Borough of Point Pleasant Beach Council Meeting Minutes
Mayor Reid called the meeting to order at 7:30PM. Present were Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey and Migut. Councilman Santanello was absent. The Municipal Clerk read the notice indicating compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act: “Adequate notice of the time and place of this meeting was given under the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act and was posted and sent to the officially designated newspapers in compliance with the law.”
Flag Salute & Invocation
Motion by Councilman Toohey to approve the March 19, 2019 Council meeting minutes was seconded by Councilman Vogel and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut….YEA
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
PROCLAMATION:
National Library Week 2019: Mayor Reid presented a proclamation to Matt Willbergh, Manager of the Point Pleasant Beach branch of the Ocean County Library (Mr. Willbergh: invited all to get a library card and announced he would be issuing them at Last Wave brewery on April 13th) Investors Bank gave $75K to the Little Red Library – second year in a row that they are contributing – will be taking a picture with BA/CFO Riehl on Thursday with the Library Association (Mr. Willbergh: electrical work finished today – great updates – spoke about the library’s online services).
The PPBHS Boys Varsity Swim Team was not in attendance to receive their proclamation.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Vogel: the Shade Tree Commission spoke to JCP&L regarding the way trees were cut on Rte. 35S – JCP&L might be willing to provide better trees for those areas – Shade tree will be planting donated trees on Broadway this week and next, for a total of 14 since fall, and is hosting a Landscaping in Shore Community seminar on April 10th – three are flyers on the table – they had some questions for Attorney Zabarsky and BA/CFO Riehl; working with groups who do the Memorial Day Parade to honor those killed in the line of duty – working with Historical Society, PPBHS and VFW– invited information – a number of those lost during WWII were PPBHS graduates – have 33 names – former editor of The Leader kept letters and other information in order – it’s all indexed; scheduling a meeting with ZO Petrillo, as she has been away; asked BA/CFO Riehl for updates from the County on Broadway street crossing and other items (BA/CFO Riehl: corresponded with them – waiting for confirmation that they will install the crosswalk and 2 speed radar signs they aside for PPB – has it in writing).
Councilman Cortes: recognized April employee anniversary – Chris Burger 17 years; asbestos was removed from the Seacoast Oil building on Cooks Ln. for the Fire Company to use for training before demolition; JCP&L poles on PPB’s old well property on Cooks Ln. were removed – the one with the antenna is the Borough’s responsibility; demolition of the concrete bases at the water plant is ongoing; 2 new sheds were erected for DPW storage in preparation for the Seacoast demolition; regarding item 1r, DPW found a newer used bucket truck – current one is old and not working – Borough’s mechanic approved it; tracked down the company that sold the Borough the green lights downtown – will order replacement parts; item 1l is for minor renovations to the Municipal Building, in preparation for moving the Court back from Point Pleasant – building a small wall to create another office; Curtis Ave. drainage is done – will be paved soon (BA/CFO Riehl: were scheduled for Monday or Tuesday); item 2j is the new carport shelter for the Police Department – similar to DPW structures – will expand Police vehicle life expectancy; gave Police report for Councilman Santanello – since last meeting, there was training on canine in service for patrol and scent work, SWAT, firearms applications, unattended death and OPRA – participating in the UDrive. UText. UPay. enforcement campaign in April – Department is committed to all residents included those up in age and living alone – Operation Outreach enables daily check-in – also committed to keeping a quiet, safe community – no one should hesitate to contact the Chief, Captain or Lieutenant with concerns.
