Borough of Point Pleasant Beach Council Meeting Minutes
Mayor Reid called the meeting to order at 7:34PM. 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 April 16, 2019 Council meeting minutes was seconded by Councilman Toohey and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut ….YEA
Councilman Santanello….ABSTAIN
DEPARTMENT HEAD MEMOS/DISCUSSION:
Councilman Cortes: addressed ZO Petrillo’s memos regarding the following curb cut requests:
159 Baltimore/Lot 1 – single family house on double lot, which is being subdivided – they want to close in the spot on Yale – asking for 20' – ZO Petrillo recommends the allowable 16' cut and removing the one on Yale – agrees – ADDED AS ITEM 4L1.
159 Baltimore/Lot 2 – asking for 20' – ZO Petrillo recommends the allowed 16' – will lose 2 or 3 spots and gain 1 – agrees – ADDED AS ITEM 4L2.
513 McLean – narrow lot – looking for 12' cut, 2 feet off property line – 5' is required – ZO Petrillo has no problem with 2' – agrees – ADDED AS ITEM 4L3.
Councilman Vogel: clarified that relief is not being granted on the setback requirements – asked Attorney Zabarsky to give directions to the Board of Adjustment (BOA) for getting the Yale Ave. curb cut filled in in a timely matter (Attorney Zabarsky: can request bond not be release until conditions are met – resolution of conditions – can make request of the BOA – Council has jurisdiction with regard to the curb cut – can send the Board a letter).
Councilman Kanitra: discussed Recycling Stickers – Environmental Commission Chair Ritchings emailed Council and BA/CFO Riehl on May 3rd addressing what should but is not being recycled regularly and, despite public outreach, what is being put in recycling when it shouldn't be – with the current crises of China not buying recycling and the County asking the municipality to increase its recycling efficiency, Commission recommends pilot project to enable DPW employees to place nicely-worded, educational, fully-removable stickers, possibly with check boxes, on recycling cans as reminders of infractions – Commission members Sogorka and Romanowski are in attendance for questions – looking for Council approval – doesn't anticipate blowback from residents – Commission would pay for stickers out of their budget –1½ years ago, DPW Super. Trout told him that if the Governing Body had an appetite for it, he would be fine with it (Councilman Cortes: on April 17th, he met with DPW Super. Trout, who said he was not on board with it as it didn’t work in the past – asking laborers to be quasi code enforcement people – when he and Councilman Kanitra road on the back of a truck, they were 1½ hours later than the others) but they were sorting through everything (Councilman Cortes: that’s almost what is being asked by the sticker – to look in and check off what shouldn’t be there) is shocked about DPW Super. Trout – that's not what they spoke about previously – construct of previous program was very different, with wording on the sticker about being in violation and the bins with violations not being be picked up, causing consternation – this pilot does not involve that – not trying to punish residents – not looking for DPW to dig through recycling, just to attach a sticker if they see something egregious.
