BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES
BOROUGH HALL, 400 BOULEVARD, MOUNTAIN LAKES
973-334-3131
JUNE 24, 2013
7:30 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION
8:00 p.m. PUBLIC SESSION
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 8, 2013 and posted in the municipal building.
Mayor Happer called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.
2. ROLL CALL ATTENDANCE
Ms. Reilly called the roll. All Council members were present except for Councilman Bradlee, who arrived at 8:51 pm. Also in attendance were Borough Attorney Marty Murphy, Borough Manager Robert Tovo, Borough Clerk Michele Reilly, as well as Police Chief Shawn Bennett and Department of Public Works Director Mark Prusina.
3. FLAG SALUTE
4. EXECUTIVE SESSION:
RESOLUTION 119-13
Matters Relating to the Employment Relationship:
-Vacation Agreement: Tovo
Motion made by Councilman Lester, second by Deputy Mayor McWilliams, to enter into Executive Session with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
Motion made by Deputy Mayor McWilliams, second by Councilwoman Bravo, to close the Executive Session and return to the public portion of the meeting with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
5. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mayor Happer remarked that the Fourth of July fireworks would soon take place and that donations were being accepted. Deputy Mayor McWilliams said that, for the third year in a row, the fireworks would be launched from barges in the middle of Mountain Lakes, leaving Island Beach open for public viewing of the display. Councilman Holmberg said the Annual Fun Races would be held at 10:00 am on the Fourth of July at the Mountain Lakes Club.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Happer opened the public comment portion of the meeting with the consent of the Council. Mayor Happer explained the Council’s policy of limiting each speaker to five (5) minutes and no yielding of time to another person.
Fred Kanter – Hanover Road
Mr. Kanter expressed his concerns with how the Borough is governed and with the professionals hired by the Borough Council. He said he was unhappy with the fact that his tax dollars were being used to fix mistakes which he attributed to the Borough professionals, citing the ADA issues at Cove Park as an example. He thought the Borough Council should ask the Borough professionals for reimbursement if errors are made. He asked if the Borough had hired Mr. Ryden as the Borough Engineer and Mr. Murphy as the Borough Attorney for 2013.
With no one else wishing to be heard, Mayor Happer closed the public comment portion of the meeting.
Mayor Happer informed Mr. Kanter that Mr. Ryden had been hired and that the Borough currently had an informal agreement with Mr. Murphy as the contract for Borough Attorney was still being discussed.
7. SPECIAL PRESENTATION:
Introduction of Recreation Director Audrey Lane
Mr. Tovo introduced Audrey Lane as the new Recreation Director. Ms. Lane thanked the Council for hiring her.
8. DISCUSSION ITEMS:
-Environmental Commission: Wellhead Protection Ordinance
-Chief Bennett: Police Staffing Levels
-Borough Council: Mid-Year Goal Review
Mayor Happer asked Chief Bennett to make his presentation as the Environmental Commission was still waiting for some of its Commissioners to arrive.
-Chief Bennett: Police Staffing Levels
Chief Bennett reviewed his presentation with the Borough Council. He said that the majority of his presentation had already been reviewed with both the Personnel Sub-Committee and the Public Safety Sub-Committee. The Chief spoke about the changes in the demands placed on police departments over the last decade, as well as the change in the staffing level of the Mountain Lakes Police Department. He stated that from 1999-2009 the MLPD had fourteen (14) officers including the Chief. The department has operated with thirteen (13) officers since 2009 and is now staffed at twelve (12) with the recent hire of a new Patrolman. Chief Bennett said returning the staffing level to thirteen (13) officers would allow for increased productivity, a part-time school resource officer, and proactive patrolling. Chief Bennett told the Council that he would appreciate the Council’s support of his decision to hire two new officers.
Mayor Happer thanked the Chief and said he and the members of the Personnel Sub-Committee and Public Safety Sub-Committee were supportive of the decision to staff the police department with thirteen (13) officers, including the Chief. He said this was not the time to minimize the public safety of the community. The other members of Council concurred and the consensus was to support the decision to hire two (2) new officers.
