MAYOR AND COUNCIL
WORK SESSION AND AGENDA MEETING
May 10, 2016
7:00 P.M.
Click Here to View/Print PDF of 05-10-16 WS Agenda Minutes
CALL TO ORDER
SALUTE TO COLORS
Mayor Maio invited all those present to stand in a salute to the colors.
MAYOR’S STATEMENT AS TO COMPLIANCE WITH P.L. 1975
Adequate Notice of this Meeting has been provided according to the Open Public Meetings Act, Assembly Bill 1030. Notice of this Meeting was included in the Annual Meeting Notice sent to the New Jersey Herald and the Daily Record on January 6, 2016 and was placed on the Official Bulletin Board in the Municipal Building.
In the event the Mayor and Council have not addressed all items on this Agenda by 11:00 PM and they are of the opinion that they cannot complete the Agenda in a reasonable time period, the Mayor and Council may exercise their option to continue this meeting at an agreed to date, time and place within ten (10) days of this meeting. Please turn off all cell phones for the duration of this meeting.
ROLL CALL
Council Members:
Councilman Depew – present
Councilwoman Thistleton – present
Councilwoman Kuncken – present
Councilman Thornton – absent
Councilman Romano – present
Councilwoman Zdichocki – present
Mayor Maio – present
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
DPW Hydrant Flushing – The spring fire hydrant flushing is complete and Bill will begin flow testing hydrants in the section of town on the new water mains. Everything went fine with the cleaning. The two new DPW employees assisted with the hydrant flushing.
DPW Summer Projects – Bill Storms is assembling a list of summer season projects. Administrator McNeilly will review the list with Bill and then arrange a meeting with the Infrastructure Committee. Mayor Maio stated she was approached by a number of residents inquiring if the DPW will do another round of brush pick-up in light of the bad weather during the scheduled pick-up. Administrator McNeilly responded no additional pick-up is scheduled, noting the pick-up continued through Friday. He will inspect the town to see if there is much brush curbside.
Website/Email – Administrator McNeilly reported the Borough is now in control of the domain with the Administrator as the contact person, the CFO as the billing contact person and Nicole Heymer as the website contact person. Emails are being set up and the next step will be pictures and layouts for the website. Councilwoman Kuncken questioned Linda Chirip’s role with the new website. Administrator McNeilly responded Linda is involved in the site assembly program. She will be notifying all departments, boards and commissions about the new website and give them an opportunity to update their existing content. She will continue to update the website as she has done in the past.
Rehabilitation of Lake Musconetcong Dam – The Borough Engineer is following up with Dam Safety.
Road Resurfacing, Main Street Crosswalks and Main Street Lighting – Administrator McNeilly will be meeting with the CFO tomorrow to settle the financial information and resolutions will be prepared in advance of the May 24th meeting.
Rt 183/Rt 206 Sidewalk Project – The Borough Engineer is still waiting to hear from the State about funding.
Rt 206/Rt 183 Reclassification Request – The Borough Engineer has received a request from the State for additional information to which he is responding. Administrator McNeilly provided a copy of Byram Township’s letter to the State clarifying their support for the reduced speed limit and the reclassification.
County Fire Marshal – The agreement is due for renewal. Mr. Stein is reviewing the agreement. Mayor Maio asked if the Borough receives reports from the Fire Marshal. The Clerk responded in the negative. Mayor Maio stated she recalls receiving reports on inspections in the beginning of the contract and she questioned why the Borough is no longer receiving the reports. Administrator McNeilly will follow up on why the Borough is not receiving inspection reports. Administrator McNeilly stated the Borough currently has a four year shared service agreement and the County is willing to sign a five year contract. The Governing Body agreed to enter into a five year contract with the same terms.
Safe Routes to Schools – This is the activated crosswalk project. Administrator McNeilly provided a sample resolution for adoption at the May 24th meeting. The school is working on a resolution provided by Millennium that they must adopt. Mayor Maio objected to wording in the sample resolution stating maintenance of the facility, once constructed, will be assumed by the Borough of Stanhope. She noted the project is a crosswalk not a facility and the wording is misleading. Administrator McNeilly expressed his concern with reference to crosswalks on state or county highways. The grant application is to be submitted on June 20th. Additional information is still needed, i.e. project costs and scoping requirements that the Borough Engineer is working on. Mayor Maio asked if the County has been contacted about the possibility of crosswalks on Brooklyn Road. It is most important to have that information because if the County will not permit the crosswalks then the Borough should not apply for the grant. Councilman Romano asked if it can be done at separate times to which Administrator McNeilly responded in the negative. Councilman Romano expressed his opinion that they should not rush into the project, noting it may be better to get everything in order and proceed next year. After a brief discussion, the Governing Body agreed that too much additional information is needed and they would prefer to wait to next year to submit the grant application.
