[The Agenda for this meeting can be found here: http://allamuchynj.org/vertical/Sites/%7BFFEC7C1F-E8A4-412C-A698-D10C0A872E47%7D/uploads/April_22_2020_Township_Council_Meeting-1.pdf]

The meeting was again held over conference call due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I actually had no issues dialing in, unlike for the previous two meetings. 

After confirming all required parties (council members, attorney, clerk) were on the line, the mayor called the meeting to order at 6:34 pm. Prior to continuing, Councilman Quinoa requested to know who was on the call, so (almost) everyone went through and announced themselves. In addition to the required parties named above, there were approximately 15 people on the line, including residents, employees, and members of the Board of Education (who would need to drop off early as the Board of Education meeting was scheduled for the same night).  It was confirmed that no one else had any issues getting on and a request was made that callers not use speaker phones and put themselves on mute to eliminate background noise.

The mayor went through the Pledge of Allegiance, moment of silence for those who have been lost and those who are still fighting COVID-19 (interrupted by the announcement that the conference recording has started), legalese, and roll call (all were present).

Opening Remarks

The mayor started by stating the latest numbers that had just been received from the county: 707 confirmed cases in Warren County, with 111 confirmed recoveries; 21 confirmed cases in Allamuchy, with 4 confirmed recoveries. He then turned it over to Superintendent Flynn for the opening remarks, with a time limit of 10 minutes.

Superintendent Flynn (who had just completed defense of his dissertation, as announced at the Board of Education meeting. Congratulations, Dr. Flynn) expressed appreciation for the amount of cooperation and flexibility the community has shown in working together. He thanked the mayor for sharing information in his emails (the ones discussed in my post about the last meeting), as well as Councilwoman Tuohy for her communication as the township liaison.

Dr. Flynn then highlighted the school budget, summarized as follows: He stated that the budget, which is a little over $10m, is sound. Historically, the schools have tried to be fiscally responsible to the community while still maintaining programming. The state has indicated that our state aid will be back up to where it should have been about 10 – 12 years ago. The last five years have had zero tax increases, with existing tax payers paying approximately $22 per $100,000 assessed value. For the 2020-21 budget, there is an increase of $14.50 per $100k assessed value. We have been able to offset what we have lost in state aid with ratables year over year. Our 2019-2020 ratables were approximately $10m. If we did not have those ratables, the budget would be almost $40 per $100k assessed value. Increased ratables are good, but they also lead to increased enrollment (we are one of the few districts in the county with increased enrollment). As a result, the budget introduces one (1) Full-time Equivalent (FTE) resource.

With regards to facilities, about a year ago the school put roofs on the cafeteria and gym at Allamuchy Township School (ATS). Looking forward, they will continue the school security enhancements and look to renovate and repair all bathroom banks in ATS.

As ratables begin to drop (i.e., new construction is finished), the school will continue to increase enrollment (approximately 3 – 8 students). Those class sizes that are at the cusp will need to be addressed (thus the addition of the 1 FTE) while still maintaining programming.

He concluded by saying that he will continue to work with Councilwoman Tuohy and other liaisons and continue to do due diligence to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayer.

There were no questions, and he pointed out that he stayed well within his allotted 10 minutes [for those who have been at other meetings, you know how significant this is]. He wanted to bank his extra time for his next presentation but, all in good fun, the mayor reminded him of his last 37-minute presentation.

Approval of Minutes

There were two sets of Town Council minutes to be approved – January 8^th & February 12^th. Councilman Ochwat couldn’t recall if he was at the January meeting so he originally abstained until it was confirmed he was present.

The Department of Public Works (DPW), Water & Sewer (W/S), and Fire Department minutes were also available to be accepted. Councilman Quinoa had a question about an email that was sent out on 4/15 to a group discussing the W/S plan. All of council had replied, with no response from the mayor.  Four hours before the meeting, the mayor forwarded the W/S plan that he had received back on 4/16. Councilman Quinoa questioned why the memo hadn’t been sent earlier and how can they be ready to discuss it (two pages) with only four hours’ notice. The mayor responded that it wasn’t necessarily for discussion, only informational.  He had asked the department heads for their plans to get back to full staff. He received the plans from W/S and DPW. With regards to DPW, the town will follow guidance from the county. When the county DPW reopens, then our DPW will reopen. 

Councilman Quinoa questioned the W/S report, as it was still showing the wrong hours (he had brought this up at the last meeting). It sounded like the W/S supervisor had the corrections but did not send them, but will when he is back from vacation.

Once the confusion was cleared up, DPW and the Fire Department passed, while the corrected W/S report will be reviewed again next month.

Councilman Ochwat had a follow-up from a discussion at a previous meeting about the minutes being shortened. The clerk said that she has been unable to meet with Councilwoman Tuohy due to the current restrictions and that they will sit down to get a uniform version of the minutes for council to accept, in addition to the transcript.

Engineer’s Report

Counciwoman Tuohy spoke with the township engineer to review the proposal for Mallard Drive. Originally thought to be a traffic study, it was clarified to be a safety study that is required as part of Title 39 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation). The study is $1500 to determine if there is a way to control the speed on Mallard Drive.

Attorney’s Report

The attorney’s report lasted almost 30 minutes. The discussion, which included the tax collector and Chief Financial Officer, was around a resolution to temporarily reduce the tax interest / delinquency interest rates during this time of uncertainty. Discussions included what quarter(s) this would apply to, what the interest rate should be, and how residents would be notified. There should be an official notification going out as to the results of the discussion, but it sounded like the tax interest rate will be reduced to 8% for the second quarter, ending 7/21/2020. If action is needed for future quarters as the situation warrants it, then that will be addressed accordingly.

Mayor’s Report

The mayor has reached out to six people regarding membership on the Vision Committee. He has received four responses, so he will not announce membership until all are confirmed.

Councilman Ochwat questioned the number of members at six, as there would need to be an odd number.  That question was moot, however, as the ordinance states that there shall be five members [review a previous post regarding the significance of the word “shall”]. The mayor wanted to add someone from Rutherfurd Hall, but the ordinance is very specific whom should be included. The suggestion was made that one of the members could be an advisor.

The mayor made a change to the Personnel Committee, removing himself from the committee and appointing Councilwoman Tuohy and Councilman Quinoa. Given all of the discussions around the committee since January when he first appointed himself as the only member, I found this quite surprising. I found it surprising not so much that he appointed a second person (though I was taken aback given the previous conversations), but that he would remove himself altogether. No reasons were given, but it certainly begs the question as to “why now?”

Finally, he addressed the appointments to the Safety Committee. He will appoint members to that committee following the second reading of the ordinance, which is one of two up for second reading at the next regular meeting.

Township Council Reports

Councilman Cote

Councilman Cote had the same item as Councilman Quinoa, so he deferred.

Councilwoman Tuohy

Councilwoman Tuohy discussed the budget for the Seniors organization (the O.W.L.S.). She had a discussion with John LaPadula, president of the group. The town gives money to the group every year to be used for programs and trips. With everything being canceled, they spoke about no additional money being sent over at this time, to which he agreed. If things remained canceled for the rest of the year, then the money from that line item will go back into the General Fund. If things resume and there are classes and trips that happen this year, then the money will be made available.

Councilwoman Tuohy also addressed how several members of the public were unable to attend the last meeting due to the connection issues. She requested that they start exploring other options, specifically ones that include video conferencing as she “would like to see people.” While there were no issues this time around, the group agreed to explore other options so that one could be implemented if the issues resurfaced.

Councilman Quinoa

Councilman Qunioa revisited the W/S memo discussed earlier, originally requesting an Executive Session since it refers to personnel. It was determined that some items could be discussed in public. Councilman Quinoa took exception in particular to a statement in the memo where the W/S supervisor said he had offered many times for the mayor and council to come down to the plant to see what they do every day. Councilman Quinoa reminded everyone that he, the mayor, and Councilwoman Tuohy had all been down to the plant (he did not know if the other councilmen had been down there). Councilman Quinoa also recounted a Zoom conference call that he had been on with various officials from the county where every one of them said they had DPW and W/S working at full capacity – Allamuchy is one of the only towns with reduced hours [reminder: they are working 20 hours but being paid 40 – see the discussion from the last meeting]. As essential departments/employees, reduced hours for these departments are not included in the governor’s orders, contrary to what was apparently stated in this same memo.

Councilwoman Tuohy also took exception, reminding the group that when she first came onto Town Council, the previous supervisor had invited her down for a tour, the majority of which was given by the current supervisor.

Councilman Ochwat

Councilman Ochwat added that he had some of the same reaction to the memo. From what I could gather, there was something in the memo taking exception to something about the plant being able to run with two people (this part was not clear from the discussion). Councilman Ochwat “does not recall suggesting that it could be done with two people” and he didn’t know where that came from. Now, I went back to my notes from the last meeting and there was a comment about how if they are able to operate with fewer people that maybe they could manage with fewer going forward. My notes could be wrong, but I would be curious to see what the transcription says.

Councilman Cote had a question about what they are doing today if their goal is to get back to 40 hours. The supervisor said they are working two people from a half day on Wednesday to the following Wednesday, when they switch to another two-person team. This is what they’ve been doing since the emergency declaration and are still on the 20-hour workweek with no overtime.

The mayor said that the county is looking to bring them back up, assuming social distancing and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), toward the end of this week/beginning of next week. Town hall will remain closed at this time. When the county opens their DPW, everyone will follow (DPW, W/S, town hall staff).

Public Session

A resident wished to set the record straight on the local farmer selling produce at the Panther Valley Mall. While she appreciates having various produce as a consumer, she would appreciate if the information that is out there is accurate. The Pryslak’s [the farmers selling the produce] are not from Allamuchy, but Great Meadows. There are no farmers from Allamuchy that are represented at the market being showcased at the mall. Allamuchy has many different kinds of farmers (she named a few: Freeborns, Drakes, Godlewsky’s, Gibbs that sell produce, flowers, beef, chicken). None of these are selling at the mall. There are a lot of fruits and vegetables that are not in season here that are being sold and she wanted it known that the market’s label and advertising is misleading.

