Borough of Point Pleasant Beach COUNCIL MINUTES
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Point Pleasant Beach met at 6:33 PM with Mayor Vogel and Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, and Dixon present. Councilman DiCorcia arrived at 6:38 pm. The Municipal Clerk read the notice indicating compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act.
Department Head Memos and correspondence were discussed with many items being moved to the agenda for action; request by Point Pleasant Chapter of Deborah Hospital Foundation was held for Clerk to check on Special Event Ordinance wording on use of parking lots; Councilman DiCicco asked that Downtown Revitalization Phase III contract award be made subject to receipt of estimate on soft costs.
Motion by Councilman DiCicco, to enter closed session to discuss litigation (1), and contractual (3) matters, was seconded by Councilman Loughran and carried by the following roll call vote:
VOTE: Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, Dixon, DiCorcia…YEA
Closed session started at 6:43 P.M. and ended at 7:17 P.M.
Mayor Vogel called the regular meeting to order at 7:45 P.M. Present were Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, Dixon and DiCorcia. The Municipal Clerk again read the notice indicating compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act.
Motion by Councilman Corbally, to approve the minutes of the November 21, December 5 and December 19, 2006 Council meetings, was seconded by Councilman DiCicco and carried by the following roll call vote:
VOTE: Council Members Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco and DiCorcia (December 5th and 19th)…YEA
Councilman DiCorcia (November 21st)….Abstain
Motion by Councilman Loughran, to approve the minutes of the January 1, 2007 Council meetings, was seconded by Councilman Corbally and carried by the following roll call vote:
VOTE: Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, Dixon, DiCorcia…YEA
Ordinance 2007-01 (Transport Workers Union Salary) was introduced on first reading.
Motion by Councilman DiCicco, seconded by Councilman Mercun and carried by the following roll call vote, Ordinance 2007-01 was approved on first reading. The public hearing will be held on February 6, 2007.
VOTE: Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, Dixon, DiCorcia…YEA
Clerk Ellsworth added several items to Consent Resolution 2; Councilman DiCicco requested that item ‘f’ (Progress Payments #5 to Certified Valuations for work completed on revaluation) be held until Assessor Carey certifies standards used.
Motion by Councilman DiCorcia, seconded by Councilman Mercun, resolutions covering the items listed below, were approved by the following roll call vote:
CONSENT RESOLUTION 1:
a) Approval of Banner Permit Application for Columbus Day Parade
b) Approval of Payroll #1 ($202,616.92)
c) Cancel taxes for 2007 Quarters 1 and 2
d) Payment to Mid-Atlantic Rescue Systems for fire company equipment ($3,030.10)
e) Payment to Marturano Recreation for wood fiber ground cover ($4,000)
f) HELD
g) Raffles License Applications for Pt Pleasant Women’s Club on April 19,2007
h) Refund of dumpster bond to Tekart Builders
i) Refund of dewatering bond to Sylvan Pools
j) Payments to Galvin Law Firm for Bd of Adjustment accounts ($3165)
k) Payments to Schoor Depalma from escrow accounts ($7235.07)
l) Raffles License Application for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ocean on 2/20/07
m) Request & Authorization for records disposal in Police Dept.
