Borough of Point Pleasant Beach Borough of Point Pleasant Beach
Council Meeting Minutes
February 18, 2020
The Governing Body reserves its right to amend and supplement the purposes of
executive session by motion at the public meeting.
Mayor Kanitra called the meeting to order at 7:31PM. Present were Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Cortes, Santanello and Migut. 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 Santanello to approve the February 4, 2020 Council meeting minutes was seconded by Councilwoman Testa and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Cortes, Santanello, Migut…YEA
PROCLAMATION:
Mayor Kanitra presented a proclamation to the 2019-2020 Point Pleasant Beach High School Boys Varsity Cross Country Team for winning the Group 1 Central B Championship outright.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Vitale: he and Councilwoman Byrnes are working to identify grants to purchase a fire truck; spoke with Chief Michigan, Det. O’Neill and PPBHS administrators about the parking situation around the High School, as there are few spots for students and staff – the north side of Forman Ave., between Bay and Gowdy, is designated a fire zone – wants to authorize the Attorney to amend the fire lane ordinance to open up about nine spots there – Fire Official Martin was briefed today and is ok with that – added as item 2i; gave Police report since last meeting – training included Canine, Field Training and Street Survival – there were arrests for possession of CDS, DWI and other motor vehicle offenses, simple assault, disorderly conduct and contempt of court – motor vehicle and Borough ordinance summonses were issued – reminded all about the first Neighborhood Partnership Initiative Meeting next week on social media and online safety – goal is to launch a Facebook page this week – spoke about Blue Hope, a law enforcement initiative to assist Ocean County residents suffering from substance abuse disorder – can contact the Police Dept. for help; Recreation Committee meeting is Monday – building a Facebook page for that as well – has a member to handle social outreach; cyber security policy and training is in the works for Borough employees – will have the Borough Attorney review when complete; working with BA/CFO Riehl on a new IT vendor.
Councilwoman Testa: trying to promote Arts Committee events – can buy Gala and Movie tickets at www.ptbeacharts.com; the Board of Education (BOE) meeting is February 26th at 6:30PM at Antrim; Beautification Committee meets on the 26th as well, 7PM at 118 Parkway; is meeting next Wednesday with BA/CFO Riehl and Det. O’Neill about Street Smart (BA/CFO Riehl: asked Councilwoman Testa to send her information for a robo-call about Gala tickets; Mayor Kanitra: call should be no earlier than 3 weeks before the event).
Councilwoman Byrnes: has met with the Finance Committee – will defer to Councilman Migut for notes; is chairing the Fire Committee and will meet with them on Tuesday – will also meet and report on the Environmental Commission; doesn’t have much to report now, but will soon.
Councilman Cortes: thanked BA/CFO Riehl and Council for money to replace Beautification’s garland – hopes for a yes vote on that and the new member listed on the agenda – invited volunteers; were a couple of hydrant repairs last week; roof repair is needed at Borough Hall (BA/CFO Riehl: sustained damage from winds – there is a racoon in the attic and traps are set).
Councilman Santanello: regarding item 1b, is concerned that Councilman Cortes is no longer the Shade Tree liaison because the Commission didn't want him – they should not choosing who they want – Governing Body is in charge – Commission is advisory – will vote against – sets a terrible precedence – not a reflection on Councilwoman Byrnes (Mayor Kanitra: Councilman Cortes wasn't excited about serving either – it was mutual) concerned that they said they didn’t want them.
Councilman Migut: Animal Welfare Committee Spring Fundraiser is April 5th at The Ark – no auction at this event – Karen Mills will have tickets soon; new Planning Board Chair is Pete Ritchings; working with Karen Mills on the railroad employee parking pass program – letters went to target businesses asking them to come to the March Parking Authority meeting – gave them surveys to get a feel for dynamics; budget is being worked on – had 2 Finance Committee meetings – getting close to target – in 2007, Councilman Mercun broke with tradition and said town should purchase an ambulance for the First Aid – it is now 13 years old and needs to be re-chassised, which is half the cost of a new ambulance – about $100K – met with the Mantoloking CFO & the Bay Head Mayor and CFO about a shared services agreement – they would each give $25K toward the ambulance, with PPB picking up the remaining $50K – it’s a nice way for all to get a shared services agreement on the Best Practices lists and it’s a nice community sharing; wants to authorize the Attorney to draft an ordinance amending the Airbnb tax to 3% for the coming year, so it's in place for the rental season (Councilman Santanello stepped out at 7:51PM; Mayor Kanitra: explained that, the State reached out to the Mayor in late summer/early fall telling him the tax had had to be 3% or nothing at all – can't be 1.5%, as was passed by ordinance as a compromise – the Mayor never returned their calls or emails for 6 months, so the Borough lost out on potentially $35K last year – PPB has over 100 Airbnb listings in summer – the equivalent of a 200+ room hotel – in residential areas so, every week, full-time residents have new neighbors who have no stake in the town and might not carry themselves in the same manner as residents – this administration wants to keep taxes low and the town safe – item added as 2j; thanked Councilman Migut for attention to detail on parking lot and to the budget; Councilman Santanello returned at 8:03PM).
