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TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, WARREN COUNTY
Regular Minutes
September 19, 2006
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 7:30 p.m. by Mayor David Dempski.
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: Horensky, present; Kovacs, present; Mueller, present;
Strunk, present; Dempski, present. Edward J Glynn, Township Attorney and Mary Ann O’Neil, Township Clerk, Peter de Boer, Certified Public Works Manager, Police Chief James Mc Donald and Joann Fascenelli, Treasurer, were also present.
SALUTE TO FLAG
PROCLAMATION
The Mayor signed a proclamation for National Alcohol and Addiction Recovery Month.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Strunk made a motion to approve the Executive Session Minutes from August 15, 2006,
Mueller seconded. All were in favor.
Horensky made a motion to approve the Regular Minutes from August 15, 2006, Kovacs seconded All were in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
The Mayor said the Committee would be dealing with the New
Business Item One on the New Hampton Road Traffic Calming Measure Project and Alternatives first. The Mayor said the Township was awarded a grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to incorporate traffic calming devices on New
Hampton Road as a result of the bridge widening project. The Mayor said it had been put out to bid, which was accepted. The Mayor said he had done an outreach to the neighborhood to discuss what the impact would be and what the design was
like and other specifics. The Township was going to install four (4) choke points with a speed hump on it. The Mayor said the Township was awarded a grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to incorporate traffic calming devices
on New Hampton Road as a result of the bridge widening project. The Mayor said it had been put out to bid, which was accepted. The Mayor said he had done an outreach to the neighborhood to discuss what the impact would be and what the design
was like and other specifics. The Township was going to install four (4) choke points with a speed hump on it. Then the choke points would be landscaped with low lined shrubs. The bid has been awarded, but there is significant concern from
the neighborhood about the effects of the impact of the devices on their neighborhood. There were several meetings and Bob Miller, Township Engineer, was asked to do a revision of the plan. There was significant interest from the community on
not doing it at all, revising it or going ahead as planned. The Mayor said that there were some of the residents in the audience, who would like to give some of their public statements regarding the project. A copy of the petition had been
distributed to the Committee that had been signed when the Township applied for the grant, which had been signed by over 30 people.
Mary Ellen Dates, 28 New Hampton Road, said she did not think they were needed at all, she did not
think it would be used as a cut off no matter how wide the bridge is, there is very little traffic on the street and it is a very peaceful neighborhood. Her fear is that the choke points will not be maintained. She has nothing against the
DPW, but they do not maintain the areas down the block at either end that they are supposed to be maintaining. She recommended, along with many other people, that they have the Police Department do their job and start giving tickets out. If
there is a high traffic situation, why aren’t they being ticketed for speeding up and down the street. She is totally against any speed humps, bumps and choke points and the project.
Palmer App Jr., 25 New Hampton Road, said that
there had been discussion about changing the amount of speed humps from four to three and moving them down to where they might be effective coming off the Asbury Anderson Road, since one of the neighbors tends to get hit when he goes out to
get his mail. He sees nothing has changed on this. The Mayor said they were moved and at the second meeting he had passed out an amended plan where the actual humps were removed from different areas. The Mayor said that it is very important
when a community works together that they look at compromises, because he has a lot of feed back from people that do want this. It needs to be discussed as people working together and determine a compromise - what is acceptable - whether it
is reducing the number of humps, getting rid of humps and just putting in choke points. He would also support the research for a 25 mile per hour speed limit on this street.
App asked if they have found out yet what the bridge is going to
look like when it is done. The Mayor said the alignment of the bridge will be the same as it is now. App asked that this not be passed tonight, but tabled for another night for discussion. The Mayor said the bids had to be done three times
because of the asphalt cost, which was the delay. The Mayor said he will talk with the engineer to see if he can get the bid delayed again legally. App asked the Committee not to pass this tonight.
George Polachak, 48 New Hampton
Road, said this is something that has snowballed. There are a few of the neighbors that did not want to see any changes with the bridge down below, the political ball got rolling, it got turned into them being the thoroughfare cut off from
Route 31, we need something to slow everybody down, there is going to be tractor trailers, there is going to be drag racing, which is not the case. It will still be a quiet country road. Right now the speed limit is 35 miles an hour, it would
be nice if it was 25 miles per hour, but if it enforced, nothing would be needed. He thinks everything is fine the way it is.
