TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, WARREN COUNTY

Regular Minutes
March 20, 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 7:32  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 and Mary Ann O’Neil, Township Clerk were also present.  Also present  were  Pete de Boer, Certified Public Works Manager, Police Chief James Mc Donald and Ric Vollmer, Township Engineer. 

SALUTE TO FLAG

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Kovacs made a motion to approve the Executive Minutes of February 20, 2007, Mueller seconded.  All were in favor, except Horensky who abstained.

Elbassiouny made a motion to approve the Regular Minutes of February 20, 2007, Kovacs seconded.
ROLL CALL: Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, abstain.

Kovacs made a motion to approve the Budget Meeting Minutes of March 3, 2007, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Horensky, yes.

Mueller made a motion to approve the Executive Session Minutes of March 3, 2007, Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

PBA CONTRACT
Kovacs made a motion to approve the Police Contract/PBA 280, Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

ORDINANCES
Kovacs made a motion to open Ordinance 07-05, Ordinance to Amend an Ordinance fixing the Salaries of the Officers and Employees of the Township of Washington, County of Warren,  State of New Jersey 2007-01, (Code & Construction), to the public, Elbassiouny seconded.  All were in favor. Nobody from the public wished to be heard.  Elbassiouny made a motion to close the public hearing, Mueller seconded. All were in favor.  Elbassiouny made a motion to approve Ordinance 07-05, after public hearing and second reading, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

Elbassiouny  made a motion to open  Ordinance 07-06 - Bond Ordinance to Authorize the Making of Various Improvements to Public Buildings in, by and for the Township of Washington, in the County of Warren, State of New Jersey, to appropriate the sum of $1,600,000 to pay the cost,  thereof, to make a down payment, to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of Bond Anticipation Notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds, Kovacs seconded.  All were in favor.

Richard J. Strunk, 116 Brass Castle Road, said, with the passage of this 1.6 million dollar bond and the $830,000-dollar previous bond we are again back up to $2.5 million dollars, close to an amount that was defeated last month. This should be defeated as well and returned to a more conservative plan. Washington Township does not need this 12,000 square foot Tai Mahal  with redundant work spaces. Specifically, we can  eliminate one break room on both floors and have one break room for all employees.  We could eliminate the long term record archiving in the main building and combine  it with storage in the accessory building.   The previous, original plan, had two years worth of filing space was designed into the original plan. We still have to build for archive records for the whole basement of the existing Administration building and some of the records at the accessory  building at the administration building.   This has not been conceived in this new plan.   This would save money.   We  should also cut back on proposed police spaces by about 40% or to the amount of space in the original plan. We only have 3-officers on duty at one time. We could eliminate training room, eliminate squad room and combine them with a general-purpose room downstairs that would get more Township use.  We  could eliminate commander  officer’s room, eliminate lieutenants office, and combine them into regular officer work spaces downstairs.
 
We could reduce holding rooms to two, eliminate the viewing room and eliminate a third bathroom downstairs.  We  could eliminate future extra officers locker room, which is proposed next to enlarged existing locker room.

Keep the savings in space downstairs for future flexible office space to avoid  future overcrowding of upstairs offices space. We now have to contend for a construction code office for 5 people, who will need a  plan review room and record storage. A good portion of the downstairs space  should be used for future growth and expansion and to  keep future cost down.

Historically when Committees have bonded for money it all gets spent. It is easy to say “take it out of the remaining money left in the bond”.  Unfortunately, this spending mentality was done with the park project bond and with the bonding for recent DPW equipment.

With 4.5 million dollars at stake this is not the fiscal management mentality the people of Washington Township deserve   Thank you.

