TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, WARREN COUNTY

                                                                                   Regular Minutes
                                                                                       July 17, 2007

The regular meeting of the Township Committee was held this date at the Municipal/Police Building located on Little Philadelphia Road.  The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m.  by Mayor John Horensky.

SUNSHINE LAW COMPLIANCE - The Mayor noted that this meeting was being held in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Law of 1975 in as much as a notice had been published in the Star Gazette and transmitted to the Express Times and posted at the Municipal Building.

ROLL CALL: Dempski, present; Elbassiouny, present; Kovacs, present; Mueller, present.  Horensky, present.  Michael Lavery, Township Attorney, Mary Ann O’Neil, Township Clerk, Peter de Boer, Public Works Manager and Dawn Stanchina, CFO, were also present.

SALUTE TO FLAG

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mueller had a correction to the minutes of June 19, 2007 second paragraph, first line, the words Deputy Mayor should be  inserted and the word Mayor removed. Kovacs made a motion to approve the minutes of June 19,2007, as amended, Mueller seconded.
Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Horensky, abstain.

Dempski made a motion to approve the Executive Session Minutes of June 19, 2007, Mueller seconded. All were in favor, except Horensky who abstained.

ORDINANCES
Kovacs made a motion to open Ordinance 07-13 Ordinance to Amend an Ordinance Fixing the Salaries of the Officers & Employees of the Township of Washington, County of Warren and State of New Jersey, EMT Certified Officer, to the public, Mueller seconded. All were in favor. Nobody from the audience wished to be heard. Mueller made a motion to close the public hearing, Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Kovacs, yes.  Horensky, yes.
Kovacs made a motion to adopt Ordinance 07-13, after public hearing and second reading, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

Dempski made a motion to introduce Ordinance 07-14 Ordinance to Amend and Ordinance Fixing the Salaries of the Officers & Employees of the Township of Washington, County of Warren and State of New Jersey,  (Litter Patrol), Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be August 21, 2007.

Dempski made a motion to introduce Ordinance 07-15 Ordinance of the Township of Washington to Amend, Revise and Supplement Chapter 89 “Noise”, Section 2, “Enumeration of Loud Disturbing and Unnecessary Noises,” of the Code of the Township of Washington to Reference the Noise Section of the Nuisance Ordinance, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be August 21, 2007.

Dempski made a motion to introduce Ordinance 07-16 Ordinance of the Township of Washington to Amend, Revise, and Supplement Chapter 90, “Nuisances” Section 4, “Nuisances Enumerated,” of the Code of the Township of Washington to Clarify the Subsection on Noise, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be August 21, 2007.

Elbassiouny made a motion to introduce Ordinance 07-17 Bond Ordinance to Appropriate an additional sum of $1,000,000 for various building improvements in, by and for the Township of Washington, County of Warren, New Jersey, to make a down payment, to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such additional appropriation and to provide for the issuance of Bond Anticipation Notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds, Kovacs seconded.
ROLL CALL: Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be August 21, 2007.

RESOLUTIONS
Dempski made a motion to approve Resolution 07-64 Resolution of the Township Committee of the Township of Washington, County of Warren, covenanting to comply with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, applicable to the exclusion  from gross income for federal income tax purposes of interest on obligations issued by the Township of Washington, authorizing the Mayor, Township Clerk, C FO and other Township Officials to take such action as they may deem necessary or advisable to effect such compliance and designating a $3,890,200 bond anticipation note, dated May 22, 2007 and payable May 22, 2008, as a “Qualified Tax Exempt Obligation” pursuant to section 265 (b) (3) of the IR Code of 1986, as amended. Elbassiouny seconded.

ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

Kovacs made a motion to approve Resolution 07-83, Resolution on Annual Report of Audit for 2006, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

Mueller made a motion to approve Resolution 07-84, Resolution Approving Washington Township Municipal Alliance Applying for 2008 Grant, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

Dempski made a motion to approve Resolution 07-85, Resolution Requesting the Director of Local Government Services to Approve the Insertion of a Item of Revenue in the 2007 Budget in the sum of $4000.00, to administer an Obey the Signs or Pay the Fines Grant from the Division of Traffic Safety Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

Elbassiouny made a motion to approve Resolution 07-86, Resolution   to Participate in Obey the Signs or Pay the Fines Enforcement, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