Mayor Kanitra: as liaison to the Chamber of Commerce, announced the Beers on the Boards event on March 21st – $60 – Mike Dalton Band performing – tickets are available on pointchamber.com – falls on same day as the Arts Gala – can go to the afternoon session and the Gala at night – 2nd annual Soup Cook-off is February 25th at Point Lobster Bar & Grill, 6PM-8PM – $5 admission – soups from all over town; he and Councilman Vitale went to the Rotary Club – Council was offered membership for $75 – any one member of the Governing Body can choose to go to a meeting – $15 to have dinner – meetings are on Tuesdays at the Wharfside at 6:15PM – incredible to see all their great community efforts; met with Jersey Shore Partnership about their beach replenishment efforts since Sandy and the future of dune funding through the State legislature – had two different meetings with DEP – one was about the wrapping-up of the dune project and one was about the general state of affairs – recycling efforts, the $100K grant application for Lake of the Lillies to kill the root cause of the blue green algae, etc.; he, Councilman Vitale and Mike Corona from Ocean County Music are looking at this year’s summer concert series – looking at a different slant with a hybrid of costly cover bands and a mix of lower-costing modern bands and acts, so not as much money will need to be raised – will report more on this; the PPBHS Wrestling Team won the Central Jersey Group 1 Championship this week – will honor them when the ride is over; had his first Planning Board meeting with Councilman Migut – eye opening – looking forward to attending all meetings; had discussion with a resident looking to buy and preserve a building downtown, another has offered to buy equipment for the Newark Ave. playground and another is looking to donate a nice wooden welcome sign for the business district – BA/CFO is pricing that out; are monitoring the situation with NJ Transit looking to put a power station for diesel generation in Bay Head – Bay Head is concerned that it would go on or near wetlands – he was approached to see if PPB would want it – PPB is not the recipient of projects that other towns don't want – he asked the Borough Attorney to attend the NJ Transit meeting at Bay Head town hall – has expressed to State legislators and others that it would not be well received – thinks he has headed that off; he received notice about a wind project that started 16 miles of the shore of Atlantic City – Shell Energy has purchased a Federal lease, 8 miles off of the shore Long Branch – windmills are massively large and can be seen from 38 miles offshore, so at 8 miles, it would be a detriment to the tourism industry and aesthetics – fishing industries and environmental groups are also concerned – brought it up at the NJ Council of Mayors meeting to Senate President Sweeney last week – imagines that every coastal municipality in Ocean and Monmouth County would not be pleased with it – plans on engaging himself in this project and working with mayors along the coast to ensure against visual pollution of the horizon – this and the previous Council has shown and appetite for environmentally friendly initiatives – things that are detrimental to the tourism industry are not wanted here (Councilman Cortes: last April, the Governor was on the Boardwalk and signed a bill to disallow any energy delivery system onto shore); brought up to the Senate and Assembly leadership his concern about the school consolidation issue that continues to move forward – the first step appears to be trying to do away with K-8 districts and then consolidating 300 small town BOE's at a County level – unreasonable to think every municipality would get a seat on a County school board – PPB would be paying taxes to a County entity and would never have the population to get an elected representative on that County school board – the schools that are really good in the public education system are the ones from the small towns that are running themselves and doing things the right way – need to keep on the horizon.
BA/CFO Riehl: added to agenda the award of the paver project for the Municipal building – Clayton Block $8K and PNG designs for labor $16.1K – total project $24,230 (Mayor Kanitra: saves $16K by buying the 2 parts separately – will look better and there won’t be flooding issues in the building) – added as item 2k; booked dates with the County Corrections Department – will come here April 7th, once in May, July, August and September and twice in June – will weed, paint, pick up trash, etc. (Mayor Kanitra: paint is peeling at the gazebo; Councilman Santanello: suggested clean-up at the Little League Field, as they have done in the past) will come up with things as the dates approach; a new Kiwanis Club has launched, covering PPB and Bay Head – has asked them to help organize a cleaning day for Little Silver Lake and Lake of the Lillies); requested the County come to clean graffiti at and around the Silver Lake lot – they came the next day; has a request in to AT&T to fix their fence along the cell tower – they said they’d address it; DOT got back to her on the bridge – 2 lanes, in each direction, will be open by April 24th – final construction activities will continue through June 17th with no traffic impact or plan for lane closures – the recent delay and traffic shifting was due to safety concerns with the guiderail – conflict has been resolved and the shift will occur this weekend, the 21st; gas pipes will be drilled under the railroad – NJ Transit told NJNG that they now require temporary access permit from DOT – expect to have it this week, with drilling expected to start the week of the 24th, requiring 24-hour detours at the rail crossing Mon.-Fri. – they expect the job to be complete the last week of March (Councilman Cortes: asked if anyone reached out to Harborhead about the graffiti on their wall; Mayor Kanitra: are looking at a graffiti ordinance, as there have been instances where homeowners are not acting quickly enough – DPW does not have paint to match specific issues – need to start reacting quickly – had an incident at the Lincoln Ave. bulkhead and a couple of problem areas) that issue was on private property – took it upon ourselves to cover (Mayor Kanitra: only did that because of the nature of the graffiti).
