Borough of Raritan Council Regular Meeting April 27, 2010 The following notice was read: NOTICE of this meeting has been made by advising the Courier News and the Star Ledger of the time, date and place of this Council meeting, posting a notice on the official bulletin board, filing a copy in the Borough Clerk’s office and including this statement in the minutes of this meeting. Mayor Liptak called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m. Upon call of the roll: Mayor Liptak Councilman Laggini Councilwoman Wilson Councilman Lamaestra Councilwoman Gara Councilman Lobell Council President Carra Also present was: Daniel Jaxel, Borough Administrator Mark Anderson, Borough Attorney Stan Schrek, Borough Engineer Councilwoman Gara presented the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. Approval of Minutes March 23, 2010 Regular Session Minutes were presented for approval. Motion was made by Council President Carra to approve, seconded by Councilman Lobell. Upon call of the roll, motion was unanimously approved. Public Comments Jim Foohey, 710 Rhine Blvd., stated on the clothing bins, someone is always looking for clothing. Solar panels; don’t they need to be near a building the energy is going too? Councilman Lamaestra stated they only need to be near a pole. Mr. Foohey stated the Fire Commission discussed the littering ordinance also and their idea was to get the people to use the garbage cans to begin with and not the street. Enforcement and signage would educate, listing fines to discourage people. Jim said by the canal is a garbage can and a recycle can right next to it, which is what should be on Main Street. He also stated with all the talk about budgets, the Council should budget their time better. They spend 20 minutes on 5 minute topics. Brian Carisone, 20 Mill Street, asked if Council was planning on discussing 42-63, subdivision site plans. Mayor Liptak responded no. Mr. Carisone stated last week he tried to have some work done at his business (pour concrete pad) and someone called Borough to complain about work being done, Lou came down and checked on impervious coverage which was ok. He was then told that any work at a commercial business must go before Planning Board for site plan approval. Why now and why me are these issues being raised. What do I have to do to abide by law. Mr. Carisone then read copy of Ordinance which applies to him and asked why he is being singled out. Mayor Liptak advised Mr. Carisone to go before Planning Board. Rich Kulick, 719 New York Avenue, traffic getting worse in his neighborhood and wants a “No Through Way” sign on his street as his children are getting older and they want to ride their bikes on the street. Cars are using his neighborhood as a cut through. Stan stated the need should come from the Police Department after study done. Mayor Liptak noted sidewalks are missing from his neighborhood and may help with the pedestrian traffic. Tom Granahan, Raritan Avenue, noted by Char the traffic is still bad, Stan, stated the Borough is working on but not prepared to give a report at this time due to ongoing investigations. RESOLUTIONS EQUIPMENT NO LONGER NEEDED Motion was made to approve the above listed resolution by Councilman Laggini, seconded by Councilman Lamaestra. Roll call vote was as follows: Councilwoman Gara Aye Councilman Lobell Aye Council President Carra Aye Councilman Laggini Aye Councilwoman Wilson Aye Councilman Lamaestra Aye The above listed resolution was approved. RAILROAD MONTHLY PARKING REFUND Motion was made to approve the above listed resolution by Council President Carra, seconded by Councilwoman Gara. Roll call vote was as follows: Councilwoman Gara Aye Councilman Lobell Aye Council President Carra Aye Councilman Laggini Aye Councilwoman Wilson Aye Councilman Lamaestra Aye The above listed resolution was approved. APPROVAL OF BID FOR PHASE 3 REPAIR AND RESTORATION OF THE RARITAN PUBLIC LIBRARY Motion was made to approve the above listed resolution by Councilman Lobell, seconded by Councilwoman Gara. Roll call vote was as follows: Councilwoman Gara Aye Councilman Lobell Aye Council President Carra Aye Councilman Laggini Aye Councilwoman Wilson Aye Councilman Lamaestra Aye The above listed resolution was approved. Committee Reports: Council President Carra reported that there was a budget workshop on April 17th at 8:30 AM to continue reviewing line by line. We are closer to finalizing municipal budget. Council President Carra stated a meeting was held with BOE, Bridgewater Twp and Teacher’s Union Rep., they requested a salary and wage freeze and are awaiting a response. Council President Carra stated the Environmental Commission hosted the Raritan River and Canal trail earth day clean up on April 24th , would like to thank everyone for their help. National Resource Conservation Service along with Duke Farms are planting 1,600 trees to help take care of the earth and will restore 528 acres of wet lands will be restored along the river. Beginning May 1st Census takers will be going door to door for the non-response people to make sure everyone is counted in the US Census. Somerset County residents are reminded the last day to register to vote for the Primary Election in May 18th. Councilman Laggini read a letter from the rescue squad noting they have obtained a grant from Ortho for $10,000 and from FEMA for $103,000 to assist in funding for communication upgrades and allow them to be part of the Somerset County trunk system. Councilman Laggini reported May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, Saturday, May 1, 2010 is a service for mental health at Frelinghuysen Park to raise awareness of suicide prevention and mental illness. Councilwoman Wilson congratulated the Recreation Commission for opening day of baseball and the unveiling of the Frelinghuysen Park official sign. She also congratulated Frank Forte for receiving volunteer of the year award and