Allamuchy Town Council Workshop – August 12, 2020

The agenda for this meeting can be found here: http://allamuchynj.org/vertical/sites/%7BFFEC7C1F-E8A4-412C-A698-D10C0A872E47%7D/uploads/AUGUST_12_2020_WORKSHOP_MEETING_AGENDA.pdf

For additional details about any of the topics, you can wait for the meeting minutes to be published to the town website (after they are approved), or you can submit an OPRA request for the recording to the town clerk.

The meeting was called to order at 6:37 pm. The mayor, all council members, the attorney, clerk, engineer, the Planet Networks representative, and about four members of the public were listed as present on the Zoom attendees list.

OPENING STATEMENT

There was no opening statement from the mayor. I guess nothing significant happened in town since the last meeting like, say, a tropical storm that left almost 100% of Allamuchy’s residents without power.

ENGINEER’S REPORT

The engineer reported on the following:

• Traffic signal at Route 517 and Cat Swamp Road
• Water Storage Tank Feasibility Study
• CSR Improvement Project bids
• DPW Roof Assessment Project
• 2020 Road Resurfacing Program
• Emergency generator for Sanitary Sewer Pump Station 1

PLANET NETWORKS

Mr. Robert Boyle from Planet Networks presented to the governing body. Planet Networks is an Internet Service Provider. They are required to request and be granted permission to work in the right of way of the township. He gave an update of Planet Networks’ plans to install cable in various locations around Allamuchy. There was a discussion about some of the areas within Allamuchy that do not currently have cable service and how this may be a reasonable alternative.

ATTORNEY’S REPORT

The attorney reported on the following:

• A resolution for Lake Eagle Rock silt removal (unanimously adopted)

MAYOR’S REPORT

The mayor reported on the following:

• Resignation from the Zoning Official. The mayor reached out to Maser Consulting (i.e., our township engineer) for a proposal. Some background on this: there was a special meeting back on July 30^th to discuss “personnel matters.” The person involved was the Zoning Official, Dave Diehl. Mr. Diehl chose to have the issue discussed during the public session, so the recording is readily available for anyone who wishes to OPRA it. At issue was the timeline and procedures for the approval of the temporary outdoor patio constructed by Mattar’s Bistro. In summary, an application to create a patio for outdoor dining in accordance with the governor’s Executive Order and the county Board of Health guidance for outdoor dining was submitted to Mr. Diehl.  The request was acknowledged by Mr. Diehl and the applicant was told they could proceed with the project, which is within the Highlands Preservation area. The project started before the township resolution on outdoor dining was adopted and the official approval letter was sent. Nowhere does it say in writing, neither in the application nor in the approval, that the patio is meant to be temporary.
• Vision Committee: He has the majority of the returns back on the appointments he was hoping to have those for the next meeting. Councilman Quinoa asked if the mayor received recommendations from each subsection (e.g., Recreation Commission, Board of Education) in accordance with the new ordinance. The mayor simply responded that he followed the ordinance and will provide the names at the next meeting [more on this during Public Session].
• The mayor and Councilwoman Tuohy, along with other parties, were to meet with Baker Residential regarding affordable housing
• He was contacted by the Blairstown Court wanting to look into a shared services agreement.
• The mayor received correspondence from the owner of the Allamuchy General Store Café, Dean Peshkopia, regarding property tax reduction for business owners, similar to what is being done in Newark. Mr. Peshkopia was not present at the meeting so the discussion was limited until he comes forward for the discussion.
• The mayor asked the intern if he is interested in continuing in that role. The intern is going to temporarily step down.

COUNCIL MEMBERS REPORT

Councilman Cote: Nothing to report

Councilwoman Tuohy

Councilwoman Tuohy reported on the following:

• Motion to accept the resignation of the Zoning Official, Mr. Diehl. This passed with the mayor as the only “no” vote.
  • The attorney pointed out that Mr. Diehl submitted two resignation letters (one went to the end of the month; the other was the day that it was submitted). The attorney stated that the first one has some assertions from a legal standpoint that he would take issue wish. The sound was somewhat garbled, but it was something about Council interfering with the issuance of outdoor dining permits. The attorney stated that Mr. Diehl’s assertions do not accurately reflect what took place
• Shared services agreement with Knowlton for the municipal court contract is in review. She also stated that she spoke with our judge about Blairstown and he does not think it will be a good fit. It was decided that Blairstown’s request would be rejected at this time.
• Background checks. These are being pushed out to department heads with detailed instructions. There is a Recreation Commissioner who recently had a background check, so it was agreed that person would not have to have another one at this time
• Board of Education. Dr. Flynn sent out the report on the reopening of the schools
• Recreation Commission. Abby Christmann [me] was appointed the Chair under the new bylaws that were recently adopted.

Finally, Councilwoman Tuohy thanked the residents for everything they did to help out during the power outage. She stated that she was proud to be part of the community seeing everyone helping each other.

Councilman Quinoa

Councilman Quinoa stated that the Personnel Committee had every intention of filing a full report of its findings regarding Mr. Diehl. [More background: The Personnel Committee (Councilwoman Tuohy and Councilman Quinoa) had interviewed Mr. Diehl regarding the previously-discussed application. My impression from what was discussed during the Special Meeting is that he was less than forthcoming.]

Councilman Ochwat

Councilman Ochwat reported on the following:

• While the mayor was away the previous weekend, the councilman received a call from DPW regarding the auction of the old pickup (the person who had the high bid and had already paid for it was apparently refusing to take it).
• He had a complaint by a citizen about an employee. The mayor reached out Personnel who will be providing its recommendation

BOARD / COMMISSION REPORTS: None

MUNICIPAL CLERK’S REPORT

The clerk reported on the resolutions to be voted on.

PUBLIC SESSION

Mrs. Strutin, the Board of Education President, spoke about the Vision Committee. She stated that she received an email from the mayor approximately 2 – 3 months ago saying is wanted to appoint a specific member of the Board of Education (BoE) to the committee. The ordinance says that the BoE would do the recommendation, and the person that the mayor had requested was not whom she would have appointed (not that the person would have done a bad job, she just felt there was another member who would have been better suited for the role).  The ordinance says [disclaimer: I’m reading the marked up ordinance from the website, so it may not be the final version]: “…the Vision Committee shall consist of the following….One member of the Board of Education, who shall be designated by the Board of Education.” Regarding members of the general public, “Any members of the general public…shall be selected by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council.” The ordinance then goes on to say “Each of the individual members shall be formally appointed….”  There was a lot of discussion over the words “designated” and “appointed.” When requested to do so, the attorney interpreted the ordinance to say that the member is designated by the school board, and the actual appointment of the person is simply an administerial act.  For some reason, the mayor wanted to make it very clear that only he can “appoint” members, almost making it sound like he could pick whomever he wanted regardless of whom the individual groups designated.

ORDINANCES – FIRST READING:

The following ordinance will be up for First Reading at the August 26^th meeting:

• #2020-11 – Cable TV Franchise Renewal

ORDINANCES – SECOND READING: None

RESOLUTIONS

• Approval of Liquor Licenses – 2020/2020
• Planet Networks – ROW Letter/Municipal Resolution (to be reviewed)

OTHER/NEW BUSINESS

• Approval of Raffle Application

OLD BUSINESS: No discussion

PAYMENT OF BILLS

EXECUTIVE SESSION: None

ADJOURNMENT @ 8:20 pm

NEXT REGULAR MEETING: August 26, 2020 @ 6:30 pm

NEXT WORKSHOP MEETING: September 9, 2020 @ 6:30 pm