Borough of Point Pleasant Beach Borough of Point Pleasant Beach
Council Meeting Minutes
June 19, 2018
Mayor Reid called the meeting to order at 6:59PM. Present were Councilmen Cortes Kanitra, Toohey, Migut and Santanello. Councilman Vogel arrived at approximately 7:37PM. 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 May 15, 2018 Council meeting minutes was seconded by Councilman Kanitra and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello ….YEA
Councilman Vogel….ABSENT
CONSENT RESOLUTION 1:
Motion by Councilman Santanello to approve item 1a) Appointment of Antonio J. Garcia to the position of Police Officer, effective 6/19/18, & authorization for Clerk to certify same with the NJ CSC through disposition of cert list, was seconded by Councilman Cortes and approved by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
Councilman Vogel….ABSENT
Motion by Councilman Cortes to approve item 1b) Appointment of David Marchetti to the provisional position of Police Officer, effective 6/19/18, was seconded by Councilman Santanello and approved by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
Councilman Vogel….ABSENT
OATHS OF OFFICE:
The Municipal Clerk administered the Oaths of Office to Police Officer Antonio J. Garcia and Provisional Police Officer David Marchetti.
Chief Michigan: thanked Mayor and Council for their support of the Police Department – so proud to be promoting two outstanding individuals. Welcomed Officer Garcia who is 21 years old and a 2015 graduate of Point Pleasant Beach High School, where he took a criminal justice class with Mrs. Mosca, wife of Cpl. Chris Mosca, his field training officer – he holds an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Ocean County College, is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree from Kean University and recently graduated from the Ocean County Policy Academy as a Class II Officer. Officer Marchetti is 27 years old, a 2009 graduate of Brick High School, holds an Associate’s Degree in Health and Physical Education, plans on continuing college, received a perfect score on his PT test at the Ocean Count Police Academy and recently bought a house in Point Pleasant Beach.
There was a 7-minute break while the offers, families and guests cleared the room.
PROCLAMATIONS:
Mayor Reid presented proclamations to the Point Pleasant Beach High School Varsity Softball and Baseball Teams. The Girls Track Team was not in attendance to receive their proclamation.
Mayor Reid read a proclamation memorializing National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
DEPARTMENT HEAD MEMO/DISCUSSIONS:
Councilman Cortes discussed ZO Petrillo’s memo regarding a request for an amended curb cut at 149 Ocean Ave.: an ongoing issue with the Board of Adjustment (BOA) – Board turned down the curb cut – house was raised after Sandy and a garage put under it – plans were approved with a garage door (Councilman Santanello: asked the process, as this has been denied by the BOA; Attorney Riordan: BOA and Council have different areas of jurisdiction – can't overturn what BOA did – requestor can appeal BOA’s decision – Council cannot act until requestor is granted permission for curb cut). NO ACTION
Mayor Reid addressed the need for replacement of basketball backboards in Pleasure Park: they are really rusty and ugly (BA/CFO Riehl: received 2 quotes @ $16K each – would do 6 backboards & nets) suggested that maybe St. Peter’s can pitch in (Councilman Santanello: will speak to Father Bob this week). NO ACTION
Mayor Reid addressed the topic of wireless service providers/small network nodes – asked for input (Attorney Riordan: has provided a memo with the present state of the law and advice – had a discussion with Mayor Reid – would prefer to answer questions about the memo in a private setting) looking to put 43 poles with nodes on top in PPB for 5G – one town has nodes but everyone else has been fighting it – Bay Head just passed a resolution against nodes – he would like to do this also – per counsel, should have hearing at the Planning Board and then it will come to Council for a vote (Attorney Riordan: that certainly is something that can be done – will talk to Bay Head’s counsel – Federal statute governs what has to be done – not a great deal of case law; Councilman Toohey: asked for legal options with more teeth than a resolution; Attorney Riordan: will do that; Councilman Cortes: Rob Clifton from Comcast sent him an email on this, as they too use the term nodes). NO ACTION
BA/CFO address possible water tank removal: were entertaining the removal of 2 above ground tanks at the Water Department – about a year ago, received a proposal from T&M for $24K – put aside $25K, but it’s more complicated than that – per T&M, total cost of project, with recommended improvements would be approximately $80K – asked if Council wants to move forward by introducing and passing a bond ordinance (Councilman Santanello: would put up a pole barn to store Police and OEM equipment; Councilman Kanitra: asked if there is a State grants for this) no (Councilman Toohey: will speak to BA/CFO Riehl about funding before any action is taken) could be done in phases or bond for everything up front. NO ACTION
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Vogel: the National Flood Insurance Program is due to expire on July 31st – should stay on top of this with Congressman Smith; Summer Concert Series starts June 28th at 7PM with a great band line-up – all with donated funds; the Shade Tree Commission has requests for tree removals and reviewed a planting plan for Loughran's Point – asked when Lake of Lillies will be sprayed (BA/CFO Riehl: have a meeting next week about the overall general health of the lake).
