The Regular Public Meeting of the Mount Olive Township Council was called to Order at 7:30 pm by
Council President Greenbaum with the Pledge of Allegiance.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE & MOMENT OF REFLECTION in recognition of the men and women fighting terrorism and those who have lost their lives defending the freedom we all enjoy

OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT ANNOUNCEMENT
According to the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate notice of this meeting has been given to the Mount Olive Chronicle. Notice has been posted at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mount Olive Township, New Jersey and notices were sent to those requesting the same.

ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Buell, Mr. Tepper, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Rattner,
Mrs. Labow, Mr. Greenbaum

Absent: Mr. Biondi

Also Present: John Dorsey, Township Attorney; Rick Prill, Business Administrator;
Sherry Jenkins, CFO; Lisa Lashway, Township Clerk

Questions on Bill List?

President Greenbaum: Mr. Biondi called me and advised me that he would not be able to make it this evening. I note that there were some questions on the Bill List I saw were submitted by Mr. Rattner, was it?

Mr. Rattner: Yes.

President Greenbaum: Is the Administration prepared at the end of the meeting to answer whatever questions Mr. Rattner had?

Mr. Rattner: I already got it through the Clerk’s office.

President Greenbaum: If you have any questions on it, you can ask Steve after the meeting. Does anyone else have any questions on the Bill List that were not submitted?

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Sept. 26, 2006 CS
Present: Mr. Buell, Mrs. Labow, Mr. Tepper, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Rattner
Absent: Mr. Perkins & Mr. Biondi

Oct. 3, 2006 CS
Present: Mr. Buell, Mrs. Labow, Mr. Tepper, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Rattner, Mr. Perkins & Mr. Biondi
Absent: None

Oct. 3, 2006 Special Meeting
Present: Mr. Tepper, Mr. Buell, Mr. Biondi, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Rattner, Mr. Greenbaum
Absent: Mrs. Labow

President Greenbaum: Seeing none. We will move on with Approval of Minutes. Mr. Buell, do you want to move those please?

Mr. Buell: Thank you, I move the September 26, 2006 CS, October 3, 2006 CS, October 3, 2006 Special Meeting Minutes.

Mr. Tepper: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded. Anyone have any comments, deletions, corrections? Seeing none, Roll Call.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously with the exception, Mrs. Labow abstained on October 3, 2006 Special Meeting, Mr. Perkins abstained on September 26, 2006 Closed Session.

CORRESPONDENCE

LETTERS FROM RESIDENTS / ORGANIZATIONS

1. Letter received September 25, 2006, from ASCAP regarding “ASCAP licensing.”

2. Letter received September 25, 2006, from Heidi Coscia regarding request for retro pay.

3. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Adam Szwick regarding support of the Library.

4. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Willard Sawyer III regarding support of the Library.

5. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from S. Hughes regarding support of the Library.

6. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Ellen Van Glahn regarding support of the Library.

7. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Debra Tulin regarding support of the Library.

8. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Judith Isler regarding support of the Library.

9. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Joanne Saito-Rosequist regarding support of the Library.

10. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Alice Bauer regarding support of the Library.

11. E-mail received September 26, 2006, from Natasha Andrews regarding support of the Library.

12. Letter received September 27, 2006, from Hackettstown Elks Lodge #2331 regarding “Open House.”

13. E-mail received September 27, 2006, from The Cottrell Family regarding support of the Library.

14. E-mail received September 27, 2006, from The Pang Family regarding support of the Library.

15. E-mail received September 27, 2006, from John McCallack regarding support of the Library.

16. E-mail received September 27, 2006, from Pat McCallack regarding support of the Library.

17. E-mail received September 27, 2006, from Marina Szwick regarding support of the Library.

18. E-mail received September 27, 2006, from Mike Sawyer regarding support of the Library.

19. Letter received October 2, 2006, from ADPPBBL, Inc. regarding Fall Cleanup.

20. E-mail received October 5, 206, from Sherry Lemma regarding support of the Library.

MUA / HMUA / MSA

21. Information received October 2, 2006, from Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority regarding the 19th Annual Morris County Recycling Awards Dinner.