Thomas Birker, 61 New Hampton Road, said as of December, they have been working on this for three years, not
because he wants to waste his time on the issue, but those that have chosen to live there may have different opinions. He has lived in the area a long time and he does not think it is just a country road, it is a 32 foot wide straightened
road that is a great cut off that is a mile away from an overburdened state highway. He lives in one of the old houses that is about 35 feet from the road and traffic matters. They did try to stop the bridge, but once they realized there was
structure problems with the bridge it became clear that it was going to be changed. Birkner said the traffic on the road go 50 miles per hour and can only see more cars coming as the area grows and there would be more problems. Birkner said
he did not like the idea of calming devices either, he liked the road remaining as it was, but it is not the way it is going to be. As far as enforcement, he understands that the police has better things to do in terms of enforcing the speed
limit on streets that are more heavily traveled. He felt changing the speed limit accomplishes nothing, because nobody pays any attention to it now. Birkner said he wants the speed bumps put in and if people object to where they are being put
in front of their houses, he suggested of looking at the possibility of putting them in places where people might want them, or right before where the road starts to narrow. He wants to project to go forward.
Anthony Tambasco, 70 New Hampton Road, said he is for the traffic calming devices.
Sharon Levin, 116 East Asbury Anderson Road, said her house is at the end of New Hampton Road and she walks her dog on that road almost every day. She
is in favor of a traffic calming devices.
Paul Tenfeldt, 1 New Hampton Road, said he spends a lot of time out front with his kids by the bus stop and quite a bit of speeding cars come off of Asbury Anderson Road. It is clear that
something needs to be done.
He is for the speed bumps and would like to see something implemented to slow it down.
Horensky said that he remembers when this conversation started in 2004 with regard to the bridge and all the
discussions that he recalled being involved in had to deal with the reconstruction of the bridge and traffic calming devices right around the bridge itself at the points of egress on both sides. There was no discussion with regard to traffic
calming devices that were to be put in beyond the approaches to the bridge. He wanted to know how the project has escalated to where it is right now. The Mayor said the County never would have paid for the improvements on their side, but
Hunterdon County has been doing something. They are putting in islands on River Road down the middle of the street. The Mayor said, when they applied for the grant, they specifically said on the grant that it was for the length of the road,
in terms of how you could control the speed on the road. The problem is, once you come up the bridge, there is a straightaway. The Mayor said all the resolutions that have been approved and all the discussion affected the whole road. The
Mayor said it was part of the resolution to do that.
The Mayor asked Robert Miller, Township Engineer, at the pleasure of the Committee if he could come up with some better configurations or alternatives, maybe removing the speed
bumps and just going with the choke points. What would be the cost for a 25 mile per hour speed limit reduction? The Mayor asked Miller for comments or thoughts about reducing the impact. Miller said, if you reduce the number of speed bumps
that are put in, it may not be as effective with the reduction of the speed of the traffic. Miller said the original plan had speed bumps in optional locations or distances apart between them. The alternative, if you want to consider moving
it closer to the end of the road, by bus stop or turn around area, they will certainly be effective in that area. The further away you get from them the less effective they will be in terms of controlling the speed. If you take out the speed
humps entirely, but leave the curb bump outs, that effectively reduce the width of the road at those points to 24 feet, they will also have some effect in terms of reduction of the speed on the road. In terms of the cost, he said the speed
humps are about 1/3 of the cost involved of the total project. The curbing is the major part of costs involved.
Kovacs said there are lots of streets in the Township, but we are talking about speed now, not traffic, but traffic will
happen regardless of what is put in on the road. He said there are more problems with higher volume of traffic and speeding on many other roads in the Township than is done on New Hampton Road. These are big lots down there, houses are built
close to road and a lot of children, but you cannot through every street in the Township and start putting in calming devices. Kovacs said he will make a motion that the traffic calming devices project be cancelled. There was no second to the
motion, the Mayor asked three times for a second, but there was none.