Councilman Cortes: recognized June employee anniversaries – Christie Glass 3 years, Linda Criqui 5, Jack Johnston 13, Joe Pizza 38, John Trout 32, Brian Spader 18, Elaine Petrillo 31, Paul Mueller 20, Eric Sudia 10; the Beautification Committee has put flags downtown – DPW Super. Trout lent them the bucket truck – members are diligently taking care of barrels and gardens; Parkway paving and lines are complete – gazebo is done thanks to DPW mason John Flynn, who fixed the damaged steps – County is doing a survey and will provide options for the ongoing flooding on St Louis & Washington – a good job has been done on the lake dredging, which is wrapping up – outfall project is ongoing – looking for a dog park location – he and BA/CFO are working with the State to find some viable options.
Councilman Kanitra: algae blooms are back at Lake of the Lillies – possibly a systemic problem – Point Pleasant drains into that lake and there is storm water runoff – believes post-Sandy flooding has increased – never had a full mapping of PPB stormwater drainage system – Point Pleasant did something similar and found a lot of problems in their system – asked Council to support item 2p, a kind of a 3-tiered approach to tackle water quality, Lake of the Lillies and flooding issues – could be eligible for up to $1M for flooding solutions – been going to meetings across the State – looking at 3 different opportunities – need 3 contiguous communities to go forward on the Resiliency NJ Grant, so he has brought in Point Pleasant and Bay Head to represent the canal, inlet, ocean, bay and lakes – initially a $200K opportunity – could go upwards of $1M to look at innovative solutions to flooding – there is also $10M pot of money for the northern part of the Barnegat Bay Watershed – been looking at to tackle what is going on at Lake of the Lillies – there is a strong case for tackling that with permeable concrete at the train station, system mapping and the DEP municipal assistance program – also looking at grant infrastructure improvements; thanked JCP&L and the Borough Engineer for help with the light outage on Parkway, resulting from construction, on the holiday weekend; rode around with Chief Michigan on Memorial Day weekend, 10PM-2AM, to see what Police face – proud of the amazing Police force – commended all levels of officers; spoke about item 3n – Borough Attorney drafted an analysis on how to deal with abandoned homes – gave leeway after Sandy, but some properties, like the abandoned home on Sanborn that are rotting from within – commended ZO Petrillo for getting behind that – asked for support; the Arts Committee had its first 2 meetings – very successful – starting to plan events; Environmental Commission was successful in getting a fellow from the Sustainable Jersey Program, Erin Lannon from Monterey CA, to help get certification for energy efficiency and other things – she will be here for about 12 weeks and is looking at opportunities to change infrastructure, save money and make PPB more environmentally-friendly – been sifting through the last energy audit, looking for efficiencies.
Erin Lannon: studying International Environmental Policy – part of the Environmental Defense Fund Climate Core Fellowship, which places PPB within the Sustainable Jersey organization – will be working with BA/CFO Riehl, Councilman Kanitra and DPW Super. Trout, continuing energy efficiency practices from the 2010 audit and working with the Direct Install Program, paid for by the NJ Clean Energy Program – individual, commercial, municipal and residential rate payers pay into a societal benefit charge which funds the program – looking forward to saving money and energy and making PPB more green – invited all to bring ideas to her – will be in Borough Hall every Tuesday, 8:30AM-5PM) she is in the back room.