John Grdovic, 7 Baltusrol Avenue, said had stopped by the Administration Building about two weeks ago and reviewed the plans.  He had prepared a list of 21 items that he felt might have been missed, items where the Township can save money and general suggestions.  Grdovic said he felt there may be some areas that costs may be missing.  Stone has been put down for additional parking in the area, but he asked if a detention system has been thought of in this area, as there is an environmental impact to putting this much black top down. The spacing of the rest rooms   throughout the building leads to excessive plumbing costs and they could be clustered together. The plumbing costs could be reduced greatly.  For the office of Emergency Management and Police purposes, it does not seem that there was evidence of a back up generator in the plan, which is something they should have if they are going to be prepared for something like this.  For the police,  their office of emergency management does not have a one hour fire rating.  The weapons storage   room should have some sort of explosion resistance protection to that room. The public restrooms in the police department do not appear to be handicapped accessible.  The rest rooms in the police processing area is also not handicapped accessible.  The police processing area is extremely far away from the interview rooms leading to long transportation times for those under arrest.  There is also many corridors in the police lay out, it looks like a maze.  If someone under arrest was to gain access to a weapon and be in those corridors, it is extremely dangerous for the police to apprehend someone in a maze like that.  There are too many places to hide, these spaces should be opened up.  Also, the corridors are lost square footage. The squad room in the processing area appeared to be on the opposite side from police parking. 

Grdovic said, on the municipal room extending the fire rating into a closet in assembly hall eliminates the need for fire rated doors on a closet. Employee rest room on second floor is handicapped accessible, but there are  too many restrooms in general.  The council chambers doors shows an large amount of glass on them, there is no way they are fire rated.

Grdovic said he felt the next item was major, which was putting the council chambers on the first floor.  There were apparently structural issues with that many people in assembly hall on the second floor and there is additional cost to reinforce the structure.  This being put downstairs would eliminate the excess cost for structural improvements that would be needed.  Also, the majority of the people visiting this would be parking in the back, because there is limited parking in the front. 

Also, as Strunk had mentioned, there seems to be insufficient space for the building officials to work properly, store plans and have a place for plan review. 

Grdovic said he thought there were areas where the Township can get what is shown and still save money.

The Mayor said the police department had much input into the plans and were placed upon the needs of the department.  He said he would have this list given to the architect to review.

There were no further comments.  Kovacs made a motion to close the public hearing, Elbassiouny seconded. All were in favor.  Elbassiouny made a motion to adopt Ordinance 07-06,after public hearing and second reading, Kovacs seconded.
ROLL CALL: Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

Kovacs made a motion to introduced Ordinance 07-08, Ordinance to Amend an Ordinance Fixing the Salaries of the Officers and Employees of the Township of Washington, County of Warren and State of New Jersey, #2007-01 (Recruit) on first reading, Elbassiouny seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be April 16, 2007.

Kovacs made a motion to introduce Ordinance 07-09, Ordinance to Exceed the Municipal Budget Appropriation Limits and to Establish a CAP Bank (NJSA 40A4-45.14) on first reading, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be April 16, 2007.
 
Kovacs made a motion to introduce Ordinance 07-10, Ordinance of the Township of Washington, County of Warren, State of New Jersey, to Amend, Revise and Supplement Chapter 110, “Towing and Storage,” Section 12, “Light-Duty Service Fee Schedule,” of the Code of the Township of Washington to Update the Range of Allowable Rates and Fees for Towing and Storage, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be April 16, 2007.

Elbassiouney made a motion to approve Ordinance 07-11, Ordinance of the Township of Washington, County of Warren, State of New Jersey, Amending and Supplementing Chapter 59 Titled “Construction Permits” of the Code of the Township of Washington, Kovacs seconded.
ROLL CALL: Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading will be April 16, 2007.

RESOLUTIONS
The  Mayor advised that any item for discussion should be removed prior to approval.  Otherwise, one motion will cover all items on Consent Agenda.  Kovacs asked that Resolution 07-43 and 07-44 be voted on separately.   Lavery asked that Resolution 07-48 Tax Sale Certificate Refund Resolution be held until the next meeting.