n) Payment to Power Jamb LLC for virtual door with power jamb return ($3,525)
o) Payment to Lawmen’s Supply for pistols, protective gear & ammo ($3,484.33)
p) Payment to Whitman Construction LLC for roof repairs ($4,721.50,)
q) Payment to Brick Utilities for December bulk water usage ($48,345.10)
r) Approval of computer generated vouchers ($216,881.90)
CONSENT RESOLUTION 2:
a) Raffles License Application for Elks Lodge #1698 on February 11, 2007
b) Award contract for Downtown Revitalization Phase III to F & P Contractors, subject to receipt of soft costs estimate from Borough Engineer ($830,496.15)
c) Approval of special event application for Multiple Sclerosis Society Bike Tour on 5/19/07 and Ocean County road use application
d) Increase start-up money for court office
e) Approval of Bradshaw Beach annual request for ticket booth/shed placement
f) Approval of police officer attendance at Spanish immersion class
VOTE: Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, Dixon, DiCorcia…YEA
Mayor Vogel: appointed Tom Spader to Planning Board; library needs volunteer to facilitate conversational English group on Tuesday; received letter from property owners commending Environmental Commission’s work in securing grants to procure and plant trees; commended Recycling Advisory Task Force, which continues to encourage residents and businesses to recycle, thereby reducing costs and increasing revenues – would like to extend committee life beyond June; DCA grants are available to help with heating costs for those needing assistance; next ‘Meet the Mayor’ will be January 29th at 8PM; thanked Attorney Gertner for all he’s done for the community.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Mercun: met with Chief DePolo about traffic issues/excessive speed on residential streets – Police have employed various techniques to deter speeding – he and Chief will meet with residents to get consensus – if residents obey speed limit, will force those behind them to obey; met with representatives of hotel/motel owners, along with Councilmen Corbally and Dixon, Chief DePolo, Sgt. Goessel and Lt. Dikun – concerned that there was no interaction with Council prior to enactment of Ordinance 2006-46 – owners didn’t want public to have the wrong impression that there is a serious crime problem in the hotels/motels – Ordinance is a law enforcement tool to ensure public safety – started a dialog regarding mechanics of compliance – suggested revisiting Ordinance to provide penalty for registrants who provide false information; will work with Chief to implement new emergency management regulations – would like town to get storm ready certification – can reduce flood insurance; working on a code of ethics/code of conduct for public officials and employees, which would require annual training.
Councilman Loughran: met with representatives of Seaside Park, along with Councilman Corbally, Dennis Russell and Bob Meany, about pay-by-number parking system – trying to clean up problems in our current system, particularly tickets for improper display of receipt – have decided to move ahead with pay-by-number system, a little at a time – will be easier to enforce – will start pilot at Inlet Area this coming season – if it works, will consider implementing in the Silver Lake lot for 2008; had a mild winter – beachfront area has been crowded, particularly on weekends – since we have a resident parking permit program, should consider running meters year-round, on weekends, with a reduced rate (Councilman DiCorcia: wholeheartedly agreed – several years ago, suggested moving meter operation ahead one month and back one month, gaining two extra months – brought in a ton of revenue and helped to keep tax rate stable).
Councilman Corbally: had second meeting with River Avenue group and people from District I to discuss continued speeding on River Avenue – Councilman Loughran attended, along with Chief DePolo, two Schoor DePalma engineers and an Ocean County engineer – consensus was to try speed humps – currently not allowed on County roads, but County is starting to lighten up on this – asked that Mayor and Council send a letter to Freeholder Kelly requesting a special dispensation (Mayor Vogel – one of County’s concerns was ongoing maintenance – if town agrees to shoulder the financial burden, County may be more amenable).
Motion by Councilman Corbally, seconded by Councilman DiCorcia and carried by the following roll call vote, to send letter to County requesting that speed humps be installed on River Avenue.
VOTE: Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, Dixon, DiCorcia*…. YEA
* Councilman DiCorcia: no street more conducive to speeding than Bay Avenue – suggested a 4-way stop there as accident rate on River Avenue has been reduced significantly by 4-way stop – asked Police to erect permanent speed sign; asked what happened to lowering Arnold Avenue speed limit in summer – County gave permission but there are no signs. (Mayor Vogel: had two traffic counts on Bay last year and a traffic study – County is aware of concern).
Councilman Corbally: spoke with Muskrat Jack and Chris Bogg at Department of Agriculture about geese – have tried 80% of possible fixes – nothing has worked – bought “Reject It” spray to test – okay for humans and dogs; Councilman Loughran and I agree more input is needed from train commuters and area residents before making any suggestions about parking boxes in the railroad station lot – more important now to move to numbered system at the Inlet.
Councilman Loughran: asked that request, to prohibit left turns onto Arnold Avenue from River Avenue, be included in letter that is sent to the County requesting the installation of speed humps along River Avenue (Councilman DiCorcia: made motion to do that several years ago and it was turned down by the Governing Body).
