Township of Mahwah s11

TOWNSHIP OF MAHWAH BUDGET AND COMBINED WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

The meeting was called to order at 8:10PM by Council President Roth who read the Open Public Meetings Act Statement as prescribed by law. Notice was advertised in The Record on February 14, 2014 stating this meeting would be held in the Municipal Offices, 475 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, New Jersey at 8:00PM.

Notice of this meeting is posted on the Municipal Bulletin Board. The minutes of this meeting shall be available in the Municipal Clerk’s Office.

Salute to the Flag.

MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR VETERANS AND THOSE SERVING IN THE MILITARY Moment of Silence was observed for those who served and are serving in the military both in the United States and abroad.

Present: Councmembers Hermansen, Larson, Roth, and Sbarra Absent: Councilmembers DiGiulio, Jandris, Williams

Also present was Mayor Laforet, Business Administrator Brian Campion, Township Attorney Brian Chewcaskie and Deputy Municipal Clerk Jan Fox.

PUBLIC PORTION On a motion by Larson, seconded by Sbarra, the meeting was opened to the public at 8:10PM. All in favor. Motion carried.

Mrs. Kathy Brewster of 96 Masonicus Road said she wanted to remind Council that the fire sirens have not been working at the Masonicus Firehouse since Hurricane Sandy. She said she understands it is a computer problem and questioned what budget it comes out of. The Business Administrator said he was not aware of the problem.

Mrs. Brewster asked if the budget, especially salaries, can be posted on line before the final decision is made. The Business Administrator said the Council will decide on a Budget document for introduction and it will be posted on the website and advertised prior to the Public Hearing and Adoption.

Mr. Bob Fitzpatrick from Franklin Lakes spoke on behalf of his sister in-law. He asked if the Council would consider his sister for the Affordable Housing Unit at 1404 Faulkner Avenue. He said they wanted to make a $60,000 cash offer.

Roth said this will be discussed in Closed Session and they will report back to him.

Ms. Karen Meyer of 1051 Cambridge Court said she has the MEMS Meeting Minutes where it states Mr. Jandris was in attendance and a motion was made to accept MARS members pending their receipt of the applications; all in favor. Mr. Jandris who is a Councilmember and is also listed as an officer of MEMS on the Certificate of Incorporation voted the people in a unanimous vote. Also, she stated Mr. Jandris was in 1 Budget and Combined Work Session Meeting Minutes February 27, 2014 attendance when the members voted to table the Applications for people not to be accepted into MEMS. She said she wanted to clarify that a Township Councilmember is blocking their Applications.

Ms. Meyer questioned how much involvement the Mayor has with MEMS and how involved is he with making their decisions.

Ms. Meyer said in today’s newspaper it states that MEMS has accepted three new members who have no experience.

Ms. Meyer stated that in the past week MEMS has gone to Ramsey for Mutual Aid three times and is questioning if this new organization has acceptable service.

Mrs. Mary Ann Mauro of 143 Johnson Avenue stated that at last week’s meeting there were statements from the Council that MEMS was autonomous from the Township Council. She asked if that was the case, why was the Proposal they received from the Township Attorney and not MEMS.

Roth mentioned there is pending litigation and the Council cannot respond on anything without advice of Counsel. He said it will be discusses in Closed Session and the Township Attorney will be coming late to this meeting.

Mrs. Mauro said the Proposal is not attached to the litigation as the litigation is with the Township so if there is no connection with the Township and MEMS she is confused why the issue was discussed in Closed Session.

On a motion by Hermansen, seconded by Sbarra, the meeting was closed to the public at 8:40PM. All in favor. Motion carried.

BOARD OF HEALTH Health Officer Angela Musella, Housing Commission Vice President Robert LaMontagne and other representatives of the Health Department and Health Commission were present.

Mr. LaMontagne said they want to present their request for a Part-Time Inspector. He stated that there is so much the Board of Health does so he asked the Health Officer to give a short overview.

Ms. Musella gave an overview of the Health Department’s Budget. She said they need a part-time Health Inspector and gave the reasons for it. The Township has grown so much and to keep our community healthy, and safe, she stated, the quality of the services they provide directly impact the residents. The Health Department is responsible for inspecting food establishments, pools, kennels, stables, fulfilling OPRA requests and Mahwah Day just to name a few. All of the inspections the department does are state mandated.

2 Budget and Combined Work Session Meeting Minutes February 27, 2014

Food inspections declined a lot due to not having a part-time Health Inspector. Ms. Musella explained that the Health Inspectors spend time in evening court due to non- compliant establishments. This is expensive to the town and if there was another part time Inspector there would not be as many non-compliant establishments.

