BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES
February 13, 2012
7:30 p.m.
MINUTES
1. CALL TO ORDER; OPENING STATEMENT: This meeting is being held in compliance with Public Law 1975, Chapter 231, Sections 4 and 13, as notice of this meeting and the agenda thereof had been reported to The Citizen and the Morris County Daily Record and The Star Ledger on January 4, 2012 and posted in the municipal building.
Mayor Gormally called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
2. ATTENDANCE AND FLAG SALUTE
All Council members were present. Councilman Jackson arrived at 7:32 p.m. Councilman McWilliams arrived at 7:33 p.m. Deputy Mayor Happer arrived at 7:34 p.m. Also in attendance were Borough Attorney Marty Murphy, Acting Borough Manager Robert Tovo, and Deputy Borough Clerk Michele Reilly.
3. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Resolution
WHEREAS, the Borough Council of the Borough of Mountain Lakes, County of Morris, State of New Jersey finds it necessary to discuss matters relating to:
· Tax Appeal Settlement
· Pending Tax Appeal and Related Costs
· Attorney Client Privilege
· Matter of Public Safety Techniques
WHEREAS, the Borough Council believes it to be in the best interest of the public to discuss such matters in closed session.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Borough Council of the Borough of Mountain Lakes, that it shall enter Executive Session to discuss only those matters mentioned above; the results of which will be disclosed when the matters are resolved and upon vote of the Governing Body to release the minutes.
Motion by Councilman Holmberg, second by Councilwoman Bravo, to enter into Executive Session with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
Motion by Councilman Holmberg, second by Deputy Mayor Happer, to close the Executive Session and return to the public portion of the meeting with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
4. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mayor Gormally announced that, with the consent of the Council, he would adjust the agenda so that the presentation by the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC) would be given directly after the first public comment session.
Councilman Holmberg commended Stephen Lewandowski, a Mountain Lakes High School student, on his invitation to run in the Millrose Games. Mr. Lewandowski is the first Mountain Lakes student to be invited to participate in this prestigious event and Councilman Holmberg said this was a huge accomplishment.
Councilman McWilliams mentioned that shredding day would be held on April 28th. The opportunity to shred documents would be made available to any interested person, not just residents of Mountain Lakes, and the money raised would be donated to the Boonton Kiwanis Ambulance Squad.
Councilwoman Bravo reported that the Wildwood Librarian was searching for volunteers to read to the students on March 2nd.
Councilman Shaw said he will once again coordinate the student sponsored forum about local government, which will be held at Briarcliff School in May.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Gormally opened the public comment portion of the meeting with consent of the Council. Mayor Gormally explained the Council’s policy of limiting each speaker to five (5) minutes and no yielding of time to another person.
Rosemary Wall – Lookout Road
Mrs. Wall addressed the Borough Council as a resident and also as the Vice President of the Board of Education. She read a prepared statement on behalf of the Board of Education regarding the potential to change the date of school elections from April to November. The Board favors maintaining the election in April. She presented a copy of her statement to the Clerk and asked that it be placed in the minutes (see attached).
Fred Kanter – Hanover Road
Mr. Kanter said he attended the Board of Education meeting concerning the possibility of changing the school election. He commented that he felt there was a distinction in how the superintendent listened and responded to questions asked by the public and he hoped it was noted by the four (4) Borough Council members in attendance. He asked that the public Council packets include all information given to Council members so that residents are able to ask reasonably informative questions. In reference to the Cove Park Project, Mr. Kanter said that the ADA law applied to any public facility, which included parks.
Joan Best – Intervale Road
Mrs. Best told the Council that the Residents Guide to Mountain Lakes was now available on the website and urged the Council to move forward with printing the guide. She also commented that she is troubled by the new Environmental Commission (EC) website, www.mlenvironmental.com. She questioned how information was being shared and maintained. She said she had not been contacted by the EC to verify any information posted on the site regarding the Shade Tree Commission, of which she is a member, or the Department of Public Works, of which she is an employee.