Councilman DiCicco: going to try to empower residents with a biannual newsletter – asked Administrator Riehl to run numbers for inclusion in this year’s budget – would like to incorporate Mr. Cavagnaro’s ‘State of the Town’ resident survey, and include form in tax bill for residents to provide e-mail addresses for mass notifications – would like to institute interim step, before first reading, for public to look at proposed ordinances – asked Attorney Gertner to investigate; submitted Master Plan Review Report to Council on January 31, 2006 – process continues – planner is presenting to Planning Board – hopefully Board will adopt Master Plan – will then be up to Council to adopt ordinances consistent with it – some zoning issues need immediate attention, though – need to create less dense zoning in District 1, Library Section, and increase existing lot size – asked Mayor Vogel and Councilman Corbally to join him on committee to meet with Planner and deal with zoning – also need to look at residential zoning and development of multi-family structures on Broadway; spent a fair amount of Christmas vacation reading about lakes – funds were found under section 319 of the Clean Water Act to begin restoring Stone Bridge Lake in Eastham Township – Princeton Hydro was also able to find significant 319 funds for restoring Lake Hopatcong – three lakes in Point Pleasant Beach are of critical importance – asked that a very specific Lake Consultant RFP be prepared, with proven grant-getting and geese control abilities, and clear standards on water and shoreline protection – asked Governing Body to authorize creation of RFP and consider appointing a Lake Consultant, separate from Borough Engineer – will prepare and submit to Council and Engineer by next Council Meeting (Councilman Mercun: Clerk Ellsworth sent an e-mail about NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife grant for lake clean-up and restoration – should be looked into).
Councilman Dixon: spoke with Code Enforcement – issue with follow-up on work being done on weekends without permits – they felt a better reporting system would work – suggested a log book to track status of complaints – they asked if Police Department could get involved in reporting these construction sites, but not in investigation – suggested Police use an informal report to inform the Building Department of observations – Building Department could check on Monday or Tuesday if permits have been issued – report forms could also be used for other purposes, such as alerting Board of Health to elderly residents needing assistance; newspaper stands are popping up throughout town – Code Enforcement is calling owners to check if they have permits and are following regulations – if empty for several days they will be removed.
Councilman DiCorcia: thanked Ben Dispoto for his accomplishments and objectives as Chairman of the Recycling Advisory Task Force – worked very hard to improve recycling standard – invited committee to come before Governing Body at 6:30 during next meeting (Mr. Dispoto will reach out to committee members); would like Governing Body to consider instituting a ‘Citizen of the Year’ award.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PERIOD OPENED AT 8:28 P.M.
Joe Lemma, 203 St. Louis Avenue: complained that there was a five minute limit rule for public participation and business representatives and owners were allowed to speak for twenty to forty minutes.
Dave Cavagnaro, 118 Parkway: parking pass program is for residents and discriminates against property owners – asked that they be included; about two years ago, Engineer looked at possibility of pumping water from Lake Little Silver to Lake Louise to protect streets from flooding – should be looked at again; residents donated sod at Band Shell and geese laid waste to it – asked that Public Works seed there; asked about planning portion of ‘Down Home at the Shore’ grant (received $50,000 for planning – NPP grant, which is separate, covers the same area); asked for status of burned house on Boardwalk – has gone to Board of Adjustment with several plans (going to Planning Board with application for parking lot); asked Governing Body to tell street light utility to do a sweep of town and if problems continue, we will pay someone else to drive around every few weeks, with their fee being deducted from town’s utility bill.
Lee Janning, 1023 Gowdy Avenue: revaluation presentation was sophomoric at best – should not be responsible for tracking down the value of my land and house – Council should have revaluation company resubmit how they came up with the number and split it up – can’t make a decision, based on their information, on whether or not to appeal (Governing Body is concerned about service level – will relay concern).
Bob Eltringham, 314 Trenton Avenue: not just visitors, but us – we all speed – access road to Island Beach State Park through Seaside Park is posted at 25 mph and Police there give tickets for 26 mph – there is a lot of speeding on St. Louis Avenue, past the park and St. Peter Church – afraid that some child will be hurt.