Councilman Toohey: extremely excited about item 3j – Loughran's Point and the bulkhead were destroyed after Sandy – bulkhead was replaced by the Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) – looking at a mid-August completion date – as a waterfront community, PPB has a vested interest in maintaining the waterfront; Maryland Ave. outfall work has closed pedestrian access (BA/CFO Riehl: is due to reopen on Friday – bike racks will go back); when the dune project came to PPB, 2 significant issues were identified – outfall wasn’t reaching the ocean, so the County is now constructing a pipe – the Inlet was going to shoal off, so ACOE got a dredge here yesterday – moving forward.
Councilman Migut: received an e-mail from ZO Petrillo, who is having trouble enforcing the invasive plant ordinance (Attorney Riordan: looking at other municipalities' solutions – will have a memo by end of next week with options and possible solutions; Planning Board heard an application for a restaurant on Arnold Ave. called Amazon Foods, in what is now a vacant storefront next to Noble’s – reminded Council how lucky PPB is to have Denis Galvin as its Land Use Attorney – there was an issue involving a shared parking lot and he came up with a very judicious and fair compromise, which made it an effective application – Planning Board is having a special meeting on June 27th for a another, similar restaurant on Arnold.
Councilman Santanello: Park Program starts Monday (Councilman Toohey: left the room briefly) – Councilman Toohey is leading the charge for a Rec wrestling program – will discuss at the Recreation Committee meeting – been working on the Best Day Foundation program for a year now – it’s July 7th and 8th – program for youths with special needs, providing them a safe, fun-filled day at the beach – very excited to have them – asked for volunteers to take a flyer and sign up online.
BA/CFO Riehl: received a final remediation report on Seacoast Oil – will forward to everyone, so it can be determined what direction to move in; Jenkinson’s has filed a CAFRA permit for a wall they are going to build – plans and application are in the Clerk's office.
Mayor Reid: opened the conversation regarding the Elks Oktoberfest application, which was denied by Council in April.
Chief Michigan read from a prepared statement – in summary: addressed the timing of the event – great organization – acutely aware it is a major fundraiser – knows the importance of the National Veterans Service Committee, Scholarships, Special Children’s Committee and many other Elks-sponsored programs – not his intention to threaten their core mission or existence – is not against Veterans or children with special needs – is committed to and entrusted with the safety of tens of thousands of people – residents and visitors – rests solely on his ability to make decisions to keep them protected – not his job to make popular decisions or ones based on emotions – his predecessors have expressed concerns to Mayor and Council about the growing attendance at the Seafood Festival and Oktoberfest, which drain the Department’s resources – what started years ago as a small, manageable family-style outing has turned into a very popular and very crowded event, which has reached its saturation point – will be virtually impossible for his Department to ensure the safety and well-being of attendees, while policing the rest of the town and Boardwalk – Oktoberfest can no longer co-exist with the Seafood Festival – will support any other date and time for Oktoberfest, so 100% of safety resources can be dedicated to this event, as to the Seafood Festival – reminded all about the 2016 evacuation of both events because of the Seaside Park bombing, the Boardwalk evacuation that Labor Day, due to a suspicious package, the Point Pleasant resident who plead guilty a year ago in Federal Court to attempting to provide a bomb to a terrorist organization, and the convicted terrorist, murderer and armed robber, who held up a man in front of the Green Planet – was calculated that the combined attendance at last year’s events was 50,000-60,000 people and Police resources were pushed to their absolute limit – once highly-effective rubber traffic cones and simple barricades were replaced by the town’s largest and heaviest DPW trucks – were cameras in place, officers on rooftops, bomb detection dogs and other security precautions – multiple law enforcement agencies now assist with the planning and policing – world has changed – had several meetings with the Elks – they talked of having their own security – not a viable option – does not address crowd size and, in the event of a mass incident, private security would not be under his command, trained in the proper procedures or in direct communications with his dispatchers and other officers – their vested interested would be with the Elks, creating a conflict of interest with the Police Department – will commit his support in assisting with any event on any other date.
