Mount Olive Township Council Minutes
June 27, 2000

COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 27, 2000

The Regular meeting of the Mount Olive Township Council was called to Order at 7:30 pm by Council President Sohl.

According to the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate Notice of this meeting has been given to the Mount Olive Chronicle and the Morristown Daily Record. Notice has been posted at the entrance of the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mt. Olive, New Jersey, and notices were sent to those requesting the same.

ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Heymann, Mr. Guenther, Mr. Scapicchio, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Spino, Mr. Rattner, President Sohl

President Sohl: I would also like to acknowledge the attendance of the Mayor, Paul Licitra; the Business Administrator, Sandy Kaplan, the Township Attorney, Bob Fisher, Township Clerk, Lisa Lashway; the CFO, Sherry Jenkins, and Township Auditor Gary Higgins.

President Sohl: Our first Presentation this evening–I hope many of you had the opportunity this year to participate in our Memorial Day Parade, and especially if you were at the Monument in front of the Old Town Hall afterwards, and the ceremony that went along with it. One individual stands out head-and-shoulders above everybody that was involved–and that’s not to say that the other people that were involved didn’t put work and effort into it. But, what one individual did, which, certainly for me and, I think, everyone else sitting here on the Council, for sure, and many of you out there, was to identify and put more than just names, but personalities, and lives and a history behind the ten individuals that are named on the Monument, which is in honor of those people who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our Country. So I’d like to call Thea Dunkle up while I read this plaque–Thea has been involved, and did the work and research on that for something like 18 months. My wife and I joined you at least one time down at the Morristown Public Library. It’s been a Labor of Love, I guess, is the best way to call it. The plaque is presented to Thea Dunkle by the Mayor and Council of Mt. Olive Township In Recognition and Thanks For Your Outstanding Research and Contribution to the Rededication of the Mt. Olive War Memorial, and the Men who are Honored there. Presented June 27, 2000. On behalf of all of us, thank you very much.

Mayor Licitra: It’s amazing how fast 18 months go. I can remember when we first started this. As a Veteran, we kind of want to forget the War, but we kind of want to remember the people that served and especially the people that died. Thea did a great job. I’ll tell you, it’s just the spirit again that’s rising in Mt. Olive that I’ve seen in the last six months. It’s just another vision of someone that wants to help the Community–between our young people, and our elected officials and the Committees were formed, and the people in Town. Thea was just wonderful in this. She was tenacious. We are proud of you in Mt. Olive, Thea. It’s the new spirit in Mt. Olive, and thank you for adding to it.

Mrs. Thea Dunkle: Thank you. I had the support from the Mayor getting the new flag pole, and the Town Council, and little by little, it just snowballed, and people started donating money for flowers and asking what they could do. When you have people behind you, it makes a difficult job that much easier, and it made me feel good that people were interested. So, when you drive by the Old Municipal Building, just take a look. There are a lot of improvements, we had a nice dedication, and I formed some really lasting friendships with the family members who gave me original documents. So, the holdings will be in the Library, and I have copies of the book if anybody would like to have them. Thank you.

President Sohl: Thanks, again, Thea. And as you walk down the hall, you’ll see a lot of the documents on display that Thea collected.

PRESENTATION: Cast & Crew of Mt. Olive High School Production - SOUTH PACIFIC

President Sohl: The next item on the Agenda is a Presentation–we often present recognition to the teams–our High School Sports, and Recreational Teams that have made a mark for themselves in various competitions. But there is more than just athletics going on in Mt. Olive Township. There are other efforts that take students an incredible amount of time, effort, and happily we see the success of that. So, tonight, we are going to recognize the students that were involved in the putting on the Play at the High School this year–which happened to be–and I think it was coincident that it was “South Pacific” which in and of itself is a story about World War II, involves a lot of the things that lead to why people whose names are on the Monument, in fact, gave their lives. So, I would like to ask the Clerk help me present these plaques this evening. The reason I invite Lisa (Lashway) to help with the presentation is because happily we both have daughters that participated in the play. She will call the names, and I will present the certificates.

Mrs. Lashway: The first plaque is presented to Ms. Erin Milik, The Produce/Director. Ms. Laura Anderson, The Choral Director, Mr. Pete Morgan, The Art Director and Set Design. Mr. Mike Schlick, The Assistant Director; And the Cast and the Crew: Eric Acosta, Meredith Ahlberg, Jennifer Antonucci, Rainier Atienza, Laura Barbato, Matthew Barker, Denise Bellows, Natalie Bilella, Adam Burke, Rebecca Capone, Mark Cavanaugh, Steven Cavanaugh, Michelle Celini, Thu Chim, Clifton Church, Robert Colon, Laura Coppola, Sarah Delpizzo, Amy Denholtz, Joseph Duggan, Sarah Duggan, Brian Fleming, Thomas Fuhrmann, Smita Gaith, Jason Godding, Karen Goldman, Krystle Graser, Ariel Hahn, Justin Hannon, Jessica Harrison, Michael Hegarty, Chealsey Holland, Meghan Hynson, Tara Johannessen, Erin Lampinen, Christopher LaRose, Amber Lashway, Heather Lata, Krystal Latella, Rachel Lichter, Danielle Lipari, Paul Luce, Timothy Madsen, Alexis Mann, Nicholas Maselli, Mitchell McEwan, Catherine McNulty, Christine Mihalik, Carolyn Monette, Shannon Morris, Christine Murray, Philip Mutz, Melissa Oliver, Courtney Palmer, Craig Pellet, Steven Peterson, Stacey Philpot, Tiffany Plante, Matthew Pomel, David Porter, Rachel Rosenblatt, Jessica Roth, William Sandoval, Laura Sawicki, Emily Schweighardt, Jeannine Sheppard, Justin Silva, Lindsey Skouras, Caitlin Sohl, Kalinda Solomon, Daniel Wallwork, Nicholas Wallwork, Christina Wright, James Yauch, Sarah Milik, and Alex Wallwork.