Mike Feigeles – Boulevard
Mr. Feigeles reminded the Council that his comments were his own and did reflect the position of his wife, LaVonne, who is a member of the Board of Education. He felt that there had not been enough proactive communication on the part of the Council to let the public know that moving the school election was going to be discussed and voted on tonight, with the exception of the published Council agenda. He urged the Council to table discussing the proposed Resolution.
With no one else wishing to be heard, Mayor Gormally closed the public comment portion of the meeting.
6. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REQUEST/ARCHIVES
John Grossman, the co-chair of the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC) discussed with the Council the current state of the archives and the archive room situated at the Mountain Lakes Library. He stated that the archives are almost overflowing and there is not enough room for both the documents and the archivist (Pat Rusak). He said there were a few options to consider: digitize the documents, move the archives off-site into storage, or find a bigger space or satellite location.
Councilman Jackson and Councilwoman Bravo stated they supported donating any extra money raised by the Centennial Committee to the HPC to fund the preservation of Borough archives. Councilman Shaw suggested the Council wait for both a complete accounting of the Centennial Committee’s funds and for the budget discussions before committing these funds to the HPC. Mayor Gormally thought that digitizing was important from a preservation standpoint and that it would allow people greater access to archived records.
7. *RESOLUTIONS
R 39-12 Moving School Election to November
R 40-12 Appointment to County Community Development Program
R 41-12 Contract Award/Tuff Greens
R 42-12 Payment of Bills
8. *MINUTES
November 28, 2011 (Regular)
December 12, 2011 (Regular)
January 23, 2012 (Regular)
January 23, 2012 (Executive)
Prior to the roll call vote, Resolution 39-12, Moving School Election to November, was pulled from the Consent Agenda. Also, Resolution 40-12, Appointment to County Community Development Program, was tabled since an appointee had yet to be determined.
Discussion ensued regarding Resolution 41-12, Contract Award/Tuff Greens. In response to questions from the Council, Mr. Tovo said that he had spoken with the Manager of Tuff Greens and they will be pursuing a very aggressive timeline towards the completion of the project. The project includes some Board of Education properties, and the Board is billed for their portion. The project does not, however, include any work that should be completed by the power company. According to Joan Best, part of the increase in the pruning/removal contract is the addition this year of the Birchwood Lake Loop as recommended by the Borough arborist.
Councilman Holmberg commented that approving minutes from November and December was unacceptable, in his opinion, although he recognized that the Borough offices had been short-staffed.
*CONSENT AGENDA
|
Council Member |
By: |
2nd: |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
|
McWilliams |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Holmberg |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Jackson |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Bravo |
|
|
X* |
|
|
|
|
Shaw |
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Happer |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Gormally |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
*Councilwoman Bravo abstained from the December 12th minutes.
Resolution 39-12 Moving School Election to November
Councilman Shaw said he felt the Council should wait to make a decision about moving the school election date, especially since a request to that effect was received from the Board of Education. Councilwoman Bravo, as well as Councilmen McWilliams, Holmberg, Jackson, and Deputy Mayor Happer, all concurred. Mayor Gormally disagreed with his colleagues and said that this proposal had been vetted for some time at the state level, and that the Council had been given the obligation by law to make decisions for its citizens. He felt the proposed change made tremendous sense and would enhance public participation in the voting process, something which should be encouraged by elected officials.
|
Council Member |
By: |
2nd: |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
|
McWilliams |
|
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Holmberg |
|
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Jackson |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Bravo |
|
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Shaw |
|
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Happer |
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
Gormally |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
In addition, there was a motion by Mayor Gormally, second by Councilman Shaw, that the Borough Council authorize the settlement of the tax appeal (Lakhiani property) as presented by the Borough Attorney, with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
9. DEPARTMENT REPORTS
A. Construction Official
B. Health Officer
C. DPW
D. Fire
E. Police
10. ATTORNEY REPORT
Mr. Murphy had nothing to report.