The Municipal Clerk announced revisions to the agenda.
PULIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:15PM
Dave Cavagnaro, PPB: asked about 1p – if Muskrat Jack still addles goose eggs and gives a count to the town; thanked all for item 2f.
Vince Castin, PPB: asked about 2e; agrees about offshore windmills; asked about the Route 35 detour; asked about item 2g.
PULIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:23PM
Councilman Cortes: asked that item 2g be considered separately (now item 2L).
Motion by Councilman Migut to close Public Participation and approve the items listed below was seconded by Councilman Vitale and carried by roll call vote
CONSENT RESOLUTION 1:
1a Approval of payment of Payroll #4 ($239,559.85)
1b Appt. of Councilwoman Byrnes as new liaison to the Shade Tree Commission
1c Approval of S/E app for ACS Making Strides against Breast Cancer Walk, 10/18
1d Approval of pymt to BTMUA for January bulk water usage ($61,879.50)
1e Approval of pymt to the State of NJ for employee and retiree health benefits ($114,007.25)
1f Appointment of J. Mastrokalos to the Beautification Committee
1g Approval of PO to HP for 9 small desk computers ($6,673.59)
1h Approval of PO to All Covered for 9 monitors, software & installation ($8,425.91)
1i Approval of payment of Pay Cert #1 to Earle Asphalt-Imp to St Louis/Phase II ($358,116.99)
1j Approval of Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps on 4/25 and 10/24
1k Approval of Alzheimer NJ Banner Permit App for banner on Arnold Ave, 9/11-25
1l Approval of payment to PPB BOE for March allocation ($1,087,929)
1m Approval of PO to Connor Strong & Buckelew for Jan-Dec monthly consulting fees ($9,600)
1n Approval of PO to Tri-State Safety Solutions for Jan-Dec monthly Safety Coord fees ($8,340)
1o Approval of PO to Comcast Processing Center for Jan-Dec monthly internet charges ($23,229.24)
1p Approval of PO to Muskrat Jack for Feb-Jan monthly animal control services ($10,800)
1q Appointment of Wendy Yorke to the Recreation Committee
1r Re-appointment of M. Pearce as a member of the Historic Preservation Commission
1s Approval of adjusted PO to Fernbrook Nursery for 12 trees for Shade Tree Commission ($3,900)
1t Approval of payment to Sprague Resources for diesel fuel for DPW ($4,420.48)
1u Approval of payment to Petroleum Traders Corp for gasoline for DPW ($11,774.47)
1v Approval of payment to Hecht Trailer for a 2019 Pace cargo trailer for DPW ($7,699.02)
1w Approval of title change & salary adjustment per Civil Service reclassification
1x Approval of release of road opening & dewatering bonds from Developer Escrow accounts
1y Approval of pymt to M. Woszczak Mech Contractors for emerg repair at 500 Laurel ($5,760.91)
1z Approval of pymt to the OCUA for 1st Quarter sewerage payments ($74,115.65)
CONSENT RESOLUTION 2:
2a Approval of PO to Integrated Technical Systems for thermal paper for parking machines ($7,840)
2b Approval of payment to Bortek Industries for 2020 sweeper parts ($4,197.70)
2c Approval of payment to Fastenal for DPW shop equipment ($3,463.57)
2d Approval of payment to All Covered for Jan & Feb IT maintenance support and services ($7,306)
2e Support for the siting of the 4th Army Corps Headquarters at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
2f Authorization to purchase garland (NTE $4K)
2g CONSIDERED SEPARATELY AS 2L AT COUNCIL REQUEST
2h Approval of PO to Schuler Roofing & Siding for Borough Hall roof repair (NTE $8,500)
2i Auth for Atty to amend fire ord on north side of Forman between Bay & Gowdy – PER CMT RPTS
2j Auth for atty to draft an ordinance amending Airbnb tax to 3% for coming year – PER CMT RPTS
2k Award of paver contract to Clayton Block ($8,130K) & PNG Designs ($16,100) – PER BA/CFO
2l CONSIDERED SEPARATLEY
CONSENT RESOLUTION 3:
3a Approval of payment of computer-generated vouchers ($603,132.14)
3b Approval of pymt to Clean Air Co for vent systems repair for Fire Company No 2 ($4,563.84)
3c Approval of pymt to Guardian Tracking for 1-yr PD employee doc software subscription ($3,024)
3d Approval of pymt to Ragnasoft for 1-yr Planit Police attendance/payroll software subscrip ($2,627)
3e Appointment of 19 SLEO’s
3f Approval of PO to Premier Electronic Solutions for panic buttons ($1,675)
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Cortes, Santanello (except 1b, 1i, 2j, 3c, 3d, 3e),
Migut (except 3a, 3b)…YEA