Horensky asked Chief Mc Donald if he had placed the sign that shows the speed on this road and he has done so. Chief Mc Donald said the device does slow people
down. He said speeding is a problem throughout the township. He said people have come to his office and said people were doing 70 miles per hour on Springtown Road, which is impossible. Further, when you are standing still in front of your
house and a car comes by, even though it may be doing 35 miles per hour, it can look like 70 miles per hour. The Police Department does respond to speeding complaints as much as they can, but they are not seeing the speeds that have been
reported. Kovacs suggested that nothing be done on this project until a Traffic Study has been done after the
construction to see what the impact would be on the area. The Mayor said there is one year to award to bid and it should
have been started in August. Miller said that he could petition the DOT to put it off for a little while, but he could not guarantee the result of this. The Mayor said they cannot go forward, as planned, and modification may be required, they
must have a compromise. Miller said the plan can be modified, but DOT would have to approve any modifications.
Strunk asked about alternatives, applying rumble strips to the road to make drivers aware of their speed. Miller said this
only has a life of maybe three to five years, but it would act as a rumble strip.
The Mayor asked de Boer who maintains the flower beds outside the park. de Boer said it was a group called Warren County Flower Commission. The Mayor
asked him what he could do for New Hampton Road on weed whacking or mowing. de Boer said it is like every other Township Road in the Township, they maintain in the right-of-way. It is the residents property to the center of the road and not
the Townships, unless they would directed to do so, which would be highly unusual. de Boer said his concern is with the bid that has been awarded, because the Township does have an obligation to the contractor since he has been awarded the
bid. de Boer said he has talked with the contractor, who is ready to come in and do the work de Boer asked him to hold off until after this meeting. If the work was not going to be done there, it would be directed to other areas (Dale
Avenue/Castle Creek), which he would be willing to do. The Mayor made a motion that the Township Engineer petition the NJDOT to delay the full execution of the project pending the following additional steps, a traffic count and study will be
done to determine the actual traffic on the road and determining whether a 25 mile per hour speed limit could be effective on the said highway. Upon approval from the DOT and speed survey, developing additional alternatives to using the
actual, instead of plan 4 speed tables with choke points, developing alternatives including only 3, as well as including alternatives with or without the actual speed tables themselves. Horensky said he had concerns about resolution on where
the Mayor was looking to itemize whatever possible alternatives. He said you get into a problem if you have a resolution that identifies alternatives, but does not identify the universal alternatives. There was no second. Horensky told the
Mayor the motion should indicate that the Township would look at various alternatives to this to minimize any impact on the neighborhood. After discussion, Horensky made the described motion, Mueller seconded.
Strunk asked, what if
the traffic study is six to nine months away, because they have to complete the bridge, the traffic really has to get use to it for a valid study to be able to do it, so they are running out of the time frame with the money from the State.
Strunk asked, if Miller is unsuccessful in extending the time, does the Township come back and discuss this issue again. The Mayor said, at that point, he and Miller would talk with some of the legislators to see if they could support the
effort. Strunk asked how the traffic analysis would help in determining the bump outs. Kovacs said, this entire thing started, not with speeding down the road, because they speed on every road in the Township. That is another problem in
itself, the problem was in fixing the bridge is going to increase the traffic, everybody is going to be using the road as a short cut. If there is no increase in traffic, nothing has changed. Kovacs would like to find out if traffic really
has increased once the bridge is fixed, compared to the old figures, to see if there was a change.
ROLL CALL ON MOTION: Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Kovacs, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
ORDINANCES
Horensky made a motion to
open 06-23 Ordinance Amending, Revising & Supplementing Ordinance Number 2003-08 for the Continuation of the Port Colden Well Monitoring Project in the Township of Washington, County of Warren, State of NJ and Appropriating fully funded
amount of $16,000, Strunk seconded. All were in favor. Nobody from the public wished to be heard. Horensky made a motion to close the public hearing, Muller seconded. All were in favor. Horensky made a motion to approve Ordinance 06-23,
Strunk seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Strunk, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes.
Horensky made a motion to open 06-24 Sign Ordinance Mueller seconded. All were in favor. Nobody from the audience wished to be heard.
Horensky made a motion to close the public hearing, Kovacs seconded. All were in favor. Mueller made a motion to adopt 06-24 Sign Ordinance, Horensky seconded.