Mayor Reid stated that all are 100% behind the Chief and read from a prepared statement – in summary: welcomed all – explained the Council’s April decision – safety is a top priority for the Chief and Council – referenced the School Resource Officer and addition of officers in schools – Chief hosted 2 conferences with experts to address church security – take safety seriously – a few months ago, he and the Chief met with the Elks Lodge to express their desire to have Oktoberfest moved to any date other than that of the Seafood Festival, which brings in 50,000-60,000 people – been told the Oktoberfest draws upwards of 10,000 – Chief felt the number of people in this area needed to be lessened to improve traffic flow and ensure the crowd would be manageable and secure – Elks were given enough time to mark a new date – tonight’s meeting, misinformation, social media comments and letters to the editor are very unfortunate – loves the Elks – been a great part of the Reid family for many years – his brother received more than one wheelchair from them and served as their poster boy one year – he, himself, played football for the Elks – no one wants to hurt them – this is about the town’s safety – took large security measures at last year’s Seafood Festival to protect citizens and visitors –– 2 years ago, event was cancelled due to the Seaside bombing – those who want to go against the town’s decision and ruin its relationship with such a great organization are not doing it for the good of PPB – it’s about politics and that is sad – is happy that Point Pleasant is donating their property on Arnold Ave. and a police presence – all think that is a good fit – will not be having a new vote on this issue – there is no compromise to the town’s safety – thanked all for attending and showing their support for the Chief and Council. Opened comment period on the subject (5 minutes per person).
Vincent Barrella, PPB: stated that he wished to address the consent resolutions at this time.
The Clerk announced revision/additions to the agenda.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:37PM.
Vincent Barrella, PPB: asked about 2a – licensee security, review of last drink reports and arrests; asked about item 3h – restrictions and security.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:41PM.
Motion by Councilman Vogel to close public participation and approve the items listed below was seconded by Councilman Santanello and approved by roll call vote.
CONSENT RESOLUTION 2:
2a Approval of 2018/2019 ABC License renewals (23)
2b Approval of W/S adjustments (3)
2c Approval of PO to Clayton Block for Arnold Ave gazebo steps ($5K) – REVISED PER BA/CFO
2d Approval of payment to All Points for water report printing, prep & postage ($2,850.18)
2e Approval of Rec Cmte personal development talk 6/25 & every 4th Thurs thereafter at Boro Hall
2f Denial of S/E application for J. Santa Maria to perform on Boardwalk Jun-Aug
2g Approval of payment to D. Sweet from BOA escrow accounts
2h Approval of payment to State of NJ for employee & retiree health benefits ($146,980.48)
2i Approval of payment to Neofunds for postage ($4K)
2j Payment to E. Johnson from BOA escrow account
2k Memorialization of approval for Elks Banner Permit appl for banner on Rte 35S, 7/-7/23
2l Approval of payment of Payroll #11 ($254,760.57) & Payroll #12 ($283,347.87)
2m Approval of payment to T&M Assoc from Pl Bd, BOA & Developer escrow account
2n Approval of payment to the Asbury Park Press from Pl Bd & BOA escrow accounts
2o Approval of payment to Devo & Assoc for pay by space airtime for Apr & May ($5,814)
2p Auth for Engineer to apply for NJDEP Regional Resilience Planning, Safe Routes to School,
Transportation Alternatives & Barnegat Bay-Related Water Quality Restoration Grants
2q Approval of salary adjustment for C. Glass for completion of course leading to certification
2r Memorialization of approval of taxi driver license for Squan Taxi
2s Approval of payment to Taylor Communications for PATS rolls for the court ($2,959)
2t Approval of payment to Serpro for janitorial supplies ($2,900.25)
2u Approval of payment to Riggins for DPW gas and diesel fuel ($22,839.80)
2v Approval of payment to Custom Env Tech for 40 bags of Zetalyte for the W/S Dept ($4,293)
2w Approval of payment to Sensus Metering Systems for W/S meters and parts ($5,240)
2x Approval of payment to M. Woszczak for water service break repair ($9,117.93)
