Mt. Olive Township Council Minutes
January 7, 2003

The Reorganization Meeting of the Meeting of the Mount Olive Township Council was called to Order at
7:30 pm by Council President Scapicchio with the Pledge of Allegiance.

MOMENT OF REFLECTION in recognition of the men and women fighting terrorism and those who have lost their lives defending the freedom we all enjoy

According to the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate notice of this meeting has been given to the Mt. Olive Chronicle and the Daily Record. 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 of 2003 Council

Present: Mr. Rattner, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Perkins, Mrs. Miller, Mr. Spino, Mr. Guenther, Mr. Scapicchio
Absent: none

Election of 2003 Council President

President Scapicchio: I now open the Floor for nomination for Council president for the year 2003.

Mr. Spino: I nominate Bernie Guenther

Mrs. Miller: Second.

President Scapicchio: Any other nominations?

President Scapicchio: Seeing none, nominations are closed.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

New Council President Takes Chair

Bernie Guenther: Thank you.

Election of 2003 Council Vice-President

Mrs. Miller: I nominate Ray Perkins for Vice President.

Mr. Scapicchio: Second.

President Guenther: Are there any other nominations? If not I move that nominations be closed.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously.

New Council Vice-President Takes Chair

President Guenther: Congratulations Mr. Perkins.

Invocation - Reverend Koncsol (Budd Lake Union Chapel)

Reverend Koncsol: I would like to say that I do count this opportunity as a great privilege and responsibility. I do not take it lightly, and with prayer and great earnest I wrote the invocation and I have it for posterity sake and if the Council would allow, I would leave that upon my exit. I would sincerely like to stay, but I have a previous engagement at the Church which demands my presence. Please, lets bow our heads. Oh most holy and oh mighty god for whom the angels prostrate themselves and covered their faces in awe and adoration of you, we would not dare to presume upon your presence as we are sinners both by our fallen nature and our deliberate choice. However as profound as your holiness is, so too is your mercy. You have made one way for us to stand before you, so we do not call upon you Lord through our own merit which you tell us is worthless but rather through the person and work of the one whom you sent to redeem us. It is in his name and through the perfection of his sacrifice as the lamb of god without blemish or spot that we can look to you and find your
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Reverend Koncsol (cont'd): arms wide open beckoning us to come. Through the eternal marks of those male scarred hands, we see the infinite costs that purchase us back from the corruption and guilt of our sins in order to make us your treasured possessions. I ask you now Lord to pour your spirit upon us so that we could come before you through your word, rather than our own imaginations. Your word tells us that apart from your grace, none can stand before you. Your word tells us that all authority in Heaven and Earth belongs to you. That you appoint and depose rulers. That it is you who rules supreme, not us. And that each of us must give an account to you and to whom much is given, much shall be required. Oh lord grant these men and women whom you have called and equipped to rule in the important matters of Mount Olive and it's citizenry through faith so that they could rule through you rather than rule apart from you, which indeed is tantamount to rebellion against you. Grant each one of them Lord your wisdom, your righteousness, your love mercy and compassion along with every gift they need in order to think your thoughts in submission to you, joyfully knowing and obeying your word as they do oh lord may all their attitudes, decisions, and efforts not only effect the temporal for good, but the eternal as well. I'd pray oh Lord God oh mighty, creator, sustainer and redeemer that you would grant us all, especially this Council whom you have called to reflect the unity, goodness and glory of the god , grant them your very heart and mind so that they can rule as you would have them rule and establish righteousness and peace here in Mount Olive and first of all in our hearts. Amen, god bless you all.

