reynolds states that on Sunday morning he met with Chief Niziolek and advised him of all the areas of concern that we have. Chief Niziolek will now discuss different ways of cost savings that he has looked into.
Currently looking into certain ways of reducing our need for court staff to reduce some of our court overtime. Our court overtime is where we can take our biggest chunk out of our overtime budget.
One of the things we are considering to do is have the officers come up with a court sheet of possible plea bargains that would be acceptable to them so that they wouldn’t have to conference with the prosecutor on an individual basis.
We did lose one of our Officers for a couple of months due to injury, which hurt us in overtime.
Due to Economic times for any department to loose an officer is something that should be seriously considered due to the fact that whenever you have economic hardship crime rates go up. There has been a drastic rise in burglaries in our surrounding towns.
Is the court the only place that you can cut down?
This year there have been other overtime hours that were not generated by the Police Department.
Do you have a list of the overtime that cannot be prevented?
Yes, they are on the overtime sheet.
I have requested that the state police schedule two more classes for us for two more certified operators that may help lower some of our overtime.
How much state required training do you have to provide for the officers?
Domestic violence updates; state federal government has recently enacted new training for 911 and other wide scale incidents; EMT’s have to keep their certification up.
In your scheduling of officers, are there always two officers on around the clock?
We currently have without vacation, sick or personal time shifts of 7-5, 5-3, and 9-7. We then have two overlapping shifts with the Sergeants working 11-9 on weekdays or weekends. The overlapping shifts provides technically an extra officer on days when we are up to full staffing which frees one of the officers to do necessary functions that are outside the borough. If an officer wants any time off we can slightly shift that overlapping swing shift so instead of incurring a full 10 or 8 hours of overtime it only incurs possibly 4 hours of overtime or none.
This is not about the quality of work or performance of Officer Stolte this is about numbers. Anywhere we can cut money to save jobs we, as a Council will do that.
How would the Department run minus a person as far as overtime?
We would seriously have to consider calling state police to keep overtime down.
Rich Anunziata, 328 Berke Rd, Freehold
I have children who live in Englishtown and Englishtown has a reputation of being safe and having a very strong police force. Feels Council should look at the bigger picture.
John Crutiaz, 7 Sanford Ave, President of the Englishtown/Manalapan First Aid Squad
Thanked the officers for all the assistance they provide to the first aid squad. They are very well trained in emergency services, they carry the emergency automatic defibulator and they are the first ones to get to all your calls. Your police are usually there within 2 minutes with oxygen, with an AED and they can actually make crucial life saving changes way before we get there. My suggestion would be to put out a public questionnaire for the taxpayers in Englishtown and leave it up to the people if they are willing to pay the extra 20 cents per 100 per capita.
Karen Montilione, 16 West Dey Street
This is a safety issue and these officers are the bookends that make this town safe. I have no issue walking on Main Street at night or anyplace else in town by myself at any hour. This is a safe community and the officers are always on patrol. Having one officer on duty with no backup is not safe.
Isabel Lewis, One Park Avenue
Aren’t we going to incur a lot more overtime by cutting one man?
Why are we paying two sergeant salaries and getting rid of one officer?
Our police officers need immediate backup with one officer where is the backup?
Thanks to Officer Settele and Officer Bob Stolte I’m here today to talk to you. I had a heart attack and was still talking to the dispatcher when they responded.
Lou Sardi, 73 English Club Drive, past President of Fire Company & PBA Member
How did you come to decide that you had to lay off Bob Stolte?
No names were ever mentioned. This is about money.
It was stated at the budget meeting last year with the state cuts next year the only place to cut would be the employees. We financially cannot afford to stay Englishtown if we do not make cuts. We are looking at everyway to save money.
It is very admiral that everyone has come to support the Police Department. Are the same people going to come back and criticize this Borough Council because we raised taxes 20 cents?
Lou Sardi
If the taxes went up gradually it wouldn’t have been as big an issue.
With the reevaluation increase there will be a lot of people who cannot afford a 20-cent on the hundred increase.
Mayor Reynolds states this is the first year we have 6 tax sales, this means 6 members of this community cannot afford to pay their mortgage and taxes. As Mayor for the last 10 years we may have had one a year or maybe none. 250,000 people have been laid off from their jobs across the country in the last two months, as those houses go into foreclosure we will not get that tax base in. We were to receive $153,000 in state aid this year and only received $72,000. We had to send $18,000 to the Board of Education because that is part of their money. Out of $153,000 we received $50,000 that is $100,000 drop in state aid. The state is also talking about not giving rebates next year. We may be back here again sometime in January or February when state aid figures come out. We also have a serious deduction in our surpluses because every year we shrink the budget down. There is less and less surplus to offset the increases in salary, health benefits, road salt, and equipment repairs. We have a budget that is growing and the state aid is shrinking. You have 4 or 5 other taxing authorities that this municipality has no control over. Two Boards of Education, Municipal Tax, Fire District, Open Spaces and the County. If each one only raises a penny you are looking at 5 or 6 cents.
For anyone who came here based on the flyers that went out into the community I would like to correct the inaccuracy. We are not paying our borough attorney $100,000 a year he is paid $40,000. As far as our Municipal Clerk not being certified if we hired a certified clerk it would have cost us a lot more money and we would have been in a further deficit than we are at this time.
Mayor Reynolds states our past three Municipal Clerks were not certified when we hired them. The state says you have three years to take classes and past the exam to get certified. Would also like to make it clear for the public that the police did not send this flyer out it was the friends of the police department of Englishtown.
