Borough of Point Pleasant Beach Council Meeting Minutes
Mayor Reid called the meeting to order at 7:33PM. 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 February 19, 2019 Council meeting minutes was seconded by Councilman Migut and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut….YEA
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
DEPARTMENT HEAD MEMO:
ZO Petrillo RE: request for 13’ curb cut at 210 Washington Ave. – Councilman Cortes: vacant lot – agrees with ZO Petrillo – APPROVAL ADDED AS 2F (Councilman Toohey: asked the status of the curb cut process; BA/CFO Riehl: ZO Petrillo will send letter to Mayor and Council, in front of owner, as soon as an application comes before her desk with a curb cut noted).
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Vogel: Shade Tree Committee is working on Hazardous Tree Notification letter – been forwarded to Administrator to be passed on to legal counsel – letter asks for action to be taken to mitigate hazard – working to apply for Tree City USA status – on April 10th, there is a free program, Landscaping in a Shore Community, presented by Dir. of Rutgers Gardens Bruce Crawford – it's National Invasive Species Week – aim of seminar is to be sure plantings are good for local environment – Environmental Commission and Shade Tree can give planting recommendations – planting 9 donated and purchased street trees on Broadway in early April – 6 were planted there last fall; he and Councilman Cortes discussed building codes & requirements – he will meet with ZO Petrillo and CO Gardner about better descriptions and requirements for delineating driveways, based on feedback received – might want to take a stronger approach – asked BA/CFO Riehl to e-mail Borough professionals, committees and department heads to use the town e-mails for all town business.
Councilman Cortes: recognized March employee anniversaries – Ernie Errico 19 years, John Flynn 19, Kevin Napalo 19, Billy Popp 9, Paschal Drew 15, Scott Nase 13, Ita Brown 7; Beautification Committee met about garden and barrel assignments – volunteers removed Christmas decorations downtown – there were comments made about DPW, but it’s up to volunteers to remove them; tree came down in Pleasure Park and landed on shed – was removed – some minor repair – NJ Transit hit an abandoned water line on Arnold – bill for emergency repair went to NJ Transit – Councilman Vogel relayed to him that the outfall crane on Maryland Ave. was removed – new generator was installed at the Water Plant, funded by Sandy grant, to power up the Water Plant, Police Department and Borough Hall if anything happens – Court is moving back to PPB – will be minor building renovations and jockeying personnel around – smart move; gave police report on behalf of Councilman Santanello – Police training since last meeting included Canine, SWAT, Street Survival (Chief Michigan: yearly seminar training law enforcement agencies from around the country on survival techniques and what is killing Police officers), DWI Detection & Field Sobriety, Humane Law Enforcement Officer Certification – arrests were made for controlled dangerous substance and drug paraphernalia, disorderly conduct, DWI and outstanding warrants – 7-day Police Youth Camp will be held this summer dates to be announced – Beach Town Hoedown, focusing on bike safety, will return in September or October – as part of the NJ Pedestrian Safety Grant that was awarded, Capt. Duffy and Cpl. O’Neill coordinated with Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association, who sent representatives to Antrim School yesterday to provide instruction on pedestrian and bicycle safety (Chief Michigan: haven’t had hoedown in about 10 years – much loved event – asked Cpl. O’Neill to bring it back and he has; Mayor Reid: asked how many Drug Recognition Experts PPB has – State is talking about funding them if marijuana legislation passes; Chief Michigan: he was the only one – attended first class in 1997 – extensive training – have not sent anyone since – must now call Sheriff’s Department or local agency to provide the service at no charge).
