CITY OF ESTELL MANOR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

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1 Pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act adequate notice of this meeting was sent to the Official Newspaper and was posted on the City bulletin board and website. Council President Teasenfitz called meeting to order at approximately 7:30 pm. The flag salute and a moment of silence were observed. Roll call: Present: Barbetto, Haeser, Teasenfitz, Wiker and Venezia Solicitor Scerni was also in attendance. PRESENTATION: A presentation was given by Mr. Joe Henry from Hardenburgh Insurance. Mr. Henry spoke to members of Council regarding the importance of safety in regards to the JIF. He supplied handouts and reviewed examples of accidents that could occur on the jobsite. The Mayor questioned the fatalities in the reports handed out. Mr. Henry explained the details of the accidents and ways to avoid any such accidents from occurring in the future. Mayor asked if the JIF does an onsite inspection of the equipment each municipality owns. Mr. Henry responded, affirmative they do and Estell Manors equipment is in good condition. Councilman Haeser questioned the safety training videos and how often they should be viewed and which ones are recommended. The videos will soon be available on line for viewing. ORDINANCE : The Ordinance was offered for second reading and unanimously voted on to open public hearing on ordinance. Creed Pogue stated he wanted to withdraw his rejection to the salary ranges and commented on salary resolution # He suggested amending the salary ordinance instead of adopting a new one each year. He also commented on Mayor and Councils salaries. Motion made by Mayor, seconded by Haeser to close public hearing. All in favor. RESOLUTIONS Resolution in Support of County Efforts To Preserve Blocks 51, Lots 3.01, 3.02 & 4 in Estell Manor 1

2 Motion made by Haeser, seconded by Barbetto to accept Resolution# as listed. Councilman Haeser stated he had contacted the County to inquire about the expansion of the Atlantic County Park referenced in the Resolution and the reason for wanting to acquire the additional property. Roll Call: Barbetto-Yes; Haeser-Yes; Teasenfitz-Yes; Wiker-Yes; Venezia-Recused Himself Motion passed A Resolution Establishing Salaries and Wages for Municipal Employees and Officials for the Year 2011 Motion made by Mayor, seconded by Haeser to accept Resolution# as listed. Discussion ensued between members of Council and the CFO regarding certain salaries listed. Councilman Barbetto stated Council members salaries should be $2,800. Each not $3,500. Councilman Haeser stated each salary amount should be 20% less than listed on resolution. Motion made by Teasenfitz, seconded by Haeser to make amendments to Resolution# as follows; Mayor-$3,600., Council President-$3,200., Members of Council-$2,800. each respectively per year salary. Motion made by Barbetto, seconded by Haeser to accept Resolution# with the necessary amendments, all in favor. Councilwoman Wiker questioned the procedure to appoint Linda Kent formally as the Clerk s Assistant. Solicitor Scerni stated after Resolution# was passes Council could then formally appoint Ms. Kent as the Assistant Clerk. Mayor nominated Linda Kent as the Assistant Clerk. Motion made by Wiker, seconded by Barbetto, all in favor A Resolution Authorizing Approval of a Liquor License Renewal for the Atlantic County Game Preserve/License Year Motion made by Mayor, seconded by Haeser to accept Resolution# , all in favor. 2