Mr. Schlik, Assistant Director: Thank you very much. I would like to congratulate everyone on their Awards tonight. And would like to tell you what a fabulous job I had Assistant Directing all of you. It was an absolute pleasure to come to rehearsal every day and come back and see all of you guys. I’m just glad on the nights of the shows you got to see some of the brilliance I got to see every day at rehearsal. They did such a good job on all of the shows and working with them has been such a thrill that I’m coming back this summer and I’m producing shows of my own at the High School and I’m using students from the Highs School now, and I’m using graduates and alumni. We’re all coming together to put together shows over the summer in order to help the drama club program and to help the Community. The first show that we’re doing is, “The Importance of Being Ernest” it’s a Oscar Wilde play, it’s a very funny comedy. The shows are going to be July 13th, 14th and 15th at the High School. The weekend after that, Friday the 21st, we’re doing a night of One Acts, and Scenes that are both directed and acted by the students in the High School and alumni in order to give the students more opportunities to be in shows, and direct shows and get more experience and more involved in theater. And I hope you all come out and support us in all of our shows this summer. Thank you.

President Sohl: Again, on behalf of the Mayor and Council and certainly the people of Mt. Olive, you all did a great job, and a lot of dedication in terms of the people that were involved behind the scenes as well as up front. We’ll take a five minute recess. Reconvened 8:00pm.

COUNCIL REPORT: Mt. Olive Child Care & Learning Center - B. Guenther & G. Reuther

Mr. Spino: I would like to move Resolution #20 out of position–that’s the Resolution regarding the bus for the day care center. I think it would be appropriate.

President Sohl: Okay, does anybody have a problem with that?

Mr. Scapicchio: Why don’t we wait until after the Presentation?

Mr. Spino: I think we should move it first, and then they can take as much time as they’d like.

President Sohl: That’s fine.

20. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mount Olive Child Care & Learning Center. (Leasing of Van)

Mr. Spino moved for approval of the Resolution and Mr. Heymann seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed by the majority, Exception: Mr. Rattner ABSTAINED

President Sohl: Bernie, do you want to do the honors?

Mr. Guenther: I just want to present to you the key to the new bus. I want to emphasize this is another example of a nice relationship we have with organizations in Town we’re able to take advantage of the old bus they have for the Senior Citizens. So everybody wins in this situation.

Mrs. Reuther: Thank you very much. We really appreciate it. We’ll be very happy to drive the old bus to Town Hall, probably tomorrow. Tonight when we were watching the High School Students receive their Awards, there were many of those students who we were able to take care of through our pre-school program and/or our After-school Program. It was very gratifying to see they’ve grown up–there were at least a dozen of them, and they’re all taller than I am–which isn’t too hard these days. But we’ve been able to provide with our old bus 12 years of service to the families in the Community, and we’re looking forward to 12+ years with the new bus. Thank you again.

Mrs. Melveger: I simply want to second what Gail just said. Thank you for the cooperation, the responsiveness that you have provided us over the years. All of the cooperation is well appreciated. You know that every dollar you give us is extremely well-spent and stretched as far as it can. And, the bus will certainly be used as much as possible as well. We can only say thank you again, and come visit us. And I hope the little ones we are now serving will be up here in ten - twelve years accepting new awards. It’s really very gratifying, and I think at that point they’ll probably be wheeling me in. But it’s a pleasure to see them as they grow and mature. So, thanks again.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS - Report of Audit - G. Higgins, RMA

President Sohl: Next on our Agenda is the Report of the Audit. I now turn the floor over to our Auditor, Gary Higgins.

Mr. Higgins: Thank you. Good evening everyone. Everyone has received the Township’s Annual Audit for December 31, 1999, I’m sure. It’s 161 pages of powerful, exciting reading, which I’m sure you’ve all digested already. Rather than go into an extreme evening on all those pages, I’ll just give you a couple of highlights, and if there are any questions, I’d be more than happy to entertain them The Township received an unqualified Audit opinion with respect to the basis of Accounting you report on, which is other comprehensive basis that’s required by the Division of Local Government Services, who’s the oversight Agency for your municipality and the rest of the State. The way we ended up at Year-end, we have two new utilities, basically fairly recent. It’s the second year of the Water & Sewer Utilities. For 1999, they all ended up with surpluses, and are considered self-liquidating, meaning that they’re self-supportive with respect to the Revenues at least equaling or exceeding the appropriations in those particular areas. The General Fund Surplus ended well over $2 million, which gave you a substantial portion to appropriate back into the Year 2000. A couple other key things that resulted as a result of the establishment of the utilities. The Township’s debt percentage which had exceeded in 1997, the Statutory limitation of 3.5% has now been brought down to 1.37%. It’s almost down 2/3. The key note here is now–the Municipality is operating within well below state limits which is a good indication in many areas–when with respect to the rating agencies, the second with respect to the Local Finance Board. As you’re aware, prior to ‘98, you had to go visit the Local Finance Board if you wanted to buy a truck. They had to okay it. We don’t have that strangle-hold on the Township any more and it’s really a credit to the Governing Body and I think pretty much everyone up here on going forth with the suggestion we made in ‘98 to establish the two Utility Funds and really put the house of cards in order with respect to the financial operations in those areas. Finally, there were certain recommendations in the Audit. Nothing that prohibited us from issuing unqualified opinion, of course. I’m not saying that they’re not serious, but they were nothing of an extreme nature. I’ve reviewed the corrective action plan prepared by your CFO, and it appears that more than a majority of the recommendations have been cleared up already, and the balance, a few of them we have to wait until year-end to see if corrective action was taken because there are specific items on the balance sheet date that occur, such as whether inter-funds are cleared at year-end. But it looks like you’re well on the way with your new CFO on the cleaning up the recommendations from 1999, and we look good going to the year 2000. And that’s all I have to say. If anyone has any questions, I’d be more than happy to entertain them.

