Borough of Point Pleasant Beach Council Meeting Minutes
May 3, 2022
Held in-person at Borough Hall Council Chambers, 416 New Jersey Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach.
Live streamed via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCflODKbSFakXUEKiyxSYdUA/live
Mayor Kanitra called the meeting to order at 7:03PM. 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.” Present were Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Ramos, Crowley and Migut (left meeting at 8:21PM). Councilwoman Byrnes was absent.
FLAG SALUTE, INVOCATION
CAUCUS:
Mayor Kanitra: spoke about the Reel Scout program, a database of the NJ Motion Picture and Television Commission, with filming sites listed online for people looking to do a production – there are a lot of components – Reel Scout could send a photographer to the town, at no cost, to identify advantageous locations – would need to go through the film permit – if we can decline certain productions or restrict certain times, etc., would be something to talk about – film crews bring in a lot of revenue to local businesses, and have the ability to shine a light on the community – conversely, they can create traffic and be burdensome to residents (Atty. Riordan: referenced the St. Peter’s angels crumbling in the church scene in The Amityville Horror, which was horrifying to him) asked to what extent we have the ability to say “no”, to restrict things and to micromanage the process (Atty. Riordan: should all read the ordinance with this in mind – it gives the Borough good deal of authority to say “no” – that point came up a number of years ago when ordinance was drafted – if he drafted it, it is probably Borough-centric) Jersey Shore filmed here, which is an example of something we don’t want – Nike was looking at doing a commercial at St Peter’s – doesn’t know if it materialized (Atty. Riordan: per the ordinance, need to notify residents around the site 7 days in advance to give them a chance to object – the Administrator and Police get to put limits on timing; Councilman Ramos: a private property, facility or business gets compensated quite richly – doesn’t know if it’s the same for the town; BA/CFO Riehl: yes – there are fees for a national motion picture vs. a local or non-national group that wants to come in – we get a number of film permits, but generally just to film on the Boardwalk for a day or 2 – Jersey Shore applied this month – she and the Chief denied the permit and they went away – it was portrayed to her that companies can come in and camp out for weeks or months and cause havoc) anyone could, in theory – from his perspective, if we aren’t doing away with the film permit, it shouldn’t change anything except maybe making us more attractive to those who would want to film – but we could still say “no” (Councilman Vitale: asked if there is anything in the ordinance about fees for Police and increased sanitation services, etc.; BA/CFO Riehl: yes – if necessary, they would have to hire Police Officers, Firefighters, EMT, as indicated on the permit and deemed necessary by the Administrator and Police Chief; Atty. Riordan: is probably dated – should bump it up; BA/CFO Riehl: it says the Borough would receive $1K/day for applicants filming a major motion picture having a budget of $5M+, $500/day if the budget is $1M -less than $5M and $150/day for all other applicants, except non-profits – we generally haven’t charged anyone for a filming permit because no one has actually set up and filmed – asked if we have anything to say about content – in the past, someone wanted to pretend to shoot seagulls on the Broadway bridge – the Chief thought it might create a riot or misinformation that someone is running around with a gun – they didn’t go away quietly – asked if we can decide what we like or don’t like; Atty. Riordan: no/sometimes – no prior restrictions on content – rights of free speech – Chief can decide that a particular kind of shooting is a public safety concern – if you asked him which side of that case he wants to argue in court, he would give a different answer on each day he was asked; Councilman Ramos: just said no to Jersey Shore though; Atty. Riordan: yes, and they went away – that’s good news; Chief Kowalewski: they wanted to hire off-duty officers to follow the cast and crew around – in a busy summer season, we don’t have the manpower; Atty. Riordan: that’s a great explanation) asked why we would not have the ability to state what we felt was in line with the moral fabric of the community – the words “morals” and “values” are in a ton of our ordinances, going back 100 years (Atty. Riordan: and so is the word “lawyer” – the First Amendment to the Constitution allows people to say all sorts of horrible things – for example, when he was a young man, there were a bunch of Nazis who decided they wished to march in Skokie, Illinois, a completely Orthodox neighborhood – the Court said they get to march, because of the First Amendment, and they did – the unfortunate truth is that the First Amendment protects even speech we don’t like – and because you are government, you have to treat all speech content-neutral) so, we are exposed right now (Atty. Riordan: yes, which is why Jersey Shore was filming here not too many years ago – you have a film permit process and they followed it and got their permit; Councilman Vitale: if we open this up to this database, we could have whoever tap into it; Atty. Riordan: that’s the nub of the issue – as much as the Amityville Horror disturbed 15-year-old Kevin, the rest of the world kind of thought that was neat – PPB has really not had any bad publicity, but if you invite the whole world, you increase the odds are that you are going to find the bad apple; Councilman Ramos: don’t want “Debbie Does Pt. Beach”; Atty. Riordan: in the 70’s, there was an incident where an unsanctioned production was interrupted by the Police downtown due to the nature of the activity being filmed; Councilwoman Testa: is iffy on this – might open up a can of worms we don’t want) if Atty. Riordan said we could say “no” to anyone for any reason, would have a different opinion (Atty. Riordan: public safety and lack of manpower are wonderful reasons, but “I don’t like that production” is not).