She followed up with a question to the mayor about the Vision Committee. She wanted to know when the members will be identified. He responded that he will announce the members when all have accepted, probably at the next meeting. She wanted to know if the mayor was one of those five, and he replied that he was [it is required per the ordinance].  Councilman Cote asked if there as a representative from business or farming and the mayor responded that no, neither are required by the ordinance. What came out of this discussion is a general agreement that maybe the ordinance should be modified to expand the membership to add all/some of the following categories to the existing membership: younger families, seniors, farmers, business person, school, land use, plus others. This will be discussed at the next workshop.

Another resident requested clarification about the $1500 that was approved for the safety study on Mallard. Councilwoman Tuohy replied with a background: There is a new development on Mallard Drive. Mallard is now open from one end of Bald Eagle to the other. There have been a lot of speeding complaints as well as blind spot and sight distance issues [note: our New Jersey State Police liaison had presented some concerns to council last fall]. There was a suggestion to put up a stop sign [I believe where old and new Mallard meet], but Panther Valley cannot just put up a sign that can be enforced, per Title 39 of the state statute. In order to be enforceable, the town needs to look at it and the engineer would need to make a recommendation, with Panther Valley paying to have it implemented.

Ordinances (First Reading)

There were two ordinances up for first reading: 2020-02 – Personnel Committee and 2020-03 – Safety Committee. They were introduced, with the public hearing on May 27^th. They should be available on the website so that the public can review.

The only discussion on these was with regards to adding the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to the Safety Committee. The Fire Chief is a member and while right now the Fire Chief and OEM are the same person, that may not always be the case.

Unrelated to the ordinances themselves, Councilwoman Tuohy was dropped from the call at some point. When she returned, she said that she had a hard time getting back in, as the message was saying the conference was full. To her earlier point, perhaps it is time to seek an alternative conferencing option.

Resolutions

The only resolution was the Self Examination – Municipal Budget. This gives the CFO complete authority every three years to prepare and submit the budget with limited state review.

Other/New Business & Old Business: No discussion

Approve Payment of Bills and Add-On List

Councilwoman Tuohy had reviewed and signed the bills that day. She had a question about one bill. It was a bill that was dated last year (September) from a company that made T-shirts. Her only comment was that all bills should be going into the office and that they need to go through the right process. This particular bill was not approved by the board of commissioners. The mayor asked Mike, the Director of Recreation, who was on the phone, if he approved the purchase of the t-shirts for the dog part. Mike replied that it was not part of any discussion. The mayor requested that he bring it up at the next Recreation meeting.

Further discussion revealed that the bill was for T-shirts for a dog walk fundraiser that was done in September by the Dog Park. They were supporting the organization that was running the event and they all wanted to go in the same colored T-shirts. Councilwoman Tuohy seemed comfortable with that answer and all bills were approved.

Executive Session

While he had earlier asked for an Executive Session, Councilman Quinoa decided that it was better to wait until they can meet in person, hopefully in May

Adjournment

Before adjourning, Councilwoman Tuohy wanted to thank everyone that donated food and money to the Panther Valley Ecumenical Church food pantry. She delivered a “truckload” of food and $1000 to them earlier in the week. She is doing another round to include Trinity Church. Anyone interested can reach out to her for no-contact pickup.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 pm

This workshop meeting was once again held over conference call and, once again, many people had issues dialing in. The number was correct this time, but I kept getting the message “the caller limit has been reached.” I was finally able to connect on the fourth try, but others weren’t so lucky. Councilman Quinoa, Councilman Cote, the township attorney, and Office of Emergency Management Director Dave Berkenbush all had issues. Everyone was finally able to join and the meeting was called to order at 6:38 pm.  In addition to the mayor, council members, attorney, clerk, and OEM director, there were at least three employees, the school superintendent, Board of Education president, and four residents on the call that made themselves known, although there could have been some silent “stalkers” on the line.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the mayor called for a moment of silence for those fighting COVID-19 and those that have lost their fight. Councilman Ochwat asked to include Bob Smith, a former council member, who had passed. Councilman Quinoa also recognized the passing of an Allamuchy resident, the father-in-law of the Board of Education president, Lisa Strutin, and expressed his condolences to her and her husband, Desi.

The mayor read the required legal notices and asked everyone that wasn’t on council to put their phones on mute until the meeting was opened to the public. Speaking of noises on the line, I found the call quality to be less than optimal. There was a lot of background noise, not only from open lines, but just general electronic noises. It not only made it difficult to listen, but also added to the general feeling of disengagement.

OPENING STATEMENT

The mayor made an opening statement. As of the meeting there were 302 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Warren County, with Allamuchy holding at 11. He said that on the mayors’ call the projection was that our cases will peak on or about April 16^th, since we seem to be about a week or two behind New York City. He includes this information on the emails that he sends out with important documents attached to the website. By the way, the new website is up and is being updated daily. He said that we have to be vigilant and that the people coming to the meeting tonight are concerned and that the people he is sending emails to are concerned. According to the mayor, the people getting his emails are council and employees who can “help the residents stay calm and refer them to the website.” Now, I’ve seen the emails that are forwarded. I hadn’t been getting them but knew of them from someone who was getting them from John LaPadula, who had been forwarding them to the seniors.  I was recently added to his email chain, so I thank him.  However, I have seen the distribution on the mayor’s emails and I can assure you that it is not only council and employees, but it seems to be a select group of people whom the mayor feels deserve to have the information before everyone else.  And speaking of the website, there is a place where someone can enter an email under the assumption that it would be added to an email blast. I did that, and received a confirmation from the website. I have yet to receive any blast emails with important information. To be fair, the website is still a work in progress and that functionality may not be fully configured yet. But there are also other avenues that can be used to communicate with the community. Let’s take Facebook, for example. I know not everyone is on Facebook but, judging from the number of people who are members of the Don’t Shoot the Allamuchy Messenger group, a fair number of people look to the medium to get information.  I’ve seen other mayors using Facebook to communicate important information to their constituents, especially recently. The Hope Township mayor comes to mind. He is out there every day posting an update on the status of his community. I invite you to compare his and other mayors’ pages to that of our own mayor and make your own judgement.

My point is that, instead of providing a leading voice for the town, the mayor seems to be delegating that responsibility to others.

ENGINEER’S REPORT/ACTION LIST

Per the mayor, there was nothing new to report from the township engineer and no items that needed action. The engineer will be at the next meeting with information on the water tower and roads.

ATTORNEY’S REPORT

The attorney reported on the Tower Lease Agreement for the water tower at 100 Bald Eagle Road. I found it hard to follow the conversation, but from what I could gather, the discussion was around whether or not the lease should be renewed/will auto-renew.

The attorney also reported on a letter received from the PVPOA attorney. They were deliberately vague around the subject matter and at one point there was question as to whether it should be moved to Executive Session. It seems that there is an issue between PVPOA and a land owner. The general consensus was that the attorney should respond requesting more information before determining whether public funds should be spent on the situation. As this has to do with PVPOA, both Councilman Quinoa and Councilwoman Tuohy abstained since they are both on the PVPOA Board of Trusteed.

The next topic was the 2020 Municipal Budget and a long discussion as to whether the budget can/should be introduced then or if it should wait until there is more guidance from the state regarding what our state aid should be. The CFO suggested that they introduce the budget that meeting and if something changes from the state then at least the process is in motion. The current budget has no tax increase for this year but that may change based on any changes from the state. At the end of this discussion, two votes happened, with both passing. The first was a vote on a resolution to extend the timeline for the temporary budget that was passed in January. This is to ensure that the town is compliant with having a budget in place. The second was a motion to introduce the budget at this meeting so it could be brought up for public hearing on May 13^th.

Finally, there was a short discussion on the introduction of the 2020 Solid Waste budget, which covers garbage collection outside of Panther Valley. The motion passed and it will be up for public hearing on May 13^th as well.

MAYOR’S REPORT

The mayor had nothing additional to report outside of his opening statement.

COUNCIL MEMBER’S REPORT

Councilman Cote

Councilman Cote mentioned his attendance at a meeting with the Highlands Council and the Allamuchy Environmental Commission. He deferred to Open Space Director Charlie Fineran to discuss further during public session.

Councilman Cote had discussed the new Water and Sewer truck and the CFO confirmed that there is money in the budget for it.

Regarding background checks, Councilman Cote reminded everyone of the new personnel manual and new policies for all employees and commissioners. He wanted to get on the public record that the those will need to be done as soon as the stay at home order is lifted.

At a previous meeting, Councilman Cote had asked for two new ordinances from the attorney for the Personnel Committee and Safety Committee. These ordinances are ready and he would likt o hav ehtem on the agenda for first reading at the next meeting.

There are also three ordinances (Vision Committee, Technical Coordinating Committee, and Municipal Alliance Committee) that Councilman Cote reminded everyone are still on the books and with which the town is not compliant. The mayor responded that he has found time to review these and is making the recommendation that they ask the attorney to do the paperwork to have them removed. Councilman Cote questioned why he would want the Vision Committee removed (“Why wouldn’t we want a committee taking a look at the vision for the town and where the town is going?”). The mayor responded that the councilman asked for a recommendation and he gave his recommendation. Councilwoman Tuohy agreed with Councilman Cote, stating that she felt it was important to involve residents in the future of the town. The mayor wanted to know how the rest of council felt and when they were generally in agreement, he said he would look at the details and have appointments at the next meeting.

[I wish I could summarize the following discussion but I feel it’s important to understand who said what during this exchange.]