-Environmental Commission: Wellhead Protection Ordinance
Margaret Gossett narrated the EC’s power-point presentation, concerning the protection of the Borough’s drinking water and its sources. The Environmental Commission asked the Borough Council to consider adopting a well-head protection Ordinance. She stated that the current Borough Ordinance protects the aquifer but not the wellheads. Additionally, the current Ordinance is lacking enforcement guidelines. Ms. Gossett explained that any Ordinance proposed by the Borough Council would have to be approved by the Department of Environmental Protection before it could be adopted. The EC supplied the Council with a sample Ordinance for their review, originally prepared by the Passaic Valley Ground Water Protection Committee.
The Borough Council thanked Ms. Gossett and the EC for their work. The consensus of the Council was that the Borough Engineer, the Borough Attorney, and the Borough Manager should do a side-by-side comparison of the current and proposed Ordinances in order to determine if it was in the best interest of the Borough to amend the current Ordinance or to introduce a new Ordinance. The Borough Manager expects he will be able to report their findings to the Borough Council at one of the meetings in September.
-Borough Council: Mid-Year Goal Review
The Borough Council discussed the 2013 Council Goals. Some of the goals are still on-going, such as “facilitating a seamless transition to our new police chief” and “moving forward with the review and modification of personnel policies”, and some goals have been completed, such as “adopting a fiscally responsible budget” and “establishing a framework to improve/enable communications through the Borough among residents and between residents, Council, committees and Borough departments.” Overall, the Council members felt that they had made good progress and were meeting the targets they had set when establishing the goals. Councilman Holmberg explained his use of the dashboard module in order to keep abreast of sub-committee action items as well as future agenda items. The Council agreed to discuss further the dashboard as a reporting mechanism. Mayor Happer reminded the Council liaisons that Committee/Commission goals and minutes should be posted on the Borough website.
9. RESOLUTION 120-13
Resolution Authorizing a Place-to-Place Transfer – Mountain Lakes Wine & Liquor
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Council Member |
By: |
2nd: |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
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Borin |
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X |
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Bradlee |
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X |
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Bravo |
X |
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X |
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Holmberg |
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X |
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Lester |
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X |
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McWilliams |
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X |
X |
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Happer |
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X |
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10. *RESOLUTIONS:
R121-13 Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Overpayment of Taxes – Block 118.01, Lot 6
R122-13 Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Overpayment of Taxes – Block 13, Lot 14.02
R123-13 Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Overpayment of Taxes - Block 68, Lot 23
R124-13 Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Overpayment of Taxes – Block 55, Lot 29.01
R125-13 Resolution Authorizing 2013 Municipal Employees’ Salary – Ramm, Lane
R126-13 Resolution Authorizing the Renewal of Liquor Licenses
R127-13 Resolution Authorizing the Execution of An Agreement with Robert Tovo Concerning Accumulated Vacation Leave Time
R128-13 Resolution Authorizing Membership in the New Jersey State Firemen’s Association – Balluffi-Fry, Rizzo, Wangsness
R129-13 Resolution Authorizing the Payment of Bills
Prior to the Consent Agenda vote Councilman Bradlee asked that Resolution 125-13, Resolution Authorizing 2013 Municipal Employees’ Salary – Ramm, Lane and Resolution 127-13, Resolution Authorizing the Execution of An Agreement with Robert Tovo Concerning Accumulated Vacation Leave Time be pulled from the Consent Agenda for separate consideration and vote.
11. *MINUTES:
June 10, 2013 (Regular)
12. *COMMITTEE AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS: See Attached
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Council Member |
By: |
2nd: |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
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Borin |
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X |
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Bradlee |
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X |
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Bravo |
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X |
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Holmberg |
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X |
X |
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Lester |
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X |
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McWilliams |
X |
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X |
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Happer |
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X |
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Councilwoman Bravo abstained from Resolution 129-13, Resolution Authorizing the Payment of Bills, in reference to purchase order #10899 payable to Miguel Bravo.
Resolution 125-13
Resolution Authorizing 2013 Municipal Employees’ Salary – Ramm, Lane
Councilman Holmberg briefly updated Councilman Bradlee with the details of Chief Bennett’s presentation regarding staffing levels, as Councilman Bradlee had not been in attendance for that portion of the meeting.
