COUNCIL MINUTES - AUGUST 5, 2008

The Regular Public Meeting of the Mount Olive Township Council was called to Order at 8:15 pm by Council Vice President Tobey with the Pledge of Allegiance.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE & MOMENT OF REFLECTION for all those who have and continue to protect our freedoms and our way of life.

OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT ANNOUNCEMENT
According to the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate notice of this meeting has been given to the Mount Olive Chronicle. Notice has been posted at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mount Olive Township, New Jersey and notices were sent to those requesting the same.

ROLL CALL

Present: Mr. Roman, Mr. Tobey, Mrs. Labow, Mr. Tepper, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Rattner

Absent: Mr. Perkins

Also Present: David Scapicchio, Mayor; Sherry Jenkins, CFO; John Dorsey, Township Attorney; Michelle Masser, Deputy Township Clerk

Questions on Bill List?

Vice President Tobey: Does anyone have any questions with regards to the Bill List on Council? Anyone from the public? Yes, sir. Please state your name and address for the record.

Nelson Russell, Budd Lake: I’ve got a couple of questions. On page 1, we’re paying $2,139 to Golub Animal Hospital for May. What are we getting for $2,000 from a vet?

Mrs. Labow: I can actually, Sherry, I can address that from the Board of Health. Is that okay?

Vice President Tobey: Sure, Mrs. Labow.

Mrs. Labow: We had an issue recently in Town where there was a house that had been vacated. There were 21 cats that had to be caught and had to be boarded and euthanized. They were feral. So a situation like that comes up and you have to take care of it. So I’m pretty sure that’s where that cost came in.

Mr. Russell: So that was an exceptional situation?

Mrs. Labow: It was a very exceptional situation.

Mayor Scapicchio: The house was deemed a health hazard.

Mrs. Labow: It was.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Tepper?

Mr. Tepper: My question is will we go back against the homeowner and put a tax lien on the house for those costs?

Mrs. Labow: Actually what I will, if I can answer that. This has been a big issue. The gentleman passed away in the home and it was deemed a health issue. We were, at one point we weren’t sure if we were going to have to do the cleanup. Fortunately, finally Frank Wilpert reached the bank and the bank has sent a crew out and they did send a hazmat, actually they hired a company that’s licensed to cleanup this type of a situation and it was $22,000 just to clean this house out. The people were, as I understand, were in arrears with their mortgage payment. So obviously the bank is going to take over at this point. We are going to look to see if we can recover the costs from the bank from the sale of the house, but I don’t know that we’re going to be able to. We will try.

Mr. Dorsey: Well you can because you’re going to put a lien on it…

Mrs. Labow: We’ll put a lien on it.

Mr. Dorsey: …and when they go to sell the house you’ll be able to collect on the lien.

Mrs. Labow: So we are working on that.

Mr. Dorsey: It’s all been worked out.

Mrs. Labow: It’s been a situation that’s been going on for about two months now.

Mr. Tepper: Thank you.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Russell, anything else?

Mr. Russell: Yes, on page 7 we have a toilet repair for $1,073. It seems awfully expensive to repair a toilet.

Ms. Jenkins: There were a number of things they did with that. They actually spent eight hours in the Police department. I’ll give you the bill and you can take a look at it because I questioned the same thing. There were a number of things that they had to fix. Like I said they spent a lot of time.

Mr. Russell: Alright, it wasn’t just a plug or something?

Ms. Jenkins: No, it wasn’t a simple thing, not at all.

Mr. Rattner: A thousand dollars today could be a simple thing.

Mr. Russell: The only reason I ask is I just had a plumbing backup with my house and I’ve got Service Master in there right now. Insurance is covering it. They’re cutting walls away.

Ms. Jenkins: So you’re hoping it’s not going to be $1,000. It’ll be more than that?

Mr. Russell: Oh, it’s going to be like $2,200. Insurance is going to pick it up.

Mayor Scapicchio: He’s wishing it was going to only be that.

Ms. Jenkins: Wishing, okay.

Mr. Russell: I mentioned to Tim and he said my side or your side? I said you’re lucky it’s my side. Page 9, we’re spending $11,000 on non-contract maintenance. Is our contract right if we’re spending a monthly amount of close to $11,000 in non-contract maintenance?

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Quinn, do you want to…?

Mr. Russell: Why don’t we work that type of stuff into the contract?

Ms. Jenkins: Tim, this was June’s bill, just so you know.

Mr. Quinn: Basically the contract is written on life expectancy of the different types of vehicles. For instance, a high pursuit Police car has got a four year contract lifespan to it. Some of my other trucks, my single axle dump trucks, the heavy equipment, the packer trucks, they’re anywhere from six to eight years depending on the type of vehicle. Many of our vehicles have passed their contract lifespan. So basically repairs to these vehicles become contract costs. We’re getting into larger repairs over the past couple of months with heavier equipment, and single repairs on this equipment run into several thousands of dollars in some cases. It’s not that every month it’s $11,000. It’ll vary. It depends on what pieces of equipment we’re having worked on.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Roman?

Mr. Roman: Tim, as these vehicles are coming off of contract, am I correct in assuming that we are still paying the normal contract payment?

Mr. Quinn: Yes.

Mr. Roman: So, and on this June Bill that’s almost $11,000 was there anything extraordinary that stands out or is this just normal breakdown?

Mr. Quinn: I’d have to review the billing. I’d have to look at it. We did have several issues with the backhoe and a few of my trucks and the packers. We have a couple of those running off. Although when vehicles do come off of contract we’re paying the same, but we do also have new vehicles that do come into the Town that do fall under the contract cost. So most of the time it’s almost an even wash with what’s going out and what’s coming in. There may be a lag because of the time of year that we get our vehicles, but the majority of it balances out fairly even over the course of a year.

Mr. Roman: Sherry, do we know what we’re on track to spend this year with Penske combined contract and non contract?

Ms. Jenkins: Well, contract is a flat dollar amount so that will be what it is and I believe, actually, we’re below in terms of non-contract. I’m in the process of going through all of the budget accounts and seeing where we are. I’m actually pretty happy with a lot of them because we spent less than what I thought we would in some cases. I believe non contract, I think we put in, Tim, about $180,000 this year?

Mr. Quinn: Yes.

Ms. Jenkins: And I think that we’re doing well so far through the six months I think that we’ve paid.

Mr. Quinn: Yes, June was a heavier month.

Ms. Jenkins: It was, but I think the months before that actually weren’t that bad if I remember correctly.

Mr. Quinn: No, they weren’t. Some months weren’t that bad at all.

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, so I mean I think that at this point, assuming no $30,000 months we should be, you know, have spent less than the $180,000 that we thought that we were going to spend which was close to what we had last year.

Vice President Tobey: Sherry?

Mr. Roman: Don’t tell them that.

Vice President Tobey: Sherry, do you know offhand how many years are left in that contract? Or what the term is?