Mayor Kanitra: spoke about the Wireless agreement, which gives him great pause, because it’s adding 27 nodes in the community (Councilman Ramos: asked if nodes are a pole with these things protruding) yes – last Council decided to force cell phone carriers to co-locate or 4 different carriers would have done their own locations – this has some components for pole aesthetics and location – this has a lot more locations than a couple months ago (BA/CFO Riehl: was described as an application listing additional sites, for which Munisite requests execution – these sites may or may not need to be built – will do their best to deploy only where there is a specific demand – but, having the ability to deploy their mutual hosts, multi-occupant infrastructure in PPB will enable them to serve the Borough’s objective by reducing blight and profliteration associated with multiple carrier deployments; Councilman Ramos: asked if these are residence addresses and if they will be on private property; BA/CFO Riehl: in the right-of-way; Atty. Riordan: on the telephone poles, which are in the right-of way, but the pole is located near that address – asked if these are in lieu of what is now on the tower; BA/CFO Riehl: this has nothing to do with that) when we go out to bid on that, it’s very important that we clean up that tower – we get revenue – don’t want to lose revenue – need to find a way to be more aesthetically pleasing; Atty. Riordan: last Council chose to pass an ordinance that regulates these, rather than do nothing, because the Federal Government imposed on local municipalities, the rights of national carriers to do things like this – you have limited ability to regulate it – the last Council took advantage of that limited ability and regulated it to the best of their ability) asked if the Agreement is technically an amendment to the ordinance, adding additional sites (Atty. Riordan: this is technically an amendment to the existing agreement between the Borough and Munisite, in order to add additional sites that they can build out in accordance with the agreement already in place, that allows them to build out in a bunch of different sites, other than the one that the amendment covers – the only thing that would be changing is the sites – 22 sites are being added) seems that this is their recommendations on additional areas of need (BA/CFO Riehl: they would have more coverage) if exposed previously, in that carriers could have forced it down our throats, and then 3 other carriers could come in and we would have had these everywhere – asked, since we already have them, what if we say “no” – the ordinance is on the books that you must use these co-location areas – should already be protected about that – Munisite is a for-profit entity – more locations mean more money for them (Councilwoman Crowley: and they’ve already said they may or may not need it; Councilwoman Testa: they’re going to push as many as they can) asked, if we say “no” now, can we wait to see when cell companies come and add them, as needed (Atty. Riordan: yes) the main ordinance says you have to co-locate – should already be covered by that – this is the company that will execute on the co-locations adding more sites – if another carrier comes in, can talk at that point – asked to pull item 2Y – all agreed (Councilman Vitale: if we are seeing an impact on cell coverage, can add these nodes as we go; Atty. Riordan: yes – has to research, but is willing to bet the Federal Law requires carriers to demonstrate some kind of need before they can jam it down your throat) maybe can negotiate more at that point too.
BREAK 7:27PM-7:30PM
REGULAR MEETING:
PROCLAMATION:
Mayor Kanitra presented an Arbor Day Proclamation – noted that, last year, the town planted 100 trees, the Fisher Family Fund has been doing great work with the Nominate Your Block Program, our Shade Tree Commission (STC) had done incredible work in expanding the number of trees in town and the Commission and BA/CFO Riehl has been aggressive in getting more trees from DOT.