Councilman Cote then recounted what the town, and the world, have been dealing with since the middle of March with COVID-19. He recounted how the governor and president asked everyone to “take a two-week respite, keep six feet of space, and stay home” back in mid-March and how the town, commendably, took steps to protect its employees. There was a two-week vision with a review that was to happen on April 1^st [It was later revealed that this April 1^st date came from a March 19^th letter that the mayor had sent to council. But we will get more into that in a bit.] Councilman Cote was recently looking at the Water and Sewer report and noticed overtime hours. Based on guidance from the mayor, the employees have been working 20 hours, while getting paid for 40, in an effort to keep them safe. However, they were being paid time and a half for working Saturday and/or Sunday, despite having only physically worked 20 hours. He stated that while the mayor and council have a responsibility to the employees, they also need to be fair to the taxpayers. He again referenced the new employee manual which clearly states that non-exempt employees will receive overtime for hours worked [emphasis mine] in excess of 40 hours. While it would be difficult to make retroactive, this is something he felt should not continue.

The mayor responded by saying that the state of local emergency was put in place by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) on March 14^th. There were guidelines from OEM for the next 30 days with regards to day-to-day operations.  Councilman Cote reminded the mayor that he, the mayor, issued an email on March 19^th that contradicted that. When the mayor could not recall what the email said, Councilman Quinoa read from it that there would be a test period and prior to April 1^st there would be a review at which time a schedule for April would be presented. The mayor apologized for not doing the review on April 1^st but also didn’t see the need to change as it was recommended on multiple levels to split staff so that if one group is sick, the other group isn’t affected. These are the same procedures set up at the Department of Public Works (DPW), Water & Sewer, and Town Hall. They all work for 20 hours and are on call for 20 hours. To take away that away from Water & Sewer would hurt them financially. It is better to keep them in different groups. [I wonder if anyone else felt that the mayor side-stepped the issue of the overtime payments at this point.]

Councilman Quinoa went back to the email, agreeing with the policy for splitting hours. But that wasn’t the question. In that same email, the mayor stated that all employees would be paid full salary and overtime. Councilman Quinoa was merely pointing out the contradictions in the mayor’s email. Once again, the mayor apologized for the wording in the email, but defended his thought process. [At this point I would like to point out that the mayor has apologized twice for an apparently poorly-worded email. So he does know how to apologize, he just chose not to apologize to the residents whom he serves for walking out on a meeting earlier in the year.]

Councilman Ochwat joined the discussion, asking if the same thing was happening at DPW and town hall where people are working 20 hours but are putting in for overtime if they have to come in during other times. The mayor stated that no overtime is necessary for either of those departments. Councilman Ochwat stated that he thought the whole intent of the policy was not to put the workers in a situation with regard to their health. They don’t want to hurt the employees financially but didn’t know they would be paid overtime in addition to the regular salary. The town is trying to keep expenses down and he is concerned about both the taxpayers and the employees. To quote Councilman Ochwat, that “doesn’t jive.”

Councilwoman Tuohy also stated that it doesn’t sit right with her that they are working 20, getting paid 40, and getting paid overtime. She also asked if there are four employees, could they stay separated and go back to an 8-hour day? The mayor noted that they continue to share offices, bathrooms, and vehicles and there is no reason to switch over; but if the council wants to take the overtime away, then they should make a motion on it. But keeping them separated is vital. If the overtime is an issue, then make the change effective today. Councilwoman Tuohy made the motion that [paraphrasing] overtime is paid at 40 hours worked, including any vacation or other paid time off that is used to get to 40 hours.

The Water & Sewer supervisor asked to speak up. He thought that if they are on call, then 2:00 am, for example, should be paid as overtime. He said no one will want to go in for emergency times at straight time. Councilman Ochwat believed that was “oranges and apples” as it assumes that people are working 40 hours and are called in.  Councilman Cote specifically asked the supervisor to take a “hard think at what he was saying and what he was threatening.” The supervisor responded that he wasn’t threatening anything and had seen this happen previously and doesn’t want it to happen now as he hears the “talk among the guys.” Councilman Quinoa had a couple of suggestions for how they could get the 40 hours worked to qualify them for overtime. He also agreed that they should be split. He pointed out that there are a lot of people in town who have lost jobs and here the town is paying employees a full 40-hour salary for working 20 hours and questioned what kind of message that gives to the taxpayers. If the employees really want overtime, they need to consider a different schedule that gets them to the 40 hours.

At the end of all this, the motion was made that the weekend is no longer overtime unless they have worked 40 hours. The mayor was to work with the supervisor after the meeting to figure this out.  [This sounds an awful lot like the tail wagging the dog, in my opinion.]

Councilwoman Tuohy

Councilwoman Tuohy addressed a letter that was received regarding the speed and traffic on Mallard Drive. She reached out to the engineer for a quote on a traffic study to be done when things get back to normal, as it doesn’t make sense to do one now with everyone at home.

She said that she has been working with Judge Mellinger and the clerk to put together the analysis to present a proposal for court shared services with another town.

She and the head of DPW met with Superintendent Flynn to discuss shared services with the school for grounds maintenance. This has been sent to the Board of Education for discussion.

Councilman Quinoa

Councilman Quinoa referenced an email that the mayor had sent to council and others on his informational email distribution list that stated “it appears that some are not happy with how the town is being run during these times of trouble.” Councilman Quinoa assumed that was a reference to the way his particular agenda item was written [see the agenda on the website for details]. He clarified that his agenda item was in reference to the March 19^th email discussed earlier and the policy review that was to be taken place. He was not saying whether the town was being run wrong nor was he criticizing anything done. He was merely stating that council was not made of any reviews done by April 1^st. 

Councilman Quinoa continued by stating that he agenda item also came about because an employee from a committee was attempting to go into town hall and it was not clear if that person was or was not allowed, as Councilman Quinoa is not on the Personnel Committee. He recalled reading in the same March 19^th email that there would be no visitation to town hall during specific hours, so he saw a contradiction. He knows that the mayor is forwarding a lot of emails to a certain number of people with information that is then being distributed by Councilwoman Tuohy and Councilman Cote and which is supplemented by me. Councilman Quinoa wanted the policy reviewed and put in writing.

The mayor responded that in the state of emergency everyone was given a copy of what was in place at the time. The declaration was signed by OEM and the mayor. In the letter, the OEM declared a state of local emergency, as determined by our OEM director. Also, under general operations it said that the township may limit access/close to the public, only allowing Allamuchy Township employees or others having direct business with the township. At the time, the governor was saying that construction, land use, and zoning would continue work. Last week the construction and zoning offices were shut down. The complaint was also about someone from the Land Use Board coming in. Land Use is still active and that individual goes in once a week. The mayor reached out to the head of the Land Use Board to request that person only come in after hours and not be there during the time when the regular employees were there. The mayor reiterated that he was following OEM and that OEM is generally the one that sets these things up as OEM receives info from multiple levels – from the governor to the county to the mayor. There is certain information that they mayors are asked not to share. The mayor further clarified his email distribution list and said that he picked a certain group of heads in town that he knows the information will work its way out to the public (mentioning John LaPadula). For those not getting emails, word is put out to the website. The mayor said no one is missing everything and that Town Council is getting everything the mayor is getting at a different time.

Councilman Quinoa again said that the mayor’s follow up memo had contradictions. And that the policy needs to be reviewed.

Councilwoman Tuohy chimed in on the issue with outside personnel coming into town hall. There are four employees, all separated within their own offices. There are other part time employees that are shared among other towns. The concern is these employees traveling from town to town and coming in the building. She made a recommendation that any outside personnel come in after the regular employees have left for the day. The building would be disinfected after the regular employees leave (before the others come in), and again in the morning before they come in.

Councilwoman Tuohy then said that if it has to come from OEM, then OEM should put it in place.  OEM said that personnel issues are outside of OEM. Recall that the mayor had previously said that these guidelines came from OEM, a point which Councilwoman Tuohy made, but the OEM director just contradicted that. The mayor then interrupted her and said that his intention at the time of he email was to comply and get thing reevaluated on April 1^st. He was not aware of the hundreds of phone calls and the time this would take and it just slipped his mind. He once again apologized [that makes three, if anyone is counting]. At this, Councilwoman Tuohy said she reached out to the mayor to offer her help with taking the calls to which the mayor responded that Councilwoman Tuohy was the only one to make that offer but he is using OEM at this point because of the information that the OEM is getting in addition to what the mayors are getting. The mayor also said that communication goes both ways and that council could have reminded him on April 2^nd instead of waiting until they are in front of the town.

Councilwoman Tuohy circled back to Councilman Quinoa’s starting point about the mayor’s statement regarding people not being happy with how the town being run. She summarized it nicely saying that this was something that should not have been said on an email with council, Board of Education, employees, and others from the general public.

Councilman Quinoa finished by addressing the mayor’s comment that no one other than Councilwoman Tuohy volunteered to assist. He reminded the mayor that when the committees were being set up, the mayor chose to do things by himself and appoint others on an as-needed basis. If the mayor needed help, he could have reached out to anyone on council.  [This may be a good time to remind everyone that the mayor declined to appoint an Acting Mayor, formerly (and incorrectly) known as the Deputy Mayor, during the reorganization and that the Council President – in this case Councilman Ochwat – would serve in that capacity in the absence of an appointed Acting Mayor.]

Councilman Ochwat

Councilman Ochwat didn’t have any items on the agenda as they were not critical at this time. He simply made a comment to remember that there are a lot of people doing an incredible job helping others.

BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS

Charlie Fineran, Open Space Director and head of the Environmental Council spoke. He first talked about the conference call with the Highlands Council that was referenced earlier by Councilman Cote. The meeting was to discuss the updating of the town’s Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) and incorporating it into the town’s Master Plan. In addition to Mr. Fineran, Councilman Cote (who is also a member of the Land Use Board), and the members of the Highlands Council, the meeting included the township engineer and Environmental Commissioner Claire Arcaro. They reviewed the various plans and dates and found there was money available to update the NRI. Mr. Fineran will send an email regarding the call and Commissioner Arcaro will check with Sustainable Jersey® on whether the current plan will be sufficient towards our certification.