Kovacs made a motion to approve Resolution 07-45 through 07-47 and Resolution 07-49 through 07-52 be approved, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.
07-45 To Authorize and Approve Certain Salaries and Wages for Certain Employees (Ptl Step 2&4)
07-46 Graces Law /Provide Hearing Aids for children 15 years of age and younger
07-47 Authorize and Approve Salaries and Wages for Certain Employees (Police)
07-49 Resolution to Release the Performance Guarantee for Pear Tree Realty, Block 15, Lot 8
07-50 Resolution to Accept the Maintenance Bond for Pear Tree Realty, Block 15, Lot 8
07-51 Resolution of the Township of Washington, County of Warren, State of New Jersey Authorizing the Sale of Municipal Personal Property No longer needed for a Public Purpose, pursuant to NJSA 40A:11-36
07-52 Resolution of the Township of Washington, County of Warren, State of New Jersey in Support of he New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s Efforts to Preserve Block 71, Lot 1 known as the Sigler Farm

Dempski made a motion to approve Resolution 07-43, Deferred Regional High School District Tax, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

Kovacs made a motion to approve Resolution 07-44, Introduction of the 2007 Budget, Dempski seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.
Public Hearing on the Budget will be April 16, 2007.

REPORT FROM STAFF
1.Brown and Brown Building - Peter de Boer, Public Works Manager, said that during the month of February the Public Works Department completed the interior demolition of the Brown and Brown Building.  All proper permits were applied for to do the demolition with the Code and Construction Office.    Kovacs said he wanted to point out that the Department of Public Works did this demolition when working conditions at 6:30 a.m. were down in the single digits, so the men were put into the building, rather than put them on the road.  Kovacs said the demolition work has been done ahead of schedule, with a savings of $40,000 over the original estimate.   de Boer said the Phase II Report is finished, with conclusions and recommendations.   There have been some changes in the floor plans, which pertain to the Code and Construction Office and Tax Assessor. deBoer said the septic was pumped out.  The underground storage tank was removed.  

de Boer said there are  items that he needs directions on: and authorization from the Committee to (2) approve Medina Consulting to do test boring and site plan; and (2)  approve Medina Consulting for design of new septic disposal system for building, if necessary.   The Mayor said he has had some very fruitful conversations with representatives from Washington Borough regarding hooking up with the Borough. .  They were to meet, but there was an employee change, with the office manager and this has taken priority now.  He said, during the conversations he has been assured that we will  have an audience with them to go over this, but they are not in a position to formally say yes at this time.   They are very sincere with doing shared services with the Township.   de Boer asked for authorization to do the test boring and site plan and if necessary to design a new septic disposal system. Ric Voller, Medina Consultants gave a report on existing septic system and what would be required to update it.

Kovacs made a motion to authorize Medina to look into the septic system, test boring and the site plan being redone, Elbassiouny seconded.  All were in favor.
 
2.de Boer said he did not have the report on the Brass Castle & Port Colden paving project

PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS
R.J. Strunk, 116 Brass Castle Road, said he could give more specifics on the septic system at Bowers, Schumann and Welch (Brown and Brown), because he did testing at this site about 10 years ago when they had the existing septic problem.   They had seepage problems, which are still existing, and did pump out on a regular basis, because their employee load was so much.   The next one that Brown and Brown installed was  around 2005.  The reason the system is up in the easterly-northern corner is because this is where the soils were in  original condition.   The whole site there has about 17' of overburden that was brought over from American Can when they did their last addition, which did not perc at all until you got down about 20'. Strunk said the best place to perc is where the existing system is and not through a gravity system.

Strunk said it was not specifically noted to authorized the gutting of the  Brown and Brown Building.  Kovacs said he gave de Boer permission to go ahead with it because he was the Project Manager representing the Township Committee and was given the authority to do that job with the Mayor.  Strunk said he was at most of the meetings and did not remember that authority being given.  Kovacs said it was in the minutes.  Kovacs said he was given the authority to be the liaison and he gave de Boer the authority to gut the building.  Strunk said, when building was purchased, the owner had just installed a new Merlin Phone system at a cost of  $25,000.  Also new Computer wiring system at about $25,000.00 was put in and now both are gone.  Dempski said that he and de Boer personally supervised putting the telephones in the closet area to secure them.  The telephones are digital telephones and should not be put in an analog system.   Kovacs said, backing up on the demolition issue, the Committee decided they were going to do the demolition, it was decided at one of the meetings and it is in the minutes that the Township was going to do demolition, it wasn’t his decision to demolish the building.  His decision was, when it was five degrees out and 6:30 a.m., de Boer did not want to put his men on the road, so he asked if he could take them up to start the demolition to save money.  They ended up saving $40,000 on this during the cold weather.  Kovacs said it is in the minutes that the Committee decided to demolish the building. Strunk said he did not recall a formal vote being taken on this, because the last mention was to go out for bid to have this work and have the architect to prepare the documents.  Kovacs said they did authorize to go out for demolition.  Strunk said, additionally it appears we have destruction and disposal of municipal property without proper consent and vote of the Township committee. Normally to give a junk $50.00 police car away we need a vote by the committee. Here,  Mr. Kovacs alone authorized the destruction and disposal of 12,000 square feet of public property without committee approval.