2y Approval of pymt to Sterling DiSanto for USACE Storm Damage Reduction ($21,718.75)
2z Approval of payment to BTMUA for May bulk water usage ($69,795)
CONSENT RESOLUTION 3:
3a Approval of payment to Selective Flood Insurance for police substation flood ins ($6,194)
3b Approval of ABC Social Affair Permit App for Duke’s Grand Reopening on 6/30
3c Approval of PO to AP Certified Testing for hydrant disc/pipe locators ($2,056)
3d Authorization to enter into the ESCNJ Cooperative Pricing Agreement
3e Memorialization of auth for Admin to execute an amendment to the T-Mobile lease agreement
3f Auth to accept NJ Bureau of Housing Insp funds to inspect hotels & multiple dwellings
3g Approval of PO to Devo & Assoc for parking machine parts and repairs ($37,420.25)
3h Approval of Chamber Social Affair Permit application for Wine Garden at Seafood Festival
3i Approval of release of performance guarantee to NJS Properties ($8,948.72)
3j Award of contract to Bird Construction for Loughran’s Point Park Imp project ($459,134)
3k Authorization to go out to bid for cell carrier on the NY Ave water tank
3l Approval of pymt of Pay Cert 5 to Albert Marine Construction for lake dredging ($494,313.93)
3m Approval of release of road opening bond to 203 Seymour ($1K)
3n Authorization for Clerk to send letter enforcing Borough Code 3-6 to 55 Broadway & 56 Sanborn
3o Authorization for Engineer to proceed with street lighting analysis (NTE $5K)
3p Appointment of 5 Summer Park Program Head Counselors & 10 Counselors
CONSENT RESOLUTION 4:
4a Approval of PO to Elite Coaches for temporary police bathrooms ($16,700)
4b Approval of pymt to The Rodgers Group for online PD training module subscription ($7,424)
4c Acceptance of Cops in Shops funding
4d Approval of pymt to McNamara Screenprint & Embroidery for PD uniform supplies ($7,749)
4e Approval of PO to Action Uniform Co for 2018 police uniforms ($4,209)
4f Approval of payment to CCW for Bd of Fire Officers accident insurance policy ($2,944)
4g Approval of computer-generated vouchers ($874,627.11)
4h Approval of junior membership for C. Jamarino, Pt. Pleasant, in PPB Fire Co. No. 2
4i Approval of membership for S. Kriskewic, Pt. Pleasant, in PPB Fire Co. No. 2
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel (except 4), Cortes, Kanitra (except 3h), Toohey, Migut (4f, 4h & 4i),
Santanello….YEA
Councilman Kanitra (3h)….NAY
Councilmen Vogel (4), Migut (4f, 4h & 4i)…ABSTAIN
Per Borough Attorney, assume usual abstentions on item 4g with which Council has conflicts.
ORDINANCE:
Ordinance 2018-09 (Capital Bond Ordinance) was considered on second reading. Mayor Reid opened the public hearing with no member of the public wishing to be heard. Motion by Councilman Migut to close the public hearing and adopt Ordinance 2018-09 was seconded by Councilman Santanello, and approved by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:44PM
Councilman Toohey stepped out briefly during public participation.
The following individuals spoke in support of Council’s denial of the Elks Oktoberfest application, pending scheduling of new date: Alan Nau/Edison Elks founder-PPB, Dean Esposito-PPB.
The following BPOE #1698 Point Pleasant Elks members spoke in opposition to Council’s denial of the Elks Oktoberfest application, pending scheduling of new date: Bob Byrnes, Betty Torode-Point Pleasant, John Veprek-Point Pleasant, Dan Friendly-PPB, Barbara Lloyd/Officer-Wall, Ann Marie O'Hare/Treasurer-Point Pleasant, Gerald Rotunno-Point Pleasant, Ellen Veprek-Point Pleasant, Bill Matthews/Exalted Ruler-Wall; Ron Brooks/Brick Elks. The following individuals also spoke in opposition: Vincent Castin-PPB, Vincent Barrella-PPB, Russ Kelly-PPB, Tom Gardner/Asbury Park Elks-Point Pleasant, John Colvin/Manasquan Elks-Brick.
Mr. Castin: spoke about parking machine repairs, Inlet bathroom hours and overflowing cigarette containers.
EJ Geiger, PPB: lights are not on at night in the large Arnold Avenue parking lot.
Mr. Brooks: there is a need to address security issues at all organizations and events.
Kristin Hennessy, PPB: time to reconsider whether the Seafood Festival is right for PPB, if Police feel it can no longer co-exist with the mission of the Oktoberfest.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 10:16PM
Motion to adjourn by Councilman Migut was seconded by Councilman Toohey and carried by consent of Council. Meeting was adjourned at 10:16PM.
ATTEST:__________________________________
Eileen A. Farrell, RMC
Municipal Clerk
