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July 27, 2005
7:30 P.M.
Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, 15 Main Street, Englishtown, New Jersey 07726.
1. Meeting Called to Order and Roll Call
2. Statement of Compliance with Sunshine Law
3. Moment of Silence and Salute to the Flag
4. Presentation of 2004 Audit by Eugene Farrell of
Hutchins, Farrell, Meyer & Allison, PA
5. Approval of Minutes – June 8, 2005
6. Committee Reports
7. Correspondence
8. Open Public Portion/Limited to Agenda Items Only
Limited to Five (5) Minutes per citizen to be determined at Borough Council's discretion. Any and all situations regarding Borough Personnel, when names are implied or mentioned, are to be brought to the full attention of the Council through an appointment and subsequent disclosure through the Personnel Committee.
9. New Business:
Act of 2001 to Existing Deferred Compensation Plan - VALIC
Supporting Renewal – NJ Transportation Trust Fund and Increased
Dedication for Local Aid
D. Resolution No. 2005-123
F. Resolution No. 2005-125
Payment of the Borough Bills
Appointment of BA/CFO
H. Resolution No. 2005-127
10. Tax Collector’s Reports – April and May 2005
11. Public Portion
Limited to Five (5) Minutes per citizen to be determined at Borough Council's discretion. Any and all situations regarding Borough Personnel, when names are implied or mentioned, are to be brought to the full attention of the Council through an appointment and subsequent disclosure through the Personnel Committee.
12. Executive Session
13. Adjournment
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Reynolds at 7:30 P.M.
Roll Call: Present: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino
C/Palmieri
Absent: None
Also present were Julie Martin, Municipal Clerk, and Christine Robbins, Administration Clerk.
Mayor Reynolds stated pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10 4-6 notification of this meeting has been (1) Published in the Asbury Park Press and Home News and the News Transcript the Official Newspapers of the Borough, (2) Posted to the Public at Borough Hall, (3) Copy has been filed with the Municipal Clerk, (4) Copy of this agenda and the Sunshine Statement has been filed with the Mayor and Council. Thus this meeting tonight is deemed in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act.
There was a moment of silence and salute to the flag.
Mayor Reynolds states we received notice from Gene Farrell, Borough Auditor, that he is ill so tonight’s presentation will be moved to the August 10th or August 24th council meeting.
There being no corrections, deletions or additions, a motion to approve the Minutes of June 8, 2005 was offered by C/Soden and seconded by C/Simon. Passed on the following roll call:
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino, C/Palmieri
Nayes: None
Abstain: None
Absent: None
C/Rucker states nothing at this time.
C/Palmieri states our next Recreation Committee meeting will be August 6th at 10:00 a.m. here at Borough Hall. All are welcome to attend.
C/Gallagher states nothing at this time.
C/Soden states the Borough Water Dept. has received a check in the amount of $109,240.00 for the hook up fees for Oxford Crossing.
C/D’Agostino states nothing at this time.
C/Simon states the police activity report from July 11 – July 24; there were 481 calls and 76 motor vehicle stops. Also, the police received a grant for two defibrillators, which should be coming shortly.
Julie Martin, Municipal Clerk states no correspondence this evening.
Mayor Reynolds opened the floor to the public for discussion limited to agenda items only.
Jayne Carr asks the 2005 Budget Amendment, what is that?
Mayor Reynolds responds since we received our financial aid, we put together our amendments and the Public Hearing on our budget with our CFO will be here on August 10th.
There being no further questions or comments from the public, a motion to close the public portion was offered by C/Soden and seconded by C/Gallagher. Passed unanimously.
Resolution No. 2005-120
Whereas, the Borough of Englishtown (hereinafter referred to as the “Employer”) by resolution adopted a Deferred Compensation Plan (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”) effective March 2005, for the purpose of making available to eligible employees the accrual of tax benefits under a Section 457 Deferred Compensation Plan; and
Whereas, Section 657 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 amended Section 401(a)(31)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”); and
Whereas, the Employer desires its Plan to conform with this change in the Code brought about by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001; and
Whereas, such amendment shall supersede the provisions of the Plan to the extent those provisions are inconsistent with the provisions of this amendment;
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved that the Employer hereby adopts the attached Amendment (22-PD-VALIC-E657A033005) to Deferred Compensation Plan Document (22-PD-VALIC-E121201) to be part of and incorporated into its existing Deferred Compensation Plan Document.