Horensky said in reading through the ordinance he noticed that on page 2,
under B, (i) where they are identifying what the street signs should look like. He believed the signs that the Township has are a different coalition than what is show in ordinance. The background is blue and lettering is white, Mayor said
they were blue and white and this is not a change in ordinance, this was the existing ordinance. Kovacs said the attempt of that paragraph was for traffic signs and not necessarily street signs. Horensky said, if you look at (1) (a), it
refers to street names. Horensky said he is bringing this up now, because all the street signs in
Township now are blue and white. Kovacs suggested the Township introduce another ordinance specifying street signs to be consistent with
what the Township has now. Horensky said on page 4, three is a typo in first line, which should be or for rent and not of for rent and he was looking for something on a grace period for people that have signs that are not in compliance.
Horensky suggested passing the ordinance, “as is” and at a later date the Township go forward to amend this ordinance. The Mayor asked Horensky and Mueller to come up with another ordinance for a future meeting.
ROLL CALL: Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes; Kovacs, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
The Mayor asked for a motion for the Signs Committee, Mueller and Horensky, to amend Ordinance 2006-24
to reflect the sign designation colors for
street signs, as well as developing a compliance time frame to be made to insure the ordinance is followed per the new temporary sign area. The Mayor said he is authorizing them to create an amendment. Horensky made a motion authorizing him
and Mueller to create an amendment to Ordinance 2006-24, Strunk seconded. All were in favor.
Horensky made a motion to open the Public Hearing on Ordinance 06-25 - Granting Approval to convey a deed of easement for the AJR Preserved
Farm, Horensky seconded. All were in favor. Nobody from the audience wished to be heard. Horensky made a motion to close the public hearing, Kovacs seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
Horensky made a motion to approve Ordinance 06-25, Strunk seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Strunk, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes.
Horensky made a motion to open Ordinance 06-26, Ordinance Authorizing the Sale
of Certain Property owned by the Township of Washington, to the public, Mueller seconded All were in favor. Nobody from the public wished to be heard. Horensky made a motion to close the public hearing, Kovacs seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
Horensky made a motion to approve Ordinance 06-26, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Kovacs, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
Horensky made a motion to open Ordinance 06-27 - Ordinance to Amend Chapter 123-2 Definitions of the Code of the Township of Washington, Strunk seconded. All were in favor. The Mayor said that when the Committee comes out of the Public
Hearing he did not think it should be approved. He has given the Committee an amended version which has been reviewed by the Land Use Board Engineer and Attorney. Also, the Washington Township Fire Department. Nobody from the public wished to
be heard. Strunk made a motion to close the public hearing, Mueller seconded. All were in favor. Horensky made a motion to approve Ordinance 06-27, Mueller seconded. Horensky said, this particular issue has come up based on an application of
someone before the Township, by the Township delaying this, are they delaying that application. The Mayor said if this is passed, it would be penalizing the application. Strunk said, on the other end of the coin, by not approving this and
starting another one, the application will get approved before the next ordinance. The Mayor said it could be introduced tonight and second reading in October.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, no; Mueller, no; Kovacs, no; Strunk, yes; Dempski, no.
Kovacs said he wanted to introduce Ordinance 06-29 - Ordinance to Amend Chapter 123 (Zoning) and to Delete Chapter 124 (Zoning) -Planned Development of the Code of the Township of Washington, Horensky seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading on October 17, 2006.
Horensky made a motion to introduce Ordinance 06-28, Ordinance Amending, Revising and
Supplementing Chapter 123 of the Code of the Township of Washington, Entitled “Zoning” Subsections Two Entitled “Definitions and Word Usage” Nineteen Entitled “Lighting”, Twenty Two Entitled “Performance Standards for all Use” and Twenty Five
Entitled “Site Plan Review,” Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Kovacs, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
Public Hearing and Second Reading on October 17, 2006.
OTHER
The Mayor said before they do the
resolutions, he wanted to discuss the issue of the Tennis Court Project with the Township Engineer and asked for a report. Miller said there have been some issues with the contractor on his performance of the work. He did not use what was
specified in the contract and as a result of that puddles have developed on the tennis court. Several letters have gone back and forth and he has discussed it with him. They have come to a resolution, which amounts to there will be a
reduction of $7000 in paving costs that was bid by the contractor, because he did not use specified equipment. The puddles would be repaired as required by specifications and manufacturer of materials used to surface the court. There is a
warranty and Maintenance Bond has been extended five years. The tennis court should be open around October 16th.