Sussex County CLEAR Program – Administrator McNeilly noted Chief Pittigher provided feedback on the CLEAR Program. He points out the program is not activated yet and there are no policies issued. He is in agreement with the concept, which is what the resolution is doing, i.e. in support of the program. The Governing Body agreed to have the resolution placed on the May 24th agenda for adoption.
Mayor Maio asked Administrator McNeilly the status of the air quality issue at Borough Hall. Administrator McNeilly responded he received a quote of $3,200 from one company to do area sampling and air sampling of the entire building and to provide a final report. Mayor Maio asked if the carpeting will be tested to which Administrator McNeilly responded he was not sure and would need to look at the paperwork. Administrator McNeilly noted the amount is above the quote threshold and he has requested a second quote.
Councilman Depew asked Administrator McNeilly if the construction official has inspected the house next to Jimmy’s garage. Administrator McNeilly responded he, the construction official and Arlene Fisher will be meeting with the property owner tomorrow evening. At that time the property owner will be given a time table to address the issues.
Mayor Maio revised the Agenda and moved Citizens to be Heard to this portion of the meeting.
CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
Mayor Maio opened the meeting to the public after advising attendees that there is a five (5) minute time limit for each speaker.
Kimberly Loftis, 10 James Street said it is her understanding the Borough does not have a Miss Stanhope pageant. She had contacted Byram about her daughter entering their pageant and was told they would accept Stanhope students. She sent the application and they accepted it and cashed her check. She purchased a dress for her daughter and today she received a telephone call saying her daughter was disqualified because she is not a Byram citizen. Ms. Loftis said she is aware the Borough had Miss Stanhope pageants in the past and she asked if the pageant could be brought back. She understands there is low participation; however it is necessary to win a local pageant in order to move on to the larger pageants that offer scholarship opportunities to the contestants. Mayor Maio stated the way the County operates the pageant program is towns cannot be combined. They have discussed bringing the pageant back and approached some people to run it; however they have not been successful. There is much work involved to coordinate such an event and even if someone volunteered to run the program, they would not be in a position to hold the pageant this year. Administrator McNeilly added you need about five people in the organization and there are many steps that need to be taken which is why it takes about a year to coordinate the pageant. Ms. Loftis understands the difficulties but said in order for her daughter to go to the State pageant she must go through the local pageant. The Governing Body sympathized with Ms. Loftis’ situation; however are not able to do anything this year. Mayor Maio stated they will continue to look into bringing the pageant back at a future date. She asked the County coordinator to send the criteria but has not received it yet.
Seeing no one further from the public wishing to speak, Mayor Maio closed the public portion of the meeting.
WORK SESSION
Sagamore Road – Administrator McNeilly stated Bill Storms and Eric Keller met at the site to delineate what was going to be worked on. A procedure was put in writing which will be followed. When there is 3 consecutive days of 70 degree or warmer weather with no rain; on the center day the work will be done to create a test area. Then two weeks later they will go back and inspect if it worked. The goal, providing the weather cooperates, is to have a report on the positive or negative results at the June 28th meeting.
American Legion – Memorial Day Parade – Mayor Maio noted the Governing Body received an invitation to march in the annual Memorial Day Parade. The Mayor and Council all stated they will march in the parade. Councilman Depew was not sure if he would be available. The Clerk will send the response on who will be marching to the American Legion.
Mayor Maio spoke about the possibility of riding in a horse and wagon during the parade. She believes this would be “fun” and suggested they contact the person they used during the Centennial event when they had the horse and wagon ride people through the street. She spoke to Ed Matson, parade coordinator, and he has no problem with it. Council was all in favor of riding in the horse and wagon. Mayor Maio will look into the horse and wagon and will coordinate it. The Clerk will check the Centennial file to see if there is contact information on the horse and wagon.