Dempski made a motion to approve Resolution 07-87, Refund Resolution Block 28, Lot 3.11, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

Mueller made a motion to approve Resolution 07-88, Refund Resolution Block, 65.02, Lot 4, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes

Dempski made a motion to approve Resolution 07-89, Resolution to Authorize and Approve Salaries and Wages for Certain Employees, (Tom Bocko, Betty and Gary Wysocki), Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

REPORTS FROM STAFF AND PROFESSIONALS
de Boer, Public Works Manager, gave a draft letter to the Township addressed to James A Bernaski, Assistant Engineer, advising the County of a dangerous existing condition on property at the intersection of Bowerstown and Plane Hill Roads to review. After review, the Committee had no problem with de Boer sending letter.

Stanchina, CFO, had distributed a memo to the Township on State Permit Surcharge Fees for discussion.
After discussion, it was determined that Mansfield Township should be responsible for fees, which would come out of their reimbursement.

PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS
Nobody from the audience wished to be heard.

OLD BUSINESS
Kovacs made a motion to approve Dawn Stanchina, CFO, attending the CFOA  Conference in Atlantic City, September 26-28, and all expenses are to be split with Franklin Township, Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

NEW BUSINESS
1.Service Order for trimming grass at 5 West Mozart Avenue was removed from agenda.

2.Mueller made a motion to approve the Raffle Application for September 10 for Special Olympic of New Jersey at Hawk Pointe Golf Club, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

3.Dempski made a motion to approve Raffle Application for Abilities of Northwest New Jersey for September 23, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

4.Dempski made a motion to approve the Warren County Service Order Request for overgrown grass and weeds at 86 East Asbury Anderson Road, Kovacs seconded.  All were in favor.

REPORTS FROM OFFICIALS
 
Samir Elbassiouny said there were some zoning issues that were addressed with Tom Bocko, Zoning Officer.

On the road department, they paved Bryans road and a portion of Coleman Hill Road.  

Elbassiouny said he had reviewed the schedule of tax rate and asked why  the Township is paying $459,000 to the County for library tax.  He asked if the Township went with the Boro for a library or had their own library, would they have to pay the taxes.  Lavery said there is a State Law that requires a certain amount of the tax rate to be dedicated to library. Lavery said this could be researched, but it is not very cheap to have your own library. Elbassiouny said that possibly they could go with the Boro Library and share the costs.  He felt all avenues should be explored. Dempski said that possibly they could use the Municipal Building for a library and suggested research be done on going from a County Based Library to Local Library.

Michael Kovacs said that the tax rate was just received on Friday and the tax bills will be  mailed out late.  It will probably be late August before the taxes are collected.

Kovacs said that, because of the election coming up in November and having seen what went on during the Primary Election, the sign ordinance must be addressed. The sign ordinance specifically specifies when the signs can go up, but there were signs up prior to that time. He said he would like the Clerk, before the next election, to notify the two chairmans of the ordinance and notify anybody that is putting up signs in Washington Township about the ordinance.  He said he would like to have Lavery change the 5' distance from road to 3' distance from road in ordinance and introduce at the next meeting.  The Committee had no problem with it. Dempski said that the ordinances had previously been sent to County Chairmans and the County Clerk last year. 

Barry Mueller said he had asked the Committee about the Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award and has not received any responses.  He said there is a member of the Recreation Commission that would be willing to put together a proposal if there is an interest from the Committee.  It was the consensus of the Committee that this was a good idea to honor someone annually.

The Morris Canal Committee has a sign that they would like to post for the Township and they will install it.  Mueller said he had talked with someone about where it would go. It is an information sign for the public.

There has been discussion on the fishing age at Lake Marguerite.   There is no objection by Recreation Commission, but it has been checked and the deed stated the age be 14 years old. The deed will have to be reviewed by Lavery.  The Clerk was to get a copy of the deed to Lavery to review.

Mueller said, on the Announcement Booth for Panthers Football is just about completed. They have done a nice job and was all done by volunteers. They would like to put a sign on the building recognizing the volunteers.  There was no objection by the Committee.

David Dempski said he had received a request from Pack 145, Wolf Den 6.  They have to do an achievement and they need access to a public area, such as a town hall or meeting place. They requested a tour of the Administration Building and Meeting Room after hours or a weekend. Dempski would be with them and there would just be a few boys.