Councilman Kanitra: a 10-year-long court case just finished involving Hopewell Twp. and Verizon – about land lines and taxes – Hopewell was successful – in 2014, PPB got notice that Verizon was going to stop paying taxes to PPB – now that the precedent has been set, they only applied it to one year – believes they are going back to court, but it will have wide-ranging ramifications for the rest of NJ – assumes people who are in first will benefit – has called many residents through campaigns and the Arts Committee – much more than 50% of PPB still has land lines – motioned for Borough Attorney to look into what PPB can recover – even if not eligible for back moneys, would like to reinstitute it and get paid going forward (Councilman Toohey: has no problem with Attorney looking into it; BA/CFO: between 2006 and 2014 PPB’s average tax bill was $6,400.00-$7,300.00; Councilman Vogel: asked if that’s based on total households) – thinks it’s based on lines (BA/CFO Riehl: doesn’t know the methodology; Councilman Vogel: maybe it’s better to have the Administrator’s office get the initial information; Attorney Zabarsky: it's an opinion by Judge Brennan – decision came out January 28th – issue was whether Verizon, under tax law, is subject to statutorily imposed tax on its business personal property located in Hopewell, if it provides dial tone and access to 51% of the Hopewell telephone exchange – court found the 51% test to be performed annually, as of the assessment date – looks like an opinion that interprets State statute – will be happy to look through it and provide a quick memo; Councilman Migut seconded the motion that a memo be prepared – all agreed to add to the Consent Resolutions for a vote – ADDED AS 2G; on the 27th, he is attending an Ocean County Society of Professional Engineers Post-Sandy Flooding Solutions meeting about communities experiencing more prevalent flooding post-Sandy – will report back in about 2 Council meetings; asked BA/CFO Riehl about trees on Rte. 35 – a hatchet job on mature trees from TD Bank to the center of Arnold Ave. – looks horrific – doesn't know if they will come back (BA/CFO Riehl: JCP&L will attend the next Shade Tree meeting with their forester – she expressed the Governing Body’s displeasure on the terrible job that was done; Councilman Cortes: they are entitled to trim the trees to a 10-foot radius away from power lines, so they don’t care – should plant trees that mature at about 18' to accommodate telephone and cable; BA/CFO Riehl: Shade Tree will report back – unfortunately, Borough ordinance exempts utility companies from having to replace, replant or be penalized – must prove they were willfully negligent; Mayor Reid: when he was liaison to the Shade Tree Committee, they had their members oversee it; Councilman Vogel: did make arrangements with Shade Tree and provided them with information) – cobra head light in the northeast corner of Little Silver Lake lot does not need to be removed, even though JCP&L said it did – it is wired and they just need fix it – lack of light there – Borough Engineer is on top of JCP&L to remedy that – have a new lighting contact at JCP&L – looking to set up a meeting – hopes she will be more responsive; asked Chief Michigan about a quote for a camera at the jetty (Chief Michigan: sent it to him – less than the quote for the park – lot of infrastructure has to be brought in) will reach out to ACOE to discuss payment; explained item 2e – Littoral Society is looking for PPB to take a leadership role targeting Governor Murphy; Arts Gala is March 30th – close to 100 tickets sold – thanked Councilman Toohey, the only one on the dais who bought some; businesses are not adhering to plastic bag ordinance – letter has never gone out – asked Council to find a way to enforce the ordinance – most businesses do not know about it (BA/CFO Riehl: was discussion about including letter in mercantile license, but registration is done online, so there was no mailing; Mayor Reid; were also waiting to see what the State was doing – but now they are not doing anything – can talk to Carol Vaccaro) businesses should have gone through their supplies by now.
Councilman Toohey: March 12th at 6:30PM is the budget workshop – budget will be done differently than in past years – BA/CFO Riehl looked at how to restructure debt over the next few years that would be most advantageous to the Borough – short term plan to turn notes into bonds works out better from a tax standpoint for next year – will ask for a 1.5% giveback out of operating from each department, instead of going through line by line and telling department heads what they need – Governing Body’s roll is to establish, within reason, where they want the tax rate to be, the amount to be raised by taxation and leave it to the people hired to tell them where it’s coming from – budget will be introduced at the March 19th meeting; heard back from Lake Louise Homeowners Association about Open Space information on the proposed ramp – would like to get the association together to talk (BA/CFO Riehl: there is quite a bit of time); spoke about item 1s – ongoing permitting process – elements need approval through CAFRA – has been run by the Attorney, Engineer and Administrator – there is nothing out of the ordinary.
Councilman Migut: thanked all who sent him information on roads that need repairs – Engineer Savacool will decide what will be done; Engineer received an authorization letter from DEP to go ahead with the Water Meter Project – residents should be receiving letters to set an appointment to have their meters replaced – contractor has nine months from award of the bid to complete the project; no Planning Board meeting tomorrow – two applications in April – a 2-lot subdivision on River Ave. and a restaurant to occupy the old Borden’s building; would like to add RESOLUTION 4 to authorize Attorney to draft a 1.5% Airbnb tax, as per State statute.
Mayor Reid: met last night regarding the tug of war on October 12th – will be bigger and better than last year – Recreation Committee is looking forward to it – asked Councilman Cortes to look into bleachers – he and BA/CFO Riehl met with residents about who want to donate money and about using some tug of war proceeds for a handicap swing and bench; thanked Beautification members, Councilman Cortes and all who donated their time for hard work taking down decorations; Water Billing Clerk Ita Brown's husband passed away (BA/CFO Riehl: sent a beautiful arrangement – it was unexpected).