The mayor asked about the bench that was recently delivered thanks to Commissioner Arcaro’s hard work. Mr. Fineran reminded the group that Commissioner Arcaro is the lead for the town’s Sustainable Jersey® certification efforts and that she took it upon herself to drive the collection of plastic [as part of the NexTrex Challenge]. Over 500 pounds were collected, which qualified us for the bench. The bench was delivered to the house, picked up by DPW and assembled and is now sitting in the main entrance of Town Hall.

Councilwoman Tuohy asked about the recently-created Facebook page for the Environmental Commission. Mr. Fineran said that Commissioner Arcaro and Abby [that would be me] put that together and the Commission will be using it as another resource.

The mayor thanked Ms. Arcaro and all involved in getting the bench.

Concilman Ochwat said that they may want to put in a memo saying that the Town Council is happy with the work of the Environmental Commission to which Mr. Fineran responded that it is a partnership. Anything that is done for Sustainable Jersey® is required to ultimately come from the mayor and council.

MUNICIPAL CLERK’S REPORT

The clerk said that the New Jersey Primary Election has been moved to July 7^th and that the governor is debating whether to require Vote by Mail (VBM), reminding everyone that VBM applications are available online.

She asked about the status of the municipal parks, in light of the governor’s most recent executive orders. The mayor responded that they should remain closed for the foreseeable future. Councilwoman Tuohy made the motion and all were in favor.  A member of the public chimed in saying that when they do an “all in favor” on the conference call, there is no way of knowing who actually said it (it could be a member of the public for all we know). A roll call was done.

Councilwoman Tuohy asked about refunding fees for softball, as the softball season was canceled. [Full disclosure: I am the town’s Softball Commissioner.] The clerk stated that she had received a list of refunds that were to be sent out for softball and that the refunds needed to be approved so that the treasurer could start processing [I sent a voucher with the list of refunds needed attached to said voucher]. Councilwoman Tuohy made the motion for the refunds especially given the financial circumstances of some during the current health crisis. Councilman Quinoa asked if they could authorize the softball commissioner to approve the individual vouchers instead of having each individual person signing a voucher. An issue is that the department head, in this case the Recreation Director, would have to sign. The motion to refund the fees was passed (amended by Councilman Ochwat to get it done as expeditiously as possible) but at this point it is unclear what additional vouchers and signatures may be needed. [I am working with the Director to get this done as quickly as possible.]

PUBLIC SESSION

[Note: I generally will not mention speakers by name unless they make statements in which they represent themselves in an official capacity.]

A resident had the following questions/comments mostly for the mayor:

• She noticed the committees that Councilman Cote had listed in his agenda items. She asked how many people are on the Vision Committee.  The mayor responded that he didn’t have all of the details but would have a recommendation at the next meeting. Councilman Cote stated that the ordinance was very clear (later verified by Councilwoman Tuohy to be members of the Board of Education, Land Use Board, Recreation, general public, and the mayor). The resident asked if the committee had been formed to which the mayor responded that it hasn’t been formed yet. After Councilwoman Tuohy listed the members, the resident asked who the member of the general public was (the mayor: no one).
• She asked about the Personnel Committee and who were its members. The mayor said that in the fall there were two members, himself and Councilman Quinoa, and that on January 1^st he appointed himself and would bring on others as needed. He did say that he has worked with Councilwoman Tuohy on a number of occasions to which the resident asked if Councilwoman Tuohy is a member. The mayor replied that she is not. The resident reminded everyone that the definition of a committee is a group of people and not a single person. The mayor said that the Faulkner Act allows him to set committees as he sees necessary. The township attorney added that the definition of a committee can include just one person, while seeming to agree that it doesn’t necessarily make sense. The resident requested that the mayor consider expanding the Personnel Committee, given its obvious importance.
• The resident then addressed the system being used to conduct the meeting, asking if the council has considered its future meetings be more of a virtual meeting with Zoom, WebEx, or others where “we are able to see your smiling faces.” The mayor said that they are following the recommendation of the attorney at this time. The attorney replied that they can use Zoom, but there are known security issues at this time.
• The resident wished everyone good health gave a shout out and thank you to Don’t Shoot the (Allamuchy) Messenger as well as Councilman Cote for sharing information with those that may not always go to the township website. The mayor responded by saying that there are a lot of helpful blogs out there for information [I guess he’s not a fan of this one?].

Mrs. Strutin, the Board of Education president, spoke. Before she could ask her question, the mayor offered his condolences for the passing of her father-in-law. She asked about the delayed budget and how that would affect the Board of Education. The response from the mayor is that they have to wait for the language and details to come out. Mrs. Strutin requested that they reach out to Superintendent Flynn as soon as the language is known.

An employee of the Water & Sewer department spoke up with regards to the earlier discussion about overtime hours. He did not want to bring it up, knowing that so many are without jobs, and he appreciates being paid his full salary, but it seems he felt as if he were taking a pay cut because he would not be getting the overtime. He felt that the other departments – the “girls” in the office and DPW – were still getting their full pay but they aren’t by not getting their overtime (which it sounds like they usually get on a regular basis). A couple of the council members commented that it is tough to justify overtime when people are losing their jobs. Some probably will not be paying their taxes. State aid is probably being cut, but the governing body is trying to keep taxes flat. People in Panther Valley are unable to pay their maintenance fees due to job loss. The council needs to do the best for the employees and the residents, and this is a fair compromise. In fact, other towns are furloughing employees.

[Did you just hear the sound of the can of worms being opened?]

Councilman Ochwat said just what I, and I’m sure others, were thinking. He said the comments by this employee and earlier comments by his supervisor made it sound like overtime is built into the salary. And, if that is the case, perhaps they should look at how the salaries are structured.  Councilman Cote agreed. Another comment was made that maybe we don’t even need four employees if we are getting by with split shifts.

The employee countered saying that they are “making it work” with two guys and that the overtime is not built into the base salary, but someone is required to be there every day.

So, here’s how I understood it: it sounds like on a normal week (i.e., no global pandemic requiring split shifts), the employees work 40 hours, Monday thru Friday. Someone is required to be there on the weekend, so that person gets overtime for those days (because they’ve already worked their 40 hours). If they get called in during the middle of the night, they also get overtime. Now let’s compare that to companies that require weekend work. I’m going to use Lowe’s/Home Depot as an example because I live with someone that worked for both those companies and was required to work weekends. In those stores, full time employees work a full schedule, with Saturday and/or Sunday considered regular work days. If weekend work is required, then the “weekend” would be other days during the week. For example, an employee would work Wednesday thru Sunday and have Monday and Tuesday off. It can be done, so why are we paying overtime for days that should, in all reality, be part of the scheduled work week? And don’t tell me it’s because that’s the way we’ve always done it. Just because it’s always been done that way doesn’t make it right. I would be curious to know how other towns handle this.

Back to our story….there was more discussion about how the employees cycle through the weekends and it ended with the employee asking to be part of the discussion to come up with a plan to give them their full 40 hours plus overtime. I don’t think this will be the end of this discussion.

Mrs. Strutin spoke up again and recognized that the mayor and council are in a tough position, based on her experience with the Board of Education. She stated that everyone is hurting or affected in some way and we need to band together to minimize the effects on everyone involved. But, they also have a fiduciary responsibility to everyone. Councilman Ochwat added, for the record, that there is not one person on that phone call who isn’t being hurt financially in one way or another, whether through loss of life savings, 401k, salary, hours, or job loss. To echo what Mrs. Strutin ended with, as long as everyone is healthy and ok, we will get through this.

The last person to speak was Dave Berkenbush from OEM. He reminded everyone that the OEM Facebook page has the latest information from the state, county, and local governments. He expressed appreciation to the community for coming together and to those who have gone out of their way to help others. He also mentioned the latest guidelines for wearing a cloth covering on your face when out in public. It is vitally important to continue to limit spread and that we need to adapt to a new normal. This will be going on for quite a long time and we have not yet reached the peak.

ORDINANCES

The only ordinances coming up for first reading will be the ones discussed earlier for Personnel and Safety Committees. There were questions around when / how the ordinance will be made available to the public since Town Hall is closed. Ordinances are normally made available to the public for second reading. It sounds like they will be posted to the website prior to the meeting during which the second reading will take place.

RESOLUTIONS

No resolutions

OTHER/NEW BUSINESS

No significant new business

OLD BUSINESS

The land lease for the parking lot was sent to the Board of Education for discussion

EXECUTIVE SESSION

There was no need for Executive Session but it was decided that if one were needed that a separate number would need to be provided to council as long as meetings were being conducted virtually.

ADJOURNMENT @ 9:02 pm

Next Regular Meeting: April 22, 2020 @ 6:30 pm

Next Workshop Meeting: May 13, 2020 @ 6:30 pm

Like most of you, our Water & Sewer bill arrived in the mail this past week. Normally, we would just pop a check in the mail and send it in. However, these days we are trying to do our best to do what’s safe not just for us, but for others in the chain. Plus, with the municipal building closed to the public, those who usually drop it off in person need to find a different way to pay.

I was reminded that we can now pay our Water & Sewer bills online. It’s easy. Just go to the township website (www.allamuchynj.org). In the “filmstrip” under the picture you will see a set of icons that rotate every few seconds. You can wait for the Payments icon to appear, or you can navigate more quickly by clicking the right arrow (see the picture):

In the Utility Account Information box, enter your Utility Account ID and Utility Account PIN found above your address on your Water & Sewer bill and you should be all set to enter your payment information.

If you have any questions, it is best to reach out directly to the Water & Sewer department at (908) 852-6356.

Yesterday, March 30th, was the deadline for candidates to submit their petitions to be listed on the ballot for the June 2nd New Jersey Democratic and Republican primaries. Allamuchy has two Town Council seats on the ballot this year. I am assuming that Councilwoman Tuohy and Councilman Cote are running for reelection, but am unaware of others that may be running. I would like to do a Q&A with any candidates that are willing to participate. I am looking for your input. What burning question(s) would you like to see answered by our local candidates? Email me at allamuchymessenger@gmail.com with your input.