Ms. Musella stated that the Board of Health has increased fees for most activities that it licenses and this has generated additional revenue of $27,628. She said this amount would fund the hiring a part-time Health Inspector and would reduce the number of hours that are spent in overtime in court.

Larson asked what the hours would be for a part-time Inspector and how much per hour. Ms. Musella said they requested 15 hours per week at $35.00 per hour. Larson commented that he is in agreement with hiring an Inspector.

The Business Administrator said in the Budget Line Item there is $29,000 which is being used for part-time clerical staff now.

Sbarra said two-thirds of the money would be in the Budget as the Inspector would be hired in April or May.

Hermansen asked on the inspection failures, how much money is collected. Ms. Musella said $100 fee on the first conditional inspection.

Hermansen said he feels it could create more revenue and save on overtime if we hired an extra Inspector. Ms. Musella said she feels there could be a 50% savings on overtime.

Hermansen said we already have $11,000 in the Line Item on the Budget.

Hermansen asked if the request for cell phones is for the new App. Ms. Campbell answered they have to upgrade all the Inspector’s phones for the PublicStuff plus all the phones are all antiquated technology.

Roth said we need to fund $18,000 and there is already an $11,000 cushion so we need $7,000.

Hermansen suggested the following changes be made to the Budget:

4-01-E01-212: Food/Medicine; Reducing $1,000 from $3,500 to $2,500

4-01-E01-204: Professional Services: Reduction of $1,000 bringing actual amount to $10,000

4-01-E01-102: Permanent Part-Time: Addition of $5,000 net increase to overall Budget to the $40,000, increasing the actual amount to $47,000 with the additional $2,000 also.

3 Budget and Combined Work Session Meeting Minutes February 27, 2014

The Business Administrator stated he did not know where the $35.00 rate came from. He said the rate for a part-time Inspector has been $30.00 per hour so he will have to check the guidelines.

SENIOR CENTER Coordinator Susanne Small and Rosalie Giudice were present. Ms. Small said they have presented a straight forward Budget this year.

Sbarra applauded Ms. Small’s department as last year they came in under Budget.

Sbarra said they spent less in Professional Services last year but are asking for the same amount this year. Ms. Small said they cannot anticipate as they base all of their services on 52 weeks and never know when seniors become ill or instructors go on a lengthy vacation.

Hermansen mentioned he has been to Senior Centers all over the County and ours is the best.

Larson asked if the weather has impacted classes if they have been cancelled. Ms. Small answered yes it has. She said if they have money left over due to classes that have been cancelled they can move the money and add a workshop or a trip.

Roth said they both do a wonderful job as people get a lot of enjoyment at the Center

PUBLIC PORTION On a motion by Larson, seconded by Hermansen, the meeting was opened to the public at 9:15PM. All in favor. Motion carried.

Ms. Mary Ann Mauro of 143 Johnson Avenue asked the Township Attorney about the last meeting she attended. She asked why the Proposal they received was from the Township Attorney and not MEMS. The Township Attorney answered there was an accommodation done by the Council President and the Mayor requesting that he send it on to the MARS Attorney.

Ms. Mauro said the Township is not involved in the current litigation as the situation is between MEMS and Company #1 Ambulance so why did the offer have to be discussed with the Council in Closed Session. It also had been stated that the Township could not get involved with anything and there is no current litigation with MEMS. She asked again, if Council has no say and MEMS was put into play under the Faulkner Act by the Mayor, why was the proposal from MEMS to MARS have to be discussed in Closed Session.

The Township Attorney said unfortunately the litigation filed was by certain individuals and that is why the Township is a party to this litigation and has to be discussed in Closed Session. The Township Attorney said Ms. Mauro should discuss this with her Attorney as litigation will continue. 4 Budget and Combined Work Session Meeting Minutes February 27, 2014

Ms. Mauro said she is confused with the Closed Session Meetings, as again, there is no litigation with MEMS and Ambulance #1. The litigation is on a totally different issue she stated. The Mayor had said everyone will be accepted into MEMS.

On a motion by Hermansen, seconded by Sbarra, the meeting was closed to the public at 9:25PM for the express purposes of discussing: C1. Proposed Sale of 1404 Faulkner Court; Affordable Housing Unit C2. Pending Litigation All in favor. Motion carried.

On a motion by Sbarra, seconded by Larson, the Council returned to open session at 10:35PM. All in favor. Motion carried.

Roth mentioned some dates for more departments to come in for Budget Meetings.

Roth mentioned March 1st, 2014 as a Budget Meeting date and March 8th as an alternate Budget date.

On a motion by Sbarra, seconded by Larson, the meeting was adjourned at 10:45PM. All in favor. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathrine G. Coletta, RMC/CMC/MMC Municipal Clerk

Meeting Minutes prepared by Jan Fox, Deputy Municipal Clerk