Ms. Jenkins: Tim…

Mr. Quinn: I believe it was a five year contract but the Township has the option to extend it each year for an additional year.

Mr. Tepper: It’s an automatic renewal.

Mr. Quinn: I believe that’s pretty much along the lines of what Mr. Dorsey finally settled on.

Vice President Tobey: Alright, Mr. Tepper?

Mr. Tepper: Isn’t the contract in automatic renewal unless we notify them X number of days in advance?

Mr. Quinn: I’d have to read the print but yes, it’s something along those lines, but the Town does have the option every year to cancel or continue the contract. When they first came in, they wanted a solid five year contract and the Township said no and we negotiated down to what we settled for.

Vice President Tobey: Mrs. Labow?

Mrs. Labow: I have a question on that note. If it’s an automatic renewal, do we have an option to renegotiate the contract?

Mayor Scapicchio: We do. We do.

Mr. Quinn: Yes.

Mrs. Labow: So when do we have to give notification for that if we chose to do that?

Mr. Quinn: Usually if they want to go with an out of contract hourly rate increase they have to notify us, I believe, 60 days before the end of the year. Last year they missed that window of opportunity. So when they came in January, the Township refused to give them any increase on the hourly rate. So usually before the expiration of the existing year’s contract they have to make notification of any changes.

Mrs. Labow: 60 days?

Mr. Quinn: Yes, and there’s an automatic increase on the contract with the cost of living.

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, the CPI.

Mr. Quinn: The CPI is automatic in the contract.

Mrs. Labow: CPI is automatic.

Vice President Tobey: You know, that contract is a big ticket line item and I recall a couple of years ago sitting in the audience and listening to the discussion and I believe there was even a debate at the time. I don’t know if that’s something that the Administration can address at some point in the near future. Just take a look at it again. Maybe Mr. Roman has some additional feedback that he can contribute towards that with his expertise in the field.

Mr. Quinn: I do have to add that I am very pleased with the performance of the mechanics that I have back there. I don’t have any of the issues that I had in the past with the last contract that we had in Town. The foreman back there does an outstanding job and he’s a stickler for quality. I don’t have the comebacks that I’ve had in the past. I’m pleased with the performance that we’re getting. We are paying a good price for it but they do a good job.

Mr. Roman: Right, I mean, in looking, I’ve been looking over this issue for the longest and unfortunately if you go with the lowest bidder you end up getting…

Mr. Quinn: You get what you pay for.

Mr. Roman: …the lowest bidder performance and you get what you pay for. I just want to make sure that we keep on top and that the bills don’t start, and that there’s no creative billing happening.

Mr. Quinn: I review every single invoice that comes into my desk and if performance wasn’t what it is I’d be the first one up here…

Mr. Roman: And to be perfectly honest, I mean, I’ve gone around and spoken to various employees and ask them how is their vehicle and I hear nothing but good words. Yes, they address my issues. Some of the employees have been around long enough to remember the days where it took longer to get their vehicles back and have to go back two and three times over. So, yes, you do get what you pay for.

Mr. Quinn: I remember those days very well.

Vice President Tobey: Alright, Tim, thank you very much. Alex, thank you for your feedback with regards to that topic.

Mr. Russell: Thank you, Tim. Minor point, on page 11 we’re paying $85 for a World’s Religion text book.

Ms. Jenkins: A reimbursement for a book for a class that one of our employee’s took.

Mr. Russell: Is that work related?

Mr. Tepper: It’s contractual.

Ms. Jenkins: He’s going for a degree and you know how there are certain classes, prerequisite classes that you have to take. This is one of those.

Mr. Russell: Okay, so we’re paying for his degree.

Ms. Jenkins: Well, we’re reimbursing him for classes.

Mr. Russell: Okay, and one final question, there are five payments to the Morris County Joint Insurance Fund which come out to $374,000 and change. Seems like an awful lot for insurance.

Ms. Jenkins: We take the JIF bill and we allocate it accordingly to each of the funds, and that’s actually a half year installment. We pay two installments. One in January…

Mr. Russell: Oh, that’s a half year. I thought it was a month.

Ms. Jenkins: No that’s a half a year.

Mr. Russell: Okay, I feel more better now.

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, I didn’t think that would help you but I wanted to be honest.

Mr. Roman: I’m more better.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mr. Russell. Anyone else from the public with any questions with regards to the Bill List? Moving on, Approval of the Minutes of Previous Meetings. Mr. Greenbaum, if you’d be so kind.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Mr. Greenbaum: I’ll move them.

July 22, 2008 CS – all present
July 22, 2008 WS & PM – all present

Mr. Rattner: Second.

Vice President Tobey: Okay, Roll Call, please?

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

CORRESPONDENCE

LETTERS FROM RESIDENTS/ORGANIZATIONS

1. Letter received July 24, 2008, from Marie S. Ruggiero regarding the Senior Center Building. PDF Correspondence

2. E-mail received July 31, 2008, from Remington, & Vernick Engineers regarding its on-going Green Technology Campaign. PDF Correspondence

3. E-mail received July 31, 2008, from the Public Performance Measurement and Reporting Network regarding their July 2008 Newsletter. PDF Correspondence

RESOLUTIONS / ORDINANCES / CORRESPONDENCE OTHER TOWNS

4. Resolution No. R-116-08 received July 23, 2008, from the Town of Morristown regarding a request to Support and Adopt Legislation Pertaining to Adoptees’ Access to a Copy of their Original Birth Certificate. PDF Correspondence

5. Letter received July 28, 2008, from the Township of Parsippany – Troy Hills regarding a Resolution Opposing Third Round Affordable Housing Rules as Adopted by the Council on Affordable Housing. PDF Correspondence

6. Resolutions received July 28, 2008, from Washington Township regarding Land Use. PDF Correspondence

7. Resolution received July 28, 2008, from the Town of Boonton regarding Opposing Third Round Affordable Housing Rules as adopted by the Council on Affordable Housing. PDF Correspondence

8. Resolution received July 28, 2008, from the Town of Boonton regarding Senior Citizens and Disabled Residents Transportation Assistance Program. PDF Correspondence

9. Resolution received July 28, 2008, from the Town of Boonton regarding the “Transparency in Government Act.” PDF Correspondence

DOT / DEP / LOI / HIGHLANDS

10. Letter received July 23, 2008, from the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Enforcement & Assignment Element, Child Care/Educational Facility Unit regarding NJDEP Child Care Facility Approval Letter for the Flanders Valley Country Day School. PDF Correspondence

11. Letter received July 28, 2008, from Civil Engineering, Inc. regarding a Highlands Exemption Application for a property located at Block 1101 Lot 2 (Cheri Lane). PDF Correspondence

12. Letter received July 31, 2008, from Omland Engineering Associated, Inc. regarding a Notice of NJDEP Application for Blue Vista Consulting L.L.C. PDF Correspondence