Councilman Kanitra: thanked Mayor and Jacqui Reid, Councilman and Suzanne Toohey and BA/CFO Riehl and daughter Carly for attending the Art Gala – big success – 170 in attendance – will be some fine tuning next year – raised more than $10K for the Arts Committee and future programming, including the Bike In Movie and Christmas Trolley Play – thanked The White Sands for donating the venue and food; thanked ZO Petrillo for staying on the abandoned cars on Rte. 35 – problem is already getting alleviated; Little Silver Lake parking lot trees are already dying or in bad shape – tend to have problems with young trees planted in projects – asked BA/CFO Riehl if that area is scheduled for gator bags (BA/CFO Riehl: yes – contractor walked the property and will replace the trees); clarified that 1j is for stuff in the old Seacoast building (BA/CFO Riehl: within the next 2 weeks – waiting for the Fire Department to use it for training – sent letters to the surrounding homeowners, so they are aware of what the Fire Department is doing); asked BA/CFO Riehl about the basement timeline (BA/CFO Riehl: met this morning with T&M – DPW will remove vegetation – will solicit RFP’s and should be able to award at the next meeting); the old Gottlieb building on Arnold Ave. is planned to be knocked down and replaced with something not as historic looking – would like to consider historic properties – spoke to Attorney Zabarsky, who has a lot of land use experience – Bay Head has an ordinance requiring historic properties to undergo another level of review and approvals – would like Council to consider tasking the Borough Attorney to look into the Gottlieb building asked that he be authorized to look into ordinances throughout the State – Historic Commission has a list of properties in a database – would be nice if there was some way to protect them a bit (Councilman Cortes: is big on keeping historical buildings that way – referenced the hardware store, with the outside preserved – Borough has a Historic Preservation Commission; Councilman Vogel: Greg Cox, the head of that Commission, brought it up during Mayor Barrella's time and was told it has no teeth – suggested he be the point of contact) Mr. Cox said that Dennis Galvin had asked for language – maybe Attorney Zabarsky can find ordinances to satisfy everyone's concerns (Councilman Toohey: asked if his vision includes residential properties) would be open to that – downtown is key – need overall vision for downtown in the Master Plan – will help with vibrancy (Councilman Vogel: should invite Mr. Cox to the next meeting; Attorney Zabarsky: the State Municipal Land Use law specifically provides, not only for a Historical Preservation Commission, but a specifically designated historic site or district with renovations guidelines and things like that – can contact the League of Municipalities to see what other municipalities have done) – ADDED AS ITEM 1T; asked that resident Vince Castin's petition for extended bathroom hours be addressed.
Councilman Toohey: Environmental Commission wants to implement a program for recycling can stickers, indicating what can be put in them – an opportunity for education – will bring more about this to the next meeting; have a Budget to be introduced tonight – thanked BA/CFO Riehl for her hard work – didn't need the Community Disaster Loan, but now it is coming due – it’s $200K annually – that alone would have doubled the tax increase for this year – also, PPB has great employees and has to pay them deserving wages, so have to account for yearly salary increases – to mitigate that, asked for 1.5% cut in operational Budget across the board – unlike in past years, the departments were asked to figure it out – hit budgeted numbers on conservative revenue projections for last year – BA/CFO Riehl worked very hard with Bond Counsel to create a plan taking short term debt and tying it into a long term note with lower interest rate – got lucky with a retiree health insurance decrease – scrapped some capital projects – Budget amounts to a 1.19% tax increase/ $27.88 on an average home, with the same conservative revenue projections and reserve for uncollected taxes – people don't understand how much work goes into the Budget – is confident it reflects the economic position of the Borough and puts it in a nice position for next year – thanked BA/CFO Riehl and the Governing Body – have a structurally balanced Budget – everyone did the right thing – asked for everyone's vote on 3c.
Councilman Migut: thanked those who notified him of roads in need of repair – were finalized in the Budget; Planning Board meets tomorrow on a 2-lot residential subdivision on River Ave.; asked BA/CFO Riehl about the Water Feasibility Study (BA/CFO Riehl: a long term planning tool to comply with DEP – will analyze infrastructure and repair, GIS mapping – many components – will take 2-3 years to accomplish everything, come up with a plan and go out to bid – looking at replacing the main infrastructure on Rte. 35S – a multimillion dollar project, in phases).
Mayor Reid: looking forward to the Tug of War in October; congratulated the Arts Committee and commended Councilman Kanitra on the Arts Gala; thanked BA/CFO Riehl for letters sent out on Cooks Ln.; has a call out to the Fire Marshal regarding fire pits at the bungalows – should pass an ordinance about that; is wearing a tie in recognition of Autism Day today – his friend, John Hughes started the JT Foundation about 15 years ago – then, the autism rate was 1 in 100 (Councilman Vogel: it is now 1 in 80 boys with autism).