3 A Resolution Authorizing Renewal of a Ten Year Forest Management Permit for HBH Associates\ Motion made by Teasenfitz, seconded by Haeser to accept Resolution# , all in favor A Resolution Observing a Moment of Remembrance at 1:00 pm on September 11, 2011 in Honor of the 10 th. Anniversary of the Terrorist Attacks on the United States Motion made by Mayor, seconded by Haeser to accept Resolution# , all in favor The Mayor read aloud Resolution# in full to clarify the importance of observance. A prayer was offered by Minister Tom Novack in honor of Councilman Haeser offered information to the public and Council the events planned by Weymouth Township in observance of Mayor requested Council take a break from the scheduled agenda to acknowledge members of the public present tonight. He introduced Senator VanDrew, Assemblyman Albano and Assemblyman Milan and thanked them for being here tonight and for their support with Estell Manor s small town issues. Senator VanDrew stated he was now part of this District and addressed Council regarding his support with small town issues. He stated small towns such as Estell Manor receive very little state aid and programs such as PILOT and Open Space funding for land preservation has gradually decreased. Assemblymen Albano and Milan also commented on their accessibility to the public through committees they serve on in Trenton and their support of local South Jersey towns and the difficulties they face. Mayor commented on several issues he has concerns with regarding Estell Manor. These include the Pinelands Commission and the red tape involved in reference to the fire company adding on a garage bay, landfill expenses required to complete closure process and pineland funding. The Mayor opened the dais to other members of Council who wished to ask the political figures present any questions. All other members thanked them for being here tonight and for their continued support in Trenton regarding small town policies. 3

4 ENGINEER S REPORT Chuck Fralinger reviewed the engineers report with Council. He stated well quotes were faxed to Marty Klosek, president of WACYL to review. Well size and electric were discussed. Mr. Klosek met with NuRain contractors while they installed the irrigation to discuss location of well to be installed. Councilman Haeser stated the City would stay within the allotted funding amounts for the soccer complex due to WACYL paying for the installation of the fields well. He also stated final well installation still being worked out between Mr. Klosek and NuRain. The tree planting will be completed by the second or third week of September. Fralinger stated he would contact Sansalone Contractors for an update on the completion of soccer field project. Mayor addressed Fifth Avenue and the road problems. He asked Fralinger what suggestions he had to fix this road. Discussion ensued regarding Fifth Avenue and the options for improving the road. A resident spoke out of turn in reference to the poor condition of Fifth Avenue and what the City intends to do about it. Councilman Teasenfitz stated it is an active project and Council has been working on a reasonable solution to improve the condition of this road. He stated he believes this project will be started very soon. Discussion continued as to a plan to move forward with improving Fifth Avenue. Fralinger stated the City needed to choose which roads would be designated for improvements in 2012 to submit to the DOT. Motion made by Made, seconded by Wiker to designate Second Avenue as the primary road and Fifth Avenue as the secondary road for 2012 improvements. All in favor. A member of the public addressed Council with his concerns regarding flooding at the Estell Manor Church cemetery. He stated it is a historic site and is concerned with permanent damage to the cemetery as well as desecration to the graves. Fralinger and the Mayor assured the gentleman that it is a temporary issue and it will be corrected after the field is complete. Councilman Haeser stated he visited the cemetery himself and did not see any standing water after the drainage issues were corrected. 4

5 BILL LIST Mayor questioned the following bill list line items: Verizon, Atlantic City Electric, Mayor s Conference and Sansalone. He suggested holding these items until proper verification from the CFO. Motion made by Wiker, seconded by Barbetto to approve the bill list with the exceptions of the items listed by Mayor pending verification. Bill list total amount to be approved $281, Motion made by Teasenfitz, seconded by Haeser to approve the Trust Fund list total amount $ Roll Call: Barbetto-Yes; Haeser-Yes; Teasenfitz-Yes; Wiker-Yes; Venezia-Yes Motion passed DEPARTMENT REPORTS Motion made by Teasenfitz, seconded by Haeser to accept the Department reports as listed; Clerk s Office-August-2011, Zoning Officer-August and Tax Collector-July&August- 2011, Municipal Court-August-2011 Voice vote, all in favor Councilman Barbetto announced the Pinelands Municipal Council meeting will be hosted by Estell Manor on September 27, 2011 and invited the public and Council to attend. The Mayor asked what preparations were in place to host this meeting. Barbetto stated the hosting municipality supplies the refreshments. NEW BUSINESS Councilman Haeser addressed newsletter submissions from members of Council. He felt there were misconceptions on who is responsible for submitting the information for printing. A discussion ensued. Haeser feels the heading for the City s submissions should be changed to Mayor and Council update as a collaboration. A revision to the content regarding special needs registry discussed. Clerk will check with newsletter committee for final draft. Motion made by Wiker, seconded by Mayor to change the City s newsletter submissions heading to Mayor and Council Update. All in favor. Councilman Teasenfitz addressed Council regarding a military vehicle which made be made available to the City as an emergency vehicle. The City of Sea Isle has recently purchased a 5