13. Letter received August 1, 2008, from the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Case Assignment and Initial Notice, Underground Storage Tanks Unit regarding an Out of Service Extension Request for Exxon (357 Route 206). PDF Correspondence

14. Letter received August 1, 2008, from the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Supply, Water Supply Permitting, Bureau of Water Allocation regarding a Water Allocation Element of Highlands Preservation Area Approval for Mount Olive Township. PDF Correspondence

15. Letter received August 1, 2008, from Associated Consultants regarding Highlands Preservation Area Approval application for Robert Smith Block 12, Lot 4 (226 Drakestown Road). PDF Correspondence

DCA

16. E-mail received July 30, 2008, from the Department of Community Affairs regarding the GovConnect Update for July 30, 2008. PDF Correspondence

LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES

17. Letter received July 18, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding Important New Information from the Division of Local Government Services. PDF Correspondence

18. E-mail received July 21, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding a Telephonic Hearing. PDF Correspondence

19. E-mail received July 21, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding a Federal Update for Period Ending July 18, 2008. PDF Correspondence

20. E-mail received July 23, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding Public Safety Related Costs Property Tax Relief. PDF Correspondence

21. E-mail received July 23, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding NJ Supreme Court Rules on Filing Period and Attorneys Fees in OPRA Cases, and NJDEP Offers Local Outreach Concerning Site Remediation. PDF Correspondence

22. E-mail received July 24, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding Affordable Housing and Grant News and Information. PDF Correspondence

23. E-mail received July 24, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding Washington Watch (House Passes H.R. 3221). PDF Correspondence

24. E-mail received July 28, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding a 2008 Budget Impact Survey Reminder. PDF Correspondence

25. E-mail received July 30, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding H.R. 3221 (foreclosure Crisis Relief). PDF Correspondence

26. E-mail received July 31, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding President Signs Foreclosure Belief Bill and DLGS News. PDF Correspondence

27. Letter received July 31, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding a statewide conference entitled, “The New Education Order: School Consolidation, Construction, Funding and Preschool Expansion.” PDF Correspondence

28. E-mail received July 31, 2008, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding Free Limited Membership in International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA). PDF Correspondence

MORRIS COUNTY

29. Minutes received July 23, 2008, from the Morris County Planning Board regarding their June 19, 2008 meeting. PDF Correspondence

30. E-mail received July 28, 2008, from the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders regarding County News. PDF Correspondence

31. Letter received July 30, 2008, from the County of Morris Department of Senior, Disability & Veterans Services Division on Aging, Disabilities & Veterans regarding August & September 2008 Calendar of Events. PDF Correspondence

NJ DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY

32. Letter received July 21, 2008, from the State of New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Contract Compliance and Equal Employment Opportunity, Public Contracts regarding the FY ’09 Appropriations Act. PDF Correspondence

LETTERS FROM LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES

33. E-mail received July 21, 2008, from Congressman Rodney P. Frelinghuysen regarding House Passes Intelligence Bill, Congress’ Budget Process Grinds to a Halt, House Passes Legislation Helping Missing Children, Military Celebrates 60 Years of Integration, Frelinghuysen Meets with New Jersey Astronaut, Spread the e-News! PDF Correspondence

34. E-mail received July 28, 2008, from Congressman Rodney P. Frelinghuysen regarding Frelinghuysen Visits Troops in Iraq, Opposes Federal Bailout, Focuses on Energy Solutions, House Passes Legislation to Fight Disease Worldwide, Spread the e-News! PDF Correspondence

UTILITIES

35. Letter received July 21, 2008, from Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP regarding the Application of CSC TKR, Inc. d/b/a Cablevision for Renewal of Certificate of Approval to continue to operate and maintain a Cable Television System in the Township of Mount Olive. PDF Correspondence

36. Letter received July 21, 2008, from Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP regarding a supplement of an Application for a Cable Television Franchise to the petition, exhibits and Application of CSC TKR, Inc. d/b/a Cablevision for Renewal of Certificate of Approval to continue to operate and maintain a Cable Television System in the Township of Mount Olive. PDF Correspondence

37. Letter received July 21, 2008, from the Federal Communications Commission regarding a Consent Motion for Extension of Time for Comcast Cable Communications, LLC. PDF Correspondence

38. Letter received July 23, 2008, from Cozen & O’Connor Attorneys regarding a Petition of New Jersey American Water Company, Inc. to Change the Level of its Purchased Water Adjustment Clause and Purchased Sewerage Adjustment Clause. PDF Correspondence

39. Letter received July 25, 2008, from Comcast regarding Channel Changes. PDF Correspondence

40. Notice received July, 28, 2008, from Pivotal Utility Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Elizabethtown Gas regarding a revision to its Basic Gas Supply Service Periodic Rate. PDF Correspondence

41. Letter received July 31, 2008, from Comcast regarding Channel Changes. PDF Correspondence

COAH

42. Letter received July 30, 2008, from the State of New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing regarding Affordable Housing Reform Statute, P.L. 2008, c. 46. PDF Correspondence

MISCELLANEOUS

43. Newsletter received July 30, 2008, from the American Conference on Diversity regarding 2008 Spring/Summer Updates. PDF Correspondence

ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING

Vice President Tobey: Moving on, there’s 43 pieces of Correspondence. Anyone from Council wish to comment or discuss anything? Moving on, we’re up to Ordinances for Public Hearing. We have one Ordinance this evening, Ord. #32-2008. I open the hearing to the public on Ord. #32-2008, entitled:

Ord. #32-2008 An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive to Amend and Supplement Chapter 102 Entitled “Documents, Fees For Copies of”, Section 102-5 Entitled “Photocopies (Per Page)” of the Code of the Township of Mount Olive. (Continue to 8/19/08)

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Tepper, if you would be so kind.

Mr. Tepper: Yes, Mr. President, I move for adoption and final approval of Ord. #32-2008.

Mr. Greenbaum: Second.

Vice President Tobey: Ord. #32-2008 has been moved and seconded. Any Council discussion? Mr. Tepper?

Mr. Tepper: I know we’ve been doing this in response to a request that came in from a resident, and I really believe that we are under pricing what this is relative to our costs. With regard to Mr. Roman’s previous comment, if we looked at the study that the Clerk has done that we did 10,460 pages approximately, I think that we should stay with what the ordinance, the State ordinance allows us to charge for this, and not amend our ordinance. I would recommend its defeat.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Roman?

Mr. Roman: Am I correct in assuming that what we are currently charging is less than what the State mandates.

Mr. Rattner: There is no mandate.

Mr. Tepper: There is under the OPRA Act. There is an amount to be charged unless you have quantified what the cost is of the calculation to make the copies, and if we haven’t done that there is an amount under OPRA that we are allowed to charge…

Mr. Rattner: Allowed, not mandated.

Mr. Tepper: …pursuant to State regulation, not mandated.

Mr. Dorsey: No, the answer to Mr. Roman’s question is the Township is currently charging the maximum permitted under the New Jersey regulation. This ordinance will reduce it below the maximum permitted.