11. MANAGER REPORT
Mr. Tovo reported that FEMA reimbursement for Hurricane Irene would be at least $85,000, more than seventy-five percent (75%) of all costs incurred. Debris removal for the October snowstorm had been categorized by FEMA in the large project category, which would result in reimbursement of at least $165,000. FEMA was rethinking their mitigation proposal for Well #5 since the well had sustained no damage during the storms. The Council discussed the possibility of funding a generator to be placed at the well, with Mr. Tovo supporting the recommendation. The consensus was to go through the mitigation process before making a decision.
Mr. Tovo commended Mr. Prusina for his idea to present FEMA with a proposal regarding the cleaning of the canal. It is possible that FEMA will fund this project as a large amount of sediment was deposited in the canal after both storms.
Mr. Tovo spoke to the Council about the redesign of the Borough Website. He felt there were three options: first, to hire a consultant to redesign the website and then turn over the maintenance of the site to the Borough’s administrative staff, with some assistance available if necessary. The second option would be to hire a private webmaster to redesign and subsequently maintain the site. The third option would be to maintain the status quo with the Web Committee.
After much discussion, the direction given by the Council was for Mr. Tovo to proceed with the first option, hiring a consultant to redesign the website, in conjunction with the Web Committee. In addition, the Council requested that Mr. Tovo approach the Board of Education about possibly partnering with their site, with the acknowledgement that the Board had just redesigned their site and that a partnership was unlikely.
Mr. Tovo said that Hess Corporation had won the bid for natural gas pricing within the co-op, resulting in a twenty-eight percent (28%) drop in pricing. He was in the process of submitting paperwork for the bid for electrical pricing.
The Council discussed the options Mr. Tovo had presented for the electronic bulletin board and the decision was made not to purchase a new board at present.
Mr. Tovo told the Council he would present the five (5) year Capital Budget plan at the February 27th meeting.
Norman Eckstein, the Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO), spoke to the Council about cancelling unexpended balances. He explained how money originally dedicated to funding capital ordinances could be used to balance the 2012 budget. When unexpended balances are cancelled, money is either re-appropriated for future projects or used to reduce debt service commitments, which is his recommendation. The current amount of unexpended funds is $287,000. The Council asked to see some backup representing the capital projects which were originally funded by these ordinances. Councilman Jackson suggested this matter be discussed with the Finance Committee. Deputy Mayor Happer commended Mr. Eckstein on his presentation.
Councilman Jackson was pleased to note that the report from the Construction Official showed an increase in the amount of money the Borough was receiving from construction permits. He commented that these were the best figures since 2006. He also asked Mr. Tovo about the $12,000 in the COAH account, which needed to be committed to a project by July 2012. Mr. Tovo said he was looking at the options, although there were not many.
12. COUNCIL REPORTS
Zoning Board of Adjustment – Councilman Shaw said the Mayor would be receiving a letter from a landowner who wanted to remove a wall located on Borough property. In addition, he made a motion, second by Councilman McWililams, to appoint Bill Albergo as 2nd alternate, with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
Shade Tree Committee – Councilwoman Bravo made a motion, second by Mayor Gormally, that Janet Horst be appointed to the Committee, with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”. Councilwoman Bravo said the Shade Tree Committee (STC) would like better enforcement of the Shade Tree ordinance, for example, when a home renovation is taking place. Finally, the STC is considering collaborative meetings with the Woodlands Committee to discuss the care and maintenance of woodland trees.
Lakes Management – Councilwoman Bravo reported that the Lakes Management Committee wants to discuss removing purple loosestrife around the lakes with both the Woodlands Committee and Allied Biological. Also, the Committee is monitoring the geese population and may take advantage of a free sediment lake mapping opportunity. The Committee is concerned that the issue of swim ropes in the lakes has not yet been resolved, and Councilman Shaw reminded Mr. Murphy that the Council would like him to draft an ordinance. Finally, the Committee is discussing methods of guaranteeing access to Crystal Lake, since there is currently no direct Borough access and this potentially impedes maintenance of the lake.