Dempski had the Senior Citizens Report from Jessica Muselli, which he presented to the Mayor.  Dempski suggested some of the interested people be contacted and the Seniors Citizens Committee be formed.

The New Jersey State Agriculture Committee has required that an extension be done on the AJR Farm Closing, because the Township is running out of time, because the property was to be liquidated and it has not been done yet.   Dempski said a six month or a year extension should be requested.   The Mayor suggested a letter be sent by Lavery to the DEP with regard to this indicating the circumstances around this
project and copies be sent to Commissioner, Agriculture Group, Dougherty and Karrow.

Dempski said that inquires had been received on preserving the property by Shop Rite.  Dempski had told them that this is a long process and could take 1-1/2 years to 2 years of solid time to get this done. The same thing with the farm that Attorney Cornish is talking about.  They are still working on it, but the State is pushing back a bit, because even though there is a large piece of state acreage a half mile down the road, they do not feel it is close enough. They will not preserve, because there is no state land in the area.  Al Ivany
and the Open Space Committee are still looking into getting that little acreage preserved, but most of it is wetlands.  The Mayor said he had looked at the site and if the majority of the land is wetlands and it cannot be developed, why would the Township want to buy it? Dempski said they are looking at it and the farm mentioned by Cornish.  They are trying to get some plans together and funding from State.
 
Mayor John Horensky said, regarding COAH, as a result of correspondence and Lavery responding, he made a few inquiries based on an e-mail received from the State that identifies Administrative Agents for the Township.  He made a few telephone calls and did get one response from one of the entities that could serve as Administrative Agent for the Township.  He believed that Township is going to have to go forward on this. They need to put someone on board to do the administrative work and track all the information and make sure the paperwork is done. Horensky suggested looking at letter of proposal received from Communities Grants and Planning Incorporated out of East Windsor. Horensky said this has to be done in a timely manner and identify an Administrative Agent and asked the Committee to review the proposal.   The Committee should be prepared at the August meeting to take formal action in going forward on this.

Horensky said he reported several months ago that he had a meeting with the Highland Commission and Smart Growth Office. The Highlands Commission is very interested in coming and doing a very short presentation to describe the plan in greater detail. The Clerk is to send letter and invite them to the August meeting for a very short presentation, the abridged version.

The Land Use Board is in the process of having the Master Plan updated by the Planner. In conversations that he has had with the Planner, there is another issue that the Committee should be looking.  The Planner has discussed the potential of having some of the properties that are already zoned as commercial, for the Committee to take a look at it and being in a position to give more flexibility as to what can be done with the land.  For example, the commercial on Route 31 right now, in all probability, someone could come in a build another strip mall. The way the Master Plan addresses it zoning, there is nothing in there that give guidance and flexibility to applicants coming in.

He has been involved in a lot of discussions professionally that deal with issues on development and impacts on health and impacts on what communities should be looking to, not only conserve resources from Open Space Preservation to Water Recharge and Redistribution. The integration of areas that are not your typical strip mall development along the highway.  To that end, the Planner has made some recommendations and he thought it should be followed up in her final draft that the Township consider developing a zone along the Route 31 Corridor that would encompass the commercial end and some other properties that are contingent to it. It would be a Master Development Plan that would be put in that would address things in a coherent manner and make sure that all the piece fit. 

The Mayor asked if the Committee would be in a position to have Lavery put draft language together that would allow the Township to go forward and present, to the Planner, that would allow the Township the flexibility in the areas of concern, primarily along Route 31.  This would give the Township flexibility to design it to have a cohesive design, a design that would be unique and not the cookie cutter approach that we see throughout the County.

The Mayor said he is looking at the concept of a General Development Plan along the Route 31 Corridor. This would be consistent and there would not be a hodge podge.  Dempski said he thought the zoning laws are flexible enough and that the Master Plan clearly denotes how they want the community to grow.  He said he would never support another General Development Plan again, he didn’t think that when the concept came in and when if was actually realized as, never even comes close to what the plan was. It is too foggy and too fluid. He would rather see flexibility in zoning laws as they are or be expanded upon, to give some concrete bounds that this is what we want to see in the Township. 

Elbassiouny said the Committee should give Land Use Board Members a guide and vision where the Township has a vision for the future in certain areas or certain things to be done.  He said he believe you should always keep your options open.