DEPARTMENT HEAD MEMOS:
Acting ZO Savacool RE: Curb Cut Requests at 301 Atlantic & 208 Central were discussed (BA/CFO Riehl: ZO Savacool said both could be approved without concern; Councilwoman Testa: confirmed that one could go from 10’ to 13’; BA/CFO Riehl: they can) added as items 2AA and 2BB.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Vitale: recognized May employee anniversaries – Janet Mutter 10 years, Kathy Beno 25, Clint Daniel 21, Frank Finn 21, Kyle Boturla 18, Gary Siculietano 14, Catherine Bradley 8, Josie McCrystal 19, Megan Schwarz 3, Jarred Popp 15, Jason Headley 14, Kevin Wright 2, Carmen Triggiano 2, Lynda Hapstak 4; gave the Police Chiefs report since last meeting – training included Front Line Supervision School, Juvenile Law & Policy Training – there were various arrests and Borough ordinances – Police Dept. completed the Distracted Driving grant – successful campaign – 17 SLEO IIs graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy on Apr. 27th – began shifts this past weekend – look forward to working with them in summer – will hold a yearly summer orientation meeting with all 50-60 seasonal personnel on May 7th – will be welcomed to the Force and instructed on how to keep this the family-friendly town we love – thanked Capt. Grace for preparing these new employees – the Beach Town Hoedown will be on May 21st, beginning at 11AM in the Silver Lake Lot – a great PPB children’s event, which will include bike safety, bike stunt show, bike inspection station, Dive Team touch tank, Fire Dept., free food, and an ice cream truck – reminded all that next week is the start of National Police Week, honoring falling Police Officers killed in the line of duty – 616 in 2021 and the 99 so far in 2022 – they may be gone, but never forgotten – the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative presentation on The Mental Aftermath of Covid 19 is on May 10th in Council Chambers; the Recreation Easter Egg Hunt was held on Apr. 15th and was a huge success – 250 kids – Committee stuffed 2,750 eggs – thanked Katie DiCorcia, who ran the event – are lots of Recreation events on the agenda – the next big event, Battle of the Bands, will be on June 11th at the Bandshell – a competition between 10 bands for a $500 prize – will have a comedian, food, and beer truck, and The Rat radio station will be broadcasting live; the Military Banners will be hung in a week or 2 for the Memorial Day Parade – reach out to DPW Super. Trout if you bought banners to be hung; submitted the cybersecurity paperwork to Homeland Security – waiting on next steps.
Councilwoman Testa: thanked Mary Steiner, who stepped down on Beautification – Mary Lynn Ritchings was voted the new Chair and is doing a great job – member Karen Testa refurbished the “Maintained by PPB” signs – the Committee also maintains 10 gardens, 32 planters, 14 barrels, welcome signs – never realized all we do – all should recognize – putting together 45 American flags to be hung on Arnold, Ocean & Broadway to complement the banners – haven’t done it in 2 years; the Arts Committee has Photography Month in May – last month was Poetry Month – hoping for more submissions to be uploaded on their web site – Meet the Artist is on May 19th with Sheila Soyster & Pauline Mickle and free refreshments – the Beach Town Hoedown will be fun; MAC funding for youth leadership is on the agenda – excited to get some extra monies for that (Mayor Kanitra: $5K extra).
Councilman Ramos: the Bd. of Education adopted their $18.5M 2022-2023 Budget – an increase of 1.44%, which is well below the State-mandated cap of 2% percent – tuition revenue is $2.1M – State aid is $613K, which is about a $15-16K increase – some self-sustaining going on – a very strong Budget – they feel confident it will work well; the Green Team met – he wasn’t able to attend – the are working diligently on attaining Silver Status for 2022 – invited membership.
Councilwoman Crowley: attended the Beautification Committee meeting with Councilwoman Testa this week – was impressed with all the dedicated volunteers – lucky to have them – commended Councilwoman Testa for running and being the soundboard for such a successful group – plans on attending future meetings and helping – wasn’t able to do flags today, as she was out of town with her husband; had conversation with DPW Super. Trout – all winter equipment is put away – ready for spring – are striping the streets – 140 seasonal signs to be put out – cleaning up and transitioning.