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. The Mayor asked that Resolution 06-142 be pulled. Horensky made a motion that Resolutions 06-133 up to 142, but not including 142, through 06-144 be approved, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Kovacs, yes; Srunk, yes; Dempski ,yes.
06-133 To Authorize and Request Change in Title and Text for Appropriation Pursuant to NJSA 40A:4-85
06-134 Release of Driveway Performance Bond, Pinnacle Hawk Point Dev Block 65, Lot 22 & Block 65, Lot 32
06-135 Release of Driveway Performance Bond, Pinnacle Hawk Point Dev Block 65.02, Lot 5
06-136 Release of Driveway Performance Bond, Pinnacle Hawk Point Dev Block 65, Lot 26
06-137 Refund of COAH Fee, Jonathan and Jennifer Knittel
06-138 Resolution Authorizing Execution of Interlocal Service Agreement between the
County of Warren & Twp of Washington
06-139 Release of Washington Township Land Use Board Escrow, ABD New Jersey
06-140 Partnership with Washington Township Board of Education for Purpose of Applying for a Warren County Municipal
& Charitable Conservancy Trust Grant
06-141 Resolution Supporting the Consolidation of Washington Township Public Assistance Program
06-143 Resolution Authorizing the Appointing of Court Personnel for Central Warren Court (Jerilynn Harris)
06-144 Resolution Authorizing the Township of Washington, Warren County to adopt the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for
all Departments and Agencies of the Township, including Volunteer Organizations that provide Township Government Services or Receive Financial or other Township Support.
The Mayor said, on Resolution 06-142 is authorizing the sale of
the AJR Preserved Farm Auction. This is getting near the end of the road for this project and they want to dispose of this property as a Preserved Farm to reduce the debt service that was incurred to purchase the property. The Township will
be using Max Spann to auction off this property on October 18, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. at the Kayhart Lane Section of Meadow Breeze Park at an open air auction under a tent. Kovacs made a motion to approve 06-142 Resolution Authorizing the Sale of
Certain Property owned by the Township of Washington, Warren County, New Jersey and Not Required for Public Purposes, Pursuant to NJSA 40A:12-13(a) et seq, Horensky seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
.
PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS (8:35 p.m.)
There were no questions or concerns
OLD BUSINESS
Discussion - Course of Action for Sale of
Administration Building - The Mayor distributed a Resolution and Public Notice that had been reviewed by the Township Attorney. It stipulates an auction on October 11, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. This would be an auction run by the Township Attorney
or the other course is to go out and solicit a bid or award a Non-Public Contract to the existing auctioneer that is being used for the AJR Farm. There are two things that need to be decided by the Committee. Strunk said he would like to see
what the Township does on their own, because there is still time to reject it. Kovacs said there are bidders this time and the Attorney should do it. Mueller said he was satisfied with the Rules and Regulations that were done for the auction.
Kovacs said there are some things on this that must be discussed in Executive Session. Action will be taken on this after the Executive Session.
NEW BUSINESS
Item 1 - Discussed early in meeting
Item 2 - Horensky made a
motion that the Service Order Request by the Warren County Board of Health on Block 40, Lot 74 be done by the DPW, Strunk seconded. After the work is done, de Boer will give the cost to Tax Collector and a lien will be placed on the property.
All were in favor.
Item 3 - Cost Analysis on Removal of Deer Carcass - de Boer had prepared a Cost Analysis for the Committee to review. de Boer recommended that all any and all of the possibilities be used. The Township is part of
the Morris County Coop, so this service could be used. Warren County has extended it to all municipalities and/or they do it themselves. The Mayor asked for a motion to authorize the DPW to use indicated methods of disposing of the deer,
subject to best price available in terms of weekday, weekend and holiday, including the Lakota Wolf Preserve, Warren County Bid WC0675F or Morris County Cooperative Pricing Council Contract 51. Strunk made a motion to approve the use of the
Lakota Wolf Preserve, Warren County or
Morris County Cooperative Pricing Council for removal of deer carcass, Horensky seconded.
ROLL CALL: Strunk, yes; Horensky, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes.
Item 4 - Horensky
made a motion to approve the Raffle Application for the Rotary for November 13th for the Rotary Club of Washington, Kovacs seconded. All were in favor, but Strunk who abstained. .