Be It Further Resolved that a certified copy of this resolution shall be forwarded to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services.
Offered By: C/Rucker
Seconded By: C/Gallagher
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino, C/Palmieri
Nays: None
Abstain: None
Absent: None
Resolution No. 2005-121
Supporting Renewal of the New Jersey Transportation
Trust Fund and Increased Dedication for Local Aid
Whereas, on June 30, 2006 the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund will have no capital funding available to provide local aid for transportation projects because all incoming revenue will be used for debt service payments; and
Whereas, local governments have received approximately $2.0 billion from the Transportation Trust Fund and approximately $300 million in bridge bond funds; and $275 million in federal local road funds; and
Whereas, local roadways and bridges carry 55% of the traffic on county, municipal and state highways; and local governments maintain 32,810 centerline miles of roads, 2,498 major bridges and 4,584 minor bridges; and
Whereas, a review of annual local transportation needs indicates $211 million for county bridges, $7.5 million for municipal bridges and $44 million for county roadways and $112 million for municipal roadways for a total of $374.5 million; and
Whereas, it is imperative that local governments receive a stable, dependable and long-term source of funding to actively maintain the State’s roadways and bridges; and
Whereas, it is in the best interest of local governments to work in collaboration with the Governor of the State of New Jersey, the Commission of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the New Jersey State Legislature to quantify the State’s transportation needs and pursue the appropriate methods of funding.
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Borough of Englishtown hereby calls upon the Governor and the State Legislature to provide for a stable, dependable and long-term source of funding to support the renewal of the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund and an increase in the amount dedicated to local aid.
Be It Further Resolved, that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Governor of the State of New Jersey, the Commission of the Department of Transportation and members of the State Legislature and the New Jersey League of Municipalities.
Offered by: C/Rucker
Seconded by: C/D’Agostino
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino, C/Palmieri
Nays: None
Abstain: None
Absent: None
Borough of Englishtown
Resolution No. 2005-122
Borough of Englishtown
2005 Budget Amendment
Whereas, the Local Municipal Budget for the Year 2005 was approved on March 9, 2005; and
Whereas, the Public hearing on said budget has been held as advertised; and
Whereas, it is desired to amend said approved Budget.
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey that the attached amendments to the approved Budget of 2005 be made:
Be It Further Resolved, that three certified copies of this resolution be filed in the Office of the Director of the Division of Local Government Services for the Certification of the 2005 Local Municipal Budget so amended.
Be It Further Resolved, that this complete amendment, in accordance with the provision of N.J.S. 40A:4-9, be published in the Asbury Park Press in the issue of August 2, 2005 and that said publication contain notice of public hearing on said amendment.
Offered By: C/Simon
Seconded By: C/Gallagher
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino, C/Palmieri
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
Julie Martin, Municipal Clerk states the Public Hearing on the Budget Amendment will be held at the August 10, 2005 Council meeting.
John Bennett, Borough Attorney arrives at 7:55 P.M.
Resolution No. 2005-123
Whereas, the Borough of Englishtown Council requires that purchases and services over $800.00 or more be pre-approved by the Governing Body except in the case of imminent emergency situation; and
Whereas, the following itemized request(s) were submitted to the Chief Financial Officer by the respective Committee Chairperson(s) for Council approval; and
Whereas, the Chief Financial Officer certifies that appropriate funds are available for the following:
Purchased From:
A.C. Schultes, Inc.
Woodbury, New Jersey
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey that the above request(s) is approved for the purchase or order.
Offered By: C/Soden
Seconded By: C/Simon
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino,
C/Palmieri
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
Resolution No. 2005- 124
Whereas, the Borough of Englishtown Council requires that purchases and services over $800.00 or more be pre-approved by the Governing Body except in the case of imminent emergency situation; and
Whereas, the following itemized request(s) were submitted to the Chief Financial Officer by the respective Committee Chairperson(s) for Council approval; and
Whereas, the Chief Financial Officer certifies that appropriate funds are available for the following:
$1,700.00
Purchased From:
JPZ Entertainment, Englishtown NJ
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey that the above request(s) is approved for the purchase or order.