Mr. Tepper: And in fact reduce it beyond, in my opinion, beyond what our cost is to satisfy the request of which we are getting more and more requests, and actually probably several weeks dedicated salary to meet the current request. So I believe we are foolish to lower our price to less than what our costs are by that significant amount.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mr. Tepper. Mrs. Labow?

Mrs. Labow: I just want to also add to that. I remember, and correct me, I’m sure Steve will correct me if I’m wrong but a few years ago when Lisa had requested another additional Clerk in her office, a lot of it had to do with the time it took to process the OPRA requests, and my concern is that when there are different litigation matters going on so on and so forth as we’ve found out, that some attorneys will use OPRA as a means of discovery instead of actually going through the other processes that they used to in the past. So the cost for these copies is not about how much it costs to copy it. It’s how much it costs, I mean, a lot of these documents are not just sitting there. If it’s something that’s in Sherry’s department, or Frank’s department, or Catherine’s department you have to send a memo. You have to request the information. You have to have somebody get pulled away from their regular job, find the information, copy it and then call the people and have them come back. So it’s not just taking a piece of paper and putting it in a photocopy machine. You have time away from your daily tasks in order to accomplish the, you know, the OPRA requests.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mrs. Labow. Anyone else from Council? Roll Call, please?

ROLL CALL – Defeated unanimously

Mr. Dorsey: Ordinance is defeated.

ORDINANCES FOR FIRST READING – (2nd reading August 19, 2008)

Vice President Tobey: Ord. #32-2008 is defeated. Moving on, Ordinances for First Reading and Second Reading for September 9, 2008. The next item on the Agenda is Ord. #44-2008, entitled:

Ord. #44-2008 An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive, County of Morris, and State of New Jersey Amending Chapter 8, Committees and Boards, Article XII, Open Space Committee, Section 8-43, Use of Funds of Open Space Dedicated Trust, of the Revised General Ordinances.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Roman?

Mr. Roman: I move that Ord. #44-2008 be introduced by title and passed on first reading and that a meeting be held on September 9th, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mount Olive, NJ…

Mrs. Masser: Can I just…? I’m sorry. I’m just going to interrupt. It’s not September 9th. It was an error. August 19th, 2008 will be Second Reading.

Mrs. Labow: August…?

Vice President Tobey: August 19th, 2008. Thank you.

Mrs. Labow: Thank you.

Mr. Tepper: So amend your date.

Mr. Roman: I amend my date to August 19th, 2008 for a public hearing consideration of said reading and passage of said ordinance and that the Clerk be directed to publish, post and make available said ordinance in accordance with the requirements of law.

Mr. Rattner: Second.

Vice President Tobey: Ord. #44-2008 has been seconded. Any Council discussion? Roll Call, please.

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

Vice President Tobey: We’re up to Ord. #45-2008, entitled:

Ord. #45-2008 An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive, Morris County, New Jersey,
Establishing Fees for the Renewal of Alcoholic Beverage Licenses.

Vice President Tobey: Mrs. Labow.

Mrs. Labow: I move that Ord. #45-2008 be introduced by title and passed on first reading and that a meeting be held on August 19th, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mount Olive, NJ for a public hearing consideration of said reading and passage of said ordinance and that the Clerk be directed to publish, post and make available said ordinance in accordance with the requirements of law.

Vice President Tobey: Second?

Mr. Tepper: Second.

Vice President Tobey: Any Council discussion? Mr. Roman?

Mr. Roman: I reiterate, just like as in the previous ordinance that we knocked down, Ord. #32-2008 where we could identify that there are costs associated with delivering a service. I think that the Alcoholic Beverage fee is not something that we can very easily quantify that it’s costing us more than what we’re charging to deliver the paperwork to process whatever is required. Especially in this year where businesses have slowed down and where businesses like retail and restaurants and the like that I have recently been going to that the wait is no longer there. They no longer have to wait. This is not the time to burden them with an additional tax increase because we can call it a fee, but this is a tax increase.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you.

Mr. Roman: So until I am convinced that it is costing the Township, it’s costing us more to deliver this service, I move and recommend that it not be adopted.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mr. Roman. Mr. Rattner?

Mr. Rattner: I was wrestling with some of the comments that Mr. Roman has. However, I will vote to pass on First Reading and go to the public hearing because I always like to see if the public is really concerned. Mr. Roman, one of the things that does come up is that we have, we spend a disproportionate amount of our resources in our Police department, things like that, for alcohol related type issues whether it be DWI, whether it be other issues, domestic violence and that type of thing. So I put that in there because that’s really the total cost. I’m not saying I disagree with you and I’m not sure how I’m going to vote next week, however, I do have to look at there are other costs that are, we could say are directly related to alcohol. With that, I’m really undecided at this point but I appreciate what you said.

Mr. Roman: If I may interject on that, I mean, if you’re, and I agree with you. I think that driving under the influence is an atrocious act. The individuals that do commit those offenses are heavily fined and this is not something that is going to alleviate that or be compensated for the cost.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Anyone else on Council? Roll Call, please.

ROLL CALL – Passed with the exception Mr. Roman voted no

Vice President Tobey: We’re up to Ord. #46-2008, entitled:

Ord. #46-2008 Bond Ordinance Providing for Various Capital Improvements of the Township of Mount Olive, in the County of Morris, New Jersey, Appropriating the Aggregate Amount of $1,363,145 Therefor and Authorizing the Issuance of $934,206 Bonds or Notes of the Township to Finance Part of the Cost Thereof.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Rattner?

Mr. Rattner: You give me the money one.

Vice President Tobey: Rightfully so.

Mr. Rattner: But we all agreed on it. I move that Ord. #46-2008 be introduced by title and passed on first reading and that a meeting be held on August 19th, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mount Olive, NJ for a public hearing consideration of said reading and passage of said ordinance and that the Clerk be directed to publish, post and make available said ordinance in accordance with the requirements of law.

Vice President Tobey: Is there a second?

Mr. Roman: Second.

Vice President Tobey: Any Council discussion? Roll Call, please.

Mr. Ireland: Can the public ask a question on this?

Mr. Dorsey: Not now.

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

Mrs. Labow: Can I just explain why he can’t…?

Mr. Dorsey: This is First Reading. There is no public hearing in connection with a First Reading.

Mrs. Labow: But he could ask a question at the public portion.

Vice President Tobey: The public portion.

CONSENT RESOLUTIONS AGENDA:

Resolutions on the Consent Agenda List are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the Township Council and will be approved by one motion (one vote). There will be no separate discussion or debate on each of these resolutions except for the possibility of brief clarifying statements that may be offered. If one or more Council member requests, any individual resolution on the Consent Agenda may be removed from the Consent Agenda List and acted on separately.