Item 5 - Horensky made a motion to approve the Casino
Night for ARC for October 14, 2006 Kovacs seconded. All were in favor.
Item 6 - Discuss Police Overtime for State Projects - Strunk said the Township cannot operate a car for $5 an hour. Fascenelli said the State will not pay more than
$5 an hour on the vehicle. The State would pay for a police officer from Washington Township to be on Washington Township Roads, but would only pay $5 an hour for the vehicle. Fascenelli said that Washington Township Officers will not be at
the construction site, just for any detours. They would need an idea of how many officers would be needed. The Chief said they could start out with one officer, then it would depend on how much traffic they had and where it was. The Mayor
felt at least two would be needed. Fascenelli said one of her concerns was that they would not get the money before the project, so the officers will not get paid until the Township gets the money from the State, because there is no money to
pay them. Horensky made a motion that the Washington Township Police be authorized to work during the day, when needed, without cars, at the rate of $55 per hour, Mueller seconded. All were in favor.
Item 7 - Fascenelli was given
permission to arrange a meeting with the employees and the providers of Health Insurance.
Item 8 - Clean Communities Grant & PCFA - Horensky made a motion that the first six items, which were $1770 for Environmental Program@Port
Colden & Brass Castle Jack Branagan’s Earth Matters; $1000 for Police Department for extra patrol on Halloween night; $2000 for bear resistant container for Lake Marguerite; $1000 DPW signs for (no littering, working, etc); $3870 for Ryan
Lance and $5150 for Brent Rader for Summer Help to offset part of salary and $500 for Educational Materials, Strunk seconded. All were in favor. There is another $5000 from PCFA. The Township must do a mailing to every resident in the
Township and they have to complete the Storm Water Expansion by next year. A portion of this money could be set aside for Stormwater related things Fascenelli said, on the $5000, the PCFA wants a report on how the money was going to be spent,
which be done now, to see if there was a problem with how it was going to be used. . It was brought up that the Township needs a Clean Community Coordinator. The appointment to this position was tabled until the October meeting.
Item
9 - Strunk made a motion to approve the three (3) applications for October 9, 2006 three (3) for Hole-In-Ones and two (2) raffle applications, for Habitat for Humanity, pending the Clerk receiving the proper insurance certificates, Horensky
seconded. All were in favor.
Item 10 - Discussion of Central Warren Court will be in Executive Session.
Item 11 - Tennis Court Reconstruction- discussed earlier in meeting.
Item 12- Spring Clean Up using PCFA
Facilities - The Mayor said this week he attended the Solid Waste Advisory Commission meeting. Typically, when a municipality does a Clean Up they will go out to bid with Sanico or Gary Gray, who will pick up the material and take the
dumpster. The Mayor said each community is entitled to a $1.00 per person from PCFA to be used for a Spring or Fall Clean Up. Some municipalities, will have a pre-paid day where they can get a pass from the Clerk, go to PCFA and get rid of
material without having to pay the scale fee. The Mayor thought, once he talks with John Carlton, this would be a good thing to consider for the Township. The resident would get a one day pass from the Clerk, take whatever material you could
fit in car to PCFA, then you are done. Then, small towns have a small container for senior citizens so they would not have to travel to PCFA, a small container would be provided at the DPW Site. The Mayor said the Township would ger
approximately $6800, based on population. This way, it would be a minimum cost to the tax payer, if any. Fascenelli asked who will be paying the dollar per person. The Mayor said the Township will get $1.00 per person credit, to be used for
clean up. Fascenelli said, then the Township does not know the actual cost is going to be at this point. The Mayor said he is looking into this further and will have more information at the next meeting. Fascenelli asked if the Township was
charging for the passes. The Mayor said they would be given one per person, show your id and get a pass. Fascenelli asked where the rest of the money going to come from to pay the balance. The Mayor said they would probably be billing the
Township advising what the credit was and what the actual costs were. Fascenelli asked if there would be a cost to the Township, the Mayor did not think there would be any cost to Township. He will be looking into this. Fascenelli asked, on
the senior citizens, what if they have no way to transport it? The Mayor said, in Hope, there is a dumpster at the DPW Garage and there is staff there that are willing to help unload it. She asked how is the citizen supposed to get a big item
there? The Mayor said they would be responsible for getting the item there, there is no pick up.