President Sohl: Thank you, Gary.

LEGAL REPORTS: NONE

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS:

January 3, 2000, Reorg. Present: Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Spino, Mr. Rattner, Mr. Heymann, Mr. Scapicchio, Mr. Sohl.

June 13, 2000 CS (Present: Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Spino, Mr. Rattner, Mr. Heymann (left at 10:20 pm), Mr. Scapicchio, Mr. Guenther Absent: None)

June 13, 2000 (Present: Mr. Heymann (8:10), Mr. Guenther, Mr. Scapicchio, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Spino, Mr. Rattner, President Sohl; Absent: None)

Mrs. Kelly moved for approval of the Minutes and Mr. Rattner seconded the Motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed by the Majority, Exception: Mr. Guenther ABSTAINED on 1/3/00 Reorg.

CORRESPONDENCE

Letters From Residents

School Correspondence

Resolutions, Ordinances, Correspondence from other Towns

1. Resolution received June 15, 2000 from the Borough of Netcong RE: Petitioning Governor Whitman to Release $7 Million in available State Funding for the Reinstatement of the Recycling Grant Program and calling upon the State Legislature to develop a long term and permanent source of funding to support this program.

2. Ordinance received June 19, 2000 from the Township of Roxbury RE: An Ordinance to Amend Chapter XIII, Land Use Section 13-7.5 Zoning Map, of the Revised General Ordinances of the Township of Roxbury, County of Morris, State of New Jersey.

3. Letter received June 19, 2000, from Allamuchy Township, RE: July 30, 2000 Concert - Bob Dylan and Phil Lesh.

4. Resolution received June 22, 2000 from the Township of Long Hill in support of Assembly Bill ACS-1848-one year moratorium on complying with WHS Realty Decision - Trash Collection Services to Apartment Complexes.

League of Municipalities

5. Letter received June 12, 2000 from Morris County League of Municipalities RE:Highlands Coalition, meeting June 21, 2000.

DOT/DEP/Permits/LOIs

6. Letter received June 12, 2000 from the DEP, Bureau of Underground Storage Tanks, RE: Closure, UST #0124418, Callaremi Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac & G.M. Inc.

7. Letter received June 15, 2000 from the DEP RE: Permit for the construction and operation of a sanitary sewer system, an on-site wastewater treatment plant, and subsurface disposal facilities, and change in the name of the project from Rickland Village to Wyndham Pointe.

8. Permit received June 15, 2000, from the DEP, Water Supply Administration, Bureau of Safe Drinking Water water main extension from Bartley Flanders Road. (DPC Cirrus, Inc. ) for the distribution of water for potable purposes.

9. Letter received June 16, 2000, from the DEP Bureau of Underground Storage Tank RE: Oakwood Village Apartments, Well Permit #25-55969.

10. LOI received June 16, 2000, from DEP, Land Use Regulation Program, The Opper Group, Block 4501, Lot 1.(Route 206, adjacent to Mooney Road.)

11. Letter received June 21, 2000, from the DEP Land Use Regulation Program RE: Transition Area Waiver - Averaging Plan Approval Block 4600 Lots 6 & 10. (Dara Estates)

12. Letter received June 21, 2000 from the DEP, Bureau of Underground Storage Tanks, RE: Remedial Investigation Workplan dated 5/12/00, Former Shell Service Station, 118 Rt. 46 & Woodland Avenue. UST #0047018.

13. Letter received June 21, 2000 from DEP, Land Use Regulation Program. RE: Transition Area Waiver-Averaging Plan Approval, Dry Creek Builders, Block 6600 44, Lot 8. (Rt. 206 & Bartley Road)

14. LOI received June 21, 2000 from DEP, Land Use Regulation Program, The Opper Group, Block 4501, Lot 1. (Route 206, adjacent to Mooney Road.)

15. Permit received June 22, 2000 from DEP, Municipal Finance and Construction Element, Division of Water Quality, for Hackettstown MUA, Granting permission to construct and operate sanitary sewer extension to serve single family dwellings known as “Oak Hill/Section II.”

16. LOI received June 22, 2000 from DEP, Land Use Regulation Program Block 7702, Lots 16, 26, 28, & 32.

Correspondence from Organizations/Committees/Boards

Correspondence Regarding Tort Claims/Verified Notice of Lien Claim/Petitions

Land Use/Development Matters

17. Letter received June 12, 2000, from Morris, Hantman & Plastoris, RE: Designs Builders, Inc. - Woodbine and Clinton Avenue Properties.

COAH

Correspondence from Cable Networks/Utilities

18. Fax received June 9, 2000, from NJ Energy Choice, RE: Internet sign-ups, Pilot Program beginning Fall, 2000.

19. Letter received June 16, 2000, from NJ Natural Gas, invitation to reception for County and Municipal Public Officials of Morris County, Wednesday, July 19, 2000, 6:00pm - 8:00pm at the Parsippany Hilton.

Correspondence from Legislative Representatives

20. Letter received June 22, 2000, from Assemblyman Peter J. Biondi in response to two Mt. Olive Township Resolutions RE: Assembly Bill2086 and Assembly Bill 129.

