Borough of Point Pleasant Beach Council Meeting Minutes
July 17, 2018
Mayor Reid called the meeting to order at 7:33PM. Present were Councilmen Vogel, Cortes Kanitra, Toohey, Migut and Santanello. 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 Vogel to approve the July 3, 2018 Council meeting minutes was seconded by Councilman Santanello and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Santanello ….YEA
Councilman Migut….ABSTAIN
DEPARTMENT HEAD MEMO/DISCUSSION:
Councilman Cortes: discussed ZO Petrillo’s memo regarding the curb cut request at 106 South Baltimore Ave. – spoke with ZO Petrillo, who did not have a problem with it [Attorney Riordan: must go back to the Zoning Board (BOA), which determined a 16’ cut, to grant a variance for a 20’ cut; Steve Lefkowitz, property owner: been working on the project for 2 years – would be a difficult turn to utilize the existing driveway – variance would take cars off the street – is here because he doesn't know the process – if he has to go back to BOA, he will; Attorney Riordan: explained that the Governing Body doesn't have power to go beyond the 16’ that the ordinance allows – can go back before BOA and ask for 20’ and then come back to the Governing Body; Mr. Lefkowitz: per ZO Petrillo, he had his engineer write a letter to the Mayor and Engineer and took the day off work to get here in time – has contractors ready to go – showed plans and explained why the variance would make sense – architect is waiting to complete the drawings, so they can submit for the permits; Attorney Riordan: can begin building based on 16' and go through the process with BOA] would recommend the Governing Body approve 20’, if BOA grants it – NO ACTION.
Mayor Reid asked that the discussion on BYOB in Art Studios be held until next meeting – the business owner will be here with her lawyer, who is looking at other towns – suggested Attorney Riordan and he meet with that lawyer prior to the Council meeting – HELD.
Councilman Toohey: discussed unsanctioned special events – summarized Attorney Riordan’s advice that there should be an ordinance on the books (Attorney Riordan: by law, no municipality can collect money in the absence of an ordinance – recent decision invites the State legislature to change that – in probably the next 10 years – enforcement of the ordinance would get challenged – would be an uphill battle for now, but he is not discouraging it) unlike in other cases, in this case, there was an intent to endanger public safety – would like to go ahead with drafting the ordinance and sending organizers a letter asking for money in 30 days or they will hear from Attorney Riordan (Councilman Vogel: in 1999, there was a hoax drowning in PPB and criminal charges followed – the now Sen. Holzapfel passed legislation making it a crime; Chief Michigan: made it a crime for drawing the resources of the municipality and the Coast Guard; Attorney Riordan: real battle might be fought in Trenton – should ask the Senator to look into passing legislation) will contact Sen. Holzpfel tomorrow – should still proceed – NO ACTION.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Vogel: Congress has still not renewed the National Flood Insurance Plan (NFIP) – expires at month end – encouraged all to reach out to State Senators and Congressmen Smith and MacArthur; addressed concerns with Forman Ave., due to the change of traffic patterns and lack of signage – causing back-ups on Arnold – it’s a mess and State needs to address it now – improvement and signage is needed; commended the Chief and officers for their work on 4th of July – busiest in a long time (Mayor Reid: asked BA/CFO Riehl to set up a meeting with DOT’s PPB representative and the engineers who designed it; BA/CFO Riehl: should give an explanation as to why New Jersey Ave light hasn't been installed – agreement could be voided, as it wasn’t installed by 2014, as required); Shade Tree Commission is pleased with the replacement of trees and shrubs at Lake of the Lillies – dead trees and shrubs should be removed from the Inlet restroom area – should possibly select more resilient varieties – they had positive feedback on keeping the shrubs at Loughran’s Point; Chamber’s Ladies Night event was a great success; Thursday Night Concerts has a great line up – good, free entertainment – great local bands – good family fun.
Councilman Cortes: spoke to Ocean County Engineer – signs have been added on Arnold Ocean Aves., in English and Spanish, directing people when to walk and when not to walk – County will auto-cycle it for pedestrian crossing from Memorial Day to Labor Day, upon receipt of a formal letter from BA/CFO Riehl (ADDED AS ITEM 1S); County is going to bid an award for Broadway reconstruction on August 15th; truck backed into the Trenton Ave. ramp – been submitted to insurance and is being quoted for repair; whole town was flooded today – 13 Trenton Ave. resident wanted more water in the lake – problem solved.
Councilman Kanitra: asked Mr. Cavagnaro about lights on Parkway (no change); thanked Chief Michigan and Antrim Principal O’Hara for going with him on a walk audit to trace student pathways – are in a unique position in that PPB kids aren't bussed – will go for $½M in road infrastructure changes – could have a significant impact on Arnold, St. Louis, Chicago and Broadway – urged all to support item 1p (Attorney Riordan: received a torte claim for a slip and fall on Parkway, alleging it was too dark – JCP&L will be seeing him shortly) still waiting on light audit that was authorized, so lights can be changed out on Bay, Ocean, Broadway and Parkway (Attorney Riordan: when individual sues the Borough, he will sue JCP&L); brought in $30K grant for additional traffic controlling measures including 2 radar trailers – have already started an education campaign on Facebook – kudos to Capt. Duffy who wrote a fantastic grant; Environmental Committee had a booth at the Farmers Market with information on home composting – very informative; item 1r is the first Arts Committee event – thanked Clerk Farrell for sitting with him and Arts Committee Chair Vergona – Lola is well-known and performs at a lot of NY venues – will perform at the underutilized gazebo on August 11th – hopes this will be the start of a lot of things to come.