Cathy Sogorka, PPB/Environmental Commission: has lived in PPB a long time – remembers residents being upset about not being able to use plastic bags – would like to know what year stickers went on recycling cans (Councilman Toohey: remembers big yellow or orange stickers and recycling not picked up) want to do it educationally, like the Boro – not looking at boxes on the stickers for laborers to have to remove their gloves and mark (Mayor Reid: understands people are offended by stickers – sent out 2 letters in the last 6-12 months – Country has a serious recycling issue – suggested everyone get a big sticker, explaining how and what to recycle) County has them – people don't want stickers on their cans forever (Mayor Reid: can get removable ones – trying to educate, not upset people) lot of people are doing it right – they don't need stickers – others do, to make them think twice (Mayor Reid: Borough would put the stickers, with pictures and County wording, on the cans; Councilman Santanello: likes that idea of a one-time thing – spoke to DPW Super. Trout – asked BA/CFO Riehl for his reaction; BA/CFO Riehl: it came up early this year or late last year – he said it was tried before – unless ordered to do it, he wouldn’t want to; Councilman Vogel: problem with check mark stickers is rental season – would be nice if the Commission would help with outreach – DPW is on a tight schedule; Councilman Kanitra: were proposing a removable sticker – asked if municipality has authority to affix permanent stickers to private bins; Councilman Santanello: doesn't have to be permanent – doesn't like DPW being trash Police; BA/CFO Riehl: showed the Point Pleasant’s sticker to the Governing Body; Councilman Toohey: asked the Commission’s thoughts about DPW putting a sticker on every recycling can – actually generating trash while alerting people) thinks Commission would be fine with it – should be on municipal cans also (Mayor Reid: asked if Ocean County would provide stickers – Commission does an amazing job and is appreciated; recycling is a #1 issue in the Country – taking it very seriously) bungalow area is always a problem – suggested going through Realtors (Mayor Reid: asked BA/CFO Riehl to send the letter to Realtors for renters; Councilman Vogel: offered to help Mr. Ritchings – hasn't heard back – suggested social media and reaching out to kids) Commission took recycling on in January – would like to see informational labels on every can in PPB for people from outside the County (Councilman Kanitra: will do an email poll of the Commission; Councilman Vogel: asked if DPW has sufficient resources for this; BA/CFO Riehl: Boro has outside garbage and recycling, so they have more leeway but, either through Code Enforcement or DPW, if the Governing Body wants it done, it will be; Councilman Kanitra: he is the one who brought this up – thinks his idea is less intrusive than the solution being figured out now – maybe stickers can be mailed to people, asking that they affix them to their bins; Mayor Reid: that's costs a lot of money) have to do something, while trying to avoid phone calls (Councilman Toohey: just talking about levels of adhesive – by default, a sticker is removable).
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Vogel: gave Shade Tree Commission updates – 8 new trees planted on Broadway – last Friday, trees were removed on Rte. 35S between Cedar and McLean, as a follow-up from discussion with JCP&L – existing ordinance mirrors State regulations, which provides latitude for utility companies to trim trees, unless done maliciously – JCP&L paid for them to be cut down – DPW removed bigger pieces that remained – Commission will plant more appropriate trees along that area; Building & Code is very active with annual license renewals – asking for more analysis year after year – continuing to see construction – met with the new Fire Official, who presented at the Chamber meeting – he is doing inspections and proactively meeting with businesses – provided Chamber with information including helpful hints, ways to avoid issues and an explanation of the process – been significant fire code changes recently – could be changes in the inspection process – wanted to get ahead of it and open a dialogue; Chamber is looking at a restaurant tour in September; had spoken last meeting about a Municipal Alliance Committee (MAC) – reached out to some interested parties to get it going – had discussions with Preferred Behavioral and Jim Dowd about outreach programs including self-esteem for young women and something aimed more at athletes – things they’d like to see a MAC move on, going forward – May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Councilman Cortes: recognized May employee anniversaries – Janet Mutter 7 years, Kathy Beno 22, Josie McCrystal 16, Lynda Hapstak 1, Katie Paterson 3, Stephen Roe 7, Jarred Popp 12, Jason Headley 11, Clint Daniel 18, Frank Finn 18, Kyle Boturla 15, Gary Siculietano 11, Catherine Bradley 5; Beautification Committee received a plaque for their award-winning butterfly garden on Parkway – mulch was delivered and spread – thanked DPW for spreading it and Jenkinson’s for use of Perks parking lot – other gardens were weeded – flowers for barrels were ordered – 65 small US flags are ready for downtown lights – he'll use the bucket truck to put them up next week; all dirt was removed from the concrete lid on the Borough Hall basement, which was leaking – getting ready to waterproof, so it will be a more usable storage space; the cell tower in Silver Lake Lot is up – bringing the Court back from shared service in the Boro at the end of June – new office was built (BA/CFO Riehl: painting started today); Sea Coast Building is empty and ready for demolition; communicated with the Engineer about flooding on the corner of Chicago and Broadway during rainstorm – Engineer spoke to County – they cleared out the storm drains – will video as well – too much water for a newly-paved road (Councilman Vogel: County Engineering Department was out last week at Baltimore & Yale); Army Corps of Engineers is moving quickly – they're in Bay Head now; received an email from a resident who walks the beach and has suggestions for garbage – new containers in the Silver Lake Lot are great – downtown ones need to be replaced – DPW will gauge the cost to replace street-end receptacles with something sturdier [Councilman Santanello: per that resident, people in England bring bags and shovels to clean while collecting sea glass – will research; Mayor Reid: in Newport, garbage cans compact and call DPW when full – can put nice pictures on them too – resident(s) might be willing to pay for them – asked BA/CFO Riehl to look into them].