BA/CFO Riehl: have a bucket truck and County personnel coming to take down Christmas swag under Schedule C; have ordered and received four LED flashing stop signs – had been stalled because the County had questions on the particulars – made contact with them today – Chief Michigan has selected locations – AT&T has been contacted twice about the fence down in the parking lot – haven’t taken action yet – will e-mail Declan O’Scanlon; inquired of JCP&L about the transformer that is supposed to come down on Cooks Lane – they were waiting to be paid – told them PPB doesn’t pre-pay for service – they acquiesced and will schedule the work; there is a pre-construction meeting tomorrow morning for the Curtis Ave. Drainage Improvement project – contractor will be on notice to proceed; DEP is scheduled to start the dune replenishment in early April – have a mandatory pre-construction meeting on Wednesday at 10AM – will give a timeline and schedule – plan to start at Makin, head north, circle back, head south, so Maryland Ave. would be the last component – then, within two weeks, the walkover structure will be constructed and they will do plantings in late fall (Councilman Cortes: asked BA/CFO Riehl to get a letter out requesting an auto-cycling of the light at Arnold and Ocean for the summer once again).
Clerk announced additions to agenda.
PULIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:18PM
Dave Cavagnaro, PPB: asked about items 1d and 1e.
Vince Castin, PPB: asked about 1j and 1e; requested Inlet restrooms open earlier at around 7AM – could impact the playground area; asked for dune update.
PULIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:24PM
Councilman Kanitra: asked about 3g (Chief Michigan: storage container is for the vehicle)
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.
CONSENT RESOLUTION 1:
1a Approval of payment of Payroll #5 ($261,397.47)
1b Approval of salary adjustment for L. Hapstak for completion of course leading to certification
1c Approval of salary adjustment for B. McGovern for completion of course leading to certification
1d Amendment to police fees for Chamber Ladies Night Out
1e Amendment to Chamber Festival of the Sea S/E approval resolution w/no waiver of fees
1f Approval of Change Order #1/Final to Bird Const. for Loughran Point Park Imp. (-$2,078.28)
1g Approval of pymt of Pay Cert #7/Final to Bird Const. for Loughran Point Park Imp. ($17,431.91)
1h Approval of S/E application for Jersey Shore Running Club’s Runapalooza on Bdwlk on 4/6
1i Approval of PPBHS PTO request to hold annual Spring Town Wide Garage Sale, 6/1 (rain 6/2)
1j Approval of S/E application/fee waiver for Chamber Seafood Festival 5K on 9/21
1k Approval of Elks ABC S/A Permit app for Fluke Tournament, 7/26 & 7/27 (rain 7/28, 8/3, 8/4)
1l Approval of payment to Craig Testing Labs for Imp. to St. Louis Ave. ($1,300)
1m Authorization for Attorney to draft amendment to Parking Ord w/new Parking Machine Language
1n Approval of Transfer resolution
1o Appt of P. Ormsby to position of Sr. Public Works Repairer & Auth for Clerk to dispose of CSC list
1p Approval of payment to Fastenal for DPW equipment ($3,073.94)
1q Approval of payment to BTMUA for February bulk water usage ($53,073)
1r Approval of W/S relief request
1s Auth for Point Lobster/Godwin Family to include portion of Borough ROW in CAFRA permit app
1t Auth for BA/CFO to sign EIT Engineering Agreement for portion for the Water Meter project
1u Approval of Jett Foundation S/E application for bike parade on Arnold Ave, 7/26
1v Transfer of L. Hapstak from position of Violations Clerk to position of TACO
1w Approval of salary adjustment for K. Patterson
1x Authorization to execute and submit DLUR Boston Ave. bulkhead application ($4K)
1y Auth for Rec Cmte to accept Summer Park Prog apps for children/grandchildren of residential taxpayers & lease holders (summer residents)
1z Authorization to advertise for Summer Park Program Counselors
CONSENT RESOLUTION 2:
2a Approval of PO to M. Woszczak for hydrant relocation & storm drainage repair ($9,200)
2b Amendment to water meter replacement contract award resolution to include DEP approval
2c Approval of payment to NJ Treasurer for NJDEP Air Program General Permit ($820.00)
2d Approval of PO for 2 replacement air compressors, with freight, for water treatment plant ($8,300)
2e Auth Littoral Society to include Mayor & Council in “Champions of the Coast” letter to Governor
2f Approval of 13’ curb cut at 210 Washington Ave. – ADDED PER DH MEMOS
2g Auth for Atty to research Verizon/land line issue & provide memo – ADDED PER CMTE RPTS
CONSENT RESOLUTION 3:
3a Approval of payment of computer-generated vouchers ($289,069.99)
3b Approval of S/E app and fee waivers for Fire Co No 1 raffle sales/trailer on Bdwlk, 5/3-9/20
3c Approval of payment to Action Uniform for 6 police vests and tactical gear ($7,242)