Councilmen Santanello (1b, 1i)….NAY
Councilmen Santanello (2j, 3c, 3d, 3e), Migut (3a, 3b)….ABSTAIN
RESOLUTION 2L: Approval of PO to General Recreation for 22 benches ($22,880)
Councilman Cortes: approved 25 benches last year for about $10,500.00 – as a member of the Public Property Buildings and Grounds Committee, is on the dark on this – likes the design and the idea of matching benches – Lavallette has similar ones, about 5-7 years old, and the powder-coated aluminum is pitted – benches approved last year were recycled plastic, portable, with stainless steel hardware, without arm rests – likes the design but should have a total composite bench by the water (Mayor Kanitra: had gotten a quote for steel – asked if there is a warranty; BA/CFO Riehl: asked for another alternative – assumes there is a warranty) aluminum won’t rust, but it will pit (Councilman Santanello: would be too much mish mosh on the Boardwalk, but it makes sense for the rest of the town to be similar; Councilman Santanello: suggesting hold this for another meeting; Mayor Kanitra: want them before spring – didn’t want to buy powder-coated and have weed wackers chip the paint off; BA/CFO Riehl had idea to for rectangular area, with rocks and gravel underneath, for the benches by the bandshell; Councilman Santanello: that would keep the bugs down too; BA/CFO Riehl: was not opposed to holding the matter for 2 weeks).
Motion by Councilman Cortes to HOLD Resolution 2l was seconded by Councilwoman Testa and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Cortes, Santanello, Migut….YEA
ORDINANCES:
Ordinance 2020-01 (Amend Ch IX, Sched XXI-Add Handicap Space) was considered on second reading. Motion by Councilman Migut to open the public hearing was seconded by Councilman Cortes and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Cortes, Santanello, Migut…YEA
No member of the public wished to be heard. Motion by Migut to close the public hearing and adopt Ordinance 2020-01 was seconded by Councilwoman Testa and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Cortes, Santanello, Migut…YEA
Motion by Councilman Cortes to pull Quality of Life Director and Maintenance Worker/ Grounds positions out of Ordinance 2020-02 and add them later was seconded by Councilman Santanello and DEFEATED by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Cortes, Santanello….YEA
Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Migut….NAY
Ordinance 2020-02 (Amend Salary Ordinance) was considered on second reading. Motion by Councilman Migut to open the public hearing was seconded by Councilman Vitale and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Migut…YEA
Councilmen Cortes, Santanello….NAY
Vince Castin, PPB: agrees with Councilman Cortes that it's a good idea to pull those positions out – unnecessary creation of extra work (Mayor Kanitra: if had the bandwidth, the 50+ trees and shrubs wouldn't have died for lack of watering – no one at Borough Hall or in PPB government has the business and economic development skill set necessary for the Quality of Life position, in terms of attracting businesses and revitalizing downtown, while ensuring that residents and town are getting the attention they need – the Maintenance position is a $16/hour part-time hire – have had 3-4 qualified applicants apply – an incredibly good use of taxpayer funds – Quality of Life Director position will pay for itself in grants coming in, like the $15K drug alliance grant and a host of others; Councilman Cortes: asked what budget it is coming out of – where equipment and truck is coming from).
Motion by Councilman Migut to close the public hearing and adopt Ordinance 2020-02 was seconded by Councilman Vitale and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Byrnes, Migut…YEA
Councilmen Cortes, Santanello….NAY
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:37PM
Marilyn Burke, PPB: asked about the bid process – some expenses seem extravagant.
Vince Castin, PPB: spoke about Kratom in a local store and the pending lawsuit – was told people order it online and have it delivered there.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:43PM.
Motion by Councilman Migut to close public participation and adjourn was seconded by Councilman Santanello and carried by consent of Council. Meeting was adjourned at 8:37PM.
ATTEST: _______________________________
Eileen A. Farrell, RMC
Municipal Clerk