Kathy Enz said she was at the meeting again about the road on Spring Lane.  She was at the meeting last month and told the Committee that the Fire Department had come and said they could not make a turn into her driveway and the Committee wanted to hear from them directly and get a letter.   She did go to the Fire Commissioner’s meeting last week and they did discuss it and got the same letter the Township did.  They decided they would send a letter to her and it was supposed to be in time for the judges’s meeting last week. She had not received it yet and called to see where it was and so far, nobody seems to know where it went. She said Fire Chief Vergos said he was coming tonight and he was one of the men that came up on the fire engine.  She said she would like the Township write a letter to that effect.  She brought letters from neighbors about her buying the piece or their property.  

Enz asked if Vergos could talk to the Committee.   The Mayor said he is the liaison with the fire department and he has had several conversations with Vergos regarding this issue.  Vergos did represent to the Mayor that he and the fire service did attempt to bring a vehicle into her property heading north on the main road coming in and were not able to do that.  However, they went down the road a little further, turn the truck around and go southernly they were definitely able to turn into her property.   The Mayor asked whey they were not able to turn in northerly direction and they indicated there were some stones/boulders on her neighbors property.  Enz said they are in the public’s right-of-way as shown in the plan submitted last month by Eldon Allen The Mayor asked if there is something in the record that shows there were rocks in the right-a-way.   Lavery said you could not tell by the map.   Lavery said to Enz, with all due respect, you are in the middle of litigation over that issue and they have stones that are on their property and there is nothing the Township can due, short of condemning the property.  There is no site easement there, so the Township cannot go in an say they have to be removed.  Lavery said, it is not in the right-of-way, so there is nothing the Township can do.  Lavery asked, can you get the fire truck in if you remove the bank on the other side of driveway?  Enz said the bank is about six feet high.  Lavery said it is not a matter of is it difficult to do, the problem is there is not much the Township can do, it is not within the easement, it is not in the road right-of-way and the stones are on the neighbors property.  There is nothing the Township can do, they cannot force the neighbors to remove the stones.

Lavery said that Enz wants the Township to solve her problem and the reality is, there is not much they can do.  The stones are on the neighbors property.  Enz said they are in the right-of-way.  Lavery said he had reviewed Eldon Allen’s survey and he did not think they were in right-of-way and there is nothing legally the
Township can do, not to mention that she is in litigation with them right now.    Enz said they are only talking about the tiny triangle.  Lavery said it is a tiny triangle that the neighbors own, that is the problem.  She said she has an easement, but they put the boulders there after that, you cannot make it.  Lavery told her she must go back to the judge to resolve this, because the Township can do nothing, they have no legal authority.
 
Enz said she is asking for a letter ascertaining that the Fire Department has a problem, that is all she is asking for at this time.  Lavery said this would be more appropriate to come from the Fire Department, because for the Township to write a letter it would be just hearsay.   He said you will never get a letter into court, she will have to have someone from the fire department come and testify if this is still ongoing.

Enz said she is asking for support, proving that she has this problem.  The firemen went up, they all agreed there would be a letter, which would take care of the hearsay problem.   Lavery said that is what the judge will say when she shows up with a letter from the fire department.  

The Mayor said, he would repeat what he had said earlier, the fire department attempted to go into her driveway, heading north and could not do it.  However, they turned the vehicle around and came in the southernly way and were able to get on to the property.  Elbassiouny asked why she didn’t move her driveway over.  Enz said because of the bank. Elbassiouny said she could if she wanted to do so.  Enz said the problem is the angle, it will still be coming out at the wrong angle. 