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Council Member |
By: |
2nd: |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
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Borin |
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X |
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Bradlee |
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X |
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Bravo |
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X |
X |
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Holmberg |
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X |
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Lester |
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X |
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McWilliams |
X |
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X |
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Happer |
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X |
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Resolution 127-13
Resolution Authorizing the Execution of An Agreement with Robert Tovo Concerning Accumulated Vacation Leave Time
Councilman Bradlee asked several questions regarding the Resolution and after some discussion, Mr. Murphy suggested that the Council return to Executive Session if more deliberation on this matter was necessary.
Councilman Bradlee made a motion, second by Deputy Mayor McWilliams, to enter into Executive Session for further discussion of the personnel issue. The motion was defeated, with Councilmen Bradlee and Borin signifying “Aye” and Council members Bravo, Holmberg, Lester, Deputy Mayor McWilliams, and Mayor Happer signifying “Nay”.
Mayor Happer reminded the other Council members that this issue had been thoroughly vetted by the Personnel Sub-Committee and the Borough Attorney. He said the consensus was that the proposed settlement was fair and pointed out that negotiations had resulted in a significant reduction of the amount of vacation time accrued.
Councilman Lester asked that the record reflect his displeasure with prior Councils for their avoidance of this issue, stating this is not the behavior the citizens of Mountain Lakes expect from its elected officials. Additionally, he said employees/staff have a responsibility to more aggressively pursue written documentation and approval for agreements which represent a departure from standard Borough policies and procedures.
Councilman Bradlee asked that the record reflect an email he had previously sent to the other members of the Borough Council upon receipt of the meeting packet. Mr. Murphy agreed that this email could be included in the minutes:
Why would there be a vote the same night we are being briefed on this verbal agreement? My son's 5th grade graduation from Wildwood is Monday @ 7pm so I won't be able to attend and as you can imagine I have many questions on this matter:
1.) Why is there no document from 1999 stating this agreement?
2.) Do we have letters supporting this from the other 2 town managers after Gary Webb (assume Gary would have briefed his replacements)?
3.) Who was on the personnel committee at the time of this verbal agreement and were they involved/briefed (if so we should pull that documentation and if not why didn't it occur)?
4.) Shouldn't this have gone through the 1999 council with Webb due to the dollar amounts even with 1 year of vacation accrual this would have been a large sum?
5.) The supporting documentation from legal/Marty discusses a year/succeeding year but nothing around a multiple year period like we have which is a big difference so would like to understand if there is anything out there on 14/multi years periods? (isn't there some precedent where our governor got involved with other municipalities on multi year accrual)?
I"m sure other council members have additional questions so my recommendation would be to remove the vote and use the time to brief the members that aren't on the personnel committee for the first time. This topic deserves the proper due diligence and time to answer everyones questions which won't be accomplished in the 30 minute executive session...
This also goes back to the point I've raised previously on personnel issues that the rest of council needs to be briefed in executive session much earlier. I proposed in a prior email a recommendation which I'll forward again but am open to others ideas...
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Council Member |
By: |
2nd: |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
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Borin |
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X |
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Bradlee |
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X |
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Bravo |
X |
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X |
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Holmberg |
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X |
X |
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Lester |
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X |
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McWilliams |
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X |
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Happer |
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X |
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13. ATTORNEY’S REPORT:
Mr. Murphy reported that he had contacted the Parsippany attorney, John Ingelsino, regarding the proposed Ordinance change. Mr. Ingelsino told Mr. Murphy that he expected an Ordinance to be introduced at the July 16th meeting; however, a draft had not yet been prepared. Mr. Ingelsino told Mr. Murphy he did not expect a Public Hearing would be held until sometime in September.
Councilman Holmberg asked about the legislation introduced by Senator Bucco, regarding schools sharing the burden for tax appeals. Mr. Murphy thought the legislation was still in committee. Councilman Holmberg asked for a follow-up at the next meeting. Councilwoman Bravo also asked Mr. Murphy to follow-up regarding the progress of the proposed changes to OPRA (Open Public Records Act) and OPMA (Open Public Meetings Act).
14. MANAGER’S REPORT:
Mr. Tovo reported that the Canal cleaning project was seventy percent (70%) complete and that progress had been slightly hampered by the weather. He expected completion of the project by the middle of next week. Mr. Prusina advised that five hundred (500) tons of debris had been removed from the site.
Mr. Tovo mentioned that he and Chief Bennett had done a great deal of research regarding CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Team) versus a police auxiliary reserve. Due to the amount of training required for the police auxiliary reserve, the decision had been made to implement CERT in the Borough and to complete one training module by the end of 2013.
