I had a conflict with another meeting, so I didn’t arrive to this one until a little over an hour in. Imagine my surprise when I get there to find out they are only on agenda item #3 (out of 14). Because I missed the first part, I submitted an OPRA request for the audio recording – all two and half hours of it. I’m glossing over some of the more mundane items, so if there is something you want to hear more detail on, let me know or check out the minutes once they are published. Even with the “glossing over” there is a lot to get through, so thank you in advance for taking the time to read this.
The meeting was called to order and went through the usual Pledge of Allegiance, Moment of Silence (particularly for our service members being deployed to Iran), the request to turn off/silence cell phones, reading of the Sunshine Law, and Roll Call (all members were present).
Oaths of Office
Because he was not present at the Reorganization Meeting, Doug Ochwat was sworn in to a new three-year term. There was a little discussion when the Mayor asked him to place his right hand on the bible and raise his left hand. I don’t know…every time I’ve taken an oath during my time in the Air Force, I had to raise my right hand. Councilman Quinoa even made a joke that Concilman Ochwat wasn’t really sworn in because he used the wrong hand. While the right hand is traditionally the one that is raised, it should not matter, from what I’ve read.
The Fire Department officers were supposed to be sworn in at this time, but not all were present so it was delayed until later in the meeting
Engineer’s Report
The Township Engineer, Paul Sterbenz of Maser Consulting, presented his report on the following items:
- Traffic Signal at the intersection of Route 517 and Cat Swamp Road.
- Water Storage Tank Replacement (the water storage tank is past its useful life. Instead of repairing, it was determined that it should be replaced at a cost close to $1 million, as I recall)
- 2019 Roadway Improvement Program.
Oaths of Office (continued)
The Engineer’s Report was interrupted for the swearing in of Fire Department officers.
Engineer’s Report (continued)
Mr. Sterbenz continued his report on the following:
- 2019 Road Resurfacing Program
- Cat Swamp Road Improvement
- Sparrow Hawk Road Water Main Replacement Project
- Department of Public Works (DPW) Roof Assessment Project
- Letter from PVPOA for release of a cash bond from 2018 for a utility encroachment permit (adjustment of manholes and water valves)
Attorney’s Report
The township attorney, Richard Beilin (filling in for Ed Wacks) presented his report:
- Question about additional units for recycling and solid waste contracts
That was the end of what Mr. Beilin had for his report. However, there were other items that the Mayor and council members wished to discuss at this time.
Mayor Lomonaco asked to review Councilman Cote’s questions about the committees that are outlined in the town’s ordinances, but were not included in the Mayor’s appointments during the reorg meeting (Municipal Alliance, Technical Coordinating, and Vision). While the Faulkner Act (the statute that defines our town’s type of government and the powers granted to the Mayor and Council), with the exception of the required finance committee, gives the mayor the power to decide what committees there will be, whether these committees are required come down to the difference between the use of the word “may” versus “shall.” The word “may” means the committee/appointment is discretionary. The word “shall” means it is required. For all three of these committees, Allamuchy’s ordinances use the word “shall.” Now, none of these committees have been staffed for the past few administrations, even though they were spelled out in the ordinances. What does this all mean? It means that the Mayor and Council will review the ordinances to determine if there will be appointments made or ordinance(s) will be needed to remove one/all of these from the books. To quote the Mayor “Once you know it’s there, you shouldn’t look away.”
But the discussion of committees didn’t end there. Mr. Beilin brought up a piece of proposed legislation that would require committees to follow the same OPRA rules with regards to notification and minutes. This led to a discussion about the Allamuchy Historical Society. Yes, the same organization that was discussed during the Board of Ed reorg meeting (see my summary blog for more information). Turns out that the Allamuchy Historical Society (AHS) is not technically a town organization, but is a private group. Our Open Space Director, Charlie Fineran, is the head of the AHS and became involved at the request of Mayor Resker. Honestly, the whole discussion was a little all over the place and quite confusing. As confusing as it could be to someone to find out that the AHS is not a town organization. Which got me to wondering about the other organizations in town….
This is the point at which I arrived to the meeting, around 7:45 (the meeting started at 6:30).
Councilman Quinoa had a question regarding the Allamuchy School’s Ski Club. As has been happening for many years, the Recreation Commission donates money to the school for a bus and driver to take the club to Shawnee Mountain. This year, the Commission received a request for a Certificate of Insurance (COI). It is standard practice for one organization to provide a COI to another to cover any liability. For example, when the Recreation Commission uses the school gym for basketball practice, the township provides a COI to the school for that activity. However, the Ski Club is not sponsored by the Recreation Commission. The Commission simply provides funds, in the form of a donation, to allow the school to pay for the transportation. Unfortunately, there is no written agreement in place specifying that; thus, some of the confusion. (Side note: you will find that there are a lot of areas where there is no written agreement/nothing in writing memorializing decisions made by various organizations in town).
At this point, the attorney thinks he is done with his report. Not so fast…..Councilman Ochwat wanted to revisit the discussion on the committees beyond the ones discussed earlier, specifically personnel.