Enz questioned where the minutes were posted on the web site.  She was advised they are posted monthly, after they are approved by the Committee.   Lavery said, to make this clear, they are typed up after the meeting, approved by the Township and then posted on the site.   They are not released until they are approved.

Dempski said he had a public statement. He believes in open and transparent government and that any evidence of impropriety or things that could lead to that should be discussed publicly.  His wife Sheila has been approached to run for the Washington Township Board of Education and she has decided to run for this position and has filed a petition.  As such, the Washington Township Governing Body is the appeal process for the budget should it be defeated.  So, in regard to the Washington Township Board of Education, he will be abstaining from all matters concerning that body during his term and his wife’s term.

 OLD BUSINESS
1. Website Form & Other Processing Areas - Dempski said that he had been asked by Elbassiouny to create e-mail addresses for the building department, which he has done.  He has also prepared a list of areas that he thinks the Township should concentrate on, which was distributed to the Committee to review and comment on at the next meeting.

2. Senior Citizens Advisory Committee - Dempski said last year the Committee created a Senior Citizens Advisory Committee to give seniors of the Township a good avenue to interact with the governing body. He was approached last year by Jessica Masculli, who is doing her gold award for Girl Scouts, which is equivalent to an Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts.  She is working on creating a survey and creating a mailing to survey various needs and to recruit new members.   She has been working with the Mayor and himself on this project.  Chief Vergos said she has also approached the fire department and will give them a listing when the survey is done.

NEW BUSINESS
1. Attorney Debra Nicholson, Attorney for Quick Check said she was at this meeting because there is a dilemma.  Quick Check very much wants to become a part of the commercial enterprises in the Township.  However, there have been recent developments in Land Use Case Law, Highlands Regulations and  DEP Regulations with an overlay of Township’s Ordinances the way they are drafted at present.  This gives her no avenue to approach the Land Use Board to locate a Quick Check anywhere within the community.  The business model for Quick Check is a convenience store with fuel dispensing, no truck stop of any way shape or form and limited diesel dispensing. 

Nicholson said the Township would have to change their ordinance and they would help the Township legal professionals craft language that could be specific enough for what they intend, with the convenience store - fuel dispensing model that could be permitted with the commercial areas.  Then they could go in through the Land Use Board or Conditional Use Ordinance.  There are a lot of legal issues.

In light of the conundrum presented by recent case law and the fact that the zoning ordinances do not contemplate the type of development which Quick Check has successfully brought to other municipalities. It is respectfully requested that the Township Committed and Land Use Board consider the proposal, as stated, and advise whether the ordinances may be amended to set standards for a convenience store with fuel dispensing designed as a comprehensive plan.  Nicholson asked if she could meet with representatives from the Committee, discuss this further, then bring details back to Committee.  The Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be meeting with Nicholson, but there is no guarantee the Committee will say yes they are inclined to make any changes to the ordinances. 
 
2. Recreation Committee  - Use of Park Bond for Security Camera - Daryl Detrick, representative from Recreation Committee said he was present to discuss getting a security camera for the park due to the vandalism in the bathroom area and pavilion area.   The Recreation Commission have look at camera that would be mounted on a pole.  There would be two cameras that would face the pavilion and bathroom area and work equally well daytime or nighttime.  Two quotes had been received and the cameras ranged from $3800 to $4000.  Lavery asked them to get an additional quote.  Kovacs made a motion to approve taking up to $4500, pending availability of funds,  from the Park Bond for security lights, Elbassiouny seconded After further discussion, Kovacs amended his motion to approve up, but not exceed  $5000, pending availability of funds, Elbassiouny seconded the amendment.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes.