Councilman Kanitra: Arts Committee met last night – has a Boardwalk building mural in the works, to be completed by July 4th weekend – Jim Inzera owner of the Stella Luna gallery, came up with the idea – Storinos sent their marketing guy to review the drawings – thinks the town will like to follow this over the next of couple months; thanked the Environmental Commission for purchasing cigarette urns – less butts than last year – very heavy – none knocked down – look great for now – will see how they work; asked about the demolition timeline for Sea Coast building (BA/CFO Riehl: ready to go next week); seems there is always a sewer main collapse and the Borough is constantly paying tens of thousands of dollars on emergency repairs – T&M had mapped out some of these – asked BA/CFO Riehl if this is related and if the lining is just for a small section (BA/CFO Riehl: had a break in that line – need it repaired before summer – just finished the asset management plan required by DEP, in which significant areas of need are itemized over the next 10 years– sent to Bond Counsel for review – looking at $8M over next 10 years – Rte. 35, Ocean and Arnold are bad – if State and County are doing road improvements, can jump in on their timeline – potential financing through EIT and other water programs – first come/first served – referenced most of the infrastructure back to the early 1900’s; Councilman Vogel: in combination, there is paving work to be done) can map out a plan to do it in the most effective way; with heavy heart, he shared the sad news that former Councilwoman Monica Walsh passed away this morning – a 4-term Councilwoman, she represented her constituents to the best of her ability – was also a reporter and worked with the State Legislature – she had a fantastic life and loved this town – asked that flags be lowered in her behalf.
Councilman Toohey: thanked Councilman Kanitra for the information about former Councilwoman Walsh; spoke about the 2019 Budget – after Sandy, PPB took out a Community Disaster Loan (CDL) of @$1M, with the first repayment of @$200K due this year – equals 1 cent/ $100 of assessed home value, which was not passed directly on to the taxpayer – also kept 2 things intact, setting PPB up nicely for infrastructure work – reduced revenue projections in 2017, 2018 & 2019 and conservatively budgeted the reserve for uncollected taxes, based on a worse-case collection rate of 98.1% – ended up with a budget that costs tax payers only $2.30/month more than they pay now – BA/CFO Riehl worked with Bond Counsel to convert high interest notes to bonds – was nervous starting the process but BA/CFO Riehl worked really hard and figured it out (BA/CFO Riehl: were looking for the whole CDL loan this year – were able to apply and show a need for taxpayer relief to spread it out over 5 years – not all towns got to take advantage of that; Mayor Reid: it’s a real shame – the State advised taking out the CDL, saying it wouldn’t have to be paid back and it does; former Councilman Mayer said it was not necessary, but a directive was given by another former Governing Body member – doesn’t want the perception to be that Borough employees borrowed money frivolously) in really good shape, maintaining surplus and preparing for major infrastructure overhauls – a 98.1% reserve for uncollected taxes is a testament to the taxpayers and says a lot about the community (Mayor Reid: the day after Sandy, were worried that people would walk away and the effect it would have on PPB – people did pay and on time – it was a real surprise to everybody, compared to other towns – great job done by Councilman Toohey, BA/CFO Riehl and the whole committee) Councilman Toohey stepped out 8:22PM-8:27PM.