NEW BUSINESS
RESOLUTIONS
Mayor Maio offered the following resolutions which were read by title:
Resolution 087-16
RESOLUTION AWARDING LEASE PURCHASE FINANCE QUOTE FOR PURCHASE OF TWO NEW POLICE VEHICLES FOR THE STANHOPE BOROUGH POLICE DEPARTMENT
WHEREAS, the Borough of Stanhope pursuant to the Local Public Contracts Law heretofore joined the Middlesex Regional Cooperative Pricing Co-op; and
WHEREAS, the Borough of Stanhope requested said Co-op to advertise for quotes to be received at 1:00 p.m. on May 5, 2016 for lease purchase financing for the acquisition of two new police vehicles for the Stanhope Borough Police Department in the approximate amount of $63,100; and
WHEREAS, the Middlesex Regional Cooperative Pricing Co-op duly advertised for bids for said lease purchase financing; and
WHEREAS, the Co-op received and opened bids on May 5, 2016 at 1:00 p.m.; and
WHEREAS, the Co-op has further provided an analysis of the bids received; and
WHEREAS, Municipal Leasing Consultants of Grand Isle, Vermont provided the lowest interest rate for the lease purchase financing required by the Borough of Stanhope in the amount of 2.87% with an effective actual yield of 3.623%; and
WHEREAS, the Governing Body of the Borough of Stanhope is of the opinion that it is in the best interest of the Borough of Stanhope to award the lease purchase financing to Municipal Leasing Consultants pursuant to its bid dated May 2, 2016 received and opened on May 5, 2016;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Stanhope that the Borough does hereby award a bid to Municipal Leasing Consultants for a three year lease purchase financing for two vehicles for the Borough of Stanhope Police Department pursuant to the written bid of Municipal Leasing Consultants dated May 2, 2016.
Mayor Maio questioned the lease company. Administrator McNeilly responded this resolution is arranging the money for the lease. Councilwoman Kuncken asked if they are going ahead with the two different vehicles. Administrator McNeilly responded the Chief was told he could get the larger vehicle if he could get it within the budget confines, which he did.
On motion by Councilman Depew, seconded by Councilwoman Kuncken and unanimously carried by the following roll call vote, the foregoing resolution was duly adopted.
Roll Call:
Councilman Depew – yes
Councilwoman Thistleton – yes
Councilwoman Kuncken – yes
Councilman Thornton – absent
Councilman Romano – yes
Councilwoman Zdichocki – yes
Resolution 088-16
RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF STANHOPE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF RAFFLE LICENSE RA-617
WHEREAS the following Raffle Application has been submitted for Mayor and Council approval;
Raffle # Applicant Type of Game Dates
RA-617 Stanhope Borough Senior Citizens 50/50 June 12, 2016
and;
WHEREAS said Raffle Application has been provided to the Mayor, Council and Police Department for their review;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Stanhope, County of Sussex, State of New Jersey, the following:
- The appropriate officials are hereby authorized to execute the findings and determination for the above application and shall forward same to the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission (LGCCC) for review.
- That the above license shall be issued pending LGCCC approval, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13.1 et seq.
On motion by Councilman Romano, seconded by Councilwoman Thistleton and unanimously carried by voice call vote, the foregoing resolution was duly adopted.
Mayor’s Acceptance of Resignation
Resolution 088-16
MAYOR’S ACCEPTANCE OF THE RESIGNATION OF MARIA MASCUCH
WITH COUNCIL CONCURRENCE
BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Borough of Stanhope that they do hereby concur with the Mayor’s acceptance of Maria Mascuch’s resignation as Utility Collector/Assistant to Tax Collector for the Borough of Stanhope, effective May 20, 2016.
On motion by Councilwoman Kuncken, seconded by Councilman Romano and unanimously carried by voice call vote, the foregoing resolution was duly adopted.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Resolution 090-16
RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF STANHOPE AUTHORIZING PAYMENT OF BILLS
WHEREAS, the Chief Finance Officer has certified that funds are available in the proper account; and
WHEREAS, the Chief Finance Officer has approved payment upon certification from the Borough Department Heads that the goods and/or services have been rendered to the Borough;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Stanhope that the current bills list, dated May 10, 2016 and on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Chief Finance Officer and approved by the Chief Finance Officer for payment, be paid.
On motion by Councilman Romano, seconded by Councilwoman Kuncken and unanimously carried by the following roll call vote, the foregoing resolution was duly adopted.
Roll Call:
Councilman Depew – yes
Councilwoman Thistleton – yes
Councilwoman Kuncken – yes
Councilman Thornton – absent
Councilman Romano – yes
Councilwoman Zdichocki – yes
AGENDA ITEMS
All items listed on the Agenda for May 24, 2016 were approved with the addition of a resolution supporting the CLEAR Program.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Councilwoman Thistleton, seconded by Councilwoman Kuncken, and unanimously carried by voice vote the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 P.M.
Approved:
Ellen Horak, RMC
Borough Clerk