First of all, I hope everyone is well and managing in this time of uncertainty. Please know that if you are in need of anything, there are always members in the community willing to step up and help out. Do not be afraid to ask – ask a friend, ask your neighbor, ask on social media – because we are all in this together.

The regular meeting of the Allamuchy Town Council was held via conference call. Since this was the first time for this, there were some issues, as could be expected. The incorrect phone number and access code had been provided initially. I, along with others, had the correct number but kept receiving a message saying that the room had reached its caller limit. By the time things were sorted out, the meeting was called to order at 6:43 pm.

As an aside, I know that the Board of Education held its most recent meeting as a video conference. Personally, I prefer that to the audio-only conference, as I was able to see the faces of the members. I am curious why the mayor chose to hold an audio-only conference.

The mayor and town clerk were present in the council chamber at the municipal building (practicing sufficient distancing, I would assume), and all other council members and the attorney were on the phone. Based on whom could be heard on the call, there were at least two other residents present beside myself.

As always, the meeting started with the pledge. The mayor and clerk stood, and requested that others do so as well.  There was a moment of silence for those that are sick and dealing with this terrible disease, the family members worried about them, and the first responders who are putting their lives on the line.

In addition to the usual reading of the Sunshine Law, the mayor added the statement that the meeting was being conducted by conference call due to the health emergency and that the meeting and procedures were published, albeit with the wrong phone number, which was questioned by Councilman Quinoa.  Councilman Quinoa asked the attorney if the notification was incorrect, can they proceed with the meeting. The attorney said that given the circumstances, the meeting could be held, but the actions from this meeting would need to be ratified the next time they meet.

OPENING REMARKS

The mayor made some opening remarks that were prepared by him and Dave Berkenbush, the director of Allamuchy’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Below is a summary:

He spoke of the start of the virus and its affect on the world, the country, New Jersey, and Warren County. As of March 26^th, there were 29 confirmed cases in Warren County, with two in Allamuchy [Note: That has increased to three since].

The OEM started the acquisition of additional N95 masks and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in February and activated the Emergency Operations Center on March 16^th, the day a state of emergency was declared to limit access to specified town buildings and resources.

The first confirmed case in Allamuchy was March 21^st. The only information received was the age and gender. No other information is provided the County Health Department who spoke with the individual to determine contacts.

The virus has the potential to put a strain on the healthcare system and there are calls for PPE to protect healthcare workers. The OEM will continue to track and it is expected to continue through mid-April and beyond.

Residents are requested to follow state, county, and local social distancing guidelines, monitor their health, and exercise good hygiene. It is vital to follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. If you are infected, the Warren County and New Jersey State Health Departments will provide guidelines.

The statement went on to say how proud they are of the community, with a special thank you to John LaPadula from the Allamuchy Seniors. John, [Councilwoman] Tuohy, and other members of the public have been delivering meals. [Superintendent] Flynn has been providing leftover food from the school to the Panther Valley Ecumenical Church (PVEC) food bank. There was also a special thank you to the parents and teachers.

The mayor had a side comment that he received an email from PVEC indicating they are short on staples, especially peanut butter.

They acknowledged the strain being felt by our small businesses. Restaurants are limited to takeout and non-essential businesses are closed, while others are working under difficult circumstances. There is a job board and Small Business Association (SBA) loans available for those businesses and employees impacted.

He gave a special thank you to the First Responders: The New Jersey State Police, First Aid squat, and Fire Department.

He stated that we need to stick together as a community now more than ever. We continue to hope for limited community spread and will continue to monitor and be in touch with the county, state, and local authorities.

He referenced the new electronic sign at the Panther Valley front gate. It is currently broadcasting the address for the town’s new website, which is now up and live and posting many of the directives from the county, state, and federal authorities. The residents may not hear things from day to day, but the website is constantly being updated.

The clerk, Anne Marie Tracy, provided an update and indicated that the home page is condensed, with links to the OEM, CDC, and Warren County board of health. As more information comes across it will be posted. The link is www.allamuchynj.org.

The mayor then asked if any of the council people wanted to give opening remarks.

Councilwoman Tuohy reminded everyone that donations for PVEC are being collected in a box outside the Panther Valley office to be delivered next week. She also commented on the mayor’s statement about the food being delivered to the seniors, adding that Claire Arcaro and I have been helping and there will be more members coming on board.

Councilman Quinoa also commented that there is a lot of information being put out by various individuals. He specifically called out me as being active in providing a lot of information through my website and Facebook pages [That would be this page]. He commented that Councilwoman Tuohy is also providing information to the community.

The mayor asked Dave Berkenbush if he wanted to add anything. He said that they tried to cover everything in the statement and that he is providing links on the OEM Facebook page.

PUBLIC SESSION

I started public session by thanking Councilwoman Tuohy and Councilman Quinoa for the kudos, but wanted to reiterate what the mayor said that we are all in this together. I do not do this for the kudos, but because I care about the community.

Lisa Strutin [Board of Education President] thanked the mayor and council for open communication with the school. She also asked people to pray for the nurses and doctors exposed every day. She said that any resident that needs help to please reach out.

Another resident commented that Allamuchy is a strong community and that we stick together. She wanted to know what assurances do we have that those who are sick and self-quarantining will actuall stay home and asked if there are any services being offered. The mayor responded that they do not know who the individuals are due to HIPAA privacy rules. The county has services and will reach out but rest-assured the individuals are not left alone from the county side. Dave Berkenbush added that while the names and addresses of affected individuals are not shared with the towns, the dispatch centers are aware so that they can guide first responders appropriately.

Councilman Quinoa asked Dave it was possible to contact the county and offer the ability to tell these individuals that they can contact the township for help if they wish to. Dave responded that they have tried multiple times to get information but, again, are prohibited by HIPAA.

RESOLUTIONS

The following resolutions were voted on, with any significant discussion noted:

• Tax Sale Certificate Redemption
• Refund of Overpayments
• 2019 Tonnage Grant Resolution
• Approval of Agreement with Phoenix Advisors, LLC (these are the town’s financial advisors)
• Transfers: There was a difference of $25 of money being transferred between accounts. Also, there was a question about money be transferred to the Fire Department as well as Buildings and Grounds. Per the clerk, who confirmed with the CFO, this was to finalize December bills that were paid in the beginning of this year.
• Shared Services with Warren County
• Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant. This was discussed during the workshop. The mayor abstained on the vote, presumably due to his relationship with the Fire Departement.

OTHER/NEW BUSINESS

The following was discussed, with significant discussion noted.

• Approval of Raffle Application, Foundation for Hackettstown Medical Center.
• Approval of Raffle Application, Friends and Neighbors
• SMSD Report: Councilman Ochwat reported on the conference call for the Special Municipal Services District (SMSD). The main reason for the meeting was to discuss the SMSD budget. He noted that most of the village assessments are going down with a couple of exceptions. Prior to the vote, the mayor asked the attorney if members of the PVPOA Board (i.e., Councilwoman Tuohy and Councilman Quinoa) should abstain. Councilman Quinoa reminded the mayor that he abstains every year. Councilwoman Tuohy, who had seconded the motion, stated that under guidance from the prior attorney that they did not need to abstain as the vote was for the whol of Panther Valley. Mr. Beilin said that he had no issue with Councilwoman Tuohy seconding the motion, but that he would prefer that they abstain. The motion passed, with both Councilwoman Tuohy and Councilman Quinoa abstaining.

APPROVE PAYMENT OF BILLS AND ADD-ON LIST

The mayor stated that he signed all of the bills and asked for direction from the attorney on how to get them co-signed. Before they could get to that, though, Councilman Quinoa had a question about the bills for the new prosecutor. After much discussion of what was already paid last year, what was already paid this year under his old rate, and the purchase orders that were being signed for payment under the new rate for this year, it was determined that there would be an overpayment.

Once they figured that out and approved the bills, they returned to the discussion of how to get the second signature while abiding by social distancing guidelines and limitations of building access. Councilwoman Tuohy volunteered to be the second signature. The bills would be dropped off, she would sign and disinfect them, and drop them back at the municipal building.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

There was no Executive Session [I would be curious how that would have been conducted].

ADJOURNMENT?

No, not quite. Mrs. Strutin chimed up to ask if the mayor and Council could open the meeting to the public again. This is out of the ordinary, but then these are no ordinary times. There was no objection, so the meeting was opened to the public.

Mrs. Strutin thanked them for the opportunity and asked if Council was aware of a bill that may allow quarterly tax payments to be delayed and asked to keep the school district in the loop. She also asked if house taxes were still due on May 1^st. Mr. Beilin responded that he believes they are talking about doing estimated bills. Mrs. Strutin finished by making sure there would be a note in the minutes that everyone could not attend the meeting due to the dial-in issues.

Councilman Quinoa had a question about the tree on Bountiful Dr. that was discussed at the workshop. The mayor said that the DPW is arranging with the tree people to take down two trees that had been identified as potential problems by the township engineer. Councilman Ochwat asked whether the backhoe had been removed and Councilman Cote asked if a letter has been written to the resident. The clerk believes that the Zoning Officer is aware and is looking at that as well as where the trees had been cut down on 517.

This led to a long discussion about the tree removal on 517. It sounded like the property owner wanted to clear it in part to get better visibility for the billboard (and wants to do a double-sided billboard) and in part to stem vandalism to the corn fields. The trees were also apparently diseased. The discussion covered whether he needed a permit (no, it is farmland assessed). But there was also a discussion about the billboard and when that was approved. End result is that Anne Marie will work with zoning to research the sign.

Councilman Ochwat ended with wishes that everyone and their families stay well.

At that point, everyone started to disperse when they realized no one had made a motion to adjourn. The motion was made and the meeting was adjourned at 7:42 pm.