3. Clean Communities Grant - Dempski said the Township received the final numbers in and for 2007 they were awarded $8428.16.   There are still funds available from last year, plus this amount.   The surplus from last year must be spent by June 2007.   There are three areas that he wanted to discuss.  He wants to create an application for groups to apply for the grants.  He wants to make sure they are tracking the funds and getting the reports done on how we spent it, who it was spent on and how many bags of garbage was picked up.  The grant has not been tracked good enough , so it was hard to submit the year end report.  He will be sending out mailings to watershed groups, Scouts, Schools and other non-profit groups to make them aware of the funds available.  There is a request in from the Musconetcong Watershed Association.  They are doing a spring clean up on April 21 and we have usually given them $250.  He has budgeted $350, with the current increases that were received. He asked the Committee to authorize the grant, not to exceed $350 and he will follow up with mailings in other areas.   Dempski made a motion to award a Clean Communities Grant to the Musconetcong Watershed Association, not to exceed $350, subject to proper reports being filed for their April Spring Clean Up, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

Dempski said he strongly believes that a lot of the educational programs that have been run in the past have been for public schools.   He has been getting a lot of requests for programs to be held for profit day care centers and he does not feel this is appropriate.  If you are having a school program you are hitting between 600 and 800 children, as opposed to 20 at a day care center.   He has been hesitant about giving money to them and asked the consensus of the Committee.   After discussion, the Committee agreed that the grant should only be awarded to nonprofit groups.   The Mayor said this is a procedure that should be adopted, the grants will only be awarded to nonprofit organizations.

4.Memo from Finance regarding voucher to tax map revisions and Castle/Dale Avenue Sidewalks -
The Mayor said this may have been work that was authorized in 2006 and asked that it be checked and if it was so authorized, that it should be honored.  Elbassiouny, liaison to engineer, will check into this and get back to the Committee.

5.Request from de Boer to attend the Public Works Conference March 22 in East Windsor, NJ. - Elbassiouny made a motion to approve de Boer attending the Public Works Conference on March 22 in East Windsor, NJ, Dempski seconded. All were in favor.

6.Raffle Application for Warren Hospital Foundation - Kovacs made a motion to approve the Raffle Application for Warren Hospital Foundation on Mary 7th at Hawk Point, Mueller seconded.  All were in favor.

7.Casino  Night Application for Warren County Community College - Mueller made a motion to approve the Cruise Night Application for Warren County Community College at Hawk Pointe Golf Club on May 12, 2007, Dempski seconded.   All were in favor, except Elbassiouny and Horensky, who are on the Foundation Board.

8.Appointment to Recreation Commission - The Mayor appointed Brian Jeffries as Alternate One and Jim Miller as Alternate Two on the Recreation Commission.

9.Mueller made a motion to approve Evan Howell, Tax Collector,  attending an Ethics Workshop on March 30 in New Brunswick, Kovacs seconded All were in favor.

10,Elbassiouny made a motion to approve Mary Ann O’Neil, Clerk, attending an Ethics and Record Management Class on March 30, 2007 in Sussex County, Kovacs seconded.  All were in favor.
11.Mueller made a motion to approve Dawn Stanchina, CFO, to attend a Hostile Work Environmental Issues Seminar in New Brunswick on May 2, 2007, Elbassiouny seconded.  All were in favor.

Elbassiouny said he would like to see information from these classes that would benefit the Committee be given to the Committee.  The Mayor encouraged employees that are attending classes that may benefit the municipality, that they share the information.
 
REPORTS FROM OFFICIAL
Barry Mueller said the Recreation Commission had already been given.  They are working on a memorial to Dr. Wasser.

He attended the Warren Morris Council of Government Meeting and they had an update on the Highlands Council.  Also, somebody nominated him as Vice Chairman and he was elected as Vice Chairman. 

The Historic Commission is hard at work planning for the History Day at the Auto Giro Building on May 19th. They will be having representation from the Smithsonian Institution and local historic groups.

The Historic Commission has moved their meetings to the Police/Municipal Building, due to the Log Cabin Building being turned into the Code and Construction Office.  They usually meet the third Monday of the month, but it is a problem this month, because of the election.  So, this meeting, they will be meeting in April on the 23rd.

Dempski said the mailing of the applications and forms for the Clean Communities Grant will be going out to group and schools.

Samir Elbassiouny said he met with the Economic Development Committee last month and the guest speaker was Robert Goltz, President of the Warren County Regional Chamber of Commerce.  They discussed certain things the Township can benefit from this group.  They want to work on the web site and be able to advertise empty buildings for rent or sale and commercial properties on the Chamber Web Site.  They want to set up a fund for a mailing list to get people on the Township Website’s Mailing List. 