22. List of Allocations received October 4, 2006, from the Musconetcong Sewerage Authority.

LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES

23. Letter received September 25, 2006, from New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding League Seminar on “How to Put State Resources for Affordable Housing to Work for Your Community.”

24. Letter received September 27, 2006, from New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding 2006 Conference Resolutions.

25. Letter received October 4, 2006, from Morris County League of Municipalities regarding League Luncheon.

RESOLUTIONS / ORDINANCES / INFO FROM OTHER TOWNS

26. Resolution received September 26, 2006, from Township of Hanover regarding Defense and Indemnification of Municipal Police Officers and Police Departments voluntarily serving on State and County Law Enforcement Task Forces.

27. Resolution received September 27, 2006, from Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills regarding Defense and Indemnification of Municipal Police Officers and Police Departments voluntarily serving on State and County Law Enforcement Task Forces.

28. Resolution received September 29, 2006, from Borough of Madison regarding Defense and Indemnification of Municipal Police Officers and Police Departments voluntarily serving on State and County Law Enforcement Task Forces.

29. Resolution received October 2, 2006, from Township of Hanover regarding Defense and Indemnification of Law Enforcement Officers.

30. Corrected Resolution received October 6, 2006, from Township of Hanover regarding concerning Defense and Indemnification of Law Enforcement Officers.

MORRIS COUNTY

31. Minutes of the August 17, 2006, meeting of the Morris County Planning Board received September 28, 2006.

MISCELLANEOUS.

32. Letter received September 27, 2006, from State of New Jersey, Department of State regarding PARIS Grant Program.

33. Letter received September 27, 2006, from County of Morris, Department of Public Works regarding Deer Carcass Removal.

34. E-mail received September 28, 2006, from National League of Cities regarding Scholarships for NLC Members to participate in the LTI Seminars at the 2006 Congress Cities Conference.

35. Letter received September 29, 2006, from Robert Brown regarding designation of property for Block 4500, Lots 35 and 36 (104-106 Route 46 and 3 Eden Lane).

36. Letter received October 5, 2006, from The Port Authority of NY & NJ regarding enhanced Inter-City Air and Rail Service.

DOT / DEP / LOI HIGHLANDS

37. Letter received September 25, 2006, from State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection regarding Extension of a Letter of Interpretation Applicant: The Rose House Block 2507, Lot 1 (1 Dogwood Drive, Budd Lake).

38. Notice received September 26, 2006, from State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council regarding Public Notice of the next meeting of the Highlands Municipal Property Tax Stabilization Board.

39. Letter received September 28, 2006, from Glasson Environmental Services, LLC regarding Application for Highlands Applicability & Water Quality Management Plan Consistency Determination Block 5100, Lot 3 (43 Ramar Street, Budd Lake).

40. Letter received September 27, 2006, from State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection regarding Deficiency Letter for Individual Permit Transition Area Waiver. Applicant: Maroon Abraham Block 3001, Lot 2 (8 Third Street, Budd Lake)

LETTERS FROM LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES

41. E-mail received September 29, 2006, from Congressman Frelinghuysen regarding House approves over $44 million in defense bill for Picatinny Arsenal, Military Commissions Bill passes House, House moves to secure personal information, and House passes Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.
DCA

42. E-mail received September 27, 2006, from Department of Community Affairs regarding Innovation in Governance Awards, PAMS Project update, Surety bonds and JIF, Local Finance Notice 2006-14, State Aid Recapitulation and Payment Schedule for CFO’s, Shared Services, and New Jersey Economic Development Seminar.

43. E-mail received October 2, 2006, from Department of Community Affairs regarding 2006 Innovation in Governance Awards.

COAH

44. Letter received October 2, 2006, from State of New Jersey, Council on Affordable Housing regarding rejection of filing of the amendment to Petition.