Councilman Toohey: thanked BA/CFO Riehl for Loughran's Point movement – will be fantastic; should pursue sewer mapping, as he discussed with Councilman Kanitra – flooding was bad today (Councilman Cortes: Randall Ave. was not flooded) believes some flooding has to do with drainage and some with tide (Mayor Reid: received a call from a reporter – of course there was flooding).
Councilman Migut: when roadwork was done on Parkway, the fire lane was eradicated and needs to be reinstalled (BA/CFO Riehl: is being taken care of); kudos to Planning Board Attorney Galvin for his efforts to get the Beach Diner and neighboring business to work together and share their adjacent parking lot, eliminating a separate entrance and creating 3 extra spaces; met with Engineer Savacool – Floodplain Management Committee will meet in September.
Councilman Santanello: asked Chief if radar trailer will be placed on Curtis (Chief Michigan: it’s there now) asked about Kids at Play signs (Chief Michigan: DPW Super Trout doesn’t have a lot of them – would have to create or purchase them – can talk about what is needed); Water Street residents would like a No Outlet or Dead End sign on Water Street (BA/CFO Riehl: can get one; Councilman Cortes: should say No Outlet); pedestrian walkways on Ocean Ave. are ignored – asked about the green kid signs (Chief Michigan: they get run over; Attorney Riordan: private citizens have them); Recreation Committee Wrestling Program is starting – employee applications and background checks are needed; Park Program is going well – thanked Councilman Vogel for digging holes by tennis courts, so water would drain better; gave the Police report since last meeting: training included Canine In Service, School Security Assessment and Regional Communications – there were many arrests on weekends and Monday afternoons – it was a busy July 4th week – traffic flowed and there were Police everywhere – great job – the first Police Youth Camp starts Monday – 25 kids are signed up – they will experience a day at the Police Academy, as well as exposure to law enforcement, Fire, First Aid and life guard training and will have a graduation ceremony on July 27th.
Mayor Reid: Police and DPW and all are doing a great job; spoke to representative at JCP&L – they found 6 new curb areas were lines were cut – coming up with a new strategy for lights – also coming up with a plan for Little Silver Lake Parking Lot to take out some lights, creating extra spaces, and to put in LED lights (Councilman Cortes: asked the Mayor to tell JCP&L not to tear up the road on Parkway – they can directional drill; BA/CFO Riehl: they will remove concrete stanchions and put in LED lights at Silver Lake Lot – other lines were cut by Albert Marine – will be fast tracked by JCP&L – going to possibly reduce payment to Albert Marine) JCP&L will put in less but better lights – the contractor has to pay; Thursday night concerts and the young kids are fantastic; Barnegat Bay clean-up group will get some boats and volunteers to clean up the garbage in the lakes in about a week or two.
BA/CFO Riehl: reached out to the County for the possibility of filling the Inlet with sand through Schedule C – they said they can do it, but probably not until October (Mayor Reid: that's not good – there is a huge area of sitting water) would have to go outside the County – will get quotes for that; had a pre-construction meeting for Loughran’s Point – talked about the material ordering process – will start construction at the end of this month – playground installer is no longer interested in the job – when he quoted, he did not quote at the required prevailing wage – received donations to cover the initial quote – job wasn't started within the 30 day time period indicated on the quote – been sitting on it since January – will have to decide if Borough wants to encumber the additional costs for the install (Mayor Reid: no; Councilman Toohey: the first step is to find out what the cost is) don't have quotes – all was arranged by the man who was donating the equipment; PPB was one of 8 municipalities identified as having a security risk, by way of the Boardwalk – were chosen by Homeland Security to receive $100K grant for upgrades – part of critical structures in OEM updates – told them PPB is having issues with downtown area with special events – asked if money could be used for security there – probably not a problem (Mayor Reid: there are soft targets all over PPB – great job; Councilman Vogel: asked about price quotes for blinking stop signs with radar units) quotes ranged from $1,350.00 to $1,600.00 for a solar powered sign (Councilman Vogel: would like to consider in the future: Mayor Reid: asked about funding) will look into it (Councilman Kanitra: can look to include in grant application).
Councilman Toohey: had no idea that ZO Petrillo was not a 40-hour/week employee – asked if there were any Chapter 78 consequences or if anything would change with her increasing her hours (BA/CFO Riehl: no – union contract stipulates that an employee can go up to a 40-hour week – just memorializing it on the agenda); asked about the fee waiver for the Copline run – if it’s a Police organization (Chief Michigan: yes – second or third year doing this).