Offered By: C/D’Agostino
Seconded By: C/Simon
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino, C/Palmieri
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
Resolution No. 2005-125
Resolution of the Borough of Englishtown,
County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey
Authorizing the Payment of Borough Bills
Whereas, the Mayor and Council have carefully examined all vouchers presented to the Borough for the payment of claims; and
Whereas, after due consideration of the said vouchers, the Mayor and Council have approved payment of same.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, as follows:
1. The said approved vouchers amounting to the sum of $441,308.06 be and
the same are hereby authorized to be paid on July 27, 2005
2. The Borough Clerk be and is hereby directed to list on the page in the
Minutes Book following the minutes of this meeting all of the said vouchers hereby authorized to be paid.
Offered by: C/D’Agostino
Seconded by: C/Simon
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino, C/Palmieri
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
Borough of Englishtown
Resolution No. 2005-126
RESOLUTION OF THE BOROUGH OF ENGLISHTOWN
APPOINTING A BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR/CERTIFIED FINANCIAL OFFICER
WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown have determined that there is a necessity for having a Business Administrator/Certified Financial Officer be employed by the Borough for the purposes of handling administrative matters during business hours; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council have advertised and posted said position and interviewed candidates for same; and
WHEREAS, Laurie B. Finger has applied for such position and is currently a Certified Municipal Finance Officer, a Certified Tax Collector and a Registered Municipal Clerk; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council have interviewed several candidates for this position and find that Laurie B. Finger is a qualified individual for the position.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown that Laurie B. Finger be hired for the position of Business Administrator/Certified Financial Officer pursuant to NJSA 40A:9-140.10 for the Borough of Englishtown commencing on September 1, 2005 at a salary of $40,000 per annum allocated $20,000 for Business Administrator and $20,000 for Chief Financial Officer
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute a Contract of Employment after legal review and a certified copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Following: Borough Auditor, Borough Attorney, Laurie B. Finger, Himanshu R. Shah and Julie Martin.
Offered by; C/Simon
Seconded by: C/Gallagher
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino
Nays: C/Palmieri
Abstain: None
Absent: None
Borough of Englishtown
Resolution No. 2005-127
RESOLUTION OF THE BOROUGH COUNCIL OF THE
BOROUGH OF ENGLISHTOWN ESTABLISHING HOURS
OF WORK FOR THE Chief financial officer.
WHEREAS, the Mayor and Borough Council of the Borough of Englishtown previously established by Ordinance the right to set the minimum number of hours each week for the Chief Financial Officer to work; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor and Borough Council believe it is in the best interest of the Borough to have the Chief Financial Officer available to the public and the other Borough employees during business hours during the work week to perform the duties of the Chief Financial Officer.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Borough Council of the Borough of Englishtown, in the County of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, that the Borough Chief Financial Officer shall work a minimum of 10 hours per week in the Borough offices between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. during the business week effective September 1, 2005.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution shall be provided to the following: Chief Financial Officer Himanshu R. Shah, Laurie B. Finger, Borough Clerk Julie Martin, and Borough Attorney John O. Bennett.
Offered By: C/Soden
Seconded By: C/Simon
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino
Nays: C/Palmieri
Absent: None
Abstain: None
Current Taxes 479,921.12
Prior 2004 5,242.35
Interest & Cost 927.22
Total Cash Receipt 486,090.69
Current Taxes 416,108.24
Prior 2004 11,145.80
Interest & Cost 1,532.91
Advertising Cost 336.96
Total Cash Receipt 429,123.91
Mayor Reynolds opened the floor to the public for discussion on anything they wish to bring to the attention to the governing body.
Louis Johnson, Water Street states regarding an article I read about sharing services with Manalapan Township. This concerns me and I am opposed to it. Outside of the financials, I feel the police protection would not be of the same degree. I like knowing the police officers and feeling safe in my town.