Vincent Barrella, 116 Niblick Street: asked what the new valuation actually means for tax purposes (will know when assessor certifies records around February 1st); getting too dense all over town, not just District 1; lots of roads in town are bad, especially in District 4 during the summer – great that you are worried about and have reacted to River Avenue problem, but there is more to Point Pleasant Beach than District 1; it’s about time you put numbered parking boxes in District 4, at least in section adjacent to Boardwalk; asked that private group rentals be included in hotel/motel ordinance – more problematic than motels in District 4.
Marilyn Burke, 118 Central Avenue: asked about Ordinance 2007-01 – how many people fall into salary ranges and what their actual salaries are (can obtain from Borough Administrator); asked what is being done with information about three sexual predators in motels – if it could be posted to predator warning web-site (on there now – identification of sexual predators falls under Megan’s Law and is supervised by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, which determines how notification is done) asked about putting a notice in newspaper to check out that site.
John Deter, 301 Cooks Lane: tried repeatedly to contact revaluation company and finally got through after four days; instead of putting additional burden on Police, asked citizens to call Code Enforcement and Building Department on Monday morning; Public Works does a fantastic job, but has problem with person who handles recycling.
John Szafranski, 319 Yale Avenue: spoke about property taxes and the need to generate tourist revenue – Senator Ciesla’s office felt we should be able to get tourist maintenance fee from State to upkeep Boardwalk and infrastructure – County is trying to bring in more tourism – asked what this will do to our costs; some ordinances are being used selectively; asked for status of tourism study (due end of month); town should pass its own ‘Pay to Play’ ordinance; its unfair that a citizen who challenged administration relative to Code Enforcement had to pay his own legal fees even though he won; Point Pleasant allows appeals from Board of Adjustment decisions to come before Council – Point Pleasant Beach should too.
Vince Castin, 15 Trenton Avenue: spraying for geese is only a start; read about tax reform legislation and state making it optional to teach about Thanksgiving and Veterans Day in school curriculums – asked Council to do a resolution opposing same.
Motion by Councilman Loughran, seconded by Councilman DiCorcia and carried by the following roll call vote, to oppose State bills that would allow individual school boards the option of removing Thanksgiving and Veterans Day teachings in school curriculums.
VOTE: Council Members Mercun, Loughran, Corbally, DiCicco, Dixon, DiCorcia….YEA
Mr. Castin: sees a lot that cannot be seen by car while riding around town on his bicycle – examples include encroaching and dead trees, damaged sidewalks, debris, weeds, overgrown yards, fallen cable lines, acts of vandalism – presented several ideas, which he called “Project Looking Good” to Council.
Max Gagnon, 304 Parkway: asked about status of I&I (report is finished – preparing bid documents – should have some done by summer).
Joan Koidl, 206 Trenton Court: assessment people said they used comparables from 2005 and three quarters of 2006 – unfair to be assessed in high market that is continuing to go down; live on a tiny street with ten houses – after Code Enforcement leaves for the day, it turns into a truck depot with six trucks parked there – an eyesore – trucks are too big for the street.
Ben Dispoto, 311 Parkway: asked about Consent Resolution 1, item ‘c’ – cancellation of taxes (for lots that no longer exist).
Joe Lemma, 203 St. Louis Avenue: just passed an ordinance that trucks should be in parking lots – put the trucks on Trenton Court in lot and charge them $500, or ticket them for overnight parking on the street.
Joel Wolber, 211 Parkway: read minutes – asked why people on Boardwalk don’t need permits (referenced Boardwalk repair – need permits to work on buildings).
Craig Jones, 1503 St. Louis Avenue: had private appraisal done, dated 20 days after town appraisal – was $150,000 less – unsatisfied with revaluation company’s answer; submitted petition that phragmites be cut to provide lake view that property owners are being taxed for.
John Szafranski, 319 Yale Avenue: asked about Boardwalk work and permits (authorized Borough Engineer to draft specs and criteria for Boardwalk repair).
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PERIOD CLOSED AT 9:13 P.M.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:14 p.m.
Transcribed By:
Eileen Farrell and Maryann Ellsworth
Attest: Maryann Ellsworth, Municipal Clerk