Kovacs said, if the Land Use Board is doing  Master Plan Revisions, it starts and generates there.   He is not sure what Lavery could do about this.  The Mayor said that Lavery is an attorney and has done land use work, so he understands what is happening, he is Mayor of a Town, so he understands the dynamics that would be involved and what the Township would like to work at.  He could put something together that would address the needs of the Township. Kovacs asked if he was to put together a plan that could be turned over to the Land Use Board and put in the Master Plan, the Mayor said, to consider it for the Master Plan.  Lavery said, Kovacs is right, the Land Use Board should develop the Master Plan and the Committee develops the ordinances. Lavery said there is nothing wrong with sending a letter stating, “This is the vision items the Committee would like the Land Use Board to consider when they are doing the Master Plan. These are some concepts they would like included.”  Lavery will prepare a draft of what he thinks the Committee is looking for and if it is agreeable, it will be sent to the Land Use Board.    Lavery said the Master Plan is the province of the Land Use Board.  

PAYMENT OF BILLS
 
The Mayor said there was a phone call from Fascenelli, Treasurer, about there being additional bills that were not on the initial list, but have been added and she did provide them and there are enough signatures to pay them.  There are invoices from Medina Consultants with regard to Engineering at Brown and Brown Building, General Engineering/Consultant Services and Engineering on New Hampton Road Calming Devices. The Mayor asked for a motion to approve the bill list, with the exception of the Medina Consultants. Mueller made a motion to approve the bills, with the exception of the Medina Bills, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Mueller, yes; Dempski ,yes; Elbassiouny, abstain; Kovacs, abstain; Horensky, yes.

There was discussion on the Medina Bill for the Transition Meeting with Robert Miller, previous engineer. Mueller said that Miller put in for 2-1/2 hours ($257.40)  for the Transition Meeting and Medina put in for 5 hours ($625.00), he questioned the difference.   Elbassiouny will check into this and find out why there is a three hour difference. 

After discussion, Dempski made a motion to approve the Medina Consultants bill on the New Hampton Calming Device bill, out of bond, Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, abstain; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

EXECUTIVE SESSION
Dempski made a motion to go into Executive Session at 8:50 p.m. for four contractional matters and one potential litigation matter, Mueller seconded.  All were in favor.

The doors were opened. Kovacs made a motion to come out of Executive Session at 9:43 p.m., Dempski seconded.  All were in favor.

Lavery said the Committee emerged from Executive Session at 9:43 p.m. where they discussed a number of contractional matters, being Unity Bank, AJR Farm, Hatch Mott MacDonald and contract on new Municipal Building and one potential litigation on COAH Reports.   Lavery said no official action was taken and copies of the minutes of this meeting will be available at such time the Committee determines there is no harm to the public interest.

Elbassiouny asked the Committee to make a decision on a part time secretary for the Code and Construction Office.  Kovacs questioned as to whether this had to be done tonight, Elbassiouny said yes.  Kovacs asked for a recommendation.  Elbassiouny said he had two recommendations, one from Long Valley and one from Washington Township. Elbassiouny said they are looking for somebody part time, that can do maybe five hours a week and questioned on how long they would stay with the Township for these hours. Elbassiouny said he knows Sharon Patten, who is local, has children in the school system and knows she can do a good job. Elbassiouny said they have not formally interviewed, because it is a problem with the time.  The Code and Construction Secretary will be going on vacation within the next few weeks and they need someone in place before she leaves. Elbassiouny asked the Committee to review two applications they are talking about and reach a decision.  The Committee asked Elbassiouny for a recommendation and Kovacs said he preferred the local applicant. Elbassiouny said he knows the local person and she has done work for him and she is capable of doing the job.  He felt she would be the person for the job.  Kovacs made a motion to hire Sharon Patten, immediately, at a starting salary of $15/hour as a technical assistant, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

OLD BUSINESS
Mueller asked the Committee to approve the Hatch Mott Mac Donald bills that had presented previously, Dempski seconded.  All were in favor.

There being nothing further to come before the Committee, Elbassiouny made a motion to adjourn at 9:50 p.m., Dempski seconded.  All were in favor.
Respectfully,

Mary Ann O’Neil RMC/CMC
Township Clerk