Councilman Migut: Animal Welfare Committee ran into a problem with their spring fundraiser – looking for another venue – otherwise, it will be a summer fundraiser; received a complaint from a fisherman about trash in the Inlet parking lot – turns out, it's the seagulls diving into the garbage cans and throwing it – asked if DPW notices a lot of wind-blown debris and about getting new trash cans with caps and doors to keep the birds out (Councilman Kanitra: the cans are pretty beat up as well; Councilman Santanello: asked BA/CFO Riehl to have DPW look at them); asked Mayor Reid if he had any success with the County fixing the divot on Ocean Ave. (BA/CFO Riehl: been doing patches – the problem is that their patching doesn't last long – not due to be paved for at least a year – tried to bring in Pothole Killers, but didn't have enough work for them – Boro helped last year – will reach out to them again); St. Louis paving and sidewalk repairs are on the agenda for approval.
Councilman Santanello: thanked all for their kind thoughts and prayers and good wishes (on his surgery); thanked CFO Riehl for the job done on the budget – also thanked all Department Heads for working hard to keep budgets down – none complained or raised any issues; thanked BA/CFO Riehl for tearing down the towers and building new storage buildings, his biggest goal since being on Council – increasing storage so not everything is sitting outside in the weather – also thanked her for the new parking meters, his other big goal, which look great and will work fantastic, as he uses them all over the Country when he travels on business – next biggest goal is to increase and refresh the Police Department – will need to find a place for the Historical Society; Recreation Committee Park Program is on the agenda to be extended by a week – also looking to extend days by 1/2 hour, but parents must pick-up and drop-off on time, as counselors will not be there before 8:30 a.m. or after 12:30 p.m. – having an emergency meeting next week to hire counselors and director – Best Day is July 13-14 at the former Risden’s beach; gave Police report since last meeting and thanked Councilman Cortes for giving it during the last 2 meetings – training includes Canine In Service, SWAT, Alcotest Refresher Course, DWI Detection and Standard Field Sobriety, Megan’s Law Offenders, Security and Vigilance (Councilman Vogel stepped out 8:30PM-8:33PM) Police Department Youth Camp dates have been set for July 25-26 and July 29-August 2 – School Resource Officer/Detective O’Neill will coordinate the week's events and applications will soon be ready for pick up – camp is for students going into 6th-8th grades – there is a prescription drop box in the Police lobby for residents to safely discard unwanted medicines – 20 SLEO II’s will graduate from Ocean County Police Academy on May 16th – yearly summer orientation meeting was held on May 5th with 60-70 seasonal employees, who were welcomed and instructed on keeping a family-friendly town by Chief Michigan and Mayor Reid – thanked Capt. Duffy and Lt. Quaglia for preparing these new employees – Department will join Police around the Country in cracking down on unbuckled motorists and passengers as part of the national Click It or Ticket campaign May 20-June 2 – next week is the start of National Police Week, honoring officers killed in the line of duty – 163 officers lost in 2018 and the 39 so far in 2019 – Officers Gippetti and Marchetti will join hundreds of other Officers biking to Washington, DC to raise money for the National Police Memorial – wished them a safe journey; appealed for parents of children in the school system to volunteer for the Recreation Committee – people like to complain about how programs are run, but no one wants to step up and do anything about it – the vast number of people on the committee no longer have kids in the school or take advantage of the programs – will be losing at least 3 members next year, including the director (Mayor Reid: need to work on that – the Rec does a lot of really great stuff).
Mayor Reid: congratulated and thanked Chief Michigan for inviting him to speak to the next class – very proud of the new SLEOs – people of PPB should be grateful for them and they will be grateful starting off in such a great town; spoke about the cleanliness of downtown – one of his first jobs was with Mike's Subs – cleaning it with bleach and scrubbing the doorway was a big part of it – people like Bob Hoffman swept and scrubbed their storefronts every morning – it was important to be a clean as can be – one of the first things he did on Council is tackle the weeds downtown – Chamber has been aggravated – have sent out letters – in the past few years, have had County detainees come and pick them – spoke with BA/CFO Riehl about having them out more – Chamber will donate up to $1K to buy flowers to put around trees and plantings – hired someone to handle weeds and other projects like that – with new trash and recycling cans, thinks town will look great.