BA/CFO Riehl: talked about transformers coming down – tanks are down – the concrete is done – filled out paperwork for a building permit for Seacoast Oil – need a vermin letter from Muskrat Jack; received the first $500 in violations from the abandoned and unfit properties ordinance that was passed – 2 properties will require an arbitration meeting on the 18th – letters going out this week; spoke about debt refinancing – taking bids on Thursday on $5.8M/the April note that is rolling – will have an award at the next meeting – new parking kiosk machines are being delivered and will be installed tomorrow – everything is set – credit card machines are programmed – all space numbers have been painted – zones are set up – will be live by the end of this week – will be some revenue for the town (Councilman Cortes: asked if the Parking Enforcement Officers have been trained on the new equipment; Lt. Quaglia: not yet); received word that the dune project should be mobilized in PPB by Friday of next week – will include the equipment and the use of the New Jersey Ave. lot – starting with access through Philadelphia Ave. – all of the equipment will arrive next week – PPB must send letters to property owners advising them to remove structures that fall within the construction work limit – they will be torn down and disposed of, if not removed by homeowners within a certain timeframe – looking for that process to start April 16th – they want to concentrate letters on the north end first, which is where they will start, followed by updated letters to the south side of town (Mayor Reid: asked BA/CFO Riehl to send a letter out as well – need time before next Council meeting at 6:30PM) Engineer Savacool is available to attend to give an update on the DEP Army Corps project (Councilman Kanitra: reiterated that the new outfall is industrial and dangerous looking – will be partially submerged – hopes County can block it out with wood or something to make it safer when that sand starts eroding or when people are swimming near it (Mayor Reid: were always told that would be covered up; BA/CFO Riehl: the very end will be exposed, more so at low tide – a pie-shaped edge where the last concrete stanchion is; Councilman Kanitra: the sand covering degrades closer to the outfall – a lot of the sand will be pushed to the Inlet – will be worse than they say – should talk to the County and have a plan) the Inlet porta john is open 24/7 – there is a plan to move it to the other end of Inlet Dr. and screen it in nicely – one of her jobs is to staff and run Borough properties – bathroom has been there since 1974 with the same hours and staffing – sees no need to change (Councilman Cortes: attendant would be $196.00/week; Councilman Vogel: porta john is $62/month; Councilman Kanitra: understands what everyone is saying and BA/CFO Riehl’s point is valid, but the optics is that PPB paid for and built a bathroom and has a porta potty next to it for people to use) it is going to be moved.
Clerk announced additions to agenda.
Councilman Cortes: addressed the marijuana advocates in the audience – admired their passion and tenacity – asked, if posting pictures to social media, to keep to their cause, as some remarks from the last video were mean and nasty to a sitting Councilman.
PULIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AND ENDED AT 8:19PM
Motion by Councilman Toohey to close public participation and approve the items listed below was seconded by Councilman Kanitra and carried by roll call vote (Councilman Vogel: asked if the bucket truck could be purchased through Schedule C at a reasonable rate – noted that it is not used often; Councilman Cortes: PPB mechanic says this truck is well worth the money for its year, mileage and condition and will probably last 20-25 years; BA/CFO Riehl: current 1997 truck is listed for sale; Mayor Reid: need it when putting up swags and flags – Councilman Cortes looked into renting one; Councilman Cortes: it is also used for signs and trees; BA/CFO Riehl: would be several thousand dollars to rent – not bonding for it – will ask a minimum $2,500.00 for the old truck on Municibid; Councilman Cortes: it is also used for signs and trees).
CONSENT RESOLUTION 1:
1a Determination of form and details of note relating to construction loan for water meter replacement, providing for note’s issuance, sale, execution & delivery
1b Approval of PO to Hewlett Packard for 2 computers for the Building Dept. ($3,076.98)
1c Approval of S/E app for DAV Forget-Me-Not sales on Bdwk, Thurs, 6/27-8/29 & Labor Day
1d Approval of release of perf guarantee/inspection fees to PMG NJ from Developer escrow acct
1e Approval of payment of Payroll #7 ($254,479.83)
1f Approval of 3-month leave of absence for Employee #000727314
1g Approval of S/E app for Rec Committee’s Memorial Day Bike Parade on Arnold Ave, 5/25
1h Approval of payment to State of NJ for employee & retiree health benefits ($117,865.78)
1i Approval of payment to Hunter Technologies for annual Avaya support/maintenance ($2,997)
1j Authorization to auction surplus parking meters & housings and DPW vehicles on Municibid
1k Approval of PO to Fastenal for DPW shop equipment ($3,095.25)
1l Approval of PO to GRQ Building for 2nd floor Borough Hall office work ($4,800)
1m Approval of payment to Duke’s Sales & Service for grease liquefier for DPW ($3K)
1n Approval of payment to Petroleum Traders Corp for DPW gasoline ($14,349.20)
1o Approval of payment to Hutchinson Plumbing for plumbing & heating service ($3,107.76)
1p Approval of S/E app for Rec Cmte Easter Egg Hunt in Pleasure Park, 4/14 (raid date 4/20)
1q Approval of S/E application for Rec Cmte Summer Park Program, 6/24-8/2
1r Approval of PO to Vitale Motors for bucket truck ($24,134)
1s Approval of PO to PPB Public Education Fdn for full-page ad in HOF Dinner Ad Journal ($100)
1t Auth Attorney to research ordinances regarding historic properties–ADDED PER CMTE RPTS
CONSENT RESOLUTION 2:
2a Approval of computer-generated vouchers ($107,719.88)
2b Approval of PO to L3 Mobile-Vision for flashback HD system/OZ cam ($4,855.50)
2c Approval of payment to Connelly-Campion-Wright for BOFO accident policy ($3,081)
2d Approval of PO to R. Hanbury, PhD for 22 police psych evaluations ($5,500)
2e Approval of payment to Staples for 2019 Police office supplies ($4,500)
2f Support for “UDrive. UText. UPay.” distracted driving crackdown
2g Approval of pymt to Tripwire Operation Group for tripwire kit-storage container for K9 ($5,545)
2h Approval of PO to Winner Ford for 2020 Utility Interceptor for Police Dept. ($32,109)
2i Approval of PO to Emerg Accessories & Install for Police K9 vehicle accessories ($17,161.45)
2j Approval of PO to Carport1 for Police carport ($12,240)
2k Approval of pymt to Jamar Technologies for Gen2 Rader Recorder Kit with laptop for PD ($3,595)
2l Approval of pymt to Motorola Solutions for multicupler-base radio update for Emerg Svcs ($20,704)
2m Appointment of 7 Parking Enforcement Officers
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel (except 1s and 2), Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut….YEA
Councilmen Vogel (1s and 2)….ABSTAIN
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
ORDINANCES:
Ordinance 2019-04 (Amend Ch X – Parking Meters & Pay Machines) was considered on second reading. Mayor Reid opened the public hearing with no member of the public wishing to be heard. Motion by Councilman Vogel to close the public hearing and adopt Ordinance 2019-04 was seconded by Councilman Cortes and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut ….YEA
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
Councilmen Vogel and Toohey left the room and returned after roll call on Ordinance 2019-05.