Next Workshop Meeting: April 8^th @ 6:30 pm

Next Regular Meeting: April 22^nd @ 6:30 pm

Before I start on the meeting, I just want to commend the Board of Education in taking everyone’s safety into consideration by holding the meeting over tele/videoconference. There were some minor glitches as everyone adjusted to the platform but overall, the meeting, which was originally scheduled for March 16 but was moved presumably to ensure the technology was in place, ran smoothly. The Board and all of the community members on the call embraced the theme of “Flexibility.”  At one point I noticed that there were 35 people, including the Board members, connected. More pressure on me to get these notes correct 😊

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm. Dr. Cusmano was absent during roll call, but connected shortly after. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and, yes, everyone that could be seen on the screen stood up. I will have to make sure I get a flag in my office space for the next one.

The Superintendent read the student acknowledgements. For Teacher of the Month, he acknowledged all of the staff, teachers, and paraprofessionals for their response to the public situation. This will, for good reason, be a common sentiment throughout the meeting.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Mrs. Strutin thanked all of the staff, custodial staff, administration, parents, and community for their dedication and hard work. She commended everyone for coming together and finding common ground. She reiterated that everyone needs to be flexible and patient and that we are all learning as we go along. She reminded us what a great community we have and that we are never alone and will get through this together.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Operations (Mr. Britt)

Mr. Britt discussed items #5 (Preliminary 2020-2021 School Budget) and #6 (Approve the use of Tax Levy Adjustments for the 2020-21 Budget Year).  The budget numbers need to go to the county within a matter of days, with a limited opportunity to revisit. The tax levy change is +2.88%. They used the banked cap, which allowed them to go over the 2% cap. This year we had $11m in new ratables, which helped keep the numbers down (Mr. Britt said it would be about 6% without the ratables). Next year, new ratables are expected to drop to $5m, and then $0 the year after.

Mr. Britt and Superintendent Flynn were invited by State Senator Oroho to testify about the impact on our district.

Addressing the impact of COVID-19, Mr. Britt said one positive is that the interest rates have dropped to about zero. He asked Superintendent Flynn and Mr. Schlessinger, the Business Administrator, about the possibility of refinancing the bond. Regardless, he expects that we will have a $1m bond referendum to fund boiler replacement, roof repair [note: I believe the roof on the main school was repaired last year], security initiatives, etc.

Mr. Bienko asked if there were any underwriting costs that would go against the cap if the bond were refinanced. Mr. Britt said that there is a cost, which will need to be looked at.

Human Resources (Mrs. Renaud)

There was nothing to discuss.

Education (Mr. Green)

Mr. Green thanked the staff for their flexibility. He recognized that this is an opportunity to try new things such as video and telephone classes.

He commented on the budget and said they were “reviewing some of the moves to make sure we are in line and spending fiscally responsibly.”

He indicated that they are trying to get Allamuchy’s schedule as closely in line with Hackettstown’s as possible.

They are also looking at class size, as we are on the cusp at some levels and some were high this year.

Governance (Mrs. Prudenti)

Mrs. Prudenti discussed the policy updates that were listed in the agenda.

Town Council Liaison (Mrs. Renaud)

The Board heard from the mayor that things are shut down and he is taking guidance from the governor and different legislative bodies. He will reach out / inform the Board of any future decisions.

Rutherfurd Hall Liaison (Mrs. Renaud)

Mrs. Renaud did not go to the Friends of Rutherfurd Hall meeting. The Rutherfurd Hall Foundation held a meeting prior to the Board meeting and they are continuing with the capital campaign. They are reaching out to all of the donors to ensure they are still on board. They have asked Superintendent Flynn to send out an email blast to all of the Friends and donors with an update on the bathrooms. The Foundation is concerned about replacing Laurie Rapisardi ASAP. The committee is waiting on the recommendation from the strategic planning committee to determine what direction to go in.

Hackettstown Board of Education Representative (Dr. Gaddy)

The Hackettstown Board of Education had a special meeting on March 9^th to discuss the budget for the 2020-2021 school year. There were RIF (Reduction in Force) positions they would like to bring back as well was organic positions they wish to reinstitute. Some of their needs include textbooks and supplies. They will be doing a referendum for a new roof. Other new costs include a turf field and track replacement.  They have received a state funding increase of $1m that will be used to fund the RIF positions.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Superintendent Flynn covered the HIB investigations and enrollment. Then continued to comment on the current situation. 

He commended the community for its patience through this challenging time. Right now the school is closed for two weeks. He is receiving reports daily. He spoke about how the decision to close came about: all of the superintendents met with the county and the government. They felt it was important to follow through to ensure the public was safe. There was criteria that have to be met to be able to deliver remote education. They did not know until 4:30/5:00 on the previous Friday that the school would close. The key word that was repeated numerous times was “flexibility.” He reiterated his appreciation to the students, teachers, parents, and community.

He addressed an incident with a fire alarm in the locker rooms that were being renovated. The fire department came and gave clearance to return into the building within 20 minutes. It was an isolated situation.

Superintendent Flynn reiterated that if there is a question that the parents should connect with the teacher, then the administration, then the superintendent. We are all in this together. He finished by saying he is proud to be a part of the Allamuchy School system.

Finally, he addressed a question asked by a community member that reached out regarding preparations for when school re-opens. He stated that a skeleton crew is cleaning all of the bathrooms and they are investigating the use of a fog machine to help sanitize the entire building three days prior to opening.

PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS ONLY

There was a question from the public, but it was deferred to the next public session as it did not address any agenda items.

BOARD COMMITTEE ACTION REPORTS

Operations (Mr. Britt)

In reference to #12 (Fourth of July), Mr. Green asked if there was a date when they will decide whether or not to have the fireworks. Mr. Britt stated that they will have to see what happens next week and also what the government will do that impacts how long the schools will be closed. Mr. Britt thinks they will be able to make a call in April.

During the vote:

• Mrs. Prudenti voted “yes” to all except a & b. I assume she was talking about items within #3 (Monthly Certification of Budget)
• Mrs. Strutin and Mrs. Renaud voted “no” on 2 (Bill List) and 4 (Monthly Certification of Budget)

Human Resources (Mrs. Renaud)

During the vote, Dr. Cusmano abstained.

Education (Mr. Green)

Superintendent Flynn noted that they were voting on class trips but that was subject to the school resuming external and extracurricular activities.

All voted “yes”

Governance (Mrs. Prudenti)

Again, Dr. Cusmano abstained

One thing to note about the votes that I’ve noticed is that they hardly ever state why they are voting a certain way. I know that in Town Council meetings some of the council people make it a point to say why they are voting against a particular item so that the public knows.

OLD BUSINESS

Nothing to discuss.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Dr. Cusmano had some new business to discuss. Superintendent Flynn asked that he wait until the Board Discussion items.

A parent stated that the parents are doing a great job with the remote learning. She named Mrs. Ricci who set up a Facetime call for her 8^th grade class. The parent wanted to know if they can encourage more of that and noted that a lot of districts are taping lessons for students to watch.  Superintendent Flynn responded that they have encouraged teachers to use a variety of different options. The administrators are reviewing the work and encouraging other avenues and are looking forward to seeing more and more creativity from the teachers.

BOARD DISCUSSION

(This was a long discussion, so I will try to summarize) Mr. Bienko wanted to discuss homeschooling. He complimented the teachers and said they were doing a terrific job. He did question the ending time of 2:00 pm, stating that there could be conflicts due to changing work conditions (e.g., families may be left without work, parents working from home, etc.). He wanted to make a motion to send evaluations to the parents (keep in mind that this was on Wednesday, three days into the remote learning process). The general feeling that I got from the discussion was that most of the Board felt that this was premature. Dr. Cusmano even stated that this borders on micro-management, which is contrary to the role of the Board. Superintendent Flynn reminded everyone that the decision to move to remote learning was not arbitrary. The teachers are the experts. The administrators are getting feedback from the teachers and other administrators throughout the county. Again, a reminder that they are only three days into this. The key takeaway is that this is a unique situation, everyone is in a learning process, and that we all need to be flexible. We need to let it play out through the two weeks. If this goes beyond the original two weeks, then it will be revisited.

Dr. Cusmano commented on the number of committee meetings the Board members were required to attend plus the monthly full Board meeting. He wanted to propose to switch to a committee as a whole, meaning that the whole Board would meet twice a month – once for committee work and once for action. This is similar to what the Town Council does with a Workshop and a Regular (“Action”) meeting. His thought is that it would limit the number of meetings to two, instead of multiple meetings per month. Mr. Green commented that he had no problem with the recommendation and he would recommend that a lot of things do not need to be done face-to-face. Mrs. Strutin reminded them that they would need to have the public present for these workshops since there would be a quorum. Mrs. Renaud and Mrs. Prudenti reminded everyone that they can currently call in to committee meetings. This will be put under Old Business for the next meeting.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

There was no Executive Session

ADJOURNMENT at 7:39 pm

(As of 6/10/2020, 9:00 am)

Things are changing rapidly as business start opening back up. Instead of trying to keep this updated, I point you to the town’s and individual business websites for up-to-date information. Continue to social distance and wear your masks. Stay well, everyone. 

(Information is for Allamuchy business only. For Hackettstown information, please see hackettstownbid.com)

Allamuchy Township: See https://allamuchynj.org

Allamuchy Schools: See https://www.aes.k12.nj.us/

Panther Valley: Call PVPOA office or see pvpoa.org for information.

Warren County: See http://www.co.warren.nj.us/

Restaurants (Takeout / Delivery Only) and Other Food:

Vanilla Market: Closed

Valley Bagel: Open. 908-852-8424. See their Facebook page.

Panther Pub: 908-441-6127. http://www.panther-pub.com

Allamuchy General Store: 908-852-7004. http://www.generalstorecafenj.com

Mattar’s Bistro and Lounge: 908-852-2300. http://www.mattarsbistro.com

Tranquillity Farms: 908-979-0303. http://www.tranquillityfarms.com

Pub 517: 908-850-6140

Growing Dirt: Pickup or delivery only. https://squareup.com/…/Growing…/item/drop-off-location-1.