Stunk made a motion to approve the request from the Washington Township Youth Association to use the Police/Municipal Meeting Room for
winter sports on October 6 from 7pm to 9pm and October 7 from 10am until noon, Horensky seconded.
ROLL CALL: Strunk, yes; Horensky, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, abstain.
Item 14 - Horensky made a motion to approve the
Interlocal Agreement with the Board of Education for the Mowing Agreement, Mueller seconded. All were in favor.
Item 15 - The Mayor said that Gary Porhorley was present to talk about additional riparian buffers on the Brass Castle C
reek. Porhorley said he lives in Washington Borough, but is also a member of the Pohatcong Creek Watershed Association. This organization initiated the riparian tree and shrub planting buffer that is in Meadow Breeze Park. Porhorley said he
had recently talked with the Mayor and Al Ivany about the recent acquisition of the AJR Property. He said that Brass Castle Creek continues from the Park on to AJR. He is not familiar with the entire creek, but he has seen it from Kayharts
Lane looking west. There is really not much vegetation at all. He contacted Natural Resource Conservation Service, part of the USDA, and they advised him that there is a program called CREP and they would reimburse at 100% the plant material
for a buffer. So, if the Township still owned the property and was interested in doing this, if they could organize volunteers and a planting plan, they could work with NRCS. The Township would front the money, then they would get reimbursed
for the material. If the Township is going to own the property for some time, it would be doable. If they plan on selling the property soon, this will not work. He also talked with NRCS and said the Township would preserving the property as a
farm and certainly a Farmland Management Plan would be appropriate for this location and not a burden on a land owner. He was reaching out to the Committee to see if they would be interested in continuing the riparian buffer on to the AJR
Property. Horensky said he is in favor of pursuing it. Kovacs asked, is there any possibility, because of the time restraints that the property be auctioned with the intent that this be done afterwards, even though someone else owns it. The
Mayor said this could be put in as a contract item. The Mayor felt there was money in the Open Space Trust Fund to do this. Porhorley will find out the time element involved in this. Horensky made a motion to facilitate the Gary Porhorley and
the Pohatcong Watershed Association to make efforts to investigate applying for a Crop Program to do riparian buffer repair on the AJR Preserved Farm, pending the availability of funds, Strunk seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Strunk, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes.
REPORT FROM OFFICIALS
John Horensky said he attended the Economic Development Commission Meeting and met with the Fire Commissioners.
He said he has a Block Party Meeting this week at Hawk Pointe, who is interested in putting together a program.
He received a letter from the PBA wishing to initiate contract negotiations and starting the process. They offered October
as a starting point and he will be meeting with them. The Mayor will be working with him on this.
On the NIMS Compliancy with regard to the resolution that was sent out, he wants everyone to understand that all elected officials must
do it and there is on line training for both programs, which are usually free. He suggested that if any committeeman has not done it that he go on line and do it. de Boer said the County also offers the course.
Horensky asked, when
ordinances are put together, he thought it would be beneficial that, in addition to the body of the ordinance, that a narrative is at the end to explain the rationale of what was done. He felt this would be beneficial and helpful to this
Committee or future Committees. This would explain why the ordinance was done at the time it was done, because circumstances may have changed.
Horensky said that there are a number of professional appointments that have to be made
after the first of the year. He suggested the Committee go through the process, as described by the State, with a RFP and would get out to Committee Members. The Mayor said that Fair and Open Contract Proposals must be done for Township
Engineer, Township Attorney and Auditor.
Michael Kovacs had a picture of an old Ford Tractor that John Ferri, a DPW worker, had reconditioned that date back 35 years.
Kovacs said the de Boer had been authorized to spend $1500
on fixing the roof of the Youth Association Building. He asked that the Committee authorize an additional $500 be spent. Strunk made a motion that another $500 be authorized to repair the roof on the building of the Youth Association Mueller
seconded.
ROLL CALL: Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Horensky, yes; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
de Boer said, since the curbing contract has been awarded and he has been promised him work, he said funds are available in the big bond
that included curb on New Hampton Road, Pohatcong Drive, Castle and Dale. The Mayor said the funds are available. de Boer said he has already talked with the contractor and asked that Dale Avenue and Brass Castle Curbing Project be approved.