Ordinance 2019-05 (Amend Ch XXVIII – Hotel & Motel Occupancy Tax) was considered on second reading. Mayor Reid opened the public hearing.
Vince Castin, PPB: is in favor of the ordinance.
Motion by Councilman Migut to close the public hearing and adopt Ordinance 2019-05 was seconded by Councilman Kanitra and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Cortes, Kanitra, Migut….YEA
Councilmen Vogel and Toohey….RECUSED
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
Councilman Migut: this is a compromise from last year’s proposed 3% tax – expect to raise $15K in revenue, the same amount spent on the Animal House Prosecutor and Magistrate – this year, for the first time, renters will be financing the policing of rental properties, not the residents.
Ordinance 2019-06 (Cap Bank) was introduced on first reading. BA/CFO Riehl: explained the ordinance. Motion by Councilman Toohey to approve Ordinance 2019-06 on first reading was seconded by Councilman Vogel and carried by roll call vote. The second reading will be held on April 16, 2019.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut ….YEA
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
Motion by Councilman Toohey to close public participation and approve the items listed
below was seconded by Councilman Migut and carried by roll call vote.
CONSENT RESOLUTION 3:
3a Resolution to defer $5,979,327.00 school taxes
3b Certification of compliance with US EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance
3c Introduction of 2019 Municipal Budget
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut ….YEA
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
Councilman Vogel: thanked BA/CFO Riehl for her work on the Budget – had a public
hearing and no one showed up– a testament to the hard work of the Finance Committee (Councilmen Cortes and Kanitra echoed those sentiments).
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:30PM.
Vince Castin, PPB: road work should include dips on Boston Ave.; asked about the Coast Guard Station; addressed his Inlet restroom petition.
Marilyn Burke, PPB: appreciates the effort and work on the Budget; asked if parking rates are changing.
Dave Cavagnaro, PPB: missed the Budget meeting due to the Beautification meeting; thanked Mayor Reid for the senior luncheon; asked about lights out, about sections of lot gauged during dredging, noting that plantings around benches and machines will create a maintenance issue, and about Borough computers that have gone down several times in the last few months.
Bob Maloney, PPB: asked about northern dune project dates and plans to pave Ocean Ave.
Mike Vintzileos, Brick, NJ: can't help how elected officials represent themselves – can’t stop pictures being taken or what people say online; Jeff (Oakes) had half his liver removed and is in recovery at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, where his edible cannabis was confiscated – this is a complication that comes with perpetuating the stigma – indirectly blames Mayor Reid for this – surgery went well and he is expected to recover.
Lefty Grimes, Bayonne, NJ: apologized and said he would take down the picture he posted – said people are laughing at him (Lefty) online right now because of his own appearance; Jeff is the suffering in hospital – stress is tough for a cancer patient and he is not in good spirits – he and his wife worked hard to make edible cannabis; called Mayor Reid the other day – wanted him to be on their podcast – needs help with home grow and job protection for cops using cannabis – he offered to help the Mayor against corporate cannabis – sang his song again, “You Can't Get No Weed Here.”
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:55PM.
Motion to close public participation and adjourn by Councilman Toohey was seconded by Councilman Migut and carried by consent of Council. Meeting was adjourned at 8:50PM.
ATTEST:__________________________________
Eileen A. Farrell, RMC
Municipal Clerk