Other Businesses / Organizations

Panther Valley Ecumenical Church: see https://www.panthervalleychurch.org

Powerhouse Gym: Closed. They are working on creating virtual classes

I know not all of you are on Facebook where I have been sharing information as I have it. As of this morning, the mayor has declared a State of Emergency. Below is a copy of the proclamation text.

FROM THE MAYOR’S DESK —

Effective immediately, I along with OEM Director David Berkenbush have declared a state of emergency proclamation. See attached. As a result, we are imposing the following restrictions:

• We will be closing all town buildings to the public. Phone, on-line or drop-box methods of communication will be used only.
• The courts are closed until at least 3/27/2020.
• All Board and Commission meetings are cancelled until further notice.
• Township regular meeting for March 25th will be held as scheduled as of today.
• All senior events are cancelled until further notice.
• All recreation events are cancelled until further notice.
• All playgrounds and the dog park are to be closed and locked until further notice.
• Hafner Hall will suspend all rentals until further notice.
• Any expenditure for labor, materials, etc in reference to the coronavirus will be forwarded to the EOM who will track for reimbursement purposes.
• The town clerk will enact the reverse 911 call system to alert all residents of the State of Emergency and the services affected.

Additional restrictions will be imposed as the situation warrants.

Rick Lomonaco

Mayor, Allamuchy Twp

Did anyone get the number of the bus that the mayor tried to throw me and Councilwoman Tuohy under? I’ll get to that later in the broadcast. First, we have to get through the other parts of the meeting, so bear with me. And, don’t worry, we will be discussing the coronavirus.

The meeting was called to order at 6:32 by my watch, but 6:30 by the clock that is in the back of the room. It started with the usual Flag Salute and Moment of Silence, where the mayor did a specific shout out to “all of our servicemen who are serving abroad and at home.” Servicemen? Normally, this United States Air Force Veteran Servicewoman would be offended, but I’m not. I think the bigger oversight is not calling out the health care workers and others who are on the front lines dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Councilman Ochwat was absent for the record, but all other members of Council, plus the mayor, were present. There were about nine people in the audience, over half (6) being residents. The others were township employees/professional services contractors.

Before starting the meeting, the Clerk advised all members of council, specifically the mayor and the township engineer, to speak more loudly. Apparently, they were hard to hear on the recording of the last meeting that she had to engage a different transcription company.

Acceptance of Board/Commission Reports: 03/25/2020 meeting

The mayor indicated that the acceptance of the Board and Commission reports, as well as the minutes from the last meeting would be done at the regular meeting.

Engineer’s Report/Action List

Mr. Sterbenz, the township engineer, reviewed the following items from his report:

• Traffic Signal Study for the route 517/Cat Swamp Rd. intersection. The county has his report and will respond.
• Water Storage Tank. They expect to have bid documents ready by 3/24.
• Cat Swamp Road Improvement. They are preparing plans.
• Sparrow Hawk Water Main Replacement. Not a lot of work done on this.
• DPW Roof Assessment.
• 2020 Road Resurfacing Project
• PVPOA Cash Bond.

This part went pretty quickly. There was then a long discussion about some issues on Bountiful Drive. The discussion focused around three items: drainage issues, a backhoe parked in a right of way, and a tree that had been knocked around by a township employee cleaning out the drains that was now within an inch of the power lines. Two of the residents in the audience were there specifically for this issue, and one was requested to provide some additional background following a summary by Councilman Cote. I won’t go into all of the details, but the drains have been cleaned out and Mr. Sterbenz will go out within the next couple of days to take a look at the situation with the drainage and tree. One of the issues with this particular area of town is its “forested and hilly nature” that requires more maintenance than other parts of town.

Attorney’s Report

The attorney has been in contact with Altice regarding the cable TV franchise agreement. It sounds like they are close to finalizing. Altice has agreed to provide 200 mbps service at water and sewer and the fire house free of charge. They will look to move a modem in the municipal building to try to improve service in the council chamber (honestly, I never had an issue with it). The clerk questioned what will happen if technology improves to where they would need greater than the 200 mbps within the next 10 years (sounds like this was an issue when new cameras were installed). Short answer: they would have to pay more. Councilman Quinoa asked if PVPOA was involved in the discussions. Councilwoman Tuohy said she would ask PVPOA’s General Manager to reach out.

The next discussion was around a grant from the Volunteer Fire Association. This grant has been used for things such as standardizing the nozzles across all of the equipment. The primary focus of the discussion seemed to be around how the money is disbursed from the grant, as the process for this particular grant had changed from last year.

New Jersey State Police Liaison

The NJSP trooper liaison was present at the meeting. He updated the Council on the two car thefts that had recently occurred in Panther Valley. Both vehicles were recovered. He said it was rare to recover cars, but the detectives were able to recover both. Both vehicles were unlocked with the keys in them. He advised residents to use “common sense” – lock your cars, put them in the garage, and don’t leave anything such as your wallet in them, as that can lead to identity theft. Councilwoman Tuohy thanked him for the increased patrols within Panther Valley. Mayor Lomonaco also thanked the NJSP for their assistance in helping with the response to the recent barn fire on Long Bridge Road.

Mayor’s Report

The mayor made a couple of appointments. First, he appointed Rich Evans as the Warren County Department of Land Preservation Representative. He also formally appointed the prosecutor, who had been serving on a temporary basis since November 2019.

The mayor read a letter from Dan Theide, the Water & Sewer supervisor regarding a Letter of Non-Compliance from the state for not uploading sampling results to the website on time. We are now back in compliance.

The Fire Safety Committee will be having its first meeting. The members of the committee are Dan Thiede (Water & Sewer), Kevin Murray (DPW Supervisor), Anne Marie Tracy (Township Clerk), and Dave Birkenbush (Fire Chief and head of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM)).

The low-hanging wires impeding the “Welcome to Allamuchy” sign coming off of eastbound Route 80 are being addressed by Verizon.

The mayor received a letter from an organization in Burlington County asking municipalities to create a resolution declaring September as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

The GPSs have been installed in the town’s Water & Sewer and DPW vehicles.

The mayor addressed the coronavirus, indicating that he had received a letter from the county that had been forwarded from the OEM. He said the information will be up on the new website once it is up and running. The general guidance included that if you have it, self-quarantine and that there was no recommendation to cancel large events [Note: I’m assuming that guidance has changed in the few days since this meeting].

The mayor appointed Beverly Meyer as a Recreation Commissioner based on the Recreation Commission’s recommendation. She has worked to get pickleball up and running and will be primarily responsible for adult sports and recreation.

The mayor made another appointment, appointing Rich Sharrett (co-president of the PTO) as a Class IV representative on the Land Use Board [Note: there are currently three alternate positions open if anyone is interested in applying]

Council Member Reports:

Councilman Cote

There were two issues coming out of the Water & Sewer Advisory meeting:

• Some residences have two water meters – one for the house and one for the irrigation system. They are currently on different billing cycles (quarterly vs. semi-annually), which causes discrepancies in some of the reconciliation reports. Water & Sewer would like to bring them both on the same cycle, which would require some adjustments to the calculation of certain fees to ensure they are not double-billed.
• Water & Sewer needs a new truck. Dan Thiede has gotten pricing for the truck, but the proposal would need to be presented to Town Council. Originally, the mayor had indicated that Dan could present this at the May workshop as the Fire Department was already scheduled to present its request for new fire trucks at the April workshop. The only issue is that the pricing that Dan has is only good until May 1^st. It was decided that the Water & Sewer and the Fire Department would present their truck requests at the April meeting.  As an aside, when the mayor was asked what kind of trucks the fire department would be requesting, he said he didn’t know. I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to believe that the fire department did not consult a former fire chief on his thoughts regarding new equipment.

Councilman Cote also discussed some of the committees that were discussed in previous meetings:

• The attorney has prepared the ordinances for the Personnel and Safety Committees. The mayor assigned Councilman Cote and Councilwoman Tuohy (ad hoc Ordinance Committee?) to review them in preparation for first reading.
• The other three committees that are mentioned in the ordinances but were not appointed (Municipal Alliance, Vision, and Technical Coordinating Committees) have not yet been reviewed by the mayor, who said he would provide feedback by the next workshop.

Councilwoman Tuohy

Councilwoman Tuohy met with Kevin Murray (DPW) and Superintendent Flynn to discuss the proposal for shared services with the school for grounds maintenance and snow removal. The Board of Education is reviewing and an answer is expected by the end of the month. Councilwoman Tuohy also mentioned that Kevin is discussing shared services with Oxford for use of equipment. The mayor added that Kevin is also speaking with PVPOA for equipment shared services.

Councilwoman Tuohy mentioned that, separate from her Council position, she will help running the 4th of July fireworks event at Rutherfurd Hall.

Councilwoman Tuohy has continued discussions about shared services for the court with a couple of towns as well as Judge Mellinger.

Councilwoman Tuohy also provided an update on the coronavirus preparations and communications. She provided more detail on the letter received from Dave Birkenbush, our OEM director, that the mayor had referenced earlier. While OEM is part of the town, it is governed by the county. The information extracted from the letter by Councilwoman Tuohy included:

• Emergency communications will come through Reverse 9-1-1, the town website, and the Warren County Health Department [Note: as of this writing, the Allamuchy OEM now has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=allamuchy%20township%20office%20of%20emergency%20management&epa=SEARCH_BOX)
• N95 masks, extra wipes, and gloves have been provided to our first responders
• They are closely monitoring information provided by the County and State Health Departments
• They are also working with the Board of Education

There was a question to Anne Marie Tracy, the town clerk, about the status of the website. She said that the templates were ready but she is having issues doing uploads of the minutes and agendas. All of the content has been transferred over from the old website and she has discussed adding the module for recreation.

At this point there was a long discussion about the website. I am going to leave that for the end, as some background is needed to fully understand the discussion.