Councilman Cote is planning to make a motion at the Regular Meeting that the Personnel, Contracts, and Ordinance committees have ordinances created that would require these committees with guidance on how they are staffed. As you may recall, if you read my summary of the Reorg Meeting, the Mayor appointed himself a Personnel Committee of one (yes, one-person committees are allowed according to the Faulkner Act). There is concern from the Mayor that such ordinances would be a way to bypass the mayor’s powers as stated in the Faulkner Act. The argument is that it wouldn’t specify exactly who the Mayor could appoint, just that he/she would have to appoint people. While there is no case law on something like this, Mr. Beilin is going to research what other towns have done.
NOW the attorney’s report is done….
Mayor’s Report
The Mayor reported on the following:
- Shades of Death (the half marathon that is raced every October). The town and the PTO received more money from the race director. The race will happen again this year, and then a new five-year agreement will be negotiated.
- Interim position of Prosecutor
- Route 517 Signs. This is in response to the tractor trailers that park on Route 517 across from the Panther Valley Mall. Since this is a County road, the town had to request an ordinance from the Warren County Freeholders. The ordinance passed, prohibiting parking from the Allamuchy-Independence town line to the Route 80 interchange. Signs are being ordered and will be placed across from the mall.
- Deer Park Road. The road is in serious disrepair and was supposed to be maintained by the state. This road provides access to a very popular trailhead on Allamuchy State Park. There was a right-of-way that was owned by the town, but had been vacated numerous times and finally auctioned off last fall to one of the Deer Park owners. The owner had since closed the road, blocking access to the trailhead and the State Park. Within 24 hours of the road being closed, the owner received a call from the State, who now seems willing to work with him on getting the road fixed. There was a front-page article in the December 24, 2019 New Jersey Herald.
Intern Report: No intern report
Council Reports:
- Councilman Cote: His items have already been covered (discussion on the committees)
- Councilwoman Tuohy:
- She attended the Warren County Freeholders reorganization meeting
- Municipal Court: She is still waiting to hear from one of the towns that we are looking to do a shared services agreement with
- Board of Education Reorganization summary
- School Bus Parking Lot: She has been meeting with Superintendent Flynn to discuss repaving of the school bus parking lot. Another item for which there was no written agreement.
- School Speed Limit Signs. There are four signs, two are owned outright by the Board of Ed, one is owned outright by the Township. The fourth is a 50-50 split between the two. She is working on getting a written agreement in place because, not surprisingly, there isn’t one.
- Councilman Quinoa:
- Personnel Manual. There is a meeting on Monday, January 13th to discuss the updated personnel manual. They will be reviewing/comparing/discussing multiple versions: the one that has all of the feedback from the council members and the Mayor’s version
- Councilman Ochwat:
- Accepted nomination/appointment as Council President from reorg meeting
- SMSD (Special Municipal Services District) committee met prior to tonight’s meeting. Two more meetings scheduled: March 11th to review the budget and October 28th. Sal Maggio was appointed for another term.
- WWII Plaque refinishing: No progress
- Working with the CFO to put signs in the lobby highlighting how tax dollars are spent
- Wants to make sure that the Human Resources Deputy Clerk is added to the agenda under Old Business
- Phone System: He had brought up in December issues he had with reaching a staff member on the phone. That was to be corrected but has not been. The Clerk is working with the software company to make the updates.
Municipal Clerk’s Report: Nothing to report
Public Session: No members of the public spoke
Ordinances: There is one ordinance on the agenda for First Reading. This ordinance is to exceed the Cap due to a COLA adjustment. Sounds like it is an annual event, required by the state as part of the budgeting process.
Resolutions: None listed
New Business:
- Councilwoman Tuohy questioned why the Municipal Building was closed the day after Christmas since it was not a scheduled town holiday. Each employee is given one Floating Holiday and it sounds like everyone in the building chose to take their Floating Holiday on that day. The concern was that there was no public notice that the building would be closed and there was no one there in case a resident needed something. An agreement was reached to make sure that the closure is advertised for this year, assuming everyone will be taking their Floating Holiday that day (notice was only posted on the door). One question which I have, and which was raised by Councilman Ochwat, is whether the Floating Holiday was to be determined by the individual or if it was dictated by the department. Floating Holidays should be at the individual’s discretion. If they all want to take that as their floater, so be it, as long as they get permission from their Department Heads. But it wasn’t clear if that was the case.
- Councilman Quinoa had a question about grants and whether we receive them/are applying for them. Per the Mayor, he receives a list of grants from various sources and passes them on.
Old Business
There was a review of the list of Old Business items to determine if any can be removed. A few were, but most had to stay. Some items of note:
- Allamuchy150 (full disclosure, I was an orginal member of this committee until I resigned due to reasons I will not disclose here). Allamuchy’s 150th is in 2023. A committee was formed in early 2019 to start planning. Per the Mayor, there is nothing being done now (“People lose interest when starting too early”), but activity will pick back up in 2021 with the first event in September 2021 running through December 2022 (even though the 150th is actually in 2023?).
- Cable TV: The township is still going back and forth with Altice to rewrite the franchise agreement.
Executive Session: None
Adjournment @ 9:00 pm
Don't Shoot the (Allamuchy) Messenger! 