6 similar vehicle to be modified to their specific needs. He spoke with a representative from a Philadelphia company about availability of vehicles and modification options. Available capital funds to purchase a truck for public works were discussed. Teasenfitz stated our public works foreman endorsed this truck for snow removal and other uses. Councilman Teasenfitz stated there is an upcoming FEMA meeting and Council needs to designate a representative from the City to attend. Councilman Barbetto stated he would attend if our Emergency Management Coordinator, Jeff Cornew could not. RESOLUTIONS A Resolution Amending the City of Estell Manors Personnel and Procedure Policy Implementing Cell Phone Usage in the Workplace Discussion ensued regarding the restrictive language in the cell phone usage amendment. Solicitor Scerni suggested Council read over the amendment as it is written and if they need more time to digest it and want to make any changes then they should do so and get back to him. Motion made by Wiker, seconded by Barbetto to table Resolution# until the next City Council meeting. All in favor, with the exception of the Mayor who stated No. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Motion made by Teasenfitz, seconded by Wiker to open public portion of meeting. All in favor Mayor stated to the public that if any personal attacks are made on any member of Council during the public portion of meeting they would lose their opportunity to speak. Sue Jones addressed the cell phone resolution and the Estell Manor cemetery. She stated she had family members buried in the Estell Manor cemetery and is very upset about the erosion and flooding that has occurred since the construction on the soccer field has started. Mr. Jones stated he was a boy scout leader from Weymouth Township and he also had concerns regarding the rainfall and flooding caused to the cemetery since the soccer field construction. The Mayor stated the problems were being addressed as best as possible. Councilman Haeser stated the black fabric at the bottom of the culvert which collects rainfall is not working properly but will be once the soccer field is complete. 6

7 Councilwoman Wiker stated she wants the City to be responsible to monitor any further problems with the drainage. Ted Pogue commented on the pending litigation between the Historical Society and the City and the financial hardship it has caused them. He encouraged Council to work it out amongst them to avoid additional expenses to the Historical Society. Creed Pogue addressed Mr. Scerni in regards to the Planning Board meeting and the application for a certificate of appropriateness. He also commented on the cell phone resolution and the amounts of previous EPL lawsuits. Diane Pogue addressed the parking lot lights at the Risley School. She wanted to know if the automated time for them to go on needed to be adjusted to reflect daylight savings time. Motion made by Mayor, seconded by Teasenfitz to close the public portion of meeting. All in favor Motion made by mayor, seconded by Teasenfitz, to enter into closed/executive session, Resolution# All in favor Proper motions were made and executed to close executive session of meeting, all in favor Proper motions were made and executed to open public portion of meeting, all in favor Mr. Scerni summarized for the public discussions which took place in closed/executive session. A potential land sale was discussed in reference to City owned land identified as block 15, lot 20, 21 & 22. A letter of negotiation will be sent to the prospective interested buyer and further information will be available to the public at the next regular City Council meeting. Council also discussed a previously pending litigation between Susan L. Pettit and the City of Estell Manor. The Mayor and the City of Estell Manor were named in the lawsuit. All charges were dismissed by the district court judge. Motion made by Mayor, seconded by Teasenfitz to adjourn meeting at approximately 11:25 pm. Respectfully submitted, Accepted, Fern A. Brown, Acting City Clerk Mayor Joseph Venezia 7

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