Web Committee – Councilman McWilliams mentioned that the Committee has a vacancy. Councilman Shaw has the name of an interested volunteer.
Library – Councilman McWilliams said the Library offered a thank you to the Borough for assisting them in obtaining insurance coverage through the Joint Insurance Fund (JIF). In addition, the Library was hoping Mr. Prusina or Mr. Tovo could address some drainage issues reported at the back and side of their building. Finally, the Library was requesting the donation of High School yearbooks to complete its collection.
Woodlands Committee – Councilman McWilliams noted that the Committee had an upcoming meeting.
Solid Waste Committee – Councilman McWilliams said the first meeting would be held this Thursday at 10:30 at the Borough Hall.
Historic Preservation Committee – Councilman Holmberg said the presentation earlier had covered the Committee’s issues.
Finance Committee – Councilman Holmberg noted that details for the next meeting date and time were being finalized.
Councilman Jackson had no report, but asked that Mr. Tovo be prepared to discuss the following at the next meeting: Retiree Health, LOSAP payments, the Planner position, and reconciliations. Mr. Tovo responded that the Borough staff was working diligently on reconciliations and he expected them to be completed around the end of February. He is working with Mr. Oostdyk on the retiree health benefits. He hoped to be able to resolve the LOSAP issue shortly, but there was still some information which needed to be researched. Finally, the Planning Board Search Committee is still proceeding with its analysis of applicants for the Planner position.
Planning Board – Mayor Gormally made a motion, second by Councilman Shaw, to appoint Corey Nachschen as a full member of the Planning Board, with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
Environmental Commission – Deputy Mayor Happer made a motion, second by Councilwoman Bravo, to appoint Allison Rankin as 2nd alternate, with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”. The Commission is waiting for the results of their Bronze level submission to sustainable New Jersey. They expect to be notified by the end of the month. Also, the Commission has decided to research and educate the Borough Council about the possible need for a well-head protection ordinance.
Public Works Committee – Deputy Mayor Happer reported that the first meeting had been held. In addition to himself, attendees were Councilman Shaw, Mr. Tovo, and Mr. Prusina. The Committee plans to ask other liaisons to attend future meetings as needed. Meetings will be held on the third Thursday of the month at 8:00 am. Also on the agenda is a Borough Council field trip, to be planned for a Saturday at the end of March.
Recreation Commission – Mayor Gormally reported the Commission was working to resolve conflict of interest issues with the girls’ lacrosse program.
Motion by Deputy Mayor Happer, second by Councilman Shaw, to approve the attached list of appointments and reappointments of Committee/Commission/Board members, with the exception of Karen Franklin (Memorial Day Committee) with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
The appointment to the County Open Space Trust Fund Committee was tabled, as were Council Goals for 2012.
13. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Gormally opened the second public comment portion of the meeting with the consent of the Council.
Fred Kanter – Hanover Road
Mr. Kanter expressed his appreciation to Mr. Tovo and Mr. Eckstein for their discussion and for the extra funds found for the budget. He questioned why the auditor had not discovered these funds. He spoke in favor of printing the Residents Guide, and mentioned a visibility issue at the intersection of Powerville Road and the Boulevard. He thanked Councilman Holmberg for mentioning the tardiness of the minutes and his suggestion was to hire an outside stenographer.
With no one else wishing to be heard, Mayor Gormally closed the public comment portion of the meeting.
14. ADJOURNMENT at 11:04 p.m.
Motion by Deputy Mayor Happer, second by Councilman Shaw, to adjourn the meeting at 11:04 p.m., with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
Attest: February 13, 2012
_____________________________ _____________________________
Michele Reilly, Deputy Clerk Charles X. Gormally, Mayor