Councilman Kanitra: asked if organization in item 1c can be offered another date (Chief Michigan: Veterans already have a table on the Boardwalk on the same hours on Thursday nights and St. Peter’s jeep – it’s already congested – another table would be problematic; Councilman Vogel: Council has taken a strong stance and haven’t allowed many new groups; Mayor Reid: have denied a lot of different groups; Chief Michigan: they were just going to do it – they tried advertising through Jenkinson’s – Jenkinson’s called to see if he knew about it – thinks it’s a good cause, but there are other reasons they want to do it as well) confirmed it's a for-profit entity.
The Clerk announced additions to the agenda.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:25PM.
Dave Cavagnaro, PPB: asked about item 1l.
Vince Castin, PPB: supports clean-up boats in the lakes; asked about the day’s flooding; asked about items 1m and 1n; commended Councilman Vogel on addressing traffic concerns.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:32PM.
Motion by Councilman Toohey to close public participation and approve the items listed below was seconded by Councilman Kanitra and approved by roll call vote.
CONSENT RESOLUTION 1:
1a Approval of payment to BTMUA for June bulk water usage ($69,795)
1b Approval of payment to Riggins, Inc. for DPW gasoline ($13,877.22)
1c Denial of S/E application for Star 99.1FM Cheer for Kids event on Bdwlk on Thurs, 7/19-8/6
1d Approval of payment of employee insurance opt outs for July-December 2018 ($21,540.21)
1e Approval of payment to NJ DCA for 2nd quarter State training fees ($3,626)
1f Approval of payment to OCUA for 3rd quarter sewerage payments ($311,850)
1g Approval of payment to State of NJ for employee & retiree health benefits ($138,375.21)
1h Approval of 6 POs to PPB Bd of Ed for July-Dec allocation & debt service ($6,763,817.75)
1i Approval of payment of Payroll #14 ($319,423.46)
1j Approval of payment to D. Sweet from BOA & Planning Bd escrow accounts ($550)
1k Approval in increase in work hours from 37.5/week to 40/week for E. Petrillo, eff. 6/18
1l Approval of payment to Altice Media Solutions to run commercial in July ($2,500)
1m Approval of PO to Foley Caterpillar for 2018 wheel loader ($63,500)
1n Approval of PO to Hudson County Motors for 2019 Autocar ACX 64 truck ($245,238)
1o Approval of payment of computer-generated vouchers ($2,672,634.30)
1p Authorization for Borough to apply to the NJ DOT Safe Routes to Schools Program
1q Approval of S/E app & fee waiver for Copline Run for the Call 5K on Brdwk, 12/31/18-01/01/19
1r Approval of Cultural Arts Cmte events: Lola Vocal Performance at Gazebo, 8/11 & Art Exhibits in Municipal Bldg, Jul 2018-Mar 2019
1s Authorization for Administrator to send letter to OC to auto-cycle traffic sign on Ocean Ave, Memorial Day-Labor Day – ADDED PER CMTE RPTS
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
Per Borough Attorney, assume usual abstentions on item 1o with which Council has conflicts.
ORDINANCES:
Ordinance 2018-10 (Amend Chapter XV – Uniform Fire Safety Act) was considered on first reading. Motion by Councilman Migut to approve Ordinance 2018-10 on first reading was seconded by Councilman Santanello and carried by roll call vote. The public hearing will be August 7, 2018.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello
Ordinance 2018-11 (Amend Chapter IX – Traffic) was considered on first reading. Motion by Councilman Migut to approve Ordinance 2018-11 on first reading was seconded by Councilman Vogel and carried by roll call vote. The public hearing will be held on August 7, 2018.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello
Ordinance 2018-12 (Amend Chapter X – Parking Meters & Pay Machines) was considered on first reading. Motion by Councilman Santanello to approve Ordinance 2018-12 on first reading was seconded by Councilman Migut and carried by roll call vote. Public hearing will be August 7, 2018.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello
Ordinance 2018-13 (Amend Chapter XXII – Cats) was considered on first reading. Motion by Councilman Migut to approve Ordinance 2018-13 on first reading was seconded by Councilman Cortes and carried by roll call vote. The public hearing will be held on August 7, 2018.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:35PM
Rob Moreau, Veterinarian, PPB: wrote an article on gun control – thanked the Governing Body for their immediate responses to his e-mail – thinks placing an officer in the schools is a great first step – would like to get an ad hoc committee together to report to the Governing Body on gun safety before the State might do something that PPB doesn’t want.
Dave Cavagnaro, PPB: spoke about Parkway and Silver Lake lights; asked for an update on sand removal on the Boardwalk; asked if rent has been recovered from last year's Risden's rental
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:53PM
Motion to adjourn by Councilman Migut was seconded by Councilman Santanello and carried by consent of Council. Meeting was adjourned at 8:53PM.
ATTEST:__________________________________
Eileen A. Farrell, RMC
Municipal Clerk