The Construction Code Officials went down to Emergency Respond Unit and attempted to get picture identifications, but they were denied, but it later was arranged, as soon as the equipment is operational again.  Elbassiouny said he felt that all employees should have identification cards and they are very inexpensive.  Dempski said it would be good to tie this in with the new building and there could be badging.

Michael Kovacs said he wanted to clarify something that Strunk said, he was authorized by the Committee to make certain decisions on behalf of the Committee, in order to keep the project moving in between meetings where decisions had to be made about the building.  His predecessor was Strunk and he made some decisions and Kovacs said he made some decisions.   The demolition work itself was authorized by the Committee and all he did was authorize the DPW to proceed.   

Kovacs said the schedule with the architect is to have the drawings and specifications ready by April 13th and he asked the Committee would want a Special Meeting for him to present the final go around on the drawings before he goes out to bid. 

Kovacs said the Committee could also have second reading on the Code and Construction Fees at the Special Meeting.  Lavery said normally it would be 10 days, which is really 12 days, but with the Star Gazette it is often impossible to do.  There was discussion on possibly changing the  legal paper for the Township.   Mueller said he wasn’t sure they could use Express Times, because it is out of State.  Lavery will research this matter for a future meeting, but it depends on where it is published.   The Mayor said, after Lavery does this and they can change newspapers, they will do so in the future.   The Clerk said if they go with Express Times, then the advertising budget will have to be increased substantially.   Lavery said the Express Times and Star Ledger are both very expensive.   Kovacs made a motion to have a Special Meeting on Monday, April 9th at 7:00p.m. to review the architects specification and  plans and second reading of Code and Construction Ordinance. Kovacs asked if the Code and Construction Office has been approved by the State yet.     Lavery said they called him about a week ago and said if they wanted to take over sooner it could be done.  They got the notice on January 17th and the 120 days would be May 17th.    Lavery said the Fee Ordinance has to be in place before this is done.

Mayor John Horensky said he continued the discussions with the FEMA Flood Management Program.  They were developing a Flood Litigation Plan for the Township.  They met with the Delaware River Basin Commission to discuss moving forward with the plan.

He finished going through the Warren County Citizens Police Academy.   It was a very beneficial program to understand the Law Enforcement Community.

He said, as liaison to the Police, he received a monthly report from the Chief. During February, there were 540 dispatched incidents, 38 criminal investigations, 18 criminal arrests, 15 motor vehicle accidents, 152 motor vehicle stops and complaints, 19 crimes to another property, 2 drug and alcohol incidents, 6 domestic disturbances, 32 alarms , 34 EMS fire calls and other categories 280.   On shift coverage, for the time period of 1/1/07 through 3/7/07, there was 19.5 hours of shift coverage overtime, 11 hours of training, 45 hours of court, 17 hours shift extension, 51 hours for call out, 3 hours investigations, 2.5 hours sick time, 12 hours  motor vehicle for a total of 162 total hours of overtime - compared to last year, which was 262.5 hours.
 
Chief Mc Donald said that currently when they do outside contracting jobs the rate is $25/hour per car.  The maximum amount the State will pay is $5/hour.  They did a study on the cost of running the vehicle for an hour, idle time is $1.92 and it costs .01/hour for light bar, so it costs under $2/hour to run a vehicle.  So, what is happening is, a lot of the companies said they will turn to the State Police to direct traffic, but they don’t have enough people to do.  So, the Township is pricing themselves out of jobs for police.  If they do bring in private traffic control personnel, the Township is still responsible for public safety in the Township.  If anything goes wrong, the liability would fall back on the Township.    He said he thought on of the questions that would come up would be, “Why is the Township charging $ 25.00/hour for a car when the actual cost would be under $2.50 an hour?”    Kovacs said this was not to make money on this, but there is administration, payroll cost, etc., which must be done.  He suggested that the Chief meet with the CFO and give her the numbers from the report and come back to another meeting.   The Chief said these jobs do not cost the Township anything, the overtime is paid by the State.   Mueller said, at the cost of gas, he does not see how the car can run for an hour on a gallon of gas.   The Chief said he has statistics on the report.  Mueller said the Township has other things, insurance, maintenance, etc. 