45. Letter received October 6, 2006, from State of New Jersey, Council on Affordable Housing regarding rejection of filing of the amendment to petition.

UTILTIES

46. Fax received September 28, 2006, from Comcast regarding Universal Connectivity Charge.

President Greenbaum: There are 46 pieces of Correspondence. Does anyone wish to discuss any particular piece of Correspondence? Seeing none, we will move on to ordinances for public hearing.

ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING

President Greenbaum: Tonight we have one Ordinance #29-2006 entitled:

Ord. #29-2006 Bond Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive, in the County of Morris, New Jersey Amending Bond Ordinance Numbered 11-2001 Finally Adopted May 8, 2001, as Previously Amended and Supplemented, in Order to Further Amend the Description of the Project Authorized Therein.

President Greenbaum: Is there anyone from the public who wishes to be heard on Ordinance #29-2006? Seeing none, I close it to the public. I would ask that Mr. Tepper please move Ordinance #29-2006 for approval.

Mr. Tepper: Thank you, Mr. President. I move Ordinance #29-2006 for approval.

President Greenbaum: Is there a second?

Mr. Rattner: Second.

President Greenbaum: Are there any comments? Roll Call please.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

President Greenbaum: Ordinance # 29-2006 has passed on second reading and I hereby direct the Clerk to forward a copy of same to the Mayor and publish the notice of adoption as required by law.

ORDINANCES FOR FIRST READING (2nd Reading November 28, 2006)

President Greenbaum: Ordinance #30-2006 entitled:

Ord. #30-2006 An Ordinance of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive to Amend the Salaries of Certain Non-Union Personnel for the Year 2006.

President Greenbaum: Mr. Buell, do you want to move that please?

Mr. Buell: Yes, thank you. I move that Ordinance #30-2006 be introduced by title, and passed on first reading, and that a meeting be held on November 28, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mount Olive, New Jersey, for public hearing, consideration of second reading and passage of said Ordinance, and that the Clerk be directed to publish, post and make available said Ordinance in accordance with the requirements of the law.

Mr. Perkins: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded. Any discussion from Council? Roll Call please.

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 that 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.

CONSENT RESOLUTIONS

1. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Awarding a Contract to Hoover Truck Center for Supplying a Multi-Purpose Vehicle Chassis & Rack Body with Hydraulic Lift.

2. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Awarding a Contract to Hoover Truck Center for Supplying a Single Axel Dump Truck with Plow.

3. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Awarding Bids for Snowplowing Services for the 2006-2007 Winter Season.

4. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing an Interlocal Health Services Agreement with the Borough of Mt. Arlington for the Provision of Health Services Pursuant to the Interlocal Services Act (N.J.S.A. 26:38A2-1 et seq.)

5. 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 2006 Municipal Budget ($2,625 for a Donation for Pediatric Defibrillators).

6. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Cancellation of Taxes for the Year 2005 and 2006 and for Removal From Tax Sale Block 8400, Lot 11 K-Land No. 51, LLC.

7. Resolution of the Township of Mount Olive Approving a Contract with Realty Appraisal Co. for the Preparation and Execution of a Complete Program of Revaluation.

8. Resolution of the Township Council, Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Contract with Barry Krauser, MAI, CRE of Integra Realty Resources to Perform a Portion of the 2008 Revaluation for the Township of Mount Olive.

9. Resolution to Waive Limitation of Turkey Brook Park Hours of Operation for the Mount Olive Soccer Club.

10. Resolution Overriding the Mayor’s Veto of Ordinance #25-2006 Entitled “An Ordinance Establishing a Police Department in Mount Olive.

President Greenbaum: I am going to remove #10 and put that on the Non Consent. Are there any others that anyone here wishes to move to Non Consent? Seeing none. Mrs. Labow, do you want to move resolutions #1-9?

Mrs. Labow: I move resolutions #1-9.

Mr. Tepper: Second.

PUBLIC PORTION ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded. Is there anyone from the public who wishes to be heard on resolutions #1-9? I close it to the public.