President Guenther: I just want to take a minute before we get into the appointments. I just want to read a short statement, I want to thank my colleagues for their confidence in electing me Council President for 2003. It is an honor and privilege to serve the Mount Olive Community in another capacity to continue to make our Town an even better place to live. I am determined to let neither you or the public down. Our goal for 2003 is an ever better quality of life for all of Mount Olive Citizens. Mount Olive as a result of being the most rapidly growing community in Morris County is now third in population and will most likely overtake Randolph as number 2 in the next few years. Increased respect to the County level as evidence by record amounts of Open Space Preservation Funds being allocated to us by the County Freeholders. Since much of this growth is not what any of us up here or out there wanted, some of our 2003 objectives outlined below reflect our desire to reign in this growth. Mount Olive has done it's fair share providing housing in Morris County. Secondly, in these tough economic times we take very seriously, our fiscal role making sure that our tax dollars are spent prudently. Here is what we intend to achieve in 2003. Oversee the construction of the new library to make sure it is completed on time and on Budget. Aggressively continue to pursue acquisition and or dedication of Open Space to all governmental and private funding sources at our disposal. Vigorously review the Budget to minimize any possible tax increase. Adopt a new Master Plan to control congestion by further reducing the growth rate. Continue to work with the Board of Education through the shared services committee to make more efficient use of our facilities. Start the planning process of phase II of Turkey Brook Park with a view towards serving an ever wider spectrum of our population. Spread recreation facilities more widely around the town by planning the development of Township owned land in other sectors. To work with State Legislators to help improve our quality of life especially regarding the speed limits in and road and intersection improvements along Route 46 and Route 206. Procedurally there will be no changes to what was done in the prior Council, the main objective as was by my predecessor is to involve the public as much as possible. We will have as many open public comment periods as we had before as long as it does not interfere with our ability to conduct the business for the Public. We appreciate public comment, they have been good in the past for many members of the audience, and as some of them know we have taken their suggestions and acted on them. So we welcome that and we will continue to welcome that in the year ahead. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the County Freeholder Cecilia Laureys from our neighboring Town of Netcong. Library Board Chair womon, Jane Isreal; and Vice President Jerry Sheard from the Library Board. Also, the Corresponding Secretary of the Historical Society, Thea Dunkle and Dave Tomb from the Budd Lake Beautification Committee and most important of all, my wife for being present. She is the one that provides me the moral support for being a member of the Council. If I did not have her support, I would not be here. Thank you. I also want to recognize the attendance of our Mayor Paul Licitra, Administrator, Cynthia Spencer, and our Chief Financial Officer Sherry Jenkins. I know the Mayor is a little under the weather, so I greatly appreciate him being here.

Appointments:

a. Mayor's Appointments with Advice & Consent of Council

Mayor Licitra announced the following appointments:
Public Defender, Anthony Arbore, 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Township Attorney, John Dorsey, 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Township Consulting Engineer, Eugene Buczynski, 1 year term appointment expires 12/31/03
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Municipal Court Judge, Philip Maenza, 3 year term expires 12/31/05

Library Board
Joan Young, 5 year term expires, 12/31/07. Joan has been very instrumental in bringing us to where we are with the Library. She is a very hard worker.

Recreation Advisory Committee
Geri Reda, 3 year term, expires12/31/05
Jim Drury, 3 year term, expires 12/31/05
Greg Sanchez, 3 year term, expires 12/31/05 is involved in many sports actives in the Town as well as Gregg and they just make a great addition to the Recreation Advisory Committee. So Mr. President, I submit these names with the consent and advise of the Council.

Mr. Rattner moved for approval of the Mayor's Appointments and Mr. Greenbaum seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously.

Economic Development Committee - Inactive
Local Solid Waste Advisory Committee - Inactive
Water & Sewer Advisory Committee - Inactive

b. Council Appointments

President Guenther stated and announced the following appointments.

All Subcommittees of the Township Council previously created are extended through 2003.

Budget/Audit Control Committee - Steve Rattner, Chairman, David Scapicchio
Library Board Liaison, David Scapicchio, 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Recreation Board Liaison, Bernie Guenther, 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Board of Education Liaisons, Steve Rattner & David Scapicchio, 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Safety Committee Liaison, Ray Perkins,1 year term expires 12/31/03
Planning Board, Rob Greenbaum, Councilmember, Class III, 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Pride Committee Liaison, Ray Perkins, 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Legislative Committee, Steve Rattner, Rob Greenbaum, Earl Spino
Committee RE: Lake/Environment Issues, Charlene Miller

Prosecutor, Brian Mason, 1 year term expires 12/31/03

Crossing Guards
Theresa Petrocelli - 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Cathy Wallwork - 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Lisa Jopp - 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Diane Walinski - 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Donna Hickey - 1 year term expires 12/31/03

Board of Adjustment
Nick Geiger, 4 year term expires 12/31/06
Dan Nelsen, 4 year term expires 12/31/06
Russ Tepper, Alt. I, 2 year unexpired term expires 12/31/03
Christopher Westrick, Alt. II, 2 year term expires 12/31/04

Board of Health
Art Meyers will be leaving sometime during the year but he has agreed to stayed on temporarily until we find a permanent replacement; for the record he is being reappointed for a 3 year term which expires 12/31/05

Open Space Committee
Chuck Spangler, 3 year term expires 12/31/05.