Councilman Migut: asked BA/CFO Riehl about 1M (BA/CFO Riehl: 2 current employees to act in the capacity of the Construction Official when he is not here); the Budget up for 2nd reading tonight – that sort of finishes the Finance Committee’s work with regard to that, but it will undertake some new work in the coming months – several residents and business people have expressed an interest in helping the Committee begin an audit of legal and engineering fees, to explain the increases over the past year and a half – one individual is former Mayor Barrella, a former IRS tax attorney who is very good at looking over financial documents, the other is former Planning Board Chairman Ammirata, who is a retired cost analyst for General Motors Corp. and also very skilled at looking over financial documents – they will be a big plus to the Committee – several other business people are checking their schedules to determine involvement over the summer, but have offered their services in document acquisition and publication of Committee findings – will being working on that probably beginning in June (Mayor Kanitra: asked if a separate citizen initiative would be something that the Governing Body would need to approve; Atty. Riordan: absolutely) my Committee can meet with whatever residents it wants to; Mayor Kanitra: he can save the Committee all that work and explain what the increase in professional and engineering fees were – it was all the additional projects we took on and did that hadn’t been tackled for many years, many of which have cost savings to the Borough, long-term, and were what the residents were looking for – Budget is in line with where it’s been every year for decades – cost increases are negligible, if anything – they’re what all previous Councils had ever instituted to keep up with inflation – there is nothing that needs to be investigated, unless they want to investigate rising insurance and pension costs and things like that – doesn’t know why the Governing Body would want that; Atty. Riordan: nor did the Finance Committee vote to approve any of this – one Committee member cannot do this – the Committee might be able to, but they have to vote to do it – noted that Mr. Barrella and Mr. Ammirata have well-known political agendas, and if you needed help, you would turn to others; Mayor Kanitra: there is obviously a reason this was sprung at this moment – as Mayor, asked that any meetings be public and that Council see a vote of the Committee agreeing to move forward before, unilaterally, one Committee member deciding that) fine.
MAYOR’S REPORT:
Mayor Kanitra: was really sick for a week or so, so his report is short – happy to announce full slate for Off-shore Boat Race – all associated events should be a boon for the economy, when businesses can use the revenue; had discussion with A.J. Meerwald today – they are in the process of getting the boat fixed – think she will be launched at the end of June – might come earlier – will have update in next month or so; have seasonal tree watering to make sure the trees are healthy – he and Councilman Vitale spoke earlier today and there is one very important tree of concern – can’t comprehend how it is not healthy – maybe STC member Anne Lightburn or one of the specialists can figure out how it got to that state – paid for Town Hall landscaping to get re-done – grass needs to be evened out (BA/CFO Riehl: one side seems to grow quicker than the rest – sprinkler company turned everything on today – a lot of planting was done around Borough Hall – looks really nice – she is working on replacing the sign on the corner, which is falling apart) asked about a plan for replacing parking signs in town, to bring in line with the signs downtown and at the entry to town (BA/CFO Riehl: there was money set aside last year for that – has been in contact with Parking Authority, who has the Borden’s and Beanery lot signs – working with them on getting that type of signage, which will also tie in with the one here on the corner) might take away one on Bay, near the Christmas tree (BA/CFO Riehl: big metal parking sign; Councilman Ramos: asked if there is anything being done in the front where the ties were) can see weeds growing where planters were taken out – whether we mulch them temporarily or plant them, wants to be sure there is a plan (BA/CFO Riehl: there is dirt there now – been putting mulch down – when it rains or gets wet, Kevin in Building Maintenance has been sweeping it back off the sidewalk – may require edging along the sidewalk, in the interim, to keep mulch contained – must decide if putting back a planter or just plantings– we also took out the old trash containers and put in new – removed benches – putting new bike racks in front).