BA/CFO Riehl: less prisoners are available than there have been in the past – called about 1½ weeks ago – first available date is June 20th (Councilman Cortes: Johnson & Johnson has volunteers available June 6th – thinks he can get them to do some weeding and planting; BA/CFO Riehl: received 8 pallets of new water meters today – project is gearing up and should start in the next week or 2 – letters went out, along with recycling flyers, in the water bills – it’s mandatory that all call to get their meters switched out – hopes to have the project done within 60-90 days; District 3&4 parking passes went out last week – anyone who doesn’t receive them should call her office – passes must be on dashboards on May 15th; Fishermen’s Memorial Celebration is coming to fruition – will be May 17th at 1PM – guest speakers and dignitaries are coming – had a great response (Councilman Toohey: is having shoulder surgery on the 15th and has a school program on the 17th, but he will be there); passed Unfit and Vacant Uninhabited Building ordinances – Code Enforcement identified homes and letters were received from residents – 4 properties are scheduled for arbitration hearings this week – one on Sanborn was demolished today, one was put up for sale, one is believed to be unresponsive and one is expected to come forward with plans – have already taken in several thousand dollars in penalties (Mayor Reid: great work – long time coming).
The Municipal Clerk added items to the agenda.
PULIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 8:46PM
Dave Cavagnaro, PPB: asked about 3z, 4a, 4c and 4i.
Vince Castin, PPB: spoke about recycling, Inlet playground safety, dune height and the cell tower, asked about the Coast Guard Property, restroom hours.
Marilyn Burke, PPB: asked what is considered affordable housing, what is being built, who decides who lives there and how it will affect the population
Ann Marie O'Hare, Point Pleasant/Treasurer of Point Pleasant Elks: appreciates that their Tailgate Party is on the agenda – wants to ensure Governing Body has everything needed; about a week prior to filing this application, filed one for the Oktoberfest – asked if any information is missing – need to know if will be turned down, for planning and budgeting purposes.
PULIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 9:12PM
Motion by Councilman Toohey to close public participation and approve RESOLUTION 1: Authorization for 2019 Municipal Budget to be Read by Title, was seconded by Councilman Migut and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
Motion by Councilman Toohey to close public participation and approve RESOLUTION 2: Second Reading/Public Hearing 2019 Municipal Budget was seconded by Councilman Vogel and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
Motion by Councilman Toohey to close public participation and approve the items listed below was seconded by Councilman Santanello and carried by roll call vote. (Councilman Vogel: in future, should review semi-annually and authorize more than one handicap parking amendment at once.)
CONSENT RESOLUTION 3:
3a Approval of payment of Payroll #9 ($274,222.25)
3b Retroactive re-appointment of F. Millman as Tax Assessor, per State guidelines
3c Recognition of Municipal Clerks Week, 5/5-5/11
3d Award of contract to Gavan Gen’l Contracting for Municipal Bldg Basement Wall Imp. ($20,146.18)
3e Approval of payment to NJ DCA for 4th Q 2018 and 1st Q 2019 State training fees ($7,203)
3f Approval of pymt of Pay Cert #1 to Shore Top Const. for Curtis Ave. Drainage Imp. ($85,970.50)
3g Approval of payment to CCW, LLC for Recreation insurance ($3,075)
3h Approval of payment to Integrated Technical Systems for Luke II parking machines ($309,896)
3i Approval of PO to Integrated Technical Systems for thermal paper for parking machines ($2,779)
3j Approval of payment to the Ocean County Landfill to replenish escrow ($50K)
3k Approval of Emergency Appropriation for Arnold Ave. sewer main repair ($125K)
3l Award of contract to North American Pipeline Services for Emergency Lining of Arnold Ave. Sanitary Sewer Project ($116,750)
3m Approval of extension of Rec Summer Camp through 8/9 (from 8/2)