Notices

21. Notice received June 1, 2000, from NJ DEP, Application No. 5333 to divert water from 4 new wells, 12 existing wells and one spring in the Township of Washington, Morris County.

22. Notice received June 2, 2000 from K. Hovnanian North Central Acquisitions, LLC, has applied to the Planning Board of Hackettstown, requesting a minor subdivision of Block 119, Lot 82. (Seber Road, Hackettstown)

President Sohl stated that we had received 22 items of correspondence and asked Council if there were any comments on same.

Mrs. Kelly: On #3, Have they come to Mt. Olive for Traffic Control or any kind of planning with our Police Department? Because quite often when they have a concert, the overflow parking ends up in Mt. Olive, and if they haven’t, I have some concerns about that, just as Allamuchy does. They should be contacting our Police Department?

Mayor Licitra: I haven’t seen anything, but correspondence that has come through from a couple of other Townships. But we’ll check on it.

ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING

Ord. #20-2000 An Ordinance of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Amending and Supplementing An Ordinance Entitled “An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a .02 Cent Per Hundred Dollar Valuation Tax for the Dedicated Purposes of Acquiring Lands for Open Space and Recreational Use” (Ordinance No. 12-98)

President Sohl opened the Public Hearing on Ord. #20-2000

Mr. Robert Greenbaum, 104 Crenshaw Drive: I understand the reason that the Ordinance is being amended. However, I have to tell you, in speaking to a number of people and giving this issue a lot of thought, I like the way that the Ordinance is currently worded, and the use of the funds being restricted to the purchase of Open Space as opposed to the development of recreational uses. If you look at the problems that the Town currently faces, such as over development, such as high tax rate, such as high debt load, the use of the open space money for purchasing additional open space land as opposed to developing land which we already own makes much more sense. Down the road, the only way to solve many of our problems, especially over development is to buy up as much land as we can. As more development occurs in the Town, additional problems are going to arise related to the over-development. The school system is going to get more crowded, the need for additional municipal facilities is going to increase. I know that this probably isn’t the right place to make these comments

Mr. Greenbaum (cont’d): and it’s probably more appropriate at the time that the Referendum is to increase additional taxes was brought up, but I just wanted to make my point of view known. Thank you.

Mr. Bonte: I wasn’t planning on addressing this, but since Mr. Greenbaum has brought it up, I would like to both remind the Council and Mr. Greenbaum that the Faulkner Act is very clear regarding Referendums. A Binding Referendum means that the exact wording of the question must be incorporated into the law of the Township. There can be no changes. In fact, there can’t be any changes when you have a Binding Referendum unless it goes back to the Public. So, what Mr. Greenbaum is essentially suggesting is that this Council would violate not only the desires and wishes of the Mt. Olive voters four or five years ago, but, violate the Faulkner Act. The Faulkner Act is a very important form of legislation, and to violate that would be a violation of the Public Trust. Thank you.

President Sohl closed the Public Hearing on Ord. #20-2000

Mr. Heymann moved for Adoption and Final Passage on Ord. #20-2000 and Mr. Spino seconded the motion.

Mr. Heymann: My Counsel, Mr. Bonte, said everything I could have possibly said.

Mr. Spino: This is to reflect what the Referendum said.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

President Sohl declared Ord. #20-2000 as Passed on Second Reading.

ORDINANCES FOR FIRST READING

Ord. #22-2000 An Ordinance of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing an Emergency Appropriation in Accordance with N.J.S.A. 40A:4-53 for the Engagement of Special Consultants for the Revision of Various Components of the Master Plan of the Township to Conform to the Planning Laws of the State of New Jersey.

Mr. Guenther moved that Ord. #22-2000 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that it be scheduled for Adoption after a Public Hearing on July 25, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Heymann seconded the Motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

Ord. #23-2000 An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive to Amend and Supplement the Mount Olive Township Land Use Ordinance and the Township’s Zoning Map to Effectuate a Rezoning of Certain Lands.

Mr. Scapicchio moved that Ord. #23-2000 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that it be scheduled for Adoption after a Public Hearing on July 25, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Heymann seconded the Motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

Ord. #24-2000 Bond Ordinance Providing for Various Capital Improvements of the Township of Mount Olive, in the County of Morris, New Jersey, Appropriating the Aggregate Amount of $888,500 Therefor and Authorizing the Issuance of $844,075 Bonds or Notes of the Township to Finance Part of the Cost Thereof. (2000 Capital Ordinance)

Mrs. Kelly moved that Ord. #24-2000 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that it be scheduled for Adoption after a Public Hearing on July 25, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Scapicchio seconded the Motion.

Mr. Guenther: Before I vote on this, I just want to make a comment, essentially agreeing with comments made by Mr. Bonte, I believe, at the last meeting. I will reluctantly vote for this, but I would like Administration to really look at this in the future. We need to really look at some of these expenditures as expenditures, and not being capitalized. I understand we are paying for some of the sins of the past, that this used to be more of a common practice, but I think we should wean ourselves from the bottle here and eliminate this–let’s say over a Mr. Guenther (cont’d): period of two years. Maybe next year, these kinds of things that get capitalized should be expended out, and maybe only half, and then maybe in two years we don’t have any of these. For examples, Computers–we know computers are not even five years. So, that’s the only thing I wanted to bring up.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

Ord. #25-2000 An Ordinance of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Establishing Salaries of the Department Heads and for the Employees of the Township Clerk’s Office for the Year 2000.

Mr. Spino moved that Ord. #25-2000 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that it be scheduled for Adoption after a Public Hearing on July 25, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Heymann seconded the Motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

CONSENT RESOLUTIONS AGENDA:

Resolutions on the Consent Agenda List are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the Township Council and will be approved by one motion (one vote). There will be no separate discussion or debate on each of these resolutions except for the possibility of brief clarifying statements which may be offered. If one or more Council member requests, any individual resolution on the Consent Agenda may be removed from the Consent Agenda List and acted on separately.