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT:
BA/CFO Riehl: gearing up for Memorial Day – Central, Danby and Harvard road projects were done quickly and were striped by the contractor who did the work – has been concern from residents, and the Mayor and Council about the status of Ocean Ave. – slow go – experienced issues with getting material and getting the main to charge – start and stop location was reopened more than once – are moving through it – they are going to work through Memorial Day, stop for the weekend, come back, vacate completely in early June and come back in fall to finish (Mayor Kanitra: asked how long we are anticipating getting paved in the fall) the County is the doing the final pave – it’s their road project – they will do Ocean and Arnold at the same – they would not have been ready to pave this spring, in the event that we were done anyway – with the impetus that we will finish quickly in fall, once they award they will be on notice to start in the fall (Mayor Kanitra: we will be done with this by the end of fall) yes, by November – have a lot of moving parts, particularly with Ocean Ave. and Municipal Lot striping, painting and line renumbering, new machines have to get installed, have to put signage up, have to get the park and Inlet bathrooms opened and landscaping at the Bandshell for Memorial Day – DOT was in town cutting grass today (Mayor Kanitra: DOT called him and said they bought new John Deere tractors to manage State properties and they are all defective and have to go back – he reiterated that PPB would happily take all DOT properties off their hands for $1 – it’s like $9M worth of property, so we’ll see) sent in all the requests – they said “thank you, we’ll be in touch” (Mayor Kanitra: they have the burden of taking care of it and most is not commercially viable – it’s just an annoyance when you come into town and it’s a forest and then our properties are all done properly – there is a value to us to safeguard that for the future, but then take on the burden of maintaining it – will see if they agree) have a lot of signs to be put up – the gentleman who is going to water for the season started yesterday and has a list – hired one for litter debris and has one contemplating hire – on this meeting, hired a Payroll Clerk, so are moving forward with personnel downstairs (Mayor Kanitra: asked when the current Payroll Clerk officially goes into her new role) Dep. Finance Officer Beno is retiring – she will be here through June and sporadically in July – Payroll Clerk Glass will be promoted to Dep. Finance Officer – is working in that capacity – the Payroll Clerk has already started, is being memorialized tonight and is doing a fabulous job – expects those promotions in the next few months.
Clerk announced additions to the agenda.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:03PM
Dave Cavagnaro, 118 Parkway, PPB: cited item 1B – congratulated Clerk Farrell, who always does a fantastic job; asked about the curb cuts (Mayor Kanitra: one went from 10’ to 13’and the other was substituting one for another) confirmed no loss of parking – asked if a curb cut is moved, if Council is always first to approve it (Atty. Riordan: not necessarily – there are a bunch of Zoning ordinances that regulate curb cuts and the Zoning Board has jurisdiction over all – can’t cut it unless the Governing Body says so – so there are 2 different bodies that have jurisdiction – for example, can only have 1 curb cut, so if you want 2, you’ve got to go to the Zoning Board – if you only have a 13’ curb cut and you want bigger, you’ve got to go to the Zoning Board – even if you get Zoning Board approval for either, you’ve got to come to the Governing Body and ask for permission to cut their curb – it doesn’t particularly matter who they go to first – Council does not have to say “yes”, Council can say “no” – it’s Council’s property – Council can say “no, you are not allowed to cut our property” – but the Zoning Board governs whether or not the Zoning ordinances will allow you to cut the curb – 2 different things); asked about items 1L (Clerk Farrell: 1 Recreation Committee appointment) & 2H (Mayor Kanitra: PPB is on the Monarch Butterfly migratory path – doing a lot already – may try to find a location in a non-descript part of town to make more habitat), thanked the Governing Body for item 2I.
Vincent Castin, 15 Trenton Ave., PPB: asked about items 2B (Joint Insurance Fund), 2E (Mayor Kanitra: explained the GovPilot program); appreciates item 2I; asked about 2N (Mayor Kanitra: hiring a videographer to go to town events and film a commercial aimed at attracting families to PPB – got a grant from Ocean County and the Fisher Family Fund – want to keep percentage of year-round residents high).
Mary Steiner, 423 Yale Ave., PPB: asked if Beautification sprinklers were turned on (BA/CFO Riehl: they should be); asked about item 1X (BA/CFO Riehl: insurance for volunteers and Fire Dept.).
Mayor Kanitra: asked if we have moved forward on the flag lot fencing on Cooks or the removal of the utility pole (BA/CFO Riehl: yes – is getting quotes on all of that).