CONSENT RESOLUTIONS

1. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Renewal of an Alcoholic Beverage License for the 2008-2009 Licensing Period. PDF Res

2. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Requesting a Binding Referendum Be Placed on the Mount Olive General Election Ballot for 2008 Relative to the Township’s Open Space Tax. PDF Res

3. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Settlement of Litigation Entitled Township of Mount Olive V. Britari Management (Perkins) PDF Res

4. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Canceling the Year-End Tax Penalty Assessed to Block 4101, Lot 3. PDF Res

5. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive confirming ownership of the Flanders Water System by the Township of Mount Olive. PDF Res

6. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Requesting Approval from the Director of the Division of Local Government Services for insertion of a Specific Item of Revenue into the 2008 Municipal Budget (17,628 for a Planning Assistance Grant) PDF Res

7. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Revising the Cancellation of a General Capital Ordinance. PDF Res

8. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Extending the Grace Period for Payment of the August 2008 Quarterly Tax Bills. PDF Res

9. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Omission from Tax Sale Certain Properties. PDF Res

10. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive to Cancel Taxes on Various Properties Foreclosed by the Township of Mount Olive. PDF Res

11. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Withholding from Tax Sale Special Assessment Installments Not Yet Due. PDF Res

12. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Omission from Tax Sale Block 3109, Lot 9. PDF Res

13. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Cancellation of Taxes on Block 4500 Lot 8 & Block 4500 Lot 8 QFARM 155 Flanders-Netcong Road. PDF Res

Vice President Tobey: Does anyone on Council wish to have any removed to Non Consent? Mr. Tepper?

Mr. Tepper: Number 3.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Roman?

Mr. Roman: Number 2.

Vice President Tobey: Number 2, thank you. Does anyone from the public wish to be heard with regards to the Consent Resolutions?

PUBLIC PORTION ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS – none

Mr. Ireland: I’d like to comment on 2, but is that going to be…

Vice President Tobey: That’ll be next. At this time I would ask Mr. Rattner to please move Consent Resolutions 1 and 4 through 13.

Mr. Rattner: Thank you, Mr. President, Acting President. I move Resolutions 1 and 4 through 13.

Vice President Tobey: Is there a second?

Mr. Tepper: Second.

Vice President Tobey: Roll Call, please.

COUNCIL COMMENTS ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS - none

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

RESOLUTIONS NON CONSENT

Vice President Tobey: We’re up to Resolution #2, Non Consent. I believe that was Mr. Roman.

2. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Requesting a Binding Referendum Be Placed on the Mount Olive General Election Ballot for 2008 Relative to the Township’s Open Space Tax. PDF Res

Mr. Roman: Yes, the reason I requested we put that on Non Consent is just I do not wish to pass the opportunity to increase the taxes on the residents of Mount Olive. Currently, right now, because of the reassessment the Open Space Tax is an equivalent of 1.6% and putting it back up to the 3% is basically doubling the Open Space Tax. Thanks to the Highlands Council this tax is not as urgent as it used to be in the past. I am a great proponent of Open Space. I like what the Open Space Committee is using the money for but I do not wish to double resident’s taxes.

Mr. Dorsey: So there is no misunderstanding, this resolution places a question on the ballot so that the voters…

Mr. Roman: I am agreeing…

Mr. Dorsey: …of Mount Olive will be able to make that decision. The passing of this resolution does not take it back to the 3%. This simply places it on the ballot for the voters to decide.

Mr. Tepper: It actually has the affect of what you’re looking for, giving the voters the chance to keep it where it is rather than forcing it to double as the current ordinance forces.

Mr. Roman: No, the current ordinance does not force it.

Mr. Tepper: The current ordinance would force it to double because it’s maintained at 3% on the new valuation, and therefore we’re giving the voters the chance to bring it back to 1.5% and keep their costs consistent.

Mr. Roman: The way I got explained to at the last meeting was that if we did nothing it would stay at 1.5%. Am I correct, Sherry?

Mrs. Labow: We don’t have a choice, though.

Ms. Jenkins: It will remain at what it is right now because we got the opinion from the Division of Local Government Services that because of the revaluation this is the effective, we have to deal with the effective tax rate. So it will remain what it is.

Mr. Roman: Which is 1.6?

Ms. Jenkins: It’s 1.6. The County rounded it to 1.5, you know, whatever it is. They rounded it. So I think the issue comes into play wherein the public originally voted for 3 cents and so the feeling is do you want to go back to them and say do you want to retain the 3 cents.

Mr. Roman: So am I correct in assuming that if this question is not put on the ballot, the tax rate would be 1.5?

Mr. Dorsey: Yes, that’s right.

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, it would remain.

Mr. Roman: It would remain 1.5.

Vice President Tobey: This gives the taxpayers the option to choose, correct?

Ms. Jenkins: Yes.

Mr. Roman: Right, and I just want to make sure that by the difference of one vote that everybody’s taxes, Open Space tax does not get doubled because that’s what… Am I correct in assuming, am I correct in my assertion that if this question on the ballot gets passed that the amount of Open Space tax levy is doubled?

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, it will.

Mr. Dorsey: It will go back to the 3 cents.

Ms. Jenkins: Exactly.

Mr. Roman: It’ll go back to the 3 cents but because of the…

Mr. Dorsey: Yes, you’re right.

Mr. Roman: I just want to make correct that my assumption that if this question is passed on the ballot, we are effectively doubling the Open Space levy.

Mr. Tepper: We are not. That’s the whole point. The residents are.

Mr. Roman: Right, but if we allow it to go on the ballot by one vote, this tax levy could be doubled. I’m assuming…

Mr. Tepper: So you’re saying that you would prefer to make the decision rather than allow the residents to make it?

Mr. Roman: I’d prefer, yes, if we’re a representative government. I’m representing, I’m here to represent a majority of the taxpayers. Unfortunately the majority don’t vote and if I felt that 80% of the residents are going to go out and vote then I would be more than glad to give them the opportunity, but in a day and age when we’re getting around 20-25% of residents that actually go out and vote I want to at least be able to give the other 80% the opportunity of not having their Open Space tax doubled. If I felt that we needed the Open Space funds to stop development, to stop the increase in students going to the Schools, to stop the ever increasing burden from the School system, then I would be all for doubling the tax.

Vice President Tobey: Mayor, did you have something?

Mayor Scapicchio: No, Sherry spoke for me.

Vice President Tobey: Mrs. Labow?

Mrs. Labow: The one thing I just want to point out is that in the past two years I think it was, or Sherry, three years that we’ve used surplus in the Open Space fund to offset the bond debt. So if we do have more money in the Open Space fund, that would go towards the bond debt. So either you’re going to have it in Open Space or you’re going to have it in the general fund. I don’t think it’s actually going to be a reduction in taxes.

Mr. Tepper: Regardless, I think the appropriate thing is to let the taxpayers make an informed decision because they’re the one’s paying the taxes.

Mr. Roman: Right, and if that’s the line that we should put everything on the ballot, do you want the sewer fees to go up? Do you want…?