PUBLIC PORTION ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS

President Sohl: I now open the meeting to the Public. Is there anyone who would like to address the Council on any of the Consent Resolutions?

1. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Complying with the Promulgation of the Local Finance Board of the State of New Jersey with Regard to the 1999 Annual Audit.

2. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Confirming the Appointment of John Marchione as Tax Assessor for a Four Year Term Commencing July 1, 2001, and Concluding June 30, 2005.

3. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Release of Performance Guarantees Posted by Sutton Plaza Shopping Center.

4. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Renewal of an Alcoholic Beverage License for the 2000-2001 Licensing Period RE: 1427-33-005-006 MMJ Corp.

5. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Renewal of an Alcoholic Beverage License for the 2000-2001 Licensing Period RE: 1427-33-021-006 Alpha Centauri

6. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Renewal of an Alcoholic Beverage License for the 2000-2001 Licensing Period RE: 1427-33-017-010 Rocklim, Inc.

7. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Renewal of Alcoholic Beverage Licenses for the 2000-2001 Licensing Period.

8. Resolution Urging the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to Amend the Formula for Providing Credits to Municipalities for On-Site Construction of Affordable Housing Units.

9. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Mayor to Execute a Right-of-Way Use Agreement Between the Township of Mount Olive and Metricom, Inc. (wireless internet)

10. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Retaining RBA in Connection with Sewer Odors.

11. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Accepting the Corrective Action Plan as Prepared by the Chief Financial Officer for the 1999 Municipal Audit.

12. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Requesting Approval from the Director of the Division of Local Government Services for Insertion of a Specific Item of Revenue into the 2000 Municipal Budget ($4,270.25 for the Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund).

13. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Requesting Approval from the Director of the Division of Local Government Services for Insertion of a Specific Item of Revenue into the 2000 Municipal Budget ($8,000 for the Holiday Safety Enforcement Fund).

14. New Jersey Department of Transportation Resolution, Application and Agreement for State Aid to Counties and Municipalities Under the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority Act and Local Bridge Bond Act (Rt. 46 sidewalk grant application)

15. Resolution of the Mayor and Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive RE: Discretionary Local Aid ITC South.

Mr. Rattner moved for approval of the Consent Resolutions and Mr. Scapicchio seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed by the majority Exceptions:

Mr. Scapicchio, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Spino, voted NO on #6.

Mr. Spino voted NO on #9

Mr. Sohl ABSTAINED on #9

RESOLUTIONS - NONCONSENT

16. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive to Foreclose an In Rem Certificate held by the Township of Mount Olive. (Combe Fill North)

Mr. Scapicchio: I would like to have this taken off the Agenda and scheduled for a Closed Session Workshop discussion when Mr. Dorsey is here.

President Sohl: Does anyone have any objection to that? All right, it’s off.

17. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Requesting a Binding Referendum on the General Election Ballot for 2000 Relative to the Township’s Open Space Tax. (3 cents)

Mr. Spino moved for the approval of the Resolution and Mr. Rattner seconded the motion.

President Sohl: Is there anyone from the Public who would like to address this Resolution?

Mr. Greenbaum: I think that the Referendum as drafted would be more appropriately done in two separate Referendums. One related to the purchase of Open Space, one related to the use of funds for recreational purposes. I think that the Township would be in favor of additional taxes related to the purchase of Open Space and opposed to the additional taxes for recreational purposes.

Mr. Bonte: You all know I’m cheaper than Mr. Spino. But, I would like to say that I am in favor of the way the question is presently worded. I don’t think it has been misused over the last five years. I think the Council needs to have the discretion to determine whether or not the funds that it raises are used to either purchase open space or to do some development of that open space. Some of the Open Space in Town obviously should be left forever, but some of it would be more beneficial to our citizens if it had some form of recreational development on it, and each one of those specific issues, for example, the lights in Flanders Crossing can be addressed at that time by the Public. But I think the way the wording is now, is good.

Mr. Spino: The last time around, I was the one, I believe, suggested we put a dual purpose in there–both to buy property and develop it. I think it’s appropriate to do here. If we separate it out, we make a mistake because then we’re locked in to spending “x” percentage of that money unless we go back to another Referendum. If we build all the recreation property we need, we’ll still be collecting that tax. That means we’d have to go back to the Public and say, “Now we have enough.” This gives the Council and the Open Space Committee, which makes recommendations to us about purchases of property to use those funds–and it hasn’t been misused, and I don’t think it will be misused, because the greatest percentage of that money is used to buy property. So that’s not going to change, I don’t believe. And I hope it doesn’t because that’s what I’m in favor of. Number One, buying the property, and Number Two, once we buy it, we have to develop some of it.

ROLL CALL: Passed unanimously

18. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Resolution of the Claims of Aponte Construction Co., Inc. (Budd Lake Sewer Project Contractor Payment)

Mr. Rattner moved for the approval of the Resolution and Mr. Heymann seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed by the majority; Exception: Mr. Spino voted NO

19. Resolution of the Township of Mount Olive Making Application to the Local Finance Board Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:2-11(c). ($3 million ITC/DOT grant application)

Mr. Heymann moved for the approval of the Resolution and Mr. Spino seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed unanimously

MOTIONS

1. Bill List. - ATTACHMENT A

Mr. Heymann moved for approval of the Bills and Mr. Scapicchio Seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed unanimously

2. Approval of Raffle Application #946 for the Budd Lake First Aid & Rescue Squad.

Mr. Spino Moved for approval of the Motion and Mr. Heymann seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed unanimously

COUNCIL REPORTS

Library Board Liaison Report

Mr. Sohl: At our June meeting, we discussed the planned Library. They are still moving forward with the planning phases and architect.