Marilyn Burke, PPB: asked about stores selling drugs/dope in PPB and what PPB will do when people come to town and use these products (Mayor Kanitra: no selling in PPB – PPB chose to opt out – it’s now legal to do those things – is not legal in PPB to smoke anything in certain areas including the Boardwalk and our parking lots – not criminal issues, but we have Borough ordinances against vaping, cigars, pipes, any kind of burning substance on the Boardwalk or in our Municipal Lots is still forbidden and subject to a $250 fine – have “No Smoking” signs on Boardwalk poles and beach entrances and he and the Chief will have messages over the Boardwalk loudspeaker for people who can’t or don’t choose to read – also have a new flag at the substation with “The Star-Spangled Banner daily” at 8AM; Councilwoman Testa: and the flag will always be up and we are keeping a light on the flag).
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:15PM
Motion by Councilman Vitale to close public participation and approve the items listed below was seconded by Councilman Ramos and carried by roll call vote.
CONSENT RESOLUTION 1:
1a Approval of payment of Payroll #7 ($289,406.57) & Payroll #8 ($275,659.99)
1b Resolution in recognition of Municipal Clerks Week, May 1-7, 2022
1c Approval of S/E app for PPB Rec Cmte Concert in the Park at the Bandshell, 7/29 (rain 7/30)
1d Approval of S/E app for PPB Rec Ukulele/Guitar on (MD Ave) Bch, 7/11,18,25, 8/1,8,15 (rain 8/22,29)
1e Approval of S/E app for PPB Arts Cmte Meet the Artist at Borough Hall, 5/9
1f Approval of S/E app for PPB Rec Cmte Grom-O-Ween at the Skate Park, 10/29 (rain 10/30)
1g Approval of S/E app for PPB Rec Cmte Kids Inlet Fishing Derby, Inlet Parking Lot, 9/18
1h Approval of ABC S/A app for Chamber Battle of the Bands at the Bandshell, 6/11 (rain 6/12)
1i Approval of ABC S/A app for Chamber Festival of the Sea Wine Garden-River Ave lot, 9/17 (rain 9/18)
1j Approval of ABC S/A app for Chamber Beers on the Boards at Martell’s Tiki Bar, 11/5
1k Approval of PO to Cliffside Body Corp for Ranger Platform Body for DPW ($5,527)
1l Appointments to boards and committees
1m Appointment of B. Martin & E. Sudia as backup Construction Officials
1n Authorization for 2022 Municipal Budget to be read by title
1o Authorization to close the Little Silver Lk lot for the Bicycle Hoedown, 5/21
1p Appointment of A. Zubikowski to be appointed to the permanent position of DPW Repairer
1q Approval of payment of hand checks from Collector, W/S Utility, Dog Trust, Pl Bd & BOA accts
1r Approval of pymt to General Code for Supplement 3 updates/annual maint/data transfer ($15,198.23)
1s Approval of pymt to First Net-AT&T Fleet Complete for vehicle tracking subscription ($9,219.02)
1t Approval of pymt to Hunter Technologies for annual Avaya support/maintenance ($2,997)
1u Memorialization of authorization to hire R. Hana, Pt. Pleasant, for the position of Payroll Clerk
1v Approval of payment to Quadiant Finance USA for prepaid postage ($5K)
1w Approval of payment to All Points Printing & Graphics for spring newsletter ($4,714.09)
1x Approval of payment to CCW, LLC for Recreation & BOFO accident policy ($6,202)
1y Approval of pymt to State of NJ for emp & retiree health benefits-Apr ($129,857.10)/May ($126,246.88)
1z Approval of payment to S&S Arts and Crafts for items for Park Program 2022 ($2,888.74)
CONSENT RESOLUTION 2:
2a Approval of payment to Ocean County Utilities Authority for 2nd Q sewerage pymts ($318,071.25)
2b Approval of payment to the OC JIF for second installment 2022 ($300,598)
2c Approval of payment to Tidbury Creek Farms for 18 assorted trees ($3,880)