Mr.Rattner moved for approval of Council Appointments, Mr. Perkins seconded the motion.
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ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously.

Mayor's Appointments

Comm. Dev. Revenue Sharing Committee
1 year term expires 12/31/03, Kathy Murphy
Alt., 1 year term expires 12/31/03 Bobby Scholtz

Emergency Management Coordinator, Fred Detoro Jr., 3 yr 12/31/05
Open Space Committee
John Mania, Planning Board Liaison, term runs with Planning Board Term 12/31/05
Laura Szwak, 3 year term expires 12/31/05
Ed Caparucci, 3 year unexpired term expires 12/31/03

Environmental Commission
Dave Tomb, 3 year term expires 12/31/05
Charlotte Wilson, 3 year term expires 12/31/05
Kay Serebrakian, Alt. I, 2 year term expires 12/31/04
Sal Salafia, Alt. II, 2 year unexpired term expires 12/31/03

Planning Board
Catherine Natafalusy, (Class II) 1 year term expires 12/31/03
Dennis Lynch, Alt II Member, Class IV, 2 year term expires 12/31/04

RESOLUTIONS

CONSENT RESOLUTIONS AGENDA:

Resolutions on 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 which may be offered. If one or more council members requests, any individual resolution on the consent agenda may be removed from the Consent Agenda List and acted on separately.

1. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Designating the Official Newspapers of the Municipality for the Purpose of Publication of Legal Notices.

2. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Designating the Official Newspapers of the Municipality for the Purpose of Publication of Legal Notices. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Establishing the Annual Schedule of Meetings and Other Requirements Pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act.

3. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Establishing a Temporary Budget for 2003 for the Current, Water, Sewer and Sanitation Budgets.

4. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Establishing A Petty Cash Fund for 2003.

5. Resolution of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing Acceptance of a Cash Management Plan as Prepared by the Director of Finance/Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer.

6. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Retaining Professional Services Without Competitive Bidding.

7. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Appointing Charles Spangler as Council Representative to the Community Development Revenue Sharing Committee.

8. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing Participation in the State of New Jersey Cooperative Purchasing Program for the Year 2003.

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9. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Fixing the Rate of Interest to be Charged on Delinquent Taxes or Assessments.

10. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Purchase of Necessary Goods and Services Under Any Contract Competitively Bid by the Morris County Cooperative Pricing Council.

11. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Tax Assessor and/or the Township Attorney to File and Tax Appeals/Rollbacks.

12. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Establishing Various Change Funds for the Year 2003.

13. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive, County of Morris, State of New Jersey, Creating and Continuing the Mount Olive Municipal Alliance Committee.

14. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Approving a Contract Between the Township and Morristown Memorial Hospital for Public Health Nursing Supervisor and Community Health Educator for the Year 2003.

15. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Contract with Golub Animal Hospital for Animal Control Purposes for 2003.

16. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Reappointing Michael Pucilowski as a Member of the Musconetcong Sewerage Authority.

President Guenther: Council comments / statements on the Consent Resolutions Agenda.

Lisa Lashway: On the resolution for the MOMAC, there is an amended membership list, it's correct on the table and posted and you have it in front of you. That was a last minute change and then on the Resolution establishing the meeting dates, Cindy brought to our attention that I listed Sunday's, so the dates need to be changed under the Budget Hearing dates to February 15, 2003 & February 22, 2003. Also, March 1st 8th and 15th which are Saturdays, you will be voting on those amendments.

Mr. Scapicchio made a motion to move Resolutions 1 through 16 as amended. Mr. Greenbaum seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously.