Jayne Carr, Main Street states regarding the affordable housing at Oxford Crossing. You stated that anyone in Englishtown applying should put that on top of their application, and they would get first priority.
C/Gallagher responds, it was never said that Englishtown residents would get priority.
Jayne Carr states listen to the tape. That is what was said. I would like to request to listen to the tapes.
Julie Martin, Municipal Clerk states I said if anyone specifically requested “ Oxford Crossing” and “Oxford Crossing” was stamped on the application, they would be considered for that particular development.
Patrick Cosgrove, Carriage Lane states I am here asking for permission to hold a benefit concert in Sanford Park for the West Memphis Three, which are three teenagers wrongfully convicted of murder. I would like to help raise money for their appeal.
Mayor and Council respond they would discuss it and get back to him.
Peter Cooke, Wood Avenue, I would like to know why the council has instructed the police not to attend council meetings again.
Mayor Reynolds states not while on duty.
Peter Cooke asks and who on council has the police training to know where is best to put police officers? This is a community event where heated discussions are exchanged. On Wednesday nights I am the Police Officer in charge and I put one officer in here and one officer on the road. You are once again telling the Chief how to run his department. You are interfering with the operation of the Police Department.
Mayor Reynolds asks did the Chief assign officers to be here?
Peter Cooke responds I am the officer in charge at night. I decide where’s best to place the officers.
Mayor Reynolds responds I will discuss it with the Chief.
Jayne Carr states I would like to put on record that before the Police became an issue (shared services with Manalapan), whenever there was a large crowd an officer was always present at these meetings.
Wayne McCanrod, states I am interested in taking assignment of two tax sale certificates that the Borough holds on LaSatta Avenue.
John Bennett, Borough Attorney states the tax collector just gave us the information tonight and we haven’t had a chance to look over it yet. Once we review it we will get back to you.
Lori Cooke, 12 Wood Avenue, asks are all the things I’ve been seeing in the newspapers true?
Mayor Reynolds responds, I have not seen any articles, however I did attend the July 20th Manalapan Council Meeting and I asked their Mayor and Council if they have discussed the issues that we have been talking about regarding shared services. They had no answers for me.
Discussion continues between Mayor Reynolds and Lori Cooke.
Jayne Carr states in the newspaper it said that Manalapan didn’t know if there was a grant available to do the feasibility study because they didn’t want to pay for it. How much is this going to cost us to just look into?
Mayor Reynolds responds it’s too early to say. There are still a lot of things we have to look at.
There being no further questions or comments, a motion to close the public portion was offered by C/Soden and seconded by C/Simon. Passed unanimously.
John Bennett, Borough Attorney states there was a question raised as to what COAH status was in the Borough. As you all know there were two lawsuits Elon Associates and Traditional Developers that sued under builders remedy. As a result of that Elon Associates would receive 31 credits in that development to be built and Traditional Developers received a total of 7. That is a total of 38 affordable housing units. We have repose for 6 years from January 27, 2003. We cannot be sued until the earliest January 27, 2009.
Executive Session
Mayor Reynolds stated pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10 4-12B be it resolved by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Englishtown, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey as follows whereas N.J.S.A. 10 4-12B of the Open Public Meetings Act of the State of New Jersey permits exclusion of the public from those portions of the meetings in which matters authorized to be discussed in Executive Session under the cited statute will be reviewed and discussed; and
Whereas, the Governing Body concludes that the public must be excluded from the discussion of the following matters of personnel, and
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.
Offered By: C/D’Agostino
Seconded By: C/Simon
Roll Call: Ayes: C/Soden, C/Rucker, C/Gallagher, C/Simon, C/D’Agostino, C/Palmieri
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
The time being 8:18 P.M.
There being no further business in Executive Session, a motion to return to open session was offered by C/D’Agostino and seconded by C/Simon. Passed unanimously.
The time being 8:22 P.M.
Adjournment
There being no further business a motion to adjourn was offered by C/D’Agostino and seconded by C/Simon. Passed unanimously.
The time being 8:25 P.M.
September 14, 2005 ________________________
Approved by Governing Body Clerk