Recreation Report:

Mr. Heymann: With Mr. Kaplan now beginning his career with us as the new Business Administrator, I would like him to look into the fact that this Municipality needs to hire a Full-time Recreation Director. We need to begin to modernize our efforts to insure that at least our fields are cut without the coaches having to call to have them cut. Now, I’ve been here for 10½ years. I still have to do the same thing I’ve been asking for the last 10½ years. Somehow we have got to get just a little more organized so that we don’t have to go by a field and see that the grass is 16 inches too high and then we have to call or we have to work on the field. I think that we have grown to a point where we need to go out and advertise and look to find and hire a full-time Recreation Director. Because not only aren’t we managing property that we have, but we’re not going to be able to manage what we’re going to have in the future. And I’d even like to look into somehow getting some agreement with a Shared Services Agreement with the Schools, because their facilities are going down hill rapidly because they don’t know how to take care of them. So, somehow we need to coordinate, since we use those facilities, a means of being able to keep our facilities playable and usable in the season we’re in. We say this all the time, we’re spending lots of money on fields like Flanders Crossing and soon-to-be Turkeybrook. As I said to Don Rutledge at the 8th Grade Commencement Ceremony the other day, “I can hardly wait until the new Middle School is done and you build a beautiful baseball field back there and in six months it looks like _____” You can fill in the blank. Because that’s what it will look like, because they’re not qualified to maintain it. They don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t care. It’s obvious if you drive around the school and look at the school property. It’s lucky if the grass gets cut, let alone if they do it right. So, that’s a separate issue, it has nothing to do with us. But the fact is, while we are moving forward with Pride in Mt. Olive and we’re giving out plaques and certificates to everybody. The fact is, our own facilities still aren’t being kept right. And, all you have to do is go down to the fields and listen to the parents complain, and listen to the teams that come into our Town and say, “You know, it looks nice from the roadway, how come you can’t have this field cut so a ground ball might actually get to the Mr. Heymann (cont’d): dirt portion of the field. So, it’s those things that we continue to hammer on, and I don’t mean to drop all this on Sandy since he’s new, but I think it is a very important issue. If you’re going to spend $6 million to $8 million to fix up Turkeybrook, I’d hate to see it where we’ve wasted that money because we’ve let those facilities go. That’s going to happen if we don’t begin to plan for it now. There’s no question in my mind. We are not prepared. We don’t take care of our fields, we don’t rake them, we don’t do anything to them. It’s really–it’s amazing to compare what we don’t do compared to what other municipalities do. I’m just going to give you one example I go to my office in Randolph every morning past Freedom Park. If I get in my office at 7:00am or a little later, somehow they have already been out to those fields and have fixed them for the day. We don’t fix our fields but two times the entire season, and that’s after we called to tell them we have something going on. So we need to address it now. Maybe Eric (Schulte) doesn’t have the manpower. I don’t know what it is. This season is slowly coming to an end. We have some summer teams that are traveling and playing in Town. It’s something that we need to discuss at a Workshop. I know the Mayor believes in it because he and I have discussed it many, many times. We even talked about the shared services–and we have to do something about it.

President Sohl: Why don’t we try to schedule that–Mayor?

Mayor Licitra: Yes, I’d like to discuss the projects at a workshop.

President Sohl: All right.

Board of Health Report: NONE

Planning Board Report: NONE

Open Space Committee Report: NONE

Environmental Commission Report: NONE

Legislative Committee Report

Mr. Rattner: I gave everybody a news clipping from the Sunday Star Ledger. When I first saw this Mining Bill in the Herald from Newton, it appears there was a Bill introduced to take all local control of Quarrying and Mining Operations and putting it under the Commissioner of the Department of Labor. I went to the Legislative Website. The Bill wasn’t there. I went to the County and asked if they could look at it. They said it wasn’t listed. But, then by coincidence today, we got a letter from the Mayor of Tewksbury who is very upset over the Bill and gave us a copy. Basically, what this Bill would do would take the State and would over-ride any and all Local Ordinances. Specifically, what the Commissioner would like to do is be able to regulate the hours of operation, the depth of how far they can go, and even how far you can encroach in every other part of the Quarrying operation. From what the newspaper write ups have had, it sounds like it’s strictly an economic issue that they’re trying to make the quarries economically viable, and not really that concerned with the effect on the local Towns. With that, I would ask for a couple of minutes on our next workshop so we can get a Resolution, and I’m going to try to find out how to get more involved.

President Sohl: I’ll draft a letter to our Representatives asking for their–let them tell what their position is on the Bill. We’ll consider the Resolution as we go forward relative to Mr. Rattner’s suggestion.

Master Plan Report:

Mr. Scapicchio: Tonight we authorized an Ordinance that appropriated $100,000 payable over five years to hire special professionals and consultants to work with Mr. McGroarty and the Master Plan Committee to study and revise the traffic and the existing Master Plan.