States the state police may get a call that they consider insignificant and they may not come out until the next morning. There was one time our fire company received a call for a stabbing at a site the state police were covering. We couldn’t go in and they never showed up which put the volunteers in jeopardy. It is hard to get volunteers and everyone is working two to three jobs. The officers in our town act as our eyes in the middle of the night. It takes us sometimes awhile to get a truck out. They can access a call and let us know if we need to take our time or put on as many men as possible. If you have an officer in town you have a better chance of survival. I understand this is all about numbers but I am not a number I am a person and so is everyone else in this room. Let the taxpayers vote on it.
Mayor Reynolds states to have a special election you would spend what you are looking to save. You would have to wait for a general election.
It takes at least 6 months to put it on a ballet.
Can you have a special election with the Fire Department during their election in February?
Mayor Reynolds states he would have to see if we could put it on the ballot with Fire Department.
Peter Hall, 7 Cooper Hawk Drive, Manalapan
I am here to speak as the First Lieutenant of the Englishtown Fire Department. We are a volunteer fire company; we serve the borough residents by protecting their life and property from fire damage. By cutting our budget this year and by cutting the Police Department you have cut the safety of this community. I ask that you look at this budget again. Fire, police and EMS; without them this community doesn’t function.
Mayor Reynolds states the public voted the Fire District budget down not Council.
Discussion between Peter Hall, Mayor Reynolds and Council continue regarding Fire Department equipment and budget.
· When I respond to a scene at night I’d like to know that the police officers are there to take care of any incidents that may occur, whether its crowd control, criminal scene or anything else that may arise. Would like Council to look at this again and seriously reconsider.
C/Leonardi
· I don’t think you fully understand the situation with the budget and I don’t think you fully understand that it may not be a question of one officer but the entire department if we become part of Manalapan. The other issue is where is the public during our Budget Workshops in January and February when we talk about these issues and trade offs we have to make. There may be one or two people attend. This discussion has been going on for years and this is not a snap decision or a problem that occurred suddenly and it is not something that anyone is taking lightly.
· I would like to make a recommendation that you put it to the people as a referendum and I will request the budget from the borough and take a look at it and possibly make suggestions on where else you might be able to make cuts to save the borough money.
Mayor Reynolds states we have not started to develop the budget. We started a preliminary on the 2009 budget that has not been put together as of yet. We are looking at the increases to our budget that we already have by contracts. The second or third week in January we will start our Saturday Budget hearings, which is publicly advertised and open to the public.
Sergeant Peter Cooke, 27 Tennent Avenue
· Would like the public to know that the average person here will only save $60.00 a year by letting Police Officer Robert Stolte go.
Kevin McGovern with Metshare and McGovern, P.O. Box 668, Woodbridge, N.J. Council to PBA 166
· When you are scouring for short-term savings, long-term impacts get forgotten. By cutting a police officer you assume you are going to save money. You should reconsider that assumption, because it is not necessarily true. The first thing that will happen is your overtime cost will skyrocket. One of the first things Chief Niziolek mentioned was a spike in overtime this year because Robert Stolte was out for a few weeks. Is it going to save you money by getting rid of a guy permanently whose absence for a few weeks cost the town money?
· If Governor Corzine’s plan goes through you will be paying for State police service through your taxes and contracted services.
· You will have 6 police officers that have a contractual right to take off; fewer officers mean more difficulty to grant time off. With fewer guys an officer may not get requested time off because he is needed for coverage. He will get paid for the time he couldn’t take off and paid at the end of the year for days he didn’t use. These are costs that are not anticipated. You should consider these costs when you deliberate.
· Rte 527 is a major thoroughfare used mostly by people who do not live in Englishtown. By removing an officer from your payroll you are reducing your ability to tap into a revenue source.
· This is about the people in this community and what kind of environment they will be living in. Councilwomen Carr indicated that it might not be long before Englishtown is gone. The question isn’t whether Englishtown lives or dies, the question is what kind of community is it going to be while it exists. Is it going to be a place where people want to live and feel safe?
· Englishtown also needs to be a community where they can afford to pay bills.
· If you ask each person individually money or safety? I would guess most would say safety.
· If there is no revenue to give you have no choice.
· Your remark to others and me tonight are based on an assumption that I don’t think has been proved. I ask that you hold off until the Chief gives you numbers about areas of alternate savings.
Tom, Water Street
· I believe that getting rid of one of our police officers is very wrong. We are in a recession and we will get out of it. We have to find some other way to cut the budget to keep our police. We trust them and they are important to us.
Therefore, be it resolved by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey, as follows, 1) Hereby authorizes Executive Session for the purpose of discussing above matters with N.J.S.A. 10 4-12B, 2) Anticipated at this time that the matters to be discussed in Executive Session will be discussed in Public not earlier than the next regular meeting of the Governing Body, 3) It is anticipated that the Executive Session last not longer than one-half hour, 4)
There exists the possibility that action may be taken upon conclusion of the Executive Session when the meeting returns to open.
The time being 9:42 P.M.
The time being 10:28 P.M.
Mayor Reynolds states while we were in Executive Session we asked Chief Niziolek to come in. The Chief has agreed to get us additional numbers that we asked for by November 21st,. We will wait to review those numbers and will not be taking any action tonight. At this time we cannot say if any action will be taken at our next meeting or any subsequent meetings.
There being no further business a motion to adjourn was offered by C/Simon, seconded by C/Carr. Passed unanimously.
The time being 10:29 P.M.
____January 28, 2009______ ________________________