3n Approval of increase of Rec Summer Camp registration fee from $225 to $250 w/late fee after 6/8
3o Approval of payment to M. Woszczak for sewer main collapse at Arnold & Chicago ($10,674.46)
3p Approval of payment to OC JIF for 2nd installment ($269,169)
3q Approval of scope & budget/auth Engineer to commence Arnold Ave. sidewalk/curb ramp improvements, per DOT grant (NTE $172,210)
3r Approval of scope & budget/auth Engineer to commence Phase 2 reconstruction of St. Louis Ave., per DOT grant (NTE $632,500)
3s Appointment of M. Schwarz to the F/T position of Violations Clerk in the Court
3t Approval of payment to BTMUA for April bulk water usage ($56,173.50)
3u Approval of S/E application for PP First Aid & Emerg Squad Monster Dash on Bdwlk, 10/26
3v Approval of S/E app for Chamber Grand Prix Parade, 6/15, and any & all boat race activities including boat display in railroad lot
3w Approval of S/E app for Chamber Grand Prix Block Party on 6/14
3x Approval of S/E app for St. Peter PTA Car Raffle on Boardwalk, 5/17-9/30
3y Approval of ABC S/A app for Elks Baseball Tailgate Party, 6/23
3z Approval of ABC S/A app for Chamber Kick-Off Concert for Boat Race Weekend, 6/13
CONSENT RESOLUTION 4:
4a Approval of payment to GRQ Building for 2nd floor Borough Hall office work ($5,180)
4b Approval of payment to State of NJ for May employee & retiree health benefits ($123,654.97)
4c Approval of payment to Pashman Stein Walder Hayden for stipulation of dismissal ($4K)
4d Extension of probationary period for 3 new DPW laborers
4e Approval of PO to Whirl Construction for installation of playground swings ($3K)
4f Approval of PO to Bluegrass Playgrounds for Pleasure Park swings ($6,467)
4g Auth for Attorney to draft an ordinance amendment to eliminate handicap space at 309 Arnold Ave.
4h Approval of pymt to Lasting Line Painting for painting of parking stalls & curbing ($19,822.00)
4i Approval of scope of work/auth for COAH Planner to prepare Housing Element & Fair Share Plan (NTE $30K)
4j Approval of S/E app for PPB Farmers Market in Borden’s Lot, Sundays, 6/2-10/27
4k Approval of registration dates & locations for the Recreation Summer Park Program
4l Approval of curt cuts at 159 Baltimore Lots 1&2 and 513 McLean – ADDED PER DH MEMOS
CONSENT RESOLUTION 5:
5a Approval of computer-generated vouchers ($843,726.03)
5b Approval of payments on BOA, Planning Board and Developer Escrow bill list ($31,131.46)
5c Approval of payment of hand checks ($1,796,180)
5d Approval of payment to National Business Furniture for Police Chief’s office furniture ($3,614.19)
5e Approval of payment to Meridian Occupational Health for Police physicals ($7,708)
5f Approval of payment to Motorola for Police dispatch area upgrades ($35,344.20)
5g Approval of payment to CDWG for RAM Intelliskin, SAM Galaxy Tab, Tripp Lite power module & UPS battery pack, Otterbox Defender Galaxy for Police Dept. ($5,707.83)
5h Reappointment of T. Wilson as SLEO II
5i Approval of PO to Beyond the Office Door for 2 dispatch chairs ($3,285.72)
5j Support for Click It or Ticket Mobilization, 5/20-6/2
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel (except 3u&5), Cortes, Kanitra (except 4c), Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
Councilman Kanitra (4c)….NAY
Councilman Vogel (3u & 5)….ABSTAIN
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGAN AT 9:15PM.
Vince Castin, PPB: spoke about affordable housing – thinks COAH is a scam and a sham.
Attorney Zabarsky clarified that the vote on Resolution 2 should have included the public hearing. Councilman Toohey opened the public hearing on the 2019 Municipal Budget, with no member of the public wishing to be heard. Motion by Councilman Toohey to close the public hearing and adopt the 2019 Municipal Budget was seconded by Councilman Vogel and carried by roll call vote.
VOTE: Councilmen Vogel, Cortes, Kanitra, Toohey, Migut, Santanello….YEA
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDED AT 9:18PM.
Motion by Councilman Cortes to close public participation and adjourn was seconded by Councilman Toohey and carried by consent of Council. Meeting was adjourned at 9:18PM.
ATTEST:__________________________________
Eileen A. Farrell, RMC
Municipal Clerk