PUBLIC PORTION

Mr. Ted Messino: I would like to bring to the Council’s attention a situation that I am sure we all need to confront and develop a solution for. In the past three months, I have read of one of our previous high school student’s passing away (Frank Forte.) I have put one of my children in a rehab for what I believed was behavioral problems to find out that there were underlying causes for her misbehaving (drugs.) Then I read an article in the Mt. Olive Chronicle that detailed the life of Frank Forte; minus the name and the fact that Frank ended up dying, it was a story that described my child. The story began in 7th grade. Then we had another resident, a former

Mr. Messino (cont’d): student and neighbor of mine arrested for possession of drugs. I don’t know all the charges that he will face once brought to trial. (Sean Spaet.) After many discussions with my child and with other young adults in the community it became very clear to me that Mt. Olive has a real drug problem. I heard it on the news the other day said by a news commentator that the war on drugs was over and we had Lost. Well it is more apparent today than any other time in my life that this may well be true. But I don’t think we can give up. I believe we must continue to fight this battle. Heroin has made a major comeback and it is apparent that drugs are readily available to our residents, young and old. I, as a parent, did not know what I did not know about drugs. I have learned more about drugs over the past three months than I ever wanted to know. Had I known some of these things earlier I may have been able to catch my child earlier. I also believe that there are other parents and educators who do not know what they do not know. I have met with Mark Mongon, our superintendent of Schools and with Marilyn Persico, our high school principal, to begin talks on how we can put together a program that will assist everyone in the community in identifying the problems and then dealing with them. I firmly believe that the DARE program works well but it does not stick over the long run. I have met with our Chief of Police, Ed Katona and discussed what might be done to better educate everyone on the problems of drugs and the aftermath. These discussions are ongoing. I know that the Superintendent and the principal of the High School have been in direct contact with the Chief. Additional meetings have been had and more are scheduled. It is apparent that this has become a joint effort and I am sure Mr. Mongon will be inviting additional principals to future meetings. I absolutely feel that every principal must be involved based on the fact that some of the drugs have been made available at the lower grade levels. The purpose of me being here is to ask this Council to work with our School Board and our Police Department to develop a grass roots effort to educate our community and to stop the proliferation f drugs in our community and school. I believe some of the proliferation can be stopped and better handled by everyone if everyone understands the problem, admits to the problem and is open to discussion f the problem. This effort is not to insult anyone or any organizations in the community. This joint effort should primarily be to educate and inform. I believe that the more parents know about problems in our community and possibly at our educational facilities, the more we may be able to get them involved in developing a solution. I realize the Mayor’s commitment to children and to developing a better life for all our residents and believe that this joint task force approach to our drug situation will surely assist in achieving part of that goal. How do we start developing a solution? First and foremost we must admit openly we have a problem Then we must identify the problem. Secondly we must put together a team to develop a possible or group of possible solutions. Third we must immediately begin to educate our community. A. What are the drugs that are available? B. What are the buzz words that we should all be listening for? C. What are some of the behavior characteristics we should be watching for. D. What are our rights as parents and/or educators. What are the rights of the children of the community and do those rights change when they are at school? Fourth we must develop another program similar to DARE that is again presented to our students at the high school level. Fifth, we must have a program that hits the hearts of all adults concerning the effects of drugs. We must begin to purchase some of the many posters available to educate our students at school of the effects of drugs. We should begin to obtain documentaries from the national TV networks that address the drugs, their effects and the aftermath. We should make those tapes available to parents of the community and to the students. We absolutely need to develop ways of getting more parents involved in meetings around the Township that discuss openly the issues that effect this community. I also believe we need to get all the churches in our community involved in these educational processes. We as parents cannot hide from this problem. Our kids are in the middle of it and we need to help them through it. I believe once parents understand what it is that they do not know about drugs today, we can create a need or want on their part to be involved. I believe this is as important an issue as the Ordinances this Council works on each week. In fact, I believe it is more important. These kids are our community’s future. Our community reputation rests on us taking a position on this matter today and begin acting on it today. We must make every parent aware of the fact, a fact that I myself ignored. That every child is vulnerable. Some people have asked me why I would come forward and talk about my child and the drug problem in public. My answer is, I have gotten my child the help she needs. I have begun to understand what it is I did not know and I am proud of the progress being made by my family. I believe we all need to stop letting others opinions keep us silent. Talking openly about these issues may help another family from going through what the Forte family has gone through or from what I am going through. I know the Mayor is genuinely concerned about the kids in this Community, I’m sure the Council is. I ask that a Grass Roots Organization be formed to start directing our children and educating them of the dangers of drugs. Thank you.

Mrs. Kelly: You have my sympathy and complete support, because 12 years ago when I put my daughter in drug rehab I was also told that we did not have a drug problem in Mt. Olive. I joined MOMAC–at that time it was called “Drug and Alcohol Commission”, you might want to get involved with them. But, I went down to Trenton and I got the funding for our first drug and alcohol Counselor in the High School. I would love to share with you some of the letters that I’ve written to our School System begging them for a Substance Abuse Counselor within our Middle School, and they have yet to do it. So, what we need is more people like you who are inspired and concerned about not only saving your daughter’s life, but saving the lives of other students in our Community.

Mrs. Kelly (cont’d): And, I think if we got some people who were as dedicated as you, I think we could make some progress. Thank you.

President Sohl: Is there anyone else from the Public?

Mr. Bonte: When the Resolution came up for the Child Care Bus, that was not open to the Public. I’m not going to debate with you the funds–

President Sohl: My apologies, Rich.

Mr. Bonte: Well, it wouldn’t have changed the vote anyway, but I’m getting my two-cents in now. I’m not going to debate with you the amount of funds that are given every year, or the van, we’ve been through that. But we did have a discussion many years ago–1994, regarding a previous van, and through some discussions between the Committee that had worked on the Referendum regarding the land down in Flanders, one of the things we requested of this Council, and the Council finally agree to do was to Title the van to the Child Care Center. I understand what we’re doing here, we’re leasing the van to the Child Care Center. I’d like to tell you that I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think what we should do is what we did the last time. If we’re going to spend this money, and you in your wisdom feel we should do this, then let’s give them the van outright, and have them be the owners of the van. I don’t think that this Township should share in the liability if some type of catastrophe should occur. If anything happens, no matter what their insurance has, it’s still going to come back to the deepest pockets. We don’t have control over how this vehicle is operated, and they’re not Township Employees operating it. We should cut it and donate the vehicle to them, and not enter into this lease agreement. I know the lawyers will tell you, “They’re covered.” and “blah, blah, blah...” but, in the end result, if something should happen, it will come back to this Township. So, that’s my recommendation. Just Title the thing over to them. Resolution #16 was pulled, and was talked about discussing in Closed Session. I don’t know why that would go into Closed Session unless it’s litigation.