Public Portion - No comments

Closing Mayoral Comments

Mayor Licitra: Welcome aboard Bernie. I plan to have my State of the Township message by next Tuesday. It is very exciting to write it. Mt. Olive has really come a long way, not just by my efforts, it has been a team effort along with the Council and the Employees of this Township. So I am very excited about writing this. If you have twenty minutes that you can spare, it is worth listening to because I think it shows a very good picture of Mt. Olive. Again, as I'll say in my State of the Township message, I am excited to work with this Council; I think we brought dignity to Mt. Olive Township. We work very well together and I look forward to another year of working with you. All the appointees and people that I have appointed and the Council has appointed, you are the lifeblood of Mt. Olive. We have probably tripled our committees in Town over the last couple of years and that is one of the reasons why Mt. Olive is probably the best community to live in Morris County and it's because of people like you and people who volunteer time and their services. Again, I look forward to working with this Council and I will have my State of the Township message. Thank you very much.

Closing Council Comments

Mr. Scapicchio: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Council for their help and guidance for the year of 2002. I think we had a productive year. The Administration and I work well together and I look

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Mr. Scapicchio (cont'd): forward to my responsibilities for 2003 as a Committee Member to the Budget, Library Liaison and the Board of Education Liaison. Thank you.

Mr. Rattner: Thank you Mr. President. I just want to tell Mr. Scapicchio that the Council got a lot done last year and a lot of it was because of his directorship of this Council. The Council President has to make sure that everything is in place the meetings are going to run according to what we expect and make sure that we get the information when it's need. That and working with the Mayor, we have gotten a lot of things done. The newspapers print a lot of the disagreements we have. What the newspaper doesn't put in is that 80% of the items go through and get passed with really very little discussion although we are in complete agreement. The other 20%, 10%, there are probably little differences and really aren't important. The other 10% is because we have a lot of personalities, people with different backgrounds and they set priorities different. But I think all in all you can see a lot of the things done in the town have really been progressing. That is not saying that things are going to get easier. We know about the financial difficulties, we have in the Town, just like every other Town in Morris County, the County and the State and the Federal Government. So we are going to have to start making some very hard choices this year. I am sure that is going to have a lot of lively discussions between the Mayor who has to run the Town, and do the day to day operations and the Council that is looking at the priorities that we've set to try to make them mend. We have done it before and we will do it again, and I think if we look at the past years, we have been very successful and I have no doubt that going to the future that 2003 will be just as successful. Thank you.

Mr. Greenbaum: I also wanted to thank Dave for many things including his candor, his integrity and his friendship through the past year. I think those three elements embody what Dave is all about. I learned a lot from Dave and I appreciate him sitting up in the first chair. For as much as I look forward to working with you Bernie, I am going to miss Dave sitting up there and handling the meetings. Hopefully I will say the same thing about you next year Bernie. I really look forward to getting on to Turkey Brook this year with my kids and starting to use that facility and I know that most of the Town shares that with me. I look forward to getting a library project going this year. I look forward to finally doing something with the old Municipal Building site. I, if anything that I plan to accomplish this year is doing something with that building, whatever is ultimately going to happen. I think we have had it on the back burner long enough and I hope that we can be productive and move it forward. I temper all those statements with what Steve raised. That we have to be fiscally proven and this is a difficult time not just for Mt. Olive but for the entire State and the Country and it is going to be difficult to really accomplish a lot where money has to be spent. I hope that we do the best that we can with the limited amount of money that we are going to have. Despite that I think it is going to be a very good year for Mt. Olive.

Mrs. Miller: Gosh it seems like 2002 went by awfully quickly. I would like to put a plug in for the Environmental Commission and the Open Space Committees, I know that they have dedicated people and they never cease to amaze me with their continuous efforts to protect our environment and to preserve Open Space in our Community and last year I was also on the Library Board and they too are very committed people and dedicated to bringing us a new library and they have had some difficult decisions to make. They've had to downsize plans and I think that they made their decisions very wisely and I hope that Dave helps guide them along the way and I still don't want to lose the basement. I want to keep that basement. Don't take the basement away from them Dave. Okay?

Mr. Scapicchio: Don't look at me. We really truly have dedicated people in our community and I just wanted to thank all of them too.

Mrs. Miller: I hope our meeting doesn't go past 10:00 pm in the year 2003 because we had an awful lot of late meetings last year.

President Guenther: Thank you Charlene.