Mr. Tepper: Mandated by ordinance that they be self liquidating. This is a different issue. It’s applicable to every resident in town.

Mrs. Labow: And they originally voted on it.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Ireland, please state your name and address for the record.

PUBLIC PORTION ON INDIVIDUAL RESOLUTIONS

Mr. Rattner: Why don’t you give him his address too?

Scott Ireland, 6 Eric Court, Flanders: On this issue, a couple of things have been raised in the conversation. One, I take small exception to what Sherry was saying about the voters voting for the 3%...

Ms. Jenkins: Three cents.

Mr. Ireland: Three cents, I would argue that they voted for a set amount to be raised that happened to reflect a 3%, or 3 cent value and that, what is the need that has arisen to double the amount of money raised? Is there one?

Mr. Tepper: None.

Mr. Ireland: Then why would you even consider putting it in front of the public for a vote?

Mr. Tepper: Scott, personally I think we should offer them the option to keep it where it is, raise it or eliminate it because the people should have the right to reassess their original opinion and if people feel that Mr. Tepper (Cont’d): there is enough money or enough space for Open Space, perhaps that would be voted on. So I don’t think it’s our right to tell the residents where it should go. They should make the decision.

Vice President Tobey: You know what, I absolutely agree with Mr. Tepper. We’re giving the public the option, we’re giving them the ability to make that decision and I believe that’s the right course.

Mr. Tepper: I believe Mr. Dorsey appropriately put down he didn’t want a three-way decision.

Mr. Ireland: Can I vote on, like Alex was saying, can I vote on some other parts of the budget then with that rationale?

Mr. Tepper: I’d like to vote on the School budget.

Mr. Dorsey: No, because there are only certain things that can go up on referendum.

Mr. Ireland: Excuse me?

Mr. Dorsey: There are only certain items that can go up on referendum. The Open Space tax happens to be one of those because it was created through referendum. You can’t vote on every item in the budget.

Mr. Ireland: This just seems that because of the reassessment, reval that the Town went through we’re going to take the opportunity much like Alex said earlier on another matter, because we can. We’re going to try to double the Open Space tax and that seems like a pretty poor way to get a 100% increase by the Town.

Mrs. Labow: I have a question.

Vice President Tobey: Mrs. Labow. Thank you.

Mrs. Labow: Why did it have to go to referendum to begin with to bring it in?

Mr. Dorsey: It was a statute that provided that.

Mrs. Labow: A statute provided that. So we could not have just created an Open Space fund?

Mr. Rattner: The reason they go by referendum is it provided a secure steady funding source, otherwise we could have setup something and it would have been up for debate every time that we did the budget. We wanted to be assured of having a certain amount so that we could invest in the future and use it for leverage like we’ve been doing. So there was a real good reason for doing it that way, otherwise in a bad year we would have just eliminated the Open Space tax to reduce taxes in general.

Mrs. Labow: So since it went out to referendum to begin with and it was voted on at 3 cents, that’s where the ordinance stands?

Mr. Tepper: No, that was the second time. We had three referendums all together.

Ms. Jenkins: Did we actually vote, it was voted at 3 cents not a dollar amount, right? It was 3 cents.

Mr. Tepper: It was 3 cents.

Mrs. Labow: It was 3 cents.

Ms. Jenkins: Okay, I just wanted to be clear. That’s what I thought.

Mr. Rattner: Right, originally, we adjusted it and we increased it once. We had to change the wording once because of Mr. Bonte and because he wanted it clear and we found out it wasn’t that clear. We’ve had the same issues the last time we went through the reval, and in fact, that time I think we had a problem because it was calculated wrong at the County level besides.

Mrs. Labow: So basically we have to do it because it went out to the voters to begin with and we have to…

Mr. Rattner: No.

Mr. Dorsey: No, no, no. Statutorily we are required to do it by referendum.

Mr. Rattner: We don’t have to do anything.

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Roman?

Mr. Roman: Sherry, how much, were all the funds from last year’s Open Space fund depleted?

Ms. Jenkins: We have about $600,000 in the Open Space Trust but we do have encumbrances and things against that.

Mr. Tepper: But did we expend from the fund last year an amount equal to what we brought in last year, or was it that we had monies left over from before?

Mr. Dorsey: That $600,000 just came from the buyout of Charters Farm, didn’t it?

Mr. Tepper: Right.

Mr. Tepper: No $600,000 also came from our tax.

Ms. Jenkins: We got $600,000 but we had to pay half of that to the County. We got to keep $326,000 of it. Half of it went to the County.

Mr. Tepper: And we used it to pay down debt anyway.

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, but we also expect that once we sell the property that we’ll get funds from that as well that’ll go back into the Open Space trust.

Mayor Scapicchio: We normally generate more than we spend.

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, which is why a few years ago Steve came up with the idea of why don’t we use some of that revenue to offset the debt service. That’s how the process started because we did have a lot of money in there.

Mr. Rattner: Well, I think what it was was that we said we were using it for leverage and what we were starting to do is we were using it for down payments and using the general fund to pay back. It was becoming such a burden and that we didn’t want to do it. It didn’t make any sense and it’s not what we told the people.

Mr. Roman: Sounds like social security.

Ms. Jenkins: Our debt service this year was $1,040,000 related to Open Space projects which Colleen just asked me about today. We used $1,026,000 of the Open Space this year. It’s not that the debt is not there.

Mrs. Labow: Right.

Mr. Roman: Am I correct in assuming that right now if this tax was left the same do you foresee in the near future that there will be projects that could not be funded because we would not have enough Open Space funds.

Ms. Jenkins: We’re not going to be able to continue to take $1 million from the Open Space trust to put in the current fund as we did this year. It’s not going to be able to remain at $1 million because right now we only have about $600,000 and again, that’s before any money we have encumbered for projects. So at a minimum I know going into next year’s budget that we’re certainly going to use far less than $1 million to come from Open Space to offset the debt in the current fund.

Vice President Tobey: Sherry?

Mrs. Labow: That’ll come from…

Mr. Roman: So we’re using Open Space funds to offset…

Mr. Tepper: Debt associated Open Space.

Ms. Jenkins: To offset Open Space related projects.

Mr. Roman: Okay.

Ms. Jenkins: So we had $1,040,000 in projects related to Open Space, Turkey Brook, B&H, Crown Towers, and we used $1,026,000. I don’t foresee that we’re going to be able to do that next year.

Vice President Tobey: Alright, Sherry, thank you. Roll Call, please.

ROLL CALL – Passed with the exception Mr. Roman voted no

Vice President Tobey: We’re up to Resolution #3, I believe. It’s Non Consent. Mr. Tepper?

3. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Settlement of Litigation Entitled Township of Mount Olive V. Britari Management (Perkins) PDF Res

Mr. Tepper: Yes, the only point I wanted to make with Resolution #3 was actually to congratulate Mr. Dorsey once again for finally reaching resolution on this matter with Perkins, as I believe it was the last item that was left for recovery on the sewer items. He’s brought in an extensive amount of revenue in resolving this as well as protecting us against future litigation.