wished all Mother’s a Happy Mother’s Day. Councilman Lamaestra reported that Public Works has been busy chipping brush, filling pot holes and working on the parks in addition to their regular duties. They also installed the new sign at Frelinghuysen Park, which is beautiful. Councilman Lamaestra also congratulated Frank Forte on his Volunteer of the Year award. Councilwoman Gara reported the Chamber met at Char Restaurant on April 20th, and discussed the golf outing on June 23rd and the cost will be $175 per person, they also discussed getting committees together for a block party, street fair and Santa coming to town. The Garden Club was present to discuss getting planters going down the Main street and they also want to work with the Chamber for a town beautification project. Councilwoman Gara stated the Planning Board will be meeting tomorrow at 7:30 pm. May 12th the Police will be getting their bike training and will be out on bike patrol by the end of May. She also reminded residents that Somerset Street will be under construction for a minimum of the next 5 to 6 weeks. Also Recreation opening day was a lot of fun and beautiful day. Councilwoman Gara stated that Saturday afternoon her and her family went to the clean up of the canal and focused on the path between the river and canal in the Old York Road area, she would like the County to address the poison ivy and poison sumac problems in that area. Councilman Lobell stated Recreation opening day was great and the sign unveiling was very nice. Councilman Lobell made motion for the approval of $1,560.00 to New Jersey Sports Assigning Bureau of Pluckemin, NJ for umpires for the 2010 Major and Little League season, motion was seconded by Councilman Lamaestra. Upon call of the roll motion was unanimously approved. Councilman Lobell noted the Library is holding a special mother’s day program on the importance of tea in a Victorians woman’s life, Sunday, May 2nd at 2:00. On the 28th, is the PT Barnum Master Showman show and at 6:30 pm. Also, Brandon at he Library has been helping residents get resumes put together, if you know anyone who is in need of this service please see Brandon. This is a free Library service. Mayor Liptak thanked the committee who did the Volunteer reception last night, Theresa Bray, Connie Del Rocco, Katherine Mastice, Joyce Melitski, Irene Sixt, Debbie Thomas and Mona Del Rocco whom printed up the beautiful programs for the evening. Frank Forte was the recipient who was there for everything, was on the Board of Health for 33 years. She also thanked all the restaurants who donated food for the evening. Mayor Liptak stated there was a budget meeting on Saturday in which a lot of people were present and a lot of questions were asked and was a very informative meeting. She also stated John Basilone will be on the Pacific this week. Mayor Liptak noted opening day was great and suggested there a parade in the future to the fileds. Mayor Liptak stated the Somerset County Regional Partnership held a meeting at the Somerset County Vo-Tech on the Municipal Budget process and will have anther one June 16 on planning. June 6th between 1 and 4 Drumthwacket will open for a walk through their gardens. Unfinished Business a. General Code: met with attorney and reviewed half of personnel chapter. b. Hotel Tax – was on agenda c. HVAC – was handled Council agreed on the 18th of June to hold a special meeting on Cell Towers NEW BUSINESS Councilwoman Wilson stated on the Planning Board minutes there was a paragraph on how the cell tower ordinance came to be. It was asked by the Chairman to pass a resolution to be considered by the Council, and she felt it should have come from the Council first and had previously questioned this. Councilwoman Wilson asked if there was any truth to the rumor that there is talk of merging with the Somerset County Library system. Councilman Lobell stated he is gathering information and looking at the cost of running the library to see if it is worth pursuing. He also noted there are pros and cons both ways. Councilwoman Wilson stated she would like theses ideas discussed with Council prior to hearing about it from other places. Councilwoman Wilson asked if there was any truth to the Courts merging? Mayor Liptak stated no. Councilman Lamaestra asked why there are meetings going on with the rest of the Council not being notified. Mayor Liptak stated the Judge called this meeting and specifically asking for the Mayors, Administrators and Court Reps to be present. Councilwoman Wilson stated she would like to be informed of information as the rest of the Council. Councilman Lobell stated he would like to start looking at snow parking now and wants the police contacted and DPW to be ready for implementation prior to the first snow. He also stated he would like to give Frank Taddeo permission to work from home on his computer to free up more time for inspections. Council discussed several issues and agreed as long it is legal and he is willing to put the time in, it is fine. Mayor Liptak stated the bicycle ordinance needs to be revisited. Councilwoman Gara asked if anyone has a problem with Stan looking into getting wireless access in the Council Chamber area. There was no objection. Public Comment: Anthony DeCicco, Anderson Street, stated there was an application submitted to the clerk for an expansion of premise and asked the Council to grant a temporary approval. Council unanimously approved Mr. DeCicco’s request. He also noted the NJ Transit area is beautiful with the new roof. Council President Carra made motion to approve the bills list, seconded by Councilman Lobell. Upon call of the roll motion was unanimously approved. Councilwoman Gara made motion to adjourn to Executive Session, seconded by Councilman Lobell. Upon call of the roll, motion was unanimously approved. Meeting was adjourned at 9:55 pm. Respectfully submitted, Pamela A. Huefner, RMC, CMR Borough Clerk /pah