PAYMENT OF BILLS
Dempski had questions on one of the bills, regarding the purchase of software.  He said you have to be very careful, Dell will sell you whatever you want, but when you purchase software, there is a required license from Microsoft.  If you purchase software as a student teacher, you should be a student or a teacher.  There is a reason why this is done, because they figure most students are broke and cannot spend that much money.  They will get used to using the system when they get out of college.  They give you a discount when you purchase student or teacher software.  It is meant for a certain segment of the market.  If you take it and purchase for your business or government, you are violating a license agreement and you should not be doing that, you should not be taking advantage of a price break for a specific market, using it for other use.  Dell will not care, but Microsoft will definitely care.  You are opening yourself up to a tremendous license issue there, Microsoft is very, very fanatical about enforcing the licensing agreement.  He felt this was taking advantage of a license in an inappropriate manner that could certainly lead to problems in the Township somewhere. He suggested the Township did not purchase software that is exclusively designated for Local Government   Price, but they should not be buying software from a Student-Teacher License.  

Another question was the air cards for the Chief’s vehicle, there was use on it and they paid $67 a month for it, should the Township really be paying for air cards that are not being used?   The Mayor said he had questioned the Chief on both issues.   The air cards are tied into the MDT’s in the vehicle to do all the police stops and checks.  The Chief’s vehicle, there is a part that is missing, and therefore that is why there was no use on the air  card this month.  Dempski said they should not be charging us then, if it is a defect on their part.   The Mayor said it was a defect in the computer to transmit the data with the OEM center. 

Chief Mc Donald said he would like to address the software issue.  He checked with the school to see if there was a way that he could get the software from the school and they said no, because of licensing agreements. He talked with Val Mattings  at the school, who recommended, because they are using these computers for educational purposes, that  the reason they are doing this is, because they are both instructors, which saves the department a lot of money.  They are using them for teaching purposes.  Mattings, who  is the coordinator for the school district didn’t feel they would be violating any licensing agreements at all in doing this. It was probably a third of the price and the other thing that made it more attractive to him was that you could put it on three computers, as opposed to one.   Dempski said this makes it worse.  If you purchase software, it is usually a single user license.  Dempski cautioned strongly against proceeding down this path   You are buying more than one license at a greatly reduced rate and going to open yourself up to problems, there is no way about it.  He would rather see the Township spend more money and get the right license, than take a gamble on getting unwarranted attention from Microsoft, a billion dollar giant.  He recommended against the voucher.   Mueller made a motion to pay the bills, Dempski seconded, but voted on all vouchers except the Dell bill and abstained from that one.
ROLL CALL: Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Elbassiouny, abstain; Kovacs, abstain; Horensky, yes.

EXECUTIVE SESSION
Lavery said there were two contractional l issues, one litigation and one potential litigation issues.  The Mayor said he had a personnel issue to discuss.   Kovacs made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:50 p.m., Mueller seconded.  All were in favor.   There was a 20 minute break before they met.

The doors were opened.  Mueller made a motion to come out of Executive Session., Kovacs seconded.  All were in favor.  

Lavery asked that the records reflect that they discussed a constructional matter, that is the contract with Unity Bank, a constructional matter, being the AJR Property, a litigation matter regarding Attorney Gruenberg’s letter regarding Washington vs Apgar and potential litigation, client privilege matter, regarding the escrow with Ernie and Dom’s.  No official action was taken.  Copies of the minutes of the Executive Session will be available at such time as the Committee determines that there is no harm to the public interest.   There were two personnel matters discussed, no official action taken.  There was also discussion regarding a constructional matter on accepting the grant money.  
 
Elbassiouny made a motion to authorize the Township Attorney to draft a contract and get to Unity Bank with provisions that had been provided as a result of the Mayor’s conversations with Unity Bank, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL; Elbassiouny, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

Dempski made a motion to authorize the Township Engineer to do the design work on the calming device on New Hampton Road and have ready for official action to authorize bids at next meeting, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Dempski, yes; Mueller, yes; Elbassiouny, yes; Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes.

Kovacs made a motion to adjourn at 11:25 p.m., seconded by Dempski.  All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann O’Neil RMC/CMC
Township Clerk