Mr. Tovo said he is planning for slight revisions at the northern end of Cove Park. This permanent addition will improve access for boaters and skaters.
Mr. Tovo discussed the problems he and Chief Bennett have encountered with obtaining a boat for use during the Fourth of July Fireworks. For the past three years, the Borough has borrowed a boat in order to stage the barge and also to provide the police with a way to patrol Mountain Lake and to ensure the security of the fireworks and the safety of residents once the barge has been launched. As of today, the Borough has been unable to find a boat and Mr. Tovo said he may have to rent a boat this year. In addition, he advised the Council that the purchase of a utility boat should be considered in the next budget cycle, not just for the fireworks but also due to the increase in requests for a police and rescue presence on Mountain Lake. Jayne Wolkenstein, the Commodore of the Sailing Association, said the Mountain Lakes Sailing Association would consider fundraising and donating some of those funds for the purchase of a boat. She commented that this year the sailing camp sponsored by Mountain Lakes Recreation has ninety-seven (97) campers and the Association would like the Borough to have a boat in the case of a water emergency.
15. COUNCIL REPORTS:
Recreation Committee – Councilman Holmberg announced that Cathy Mitchell is the Board of Education liaison to the Committee. She and Councilman Holmberg have agreed to conduct a facilities evaluation in order to determine capital project priorities.
Shade Tree Commission – Deputy Mayor McWilliams reported that the Commission needs one regular and one alternate member, and that they are conducting their annual tree survey.
Website Committee – Councilman Lester mentioned that the Committee had held its last meeting, as the members would now be part of the new Communication Committee.
Shared Services Sub-Committee – Councilwoman Bravo said the sub-committee had received a history lesson from Mr. Prusina regarding the shared service agreement with the Board of Education, which was effective September 6, 1994.
Public Safety Sub-Committee – Councilwoman Bravo said the sub-committee would be updating and revising four (4) Ordinances. She expected three of the Ordinances would be presented as discussion items at the July meeting.
DPW Sub-Committee – Mayor Happer reported that the Wildwood Lake spillway was complete and that the sub-committee had also discussed curbing projects, the High School sewer system, and the preparations for Fourth of July.
16. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Mayor Happer opened the second public comment portion of the meeting with the consent of the Council. Mayor Happer explained the Council’s policy of limiting each speaker to five (5) minutes and no yielding of time to another person.
Bill Robinson – Glen Road
Mr. Robinson offered his assistance to the Sailing Association, the Borough Council and the Borough Administration.
Jackie Bay – Morris Avenue
Ms. Bay has children who participate in the sailing program and supports the purchase of a boat. She said she felt that rescuers needed a way to get to a child quickly.
Lisa Graf – Bellvale Road
Ms. Graf, former Commodore of the Sailing Association, stated her support for the purchase of a boat and her feeling that is was negligent to not have the means for a rescue.
Margaret Gossett – Glen Road
Ms. Gossett has children who participate in the sailing program and supports the purchase of a boat. She asked Mr. Murphy about making a public comment regarding the proposed zone change in Parsippany. Mr. Murphy stated that the public hearing would be the appropriate time for a public comment as it would be documented in the record.
Pearl Ferdico – Boulevard
Ms. Ferdico supported a purchase of a boat, citing the issue of the safety of the children.
Jayne Wolkenstein – Melrose Road
Ms. Wolkenstein, the Commodore of the Sailing Association and parent of children participating in the program, stated that there was a lot of traffic on Mountain Lake and not everyone respects water safety rules. She supported the purchase of a boat.
Mayor Happer asked Mr. Tovo to follow-up with the Borough Council at a later date regarding the issue of a boat purchase and additional costs associated with the operation of the craft.
With no one else wishing to be heard, Mayor Happer closed the second public comment portion of the meeting.
17. ADJOURNMENT at 11:32 p.m.
Motion made by Councilman Holmberg, second by Deputy Mayor McWilliams, to adjourn the meeting at 11:32 p.m., with all members in favor signifying by “Aye”.
*Consent Agenda (Matters listed are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion of the Council and one roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Council member requests an item be removed for consideration.)
Attest: June 24, 2013
____________________________________ _______________________________
Michele Reilly, RMC, Borough Clerk Daniel J. Happer, Mayor