2d Approval of payment to Integrated Technical Systems for parking meter contract ($3,300)
2e Approval of payment to GovPilot for annual subscription agreement ($27,896)
2f Approval of pymt to All Points Printing & Graphics for parking passes, prep & postage ($3,953.13)
2g Approval of pymt to NJ DCA for 1st Q State Training Fees ($6,152)
2h Resolution proclaiming Mayors’ Monarch Pledge Day
2i Resolution proclaiming May as Older Americans Month
2j Approval of a handicap parking space at 217 Baltimore Ave, contingent upon County approval
2k Approval of pymt of Pay Cert 6 to Lafayette Utility Const.-Ocean Ave Water Main proj ($174,623.67)
2l Approval of partial pymt to GRQ Building for bathroom & Council room repairs ($16,200)
2m Approval of partial pymt to Lasting Line Painting for line painting throughout town ($9,933)
2n Approval of PO to Michael Boylan for photographer services, contingent upon atty review (NTE $20K)
2o Approval of S/E app for PPB Rec Cmte Park Summer Camp, Pleasure Pk, M-F 7/11-8/19 (training 7/5-7)
2p Authorization to submit a strategic plan for PPB MAC grant for fiscal year 2022
2q Auth to accept funding/submit strategic plan for DMHAS Youth Leadership Grant Funding for PPB MAC
2r Approval of PO to Service Tire Truck Center for rims/tires/tire repairs ($6K)
2s Administrator approval for Recreation Committee event (Football Camp)
2t Approval of payment to Riggins for 6,503 gallons of unleaded gasoline for DPW ($21,619.22)
2u Approval of S/E app for Chamber Grand Prix Block Party, on Arnold, Bay & River Aves, 6/10/22
2v Approval of S/E app for Chamber Grand Prix Parade, Arnold & Ocean Aves, 6/11/22
2w Adjustment of hourly rates for seasonal DPW employees
2x Approval of S/E app for PPB Rec Cmte Weds Night Concert Series-Bandshell, 7/13, 8/17 (rain 7/20, 8/24)
2y REMOVED PER CAUCUS DISCUSSION
2z Approval of Chamber ABC S/A app for BBQ Jam Fest, Esplanade lot, 5/15 (rain 5/22)
2aa Approval of curb cut request at 301 Atlantic, as requested
2bb Approval of curb cut request at 208 Central, as requested
CONSENT RESOLUTION 3:
3a Approval of payment of computer-generated vouchers ($3,463,729.89)
3b Appointment of C. Daniel & S. Nase to the position of Police Lieutenant
3c Appointment of J. Gippetti & T. Hayes to the position of Provisional Police Sargent
3d Appointment of K. McCormack to the position of Provisional Police Officer
3e Approval of PO to Fire & Safety Services for repairs to 4303 & 4305 ($10K)
3f Approval of payment to Fire & Safety Services for equipment repair for Fire Co 2 ($2,757.99)
3g Approval of pymt to All Covered for IT maintenance & on-site, including for PD, for March ($4,350.72)
3h Approval of pymt to Hutchinson Plumbing for replacement of air in PD communication room ($11,150)
3i Approval of payment to Taylor Flooring for carpet/carpet tiles in PD ($7,725)
3j Approval of payment to McCarthy Contracting for construction of 2 bathrooms in PD ($26,564.08)
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Ramos, Crowley, Migut (except 3a, 3e, 3f)….YEA
Councilman Migut (3a, 3w, 3f)….ABSTAIN
Councilwoman Byrnes….ABSENT
Mayor Kanitra: reminded all that Ocean Fire Company No. 1 had their dinner a week or 2 ago – Point Pleasant Beach Fire Company No. 2 has their annual dinner this Saturday, the 7th, at 6PM.
ORDINANCE:
Ordinance 2022-05 (Cap Bank) was considered on second reading. Mayor Kanitra opened the public hearing, with no member of the public wishing to be heard. Motion by Councilman Vitale to adopt Ordinance 2022-05 was seconded by Councilman Ramos and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Ramos, Crowley, Migut….YEA
Councilwoman Byrnes….ABSENT
PUBLIC HEARING: 2022 MUNICIPAL BUDGET (ADOPTION PENDING STATE REVIEW).