President Sohl: It is litigation.

Mr. Fisher: The Foreclosure action is Litigation.

Mr. Scapicchio: The reason I asked to have it taken off, Mr. Dorsey is not here, and I think it was Mr. Sohl who called me and questioned the potential liability of us taking that over. Mr. Dorsey explained it to me, but I don’t think I could explain it as well as he did to my other Council members, so I just thought it would be appropriate to postpone it until he was here.

Mr. Bonte: Okay. Well, I was going to comment on that, and my comments were going to be pretty close to yours. I don’t know what we gain by taking this over. If it stays in the status it is, we’ll probably never collect the taxes, but we don’t have any legal liability for it. Once we take it over, we’ll never collect the taxes, we’ll never be able to do anything with it, but we now have liability for it also.

President Sohl: Those are points that several of us don’t know the answers to, and that’s why it was not acted on tonight, and that’s why we’re going to discuss it first as a matter of litigation.

Mr. Bonte: Just as a humorous side, the Mayor was meeting with GPU to discuss the horrendous service that this Township has received from its antiquated equipment, for three hours our power was out. While he was in the meeting, it was a beautiful day, no storms. Who knows why. It wasn’t just me. One final observation, on some of the older strip malls along Route 46, they’re getting cleaned up. The parking lots are being redone, and there are curbs being put in and those curbs are presenting already, and will continue to present problems as I see it. They make these lots look a lot nicer, but the problem of access into and out of the lot does not allow people to get off of Route 46 into one of these lots easily any more. You have to slow down to less than 5mph to make a right-hand turn into the lot, and the same things happens when you want to come out of the lot, you have to come to the edge of the lot because there are no traffic signals and then accelerate while you’re making a turn. You can’t enter and exit these lots the way people used to on a roll. You might want to give some consideration as to what this beautification process may do to traffic safety. Obviously, the ultimate goal would be to have a service lane where traffic can exit into a bunch of these businesses off of a road that’s off the side of the main traffic. But it is something that needs to be looked at. And the other thing–I’ve brought this up a number of times over the years, and I’d like to bring it up again–especially since we’re going into a major construction of the intersection at the Trade Zone. One of the greatest areas of Town that probably has the most amount of traffic accidents is that whole Village Green Complex. The problem with the Village Green Complex, in my opinion is, as you’re driving east or west on that road, there are three steps. As you come down each one of those steps, you can’t see over those steps. And the worst step is where the light is at. No matter what

Mr. Bonte (cont’d): direction you’re traveling in, if you’re going to make a turn, you have to come to a stop to make the turn, traffic the other way can’t see you if you’re in a normal vehicle. I’ve heard the police say you have 1800' of visibility when you’re sitting at the intersection, and that’s true, but 80' back from that intersection, you have about 80' of visibility. You can’t see the traffic coming up the hill. I’m sure many of you know this. I really think we need to get the State to look at getting these steps out of this highway and making it a continuous grade. I think that is the major problem on Route 46. And if there’s going to be a lot of other work, and with the way that the Trade Zone South is going to be changing, it sounds to me we’re going to have an awful lot more traffic on Route 46. So, the whole area needs to be looked at, and eliminate what I think is a very serious traffic hazard in the way the road is designed. Thank you.

Mrs. Kelly: Rich, Why don’t you ask to be a member of our Master Plan Committee that’s going to be looking into the traffic in our Community. Isn’t that correct, Paul?

Mayor Licitra: He could ask.

Mr. Bonte: If the Mayor or the Council has desire for my services, they know how to reach me.

President Sohl: Thank you, Rich. Anyone else from the Public? All right, I will close the meeting to the Public.

COUNCIL COMMENTS: NONE

Mayor Licitra: I just want to mention–the Soccer people called me up today and asked me if I could find them–it was late notice, but asked if I could find them a Notary to help them–they had about 60 participants that needed their paperwork Notarized. I didn’t know at the time because I picked up my e-mail today–they e-mailed me yesterday. I know Lisa (Lashway) was going to be at the meeting tonight, but Mary–and I have to compliment Mary Eckel, our Deputy Township Clerk, she volunteered to go up there for two hours, and I think the Council should know that she was very nice about it, and went up there and Notarized their documents. I think this may be a regular thing, and I asked Sandy to look into someone in the Recreation Department become a Notary for their forms if this is going to be a normal occurrence for their participants, that they need this, I think somebody should be a Notary within the Recreation Department so Mary doesn’t have to volunteer her time to do something like that–even though I appreciate it, and I’m sure the Soccer League does, and I hope the Council does, too.

President Sohl: Thank you, Mayor, Lisa, please let Mary know we really appreciate that kind of effort.

Motion made for adjournment. All in Favor, None Opposed. The Meeting was adjourned at 9:45pm.

______________________

William H. Sohl

Council President

I, LISA M. LASHWAY, Township Clerk of the Township of Mount Olive do hereby certify that the foregoing Minutes is a true and correct copy of the Minutes approved at a legally convened meeting of the Mount Olive Township Council duly held on October 10, 2000.

________________________

LISA M. LASHWAY

Mount Olive Township Clerk