COUNCIL COMMENTS ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS

President Greenbaum: Any Council discussion with respect to resolutions #1-9? Is it brief Mr. Buell?

Mr. Buell: Yes, very brief. The Soccer Club extension for a month for having lights on field #2, does anyone know what time that extends to? Is that going to be 10:00 or 11:00?

President Greenbaum: Fred, do you want to come up to the podium? You have to state your name and address and position with the Soccer Club.

Fred Philips Adam Court, Budd Lake: I am president of the Soccer Club. Your question? I am sorry.

Mr. Buell: Yes, just what time are you going to turn those lights off and how do we make sure that they get turned off?

Mr. Philips: Through agreement with the Parks Department. We don’t need them on passed 8:30.

Mr. Buell: Okay.

Mr. Philips: So if it’s timers or the park... we are willing to work with the park. If they say it is 8:30, its 8:30 and we will turn them off.

Mr. Buell: This is going to be for a month, I understand.

Mr. Philips: We want to do a test to see.... we asked for a month because when talking to Jim Lynch in the Parks Department, he wanted to see the amount of wear and tear on the field, given the extra hours. We wanted to see what’s involved in doing it? So a month seems like a reasonable amount of time.

Mr. Buell: You will be doing this every night or just weekends?

Mr. Philips: For the most part it’s Tuesday through Friday. That is when most of our practices are and Monday the parks are closed for maintenance.

Mr. Buell: This would just be for regular practices?

Mr. Philips: Regular practices and then we also have our Halloween Tournament on the 21st, which is a Saturday and 28th, which is a Saturday. We will leave those on probably until about 7:00 at night just so we can clean up and get out of there in a reasonable fashion.

Mr. Buell: Do the people who live there, particularly on Sunset, know that this is going to happen?

Mr. Philips: We just started talking about it now. I don’t think so.

Mr. Buell: My only comment is and I would be in favor, it sounds like, that this is a trial period? I think that we need to inform the people on Sunset Drive that this is going to happen.

President Greenbaum: Jim, you know what? There was significant enough question that you should have put it on the Non Consent Resolutions Agenda. In a brief clarifying statement on Consent Resolutions Agenda is exactly what it means. So if you want to at this point, make a motion to amend or to take this off for further discussion? I am happy to do that...

Mr. Philips: Mr. Buell, if I could just interrupt for a second? After talking to Jim Lynch, the lights that they are talking about go a maximum of 30 feet in the air that he is talking about putting on field #2, which is the field that is the furthest away from Sunset Drive. I think it will have little or no impact. Again, 30 feet is the highest, we can send that, 20 feet, whatever is deemed appropriate. So I think the impact on Sunset Drive is minimal at best.

President Greenbaum: Jim, you also have to remember that this is a test for us as well and to the extent that there are going to be issues, we are going to identify them and we may have to amend this resolution down the road but to the extent that there are problems, you know, 8:30, sounds like a fairly reasonable time to conclude and it doesn’t seem like anyone could really have a major problem with 8:30?

Mr. Tepper: They do football at CMS until that time.

President Greenbaum: Thank you. Does anyone else have anything? Is that it?
Mr. Buell: Yes.

President Greenbaum: Any other comments on the Consent Resolutions Agenda? Roll Call please.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

RESOLUTIONS NON CONSENT

President Greenbaum: We have one Resolution on the Non Consent Resolutions Agenda entitled:

10. Resolution Overriding the Mayor’s Veto of Ordinance #25-2006 Entitled “An Ordinance Establishing a Police Department in Mount Olive.

President Greenbaum: Mr. Rattner, could you move that for me please?

Mr. Rattner: I move Resolution #10.

Mr. Perkins: Second.