Mr. Spino: I would like to first of all congratulate Dave on a job well done for the past year. Late meeting didn't matter to me personally. To the Mayor also, the Administration and all of the Township employees and committee members did outstanding work this year. It was a very difficult year and I agree with Steve, next year might even be more difficult, and I know we will get results with the people that we have. I would like to congratulate Bernie and assure him of my support through the year for his job and wish everybody a happy new year.

Mr. Perkins: First off I would like to welcome everyone to the New Year and I hope everybody has a COUNCIL MINUTES 7 JANUARY 7, 2003
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Mr. Perkins (cont'd): prosperous one and a healthy one. If I had to look back on the year, I think that some of the things that we dealt with albeit may not have been the decision that some people may have picked, ultimately proved to be the right decision both fiscally and morally I think we are obligated to that. I would like to thank some people like Richard Bonte and others for their dogged tenacity on things like Turkey Brook. I had the fortune to be on the Planning Board during portions of those hearings and the amount of support that the public showed toward the Township quite frankly was over whelming. It more reinforces my involvement in the Township. The Historical Society I know has made some great strides; we did not have one before. The History of Mt. Olive was kind of dying and now we actually have one. We have a Pride Committee that was installed and through the Mayor's initiative back in 1998 and I think everybody could see the actual output from what those people have done with very small groups. They have made some very significant changes throughout the Township. Our Open Space Committee continues to look for ways for us to gather some open space which is greatly needed to help ease some of the development. Our Budd Lake Beautification Committee, their involvement and concerns with things like sewer spills and what not into the lake has lead to the formation of another sub-committee which the administration is working with. Anytime there is any type of a pollutant discharge that heads towards the Lake there is a notification procedure that is actually being worked out. Let alone that you and your children will be a lot safer swimming in that facility should be a little more heart warming. I want to thank Dave for his leadership last year. The Mayor for his support and for bringing us through hopefully a successful year. I would like to thank all my fellow Council Members, for all of their support, especially when I didn't know what I was doing I my first year, and I want to give my support to our incoming president Bernie, and I will be their to support him. I want to thank my wife and my son who without their support and the many hours that I do not spend at home that I am involved, I want to thank you two the most of all. Thank you Bernie.

President Guenther: Thank you Mr. Perkins. I made most of my comments already, but I just want to add that Dave Scapicchio is going to be a hard act to follow; of course he had a little practice that was his second term around, but I will take my cues from him. I think I learned a lot, I was watching him all the time. What he does and how he does it. I certainly hope that I could adequately fill his shoes. I sort of have mixed feelings about. Mrs. Miller's comments vs. Mr. Spino's comments about the length of the meetings. I kind of agree with Mr. Spino that it is important to deal with the affairs of the public, whatever time it takes; on the other hand I do sympathize with Mrs. Miller who has to get up at 5:00 am to drive a school bus. I will try to work that out in-between somehow. Again, thank you. Let's go on to the next item on the menu here.

Benediction - Bishop Richard Hathaway (Church of the Later Day Saints)

Bishop Richard Hathaway: Our father in Heaven we humbly bow our heads before the in Prayer this night and express our gratitude to onto the for the many blessings that we receive we are grateful father for the opportunity that we have to live in this beautiful country and in this beautiful area. We are grateful for the leaders of our Country, for our President, for the Congress for the time and effort that they spend on our behalf. We are especially thankful this night father for our Local Leaders, for the many tireless hours that they spend making decisions and making a difference for ourselves and our families. Father we are grateful for those that live in this area. Our friends, our neighbors, we ask that you bless each and every one of them and that they will have thy spirit to be with them throughout this year, that it will be a prosperous and a joyful year for them. Again we are grateful for the opportunity we have to live in this beautiful area, and say these things humbly in the name of the beloved son Jesus Christ, Amen.

President Guenther: Before we adjourn, I just have a special word of thanks to our Attorney Peter King, he'll know what I mean. It's a joke between us. I'll entertain a motion for adjournment?

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ADJOURNMENT

Motion made for adjournment. All in Favor, none opposed. The Meeting was Adjourned at 8:07 pm.

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BERNHARD D. GUENTHER
Council President

I, LISA M LASHWAY, 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 March 11, 2003.

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LISA M. LASHWAY
Township Clerk

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