Vice President Tobey: Anyone from the public with regards to #3? Roll Call, please.

Mrs. Masser: Mr. Greenbaum?

Mr. Greenbaum: Phil, you have to move and second it first.

Vice President Tobey: I’m sorry.

Mr. Greenbaum: Did you move and second, was there a move and second on #2 as well?

Mayor Scapicchio: No.

Mr. Dorsey: I think Mr. Tepper moved it.

Mr. Greenbaum: Did he?

Mr. Tepper: I moved it but no, it wasn’t seconded.

Vice President Tobey: Alright, Mr. Tepper, #2.

Mr. Greenbaum: Michelle, who do you have as seconding #2?

Mayor Scapicchio: Nobody.

Mr. Greenbaum: I don’t think it was moved.

Mrs. Masser: I think we should redo it. I don’t have anybody seconding. No, I’m sorry. Steve and Russ did the 1 and 4 through 13.

Mr. Greenbaum: Right, I don’t think two is moved.

Mr. Tepper: Two hasn’t been moved. I thought that’s what Mr. Roman was doing.

Mr. Roman: I’ll second it.

Vice President Tobey: You move Consent Resolution #2.

Mr. Tepper: You move #2.

Mr. Roman: Okay.

Mr. Tepper: You can vote again. I’ll second it.

Mr. Dorsey: Alright, Roman moved it, Tepper seconded it, #2 Roll Call.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you.

ROLL CALL – Passed with the exception Mr. Roman voted no

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mr. Greenbaum.

Mr. Dorsey: Now somebody has got to move #3.

Mr. Greenbaum: I’ll move #3.

Mr. Rattner: Second.

Vice President Tobey: Roll Call.

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

MOTIONS

Vice President Tobey: Okay, we’re up to Motions. Motion #1:

1. Approval of Raffle Application #2259 & #2260 for Jewish Center Mount Olive and Approval of Raffle Application #2261 for PTA Mount Olive

Vice President Tobey: Mr. Greenbaum?

Mr. Greenbaum: I’ll move it.

Mrs. Labow: Second.

Vice President Tobey: It’s been moved and seconded. Roll Call, please.

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

Vice President Tobey: We’re up to the Bill List. Mr. Tepper?

2. Bill List

Mr. Tepper: Yes, I move for approval to pay the bills.

Vice President Tobey: Is there a second.

Mr. Roman: Second.

ROLL CALL – Passed with the exception Mrs. Labow voted no

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS - none

Vice President Tobey: Mayor?

Mayor Scapicchio: None.

OLD BUSINESS

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Any Old Business?

Mrs. Labow: I have Old Business.

Vice President Tobey: Mrs. Labow?

Mrs. Labow: I don’t know if Jack left or not…

Mr. Dorsey: He did.

Mrs. Labow: Did he?

Mr. Tepper: We told him to.

Mrs. Labow: I know, but I had to talk about, I kept saying don’t let him go we have to talk about this other issue. Awhile ago we had asked the Tax Assessor to review having the rolling assessment so I was hoping to, I called Sherry too, I was hoping we would have a chance to talk with Jack about it. In view of the tax and the increases that some residents have had, decreases that others have had, I really think that we should put it on the table to discuss having the rolling assessment each year. I think it brings a lot of stability to the taxes for the residents and I just want to open it up for discussion. Russ has some comments.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Mr. Tepper?

Mr. Tepper: I would support it. I think that there was some initial discussion about not doing it. I think if you look at the fact that it would prevent having large changes either positive or negative. It would recover a cost based on current market value and sales within the neighborhoods. I believe that the incremental costs can be worked on through the fact that you don’t necessarily have to hire full time people to continue to do the updates as well as the fact that it would prevent having to go out and bond for $800,000 to $1 million the next time we have to do the reval.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Mayor, please?

Mayor Scapicchio: Jack issued a memo on this several months back and we got no response, but if the Council wishes to discuss it we’ll get it back on the Agenda when Bill gets back from vacation.

Mr. Tepper: We would appreciate that.

Vice President Tobey: Mrs. Labow?

Mrs. Labow: I actually did respond to that and I also called Jack, I think it was two weeks ago, and questioned him about it. My concern is the fact that right now the residential values are very high, commercials are low and my concern was it’s going to possibly be another ten years before we have to do another reval. I asked Jack what do we do in a situation like that. He said that we could do what they call an assessment, a reassessment. It’s not a full-blown revaluation where we would have to apply to the State or the County assuring that the residential property values have stayed the same although commercial have gone up. That would be half the cost. So basically we’re looking at that we had about $600,000 for the reval and maybe $300,000 for a reassessment. I understand that the concern was that it costs money to do a rolling assessment, but I think that it would be money well spent because we’re going to pay it anyway.

Mayor Scapicchio: Colleen, like I said, if the Council wishes to discuss that we’ll put a presentation together and it’s a policy decision by this body.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mayor.

Mr. Roman: I would like to see information on that.

Mrs. Labow: Well, can we put it on for the next meeting?

Mayor Scapicchio: Well, you can’t put it on for the next meeting. Bill’s on vacation and I’m going for two weeks starting tomorrow.

Ms. Jenkins: I’ll send Bill an e-mail and I’ll speak to him about it. It’s probably more like the beginning of September.

Mr. Rattner: You want to make sure they have enough time to prepare for it and get all the facts.

Mayor Scapicchio: You want to do it right.

Mrs. Labow: Absolutely.

Vice President Tobey: Any other Old Business? Mr. Roman?

Mr. Roman: Not to beat a dead horse but I wanted to bring back up the two issues regarding the liquor fee, and just to have this body understand that we are representatives and that we represent the taxpayers. Just because we can raise a fee and raise a tax does not mean that we should. The only time I would wholeheartedly support raising a fee is because it directly costs us to deliver a said service. The same thing goes with the Open Space. I don’t see the need to double the amount of Open Space funds and I would hate to have all of the taxpayers have their Open Space tax doubled because a ballot question was passed by one vote of possibly 20% of voters.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mr. Roman. Any New Business?

NEW BUSINESS

Mrs. Labow: I have New Business.

Vice President Tobey: Mrs. Labow.

Mrs. Labow: I think Michelle gave everybody a copy of the information for the Morris Canal application to Morris County. Kathy Murphy called me today and asked me to present this to the Council. This application from Morris County requires that the applicant non-profit have the project discussed in a public meeting. Legal advertising is not required. This is to, we were going to do it on August 19th but Laura Szwack is on vacation. Bryan Morell of the Canal Society called and wanted us to please do this today so they could meet their schedules and the County is also requiring the Mayor’s signature that the meeting was discussed at a public session, and includes a portion for comments. Kathy has given that information to Michelle for Mayor Scapicchio. What it is, Morris Canal Society has filed an application to Morris County for the acquisition of Block 403 Lot 2. The property is off of Waterloo Valley Road north of the train tracks. This is down past Gividaun. It’s not the canal part that’s closer to Route 80. It’s further down over the tracks. It’s also in, it’s in the Preservation, the Highlands Preservation. It’s Wetlands and basically what they are looking to do with the Canal Society is to add to property that they already have. It’s not going to cost Mount Olive anything. We just have to discuss in the public format and hopefully have the approval of the Mayor for them to go forward. It’s just for them to add on to their estate, their property.