3d Approval of PO to Atlantic Tactical for police shields, decals & face shields ($12,210.30)
3e Approval of pymt to Fire & Safety Svcs for vehicle maintenance/repair for Fire Co No 2 ($7,123)
3f Approval of pymt to Eagle Point Gun for police ammunition ($11,674.38)
3g Approval of PO to Tripwire for Tripwire kit & storage container for K-9 unit ($5,545)
3h Approval of PO to Airpower Int’l for 6th year of service contract ($3,813)
3i Approval of payment to Motorola for police Flex software contract signing and go-live ($131,318)
3j Approval of PO to White Box Tech for conversion of police legacy data into server format ($14,800)
3k Approval of PO to NJ Business Syst for police camera at the tennis courts/playground ($55,001.75)
3l Approval of PO to Traffic Logix for solar radar traffic signs/trailer/data collection ($14,990)
3m Approval of PO to Jamar Technologies for Gen2 radar recorder kit w/laptop ($3,595)
3n Auth for Mayor to execute agreement with the PPB Bd of Ed for School Resource Officer program
3o Authorization for Mayor to execute agreement with the PPB Bd of Ed for security services
3p Appointment of 22 SLEOs Class 1
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel (except 3), Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut (except 3a & 3e)….YEA
Councilmen Vogel (3), Migut (3a & 3e)….ABSTAIN
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
Councilmen Vogel & Toohey left the room at 8:25PM.
Councilman Migut: introduced an ordinance at a 3% tax rate – was tabled at the end of last year – complemented Councilman Kanitra on research – more than $1M is made on Airbnbs in PPB – at 1.5%. projected revenue would be about $15K, the same amount budgeted for the Animal House Prosecutor and Animal House Magistrate to police rentals – only fair that rentals pay some of the cost of their own existence and public burden – occupants should pay tax as allowed by State statute – would like Attorney to do what he can to earmark money to be used for quality of life issues (Councilman Kanitra: there are about 100 Airbnbs in PPB – hotel/motel occupancy has been going down – thinks this is due to the ease of access of Airbnbs – turning neighborhoods into commercial zones – needs some benefit for residents – wants money for quality of life improvements – taking care of weeds, sidewalks, potholes, etc., to benefit residents and visitors – spoke to concerned residents – would be negligent to leave money on the table and harm residents with growing Airbnb usage – proposed change from 3% to 1.5% to see how it goes the first year – by introducing it now, will get it just in time for summer – can be reassessed next year – gives opportunity to form a compromise (Councilman Cortes: did research last year – average tax would be only about $56/week in PPB – happy medium) this evens the playing field with hotels and motels, which are subject to an even higher tax – asked Attorney Zabarsky if it can be reassessed next year (Attorney Zabarsky: would have to amend ordinance) a few NJ towns have already adopted this – mayors along the barrier island are looking to see what others do, but to be leaders, need to do what’s best for residents (Mayor Reid: this is premature – should wait – will hurt this town – there is not a tax that the State doesn't like – gas tax has gone up – taxes will keep going up – feeding the pig – Long Beach Island mayors are angry because people are going elsewhere – not ok to keep taxing hard-working people who want to come here).
Motion by Councilman Migut to approve RESOLUTION 4: Authorization for Attorney to draft 1.5% Airbnb Tax ordinance, as per State statute (ADDED PER CMTE RPTS) 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
Councilmen Vogel & Toohey returned at 8:57PM.
ORDINANCE:
Ordinance 2019-03 (15-Minute Parking on Broadway) was considered on second reading. Mayor Reid opened the public hearing. Motion by Councilman Vogel to close the public hearing and adopt Ordinance 2019-03 was seconded by Councilman Migut and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut….YEA
Councilman Santanello….ABSENT
PULIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:36PM.
Vince Castin, PPB: asked about Resolution 4.
Dave Cavagnaro, PPB: thanked Councilman Cortes for being out early Sunday morning, taking down decorations; asked about status of compensation for lights not working and deducting for lights out; asked about the valves at Baltimore and Yale and on Randall; thanked the Governing Body for authorizing the Airbnb tax ordinance.
Vince Castin, PPB: sub pumps issues are due to the lake dredge.
Bob Maloney, PPB: spoke in opposition to the Airbnb tax.
PULIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:50PM.
Motion to adjourn by Councilman Toohey was seconded by Councilman Cortes and carried by consent of Council. Meeting was adjourned at 8:50PM.
ATTEST:__________________________________
Eileen A. Farrell, RMC
Municipal Clerk