Councilman Quinoa

Councilman Quinoa provided an update on recreation:

• Pizza party is scheduled for March 26^th [Note: this may change due to the current situation]
• The 5^th/6^th boys won their championship game
• The two Allamuchy 3^rd/4^th boys’ teams played each other for the championship. Councilman Quinoa thanked the Council members (Mayor Lomonaco and Councilwoman Tuohy) and Recreation Commissioners (myself and Lisa Lomonaco) for attending the game.
• Softball registration is done. We added one Ponytail and one Senior team from last year, for a total of five teams
• An Allamuchy resident and former Allamuchy Recreation basketball player, Bre Cavanaugh of Fordham University, was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. There are plans to honor her at a future Town Council meeting [Note: This was originally scheduled for March 25^th, but is likely to be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 situation]
• Hackettstown High School Boys Basketball won the State Sectional. There were four Allamuchy players on the team, three of which were starters. All had started with the Allamuchy Recreation program.
• The Commission was supposed to review the new by-laws to be presented to Council, but that was not done at the last meeting due to Councilman Quinoa being at the aforementioned basketball game. This should be presented at the next workshop. [Note: assuming the schedule holds due to the current health emergency]

MUNICIPAL CLERK’S REPORT

There was an application for a Bingo/50-50 event for the Specialized Hospital for Children to be held at Hafner Hall. [Note: Another event that may not happen]. The organization wanted it to be a BYOB, but our firehouse is the only firehouse I’ve ever been to that does not allow liquor on premises. From what I gather, the Bingo license needs to have a licensed non-profit as a sponsor. In this case, the Fire Department would be putting up its state raffle license and, I would assume, does not want to risk losing the license if there is an alcohol-related incident. I’m just curious how other fire departments manage to have multiple events, with alcohol, assuming the same risk. Regardless, the Council approved the raffle application.

PUBLIC SESSION

Charlie Fineran, the Chair of the Environmental Commission notified the Council that the town has qualified for a bench through the NexTrex Challenge. [Thank you all for rising up to the challenge. We hit the 500-pound goal two months ahead of schedule. I, for one, am happy that I won’t have to walk around bags of plastic in my garage anymore – Hi, Claire 😊 ) .

Charlie also gave the Council a head’s up that they should be receiving a number of requests for resolutions in an effort to get points for Sustainable Jersey® certification. He gave a shout-out to Claire Arcaro for leading the team through the hoops of the process.

I did have a question regarding how the residents were going to be notified during this current health emergency, but that was covered in the council member’s reports as well as during the discussion of the website (I know, I’m such a tease….we’re almost there).

OLD BUSINESS

The Council discussed the following Old Business:

• Land Lease Agreement – school bus parking lot: The agreement is ready to be sent to the school. The attorney will draft a cover letter and send it to Superintendent Flynn and Lisa Strutin, Board of Education President
• HR/Deputy Clerk: Waiting on the salary ordinance
• COAH Lease Agreements: No update

ADJOURNMENT

There was no Executive Session, so they adjourned at 8:50 pm.

WEBSITE DISCUSSION

Before I get into the details of what was discussed during this meeting, I need to fill you in on some background.

Most of you know that in 2018 I ran for mayor against the person who is currently occupying that position. Obviously, I didn’t win or I would be the one sitting there. Some have told me that I may have won if not for that pesky “D” next to my name – but that’s a discussion for another blog post.

After the election, Mr. Lomonaco asked me if I wanted to help him work on communications, specifically the website, since that was something we had both campaigned on. I agreed and was appointed to the Communications Committee, along with himself and Councilwoman Tuohy. One of the first things we did was identify and evaluate vendors for a new township website because, let’s face it, the current website is sorely out of date (and it still is). The three of us met with three vendors, agreeing on who to recommend and I created and presented a presentation to Town Council on the selection.

Once the contract was signed, we started receiving communication from the vendor. We needed to have discussions around content, site maps, design, etc. While the mayor preferred to communicate via email, some of the decisions and discussions, particularly around the design and the look and feel, were better done in person. However, when Councilwoman Tuohy and I would request to meet with the mayor, he declined. Councilwoman Tuohy, Anne Marie Tracy (township clerk), and I met a few times over the course of a couple of months with no input of involvement from the mayor. At one point, approval was needed regarding the content transfer – approval that neither I, as a volunteer, nor Councilwoman Tuohy, could give. Yet, without digging back through my emails, as I recall it took over a month for that approval to be given.

Councilwoman Tuohy and I proceeded to work with the vendor, as time allowed, with no communication from the mayor until he unceremoniously removed the two of us from the committee in December, stating that the design work was done and the work would move to the website administrators. Yet, the vendor was still waiting for approval on the design – again, something that should come from the mayor and certainly could not come from me and something that I made clear in my communications to the vendor.

If you recall from the last workshop meeting, an issue came up that we were having with Recreation signups as our current solution does not allow multiple sports to be active for signups at the same time. There was a discussion about the recreation module that the new vendor provides, but we had not been presented with it so we do not know its functionality.

Fast forward to this meeting. Councilman Quinoa again brought up the issues that we were having with our current solution. When we switched over to spring soccer from softball, my softball registrations were lost. I was able to find them, but that just highlighted the issue. Councilman Quinoa wanted to know where we were with implementation of the website and the recreation module. Again, I was pulled into the discussion so I am primarily going off of memory of the exact timeline of the discussion, but you should get the gist without me having to OPRA the audio recording.

Councilman Quinoa asked why the recreation module wasn’t set up yet. Anne Marie said she was having some issues with the website and indicated that she needed my help with it and the recreation module and wanted me to look at it and talk with the vendor. I reminded the group that I was pulled off of the committee.

Regarding the recreation module, I believe Councilman Quinoa was under the impression that the recreation module had been purchased. However, I corrected him that the original plan was to get the other areas set up (e.g., tax payments, water and sewer) before adding the recreation module. The mayor and Councilwoman Tuohy agreed that was their understanding as well [at least we can all agree on that].

Councilman Quinoa wanted to know why I was pulled off of the committee, along with Councilwoman Tuohy, when I had been involved in the process since the beginning and I had the skills that were needed to get this done.  The mayor replied that Councilwoman Tuohy and I had been working on the website and it became “stagnant” (that is a direct quote), so once the design was done he transitioned it over to Anne Marie and another employee [and there goes that bus I asked you to get the number of at the top of the page].  He also reminded everyone that he ran on Communications and wanted to get this website done.

I reminded the Council that Councilwoman Tuohy and I were on the committee, but so was the mayor. For him to say it was “stagnant” was highly offensive.

At some point, I reminded him that he said the website would be used to communicate to the residents the situation with the current health crisis. I asked if the website is not up and running, and the current website is not being updated due to costs, among other things, how does that help the residents?

Numerous times during this conversation, Anne Marie indicated that she wanted my help to work with the vendor, even going so far as to call the vendor. I said that I did not believe that was my responsibility.

So, what next?

I tried to relay the salient parts of the discussion. I’m sure I missed something. But the summary is: I was working on the website, I was removed from the committee for reasons that still aren’t clear to me, they still need my help to get this up and running. I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do I not help with the website on principle, knowing that the mayor certainly does not want me involved for reasons he chooses not to share, or do I suck it up and do what I can to help get this website up and running for the residents of Allamuchy? What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Final thoughts

I’m going to end this post with some food for thought. It seemed to me that the mayor wanted to gloss over his responsibility for the website not being live over a year into his term. All I will say to that is Leadership is a very lonely place. When things go well, it’s the team that made it happen. When things go badly, you alone are responsible for the team’s failure.

My final thought: The mayor made a point to remind everyone that he ran his campaign on communication. I also ran on communication, among other things. So, I ask, which one of us is actually communicating?

I’ve had to go out a couple of times today – to walk the dogs and make a quick run up to one of the local businesses. I saw some others out and about. I saw a pair of walkers pass each other and then stop to talk, with one practicing social distancing by putting up a hand to keep the other at a safe distance. On the other side of the spectrum, I saw a pair of mothers with their young children playing together at the park. I’ve had to refrain from petting the neighbors’ dogs and yes, I have been the person to put up my hands to keep friends at bay when they come in for a hug or a handshake.

Social distancing is what the schools are doing when they close. Social distancing is what the professional sports leagues are doing by suspending operations. Social distancing is what the NCAA is doing when they cancel tournaments and entire seasons. Missing your March Madness? Think about the students whose senior years were cut short and who will probably not get a commencement ceremony because their colleges and universities shut down in the name of social distancing.

Most of us are, by nature, social beings. We enjoy getting together with our friends for lunch at the market, or a drink at the pub, or a pickup game of basketball. But social distancing is not a time for play dates, parties, sleepovers, or other large gatherings.

Is social distancing inconvenient? Of course. But it is truly a matter of life or death. Social distancing can help slow down the spread of COVID-19 and help keep our healthcare systems from getting overwhelmed. Imagine this: two patients have COVID-19 and need to be put on a respirator but there is only one respirator available. The doctors are now forced to make a decision on which patient gets treated and which one does not. Scary, huh? But you don’t have to imagine it because this is exactly what is happening in Italy, who is only about two weeks or so ahead of where we are here in the United States in terms of cases.

Are you young and/or not considered part of the “at-risk” population (i.e., senior citizens, those with underlying health conditions, etc.)? That’s good. But you still need to practice social distancing. You could have COVID-19 and not show any symptoms/show mild symptoms. But then you go and visit your elderly parents or your friend who is going through chemotherapy or has a heart condition and you’ve exposed someone who does not have the capability to fight off the virus as well as you do. On the surface, social distancing seems selfish, but it is really an act of selflessness. Social distancing goes beyond the two people who are interacting at a moment in time and involves those with whom either of you have been in contact with and will come in contact with.

So if you see me and I put my arms up to keep you away, please don’t be offended. It is nothing personal against you, but it is very personal to me.

Stay well, everyone!