Mayor Kanitra opened the public hearing on the 2022 Municipal Budget.
Dave Cavagnaro, 118 Parkway, PPB: asked about Sheet 40, B2 – estimated cost of Channel Dr. revitalization (Mayor Kanitra: plan is stamped concrete intersections, pushing telephone poles back, widening sidewalk, new lighting, landscaping, and repaving – have already secured $1M in grant funding – going to go for an additional attempt at Federal funding for an earmark; BA/CFO Riehl: are also going to apply for 2023 Municipal Aid for this project; Mayor Kanitra: at the end, we think we are going to continue to reduce the burden even more, but the eye towards this is to take an area and incentivize properties that are at a very low tax rate and try and increase them and have them pay dividends for years); asked if the last item on the page has been settled – says “estimate” (Mayor Kanitra: because it is an historic landmark, there is now an archaeological study getting worked on and it has delayed it by a couple months; BA/CFO Riehl: they are months from picking someone and it would be several months thereafter – probably another 6 or 7 months before we can start); asked about Sheet 30/Capital Improvements letter C – asked what projects are planned (BA/CFO Riehl: $294K is for the down payment requirements for everything proposed in the Capital Budget and another $15K set aside for Borough Hall improvements).
Motion by Councilwoman Testa to close the public hearing was seconded by Councilman Vitale and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmembers Vitale, Testa, Ramos, Crowley, Migut….YEA
Councilwoman Byrnes….ABSENT
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:21PM
Councilman Migut left the meeting at 8:21PM
Vince Castin, 15 Trenton Ave., PPB: announced ceremony at the Womans club on Monday, May 9th at 7:30PM, at which local resident William J. Duffy, a Veteran and retired Police Officer, is going to honor to honor 15 fallen heroes from Bay Head, Lavallette, Mantoloking, PPB, Pt. Boro who went off to war and did not come back – these men served in WWI, WW11, Korea and Vietnam – they were all young – some single, some married, some fathers – this is sponsored by the Point Pleasant Historical Society (Mayor Kanitra: he does a very good job of putting those names online and telling everyone’s story – he sends it to BA/CFO Riehl and himself) he’s the guy you want in the foxhole next to you (Councilman Ramos: suggested he reach out to the schools – Principal or Superintendent – would be very interesting to students and History classes and there are school organizations who volunteer for events like that; Councilman Vitale: offered to help); Bike Parade is May 28th – Mayor will saw a few words – invited Veterans to participate – will supply vehicle – 20th anniversary.
Dave Cavagnaro, 118 Parkway: noted that Beautification also does the Scarecrow contest and Christmas decorations; asked about landscaping at the triangle out front (BA/CFO Riehl: trying to get tall grass there – not finished); asked about Water/Sewer rates (BA/CFO Riehl: got completed study this week – will move forward with recommendation – will have ordinance introduction at the next meeting or first meeting in June; Mayor Kanitra: asked for an email briefing to Council), have climbing inflation, gas and food prices – W/S utility produced a $70K surplus this year – produced a surplus the last 5 years – increasing rates now would just increase the surplus – an unfair burden for the people (Mayor Kanitra: if we decide to do something, it can be done in conjunction with projects; BA/CFO Riehl: yes – have an aggressive number of projects in the Utility this year – the 2019 Asset Management Plan suggested increasing Water/Sewer rates that hadn’t been increased in years – are $30M in projects over the next 10-12 years; Mayor Kanitra: makes sense, but don’t want to increase if don’t have plans to spend it; BA/CFO Riehl: $2M just to paint the tanks alone this year, plus another $100K in upgrades to the Water Plant property in 2022 – also have ambitious projects for infrastructure repairs along Rte. 35; Mayor Kanitra: will look for the email and discuss before doing anything).
Mary Steiner, 423 Yale Ave., PPB: Beautification member John Palang took it upon himself to put shelving in the beautiful new shed with donations and his own money, with Gary Mecca – thanked them – planning on doing the other shed as well.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 8:31PM
Motion by Councilman Vitale to close public participation and adjourn was seconded by Councilwoman Testa and carried by consent of Council.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:31PM.
ATTEST: ______________________
Eileen A. Farrell, RMC
Municipal Clerk