Vice President Tobey: Alright, thank you, Mrs. Labow. Any other New Business? Any Legal Matters, Mr. Dorsey?

LEGAL MATTERS

Mr. Dorsey: I would just say this. The greatest favor that the Dattolo family ever did for the Township is when they hired this Engineer that went out to prove that we did not apply the system uniformly. Well, he dropped, in essence, and we have collected, we made arrangements to collect some $282,000 as a result of that and I’m just praying that somebody else does that shortly so my collection activities can continue.

Mrs. Labow: Well, can’t we do that ourselves?

Mr. Tepper: You make a great collections attorney.

Mr. Rattner: I think one thing so people don’t get the wrong idea, what he did find out, because I think he checked about approximately 100 commercial properties in Budd Lake and found 92% of them that he couldn’t find any issues with and he said 7% could have been calculated differently. That’s what we went back after. So I think that also has to be said that 92% or 93% were spot on.

Mr. Dorsey: For $282,000 I didn’t even get a trial.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mr. Dorsey.

Mr. Rattner: Well, sometimes we get lucky.

Mr. Tepper: He’s disappointed.

Vice President Tobey: Council Reports. Recreation Report, Mr. Roman?

COUNCIL REPORTS

Recreation Liaison Report

Mr. Roman: I’d like to report that the Carnival was a success. It seems it was extremely better than last year. The plethora of food and the variety of food was definitely noted by my scale two days later, and I’d just like to applaud the efforts of Jill Daggon and the Recreation department. I look forward to seeing her report on it.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Board of Health, Mrs. Labow.

Board of Health Report

Mrs. Labow: We meet in two weeks.

Vice President Tobey: Planning Board, Mr. Tepper?

Planning Board Report

Mr. Tepper: Meets on the 14th.

Vice President Tobey: Board of Adjustment, Mr. Roman?

Board of Adjustment Liaison Report

Mr. Roman: Did not meet.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Open Space, Mrs. Labow.

Open Space Committee Report

Mrs. Labow: We meet next week, two weeks.

Vice President Tobey: Legislative, Mr. Rattner?

Legislative Committee Report

Mr. Rattner: Nothing to report.

Vice President Tobey: Pride Committee, Mrs. Labow?

Pride Committee Liaison Report

Mr. Labow: Again, we meet in two weeks.

Board of Education Liaison Report

Vice President Tobey: Alright, Board of Education. The only thing to report on is that there is a closed session meeting this coming Monday to review the applicants. From what I understand there are 20 plus applicants for the Superintendent’s position and I believe three of them are actually from within the system currently. Lake Environment Issues?

Lake/Environment Issues Committee

Mr. Rattner: Nothing to report.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Safety, Mr. Greenbaum?

Safety Committee Liaison

Mr. Greenbaum: Meeting was cancelled due to a death in Fred Detoro’s family. I believe his grandmother passed away.

Vice President Tobey: Finance Committee, Mr. Rattner?

Finance Committee Report

Mr. Rattner: Nothing to report.

Vice President Tobey: Economic Development?

Economic Development Committee Report

Mr. Rattner: Nothing to report.

Vice President Tobey: Solid Waste, Mrs. Labow?

Solid Waste Advisory Committee Report

Mrs. Labow: We meet in September.

Vice President Tobey: Library Board, Mr. Tepper?

Library Board Liaison

Mr. Tepper: Nothing to report.

Vice President Tobey: Thank you. Does anyone from the public wish to be heard? Yes, sir.

PUBLIC PORTION

Scott Ireland, 6 Eric Court: Back to Ord. #46-2008. I’m not a finance guy. I just have a couple of questions on it. For the 900 and some thousand dollars, is that taken out in one note or is that a series broken down into smaller notes for the purchases that are listed in here?

Ms. Jenkins: It really depends how we spend the money. I don’t go out to bond or note until, I try to do it after the fact so that I know that we actually have spent the money, not that we just plan to spend it and, you know, maybe we plan to spend 50 and we’re only going to spend 30. I typically don’t know. I typically go to bond because I am more an aggressive pay down type of person and the bond rates have been really decent. So that’s the process that we’ve followed since I’ve been here.

Mr. Ireland: So for each individual, the purposes of all these capital improvements, is it an individual bond for each purchase?

Ms. Jenkins: Well, for instance we have a bond sale that’s coming up in a couple of weeks and what we do is we look at all of the capital projects or the capital ordinances that we have approved. If we spent money on them then obviously we need to reimburse ourselves in terms of cash and we’ll include that in our bond sale. It’s really a number of projects. We don’t go out to bond for only one project.

Mr. Ireland: Okay, and the typical length of the bonds that we go out and get are…?

Ms. Jenkins: It depends on the useful life of the projects. Usually…

Mr. Ireland: Therein lies my, because I see you have a lot of five year useful lives.

Ms. Jenkins: Yes, exactly. Well, see there’s…

Mr. Ireland: You get a five year note? Is that how it works, or bond?

Ms. Jenkins: Well, note you can actually go out and renew up to ten years but like I said, we don’t typically do notes here. We’ll actually go out to bond so that we pay them down and we’re aggressive about it and we don’t have all of these notes floating out there that we make minimum payments on and whatnot.

Mr. Ireland: But the note, the bond doesn’t exceed the useful purpose of the…

Ms. Jenkins: It’ can’t. Yes.

COUNCIL COMMENTS

Vice President Tobey: Thank you, Mr. Ireland. Anyone else from the public? Does anyone on Council have any comments? Seeing none, at this time we’re going to move into executive session. When we return there is going to be no further action taken, simply an adjournment. Mrs. Labow, would you please move us into executive session?

Mrs. Labow: Thank you. In accordance with Sections 7 & 8 of the Open Public Meetings Act we are going to move into executive session to discuss DPW Performance.

ADJOURNMENT - Motion was made and seconded, all in favor and none opposed, the meeting went into executive session at 9:03 pm.

EXECUTIVE SESSION – DPW Performance

ADJOURNMENT - Motion was made and seconded, all in favor and none opposed, the meeting was adjourned at 9:26 pm.

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Raymond T. Perkins, Council President

I, MICHELLE MASSER, Deputy Township Clerk of the Township of Mount Olive do hereby certify that the foregoing Minutes is a true and correct copy of the Minutes approved at a legally convened meeting of the Mount Olive Township Council duly held on August 19, 2008.

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Michelle Masser, Deputy Township Clerk

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