Horensky made a motion that the curbing project on Dale Avenue and Brass Castle Curbing Project be started by the contractor that had been awarded the bid, Mueller seconded. Strunk said, as much as it needs to be done, he felt they were just
spending money in a sense to spend money, without deciding where it should be spent. He said money has been dedicated to a bond, but that does not necessarily mean it has to be without identifying a problem where it should be.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Kovacs, yes; Strunk, no; Dempski, yes.
Barry Mueller asked if the Township Committee had any extra file cabinets that the Historical Commission could have for storage. The Mayor said that there
are cabinets, but he wants to make sure there are enough cabinets for the court first, before any are given away. de Boer said there are cabinets and Mueller should talk to him after the meeting.
RJ Strunk had no report.
Mayor David Dempski said he will be a dealer at the ARC Casino Night on October 14th.
On Open Space Advisory Committee, they met on August 17th with some County and State Officials to go over and prioritize and finding potential
partnerships for different farmland preservation projects in the Township.
He is developing an application for a State Program for a 118 acre farm. Washington Township can partner with Warren County and Non-Profit Groups for two farms
for a total of 155 acres. The State will directly be soliciting three farms at more than 236 acres.
He attended the Warren County Solid Waste Advisory Commission (SWAC) Meeting on September 7th and had a tour of the land fill. They
are currently only accepting Warren County material at the land fill, so yearly amount going in has gone down significantly. They were slated to close in 2006 and capped in 2007, but the SWAC did pass a motion to authorize the Freeholders to
look into keeping the landfill open up to 2012. This will require Cell 5 to be built, but they are still trying to get some idea to see when they can close it totally.
On the Warren County Shared Services, the next meeting is September 26th.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Horensky made a motion to pay the bills, Mueller seconded.
ROLL CALL: Horensky, yes; Mueller, yes; Kovacs, abstain; Strunk, yes; Dempski, yes.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Horensky made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:50 pm for discussion on contracts, personnel issues and other decisions
regarding the auction on the Township Property, seconded by Kovacs. All were in favor
The doors were opened. Horensky Made a motion to come out of Executive Session at 10:25 p.m., Mueller seconded. All were in favor.
Glynn
asked that the record reflect that as far as Resolution 06-145 was concerned, with regard to the auction, the auction will take place in accordance with this resolution and will take place on October 11, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Mayor Dempski will
modify Paragraph 21C to basically provide for a waiver of taxes, in lieu of rent, for the continued occupancy of the building. There was a request made for benefits for part time employees and the Committee took no action on the request. With
regard to the Central Warren Municipal Court, there was a proposal received from Attorney Charles Lee, Mansfield Administrator, that did not address Mayor
Dempski’s four concerns with the continued operation of the Central Warren
Municipal Court. So, there will be further discussion with Franklin Township to see if something can be put together that works.
Strunk, asked Fascenelli if she got her answer on the hospitalization benefit issue. She said she wanted
to say one thing on the benefits, the Township is already giving benefits to part time employees. Benefits were given to Franklin Court, Central Warren Court and Mansfield Court, the Township is paying toward their benefits. The Mayor said
the Central Warren Court benefits have stopped, as of September 1st, which was part of a existing agreement that the Township never had and they are not paying benefits for the Mansfield Court, Mansfield is doing it. Strunk said she was
correct, they had been paying for Central Warren Court. Fascenelli said she still thinks the Township is paying for Mansfield as well. The Mayor said it was not part of the agreement. Fascenelli said, isn’t there a $15 amount for vision. The
Mayor said he didn’t believe it was part of the agreement, it was a historical thing with that particular position, but he is not sure they will be paying it because it is a new person. The $15 was specifically for Barbara Ball, who has since
left.
Strunk made a motion to approve Resolution 06-145 - Resolution Authorizing the Sale of Certain Property owned by the Township of Washington, Warren County, New Jersey and Not Required for Public Purposes, Pursuant to NJSA
40A:12-13(A) et seq, Horensky seconded.
ROLL CALL: Strunk, yes; Horensky, yes; Kovacs, yes; Mueller, yes; Dempski, yes.
There being nothing further to come before the Committee, Horensky made a motion to adjourn at 10:35 p.m.,
Mueller seconded. All were in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ann O’Neil RMC/CMC
Township Clerk
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