PUBLIC PORTION ON INDIVIDUAL RESOLUTIONS

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded. I removed it from the Consent Resolutions Agenda because it requires a super majority to override the Mayor’s Veto. The Mayor indicated that he vetoed the ordinance because of the choice of chief and/or other superior officers should not be limited to the present membership of the police force but based upon the needs and requirements of the Township at the time of the choice, which sounds like a fairly reasonable explanation for vetoing the ordinance except for several things. Number one is the operation of law. Number two is the fact that this ordinance which was incredibly expensive to advertise, we had to advertise twice actually, which came from the Administration itself. It was extremely problematic to me that the Mayor is vetoing ordinances that come from the Administration. I wrote Mr. Prill a memo and we have now changed procedure so that every resolution and every ordinance which is coming from the Administration from this point forward, as long as Mayor De La Roche is still in office, is going to have to be signed off by him. Otherwise it is not getting on the Agenda. It is a complete waste of our time as a Council to deal with this kind of garbage, any comments? Before I get to you, Mr. Tepper, is there anyone in the audience who wishes to be heard on this particular resolution? Seeing none, I close it to the audience.

COUNCIL COMMENTS ON INDIVIDUAL RESOLUTIONS

President Greenbaum: Did you have something Mr. Tepper?

Mr. Tepper: My comment is fairly consistent with what you said. Originally, I thought it was somewhat reasonable to entertain bringing in the best qualified candidate and looking possibly outside for the chief’s position. It was made clear to me that the current law directed how that was to be filled and knowing that, it makes no sense to contradict the law. So I agree with your position.

President Greenbaum: Any other comments?

Mr. Perkins: Thank you, Mr. President. I had some real problem with the Mayor’s veto of this ordinance. Again, that was brought up to us by the Administration as you had pointed out. It is a matter of law of how that position is to be filled, that not withstanding, who better to serve the Township in the position of the Chief of Police than someone who has come up through the ranks in this Township? This isn’t Newark, it’s not Jersey City, where we can get Bernard Kerrick to come over and he would know all about New York City and he might help fill the shoes to help Mayor Corey A. Booker run Newark. That is not Mount Olive. Mount Olive has grown into what it is and it needs the people watching it grow, that they know where the hot spots are and for that reason alone, I would have voted no. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mrs. Labow: I just wanted to ask Mr. Prill a question. Did Mayor De La Roche have any prior reading? Did he read the ordinance? Did he ask any questions before he vetoed it or did he just decide to veto?

Mr. Prill: He did not address any questions to me, prior to his veto.

Mrs. Labow: Or Chief Katona that you know of?

Mr. Prill: Not that I am aware of, no.

Mrs. Labow: Okay.
President Greenbaum: Any other comments? Roll Call please.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

OLD BUSINESS

President Greenbaum: We are up to Old Business. The first item on Old Business which is not listed here involves the capital.......what, the motions? Yes, we will get to the motions. I want to get to the Old Business. Mr. Prill, we had asked the Administration for a list of capital so that we could move the fire and rescue squads’ request for, I believe, extra patient equipment and radio equipment. I note that it is not on the Agenda this evening. We still have not gotten a priority list from the Administration in terms of where we are going with our capital purchases. I would like to get an explanation from you as to why we do not have that information.

Mr. Prill: I am still waiting on a couple of items to be clarified. Mr. Quinn is looking into two of the old balances to identify whether there is a need to continue those or whether they can be cancelled. I am also communicating with the Budd Lake Rescue Squad with regards to some of their old capital items.

President Greenbaum: Okay, I am telling you that I am listing this for the workshop next Tuesday and the following public meeting next Tuesday and this will get resolved and be put on the Agenda for those two Council Meetings. We will get to the bottom of the capital at that time.

Mr. Rattner: Time is of the essence because from what I understand, as it relates to the Budd Lake Rescue Squad, the benefactor who is providing the major part of the funds is looking for the commitment from the Town and has been waiting for a period of time. We have been bringing it up at almost every meeting. It is becoming critical mass now that if we don’t get it, we can actually lose it. I don’t want another project or some other funds that we miss out on just because of lack of action.

Status of Library Grant Monies to be Turned Over to Twp.

President Greenbaum: Staying with Old Business. Mr. Prill.

Mr. Prill: No other information has been forthcoming from the Library Board.

President Greenbaum: Let me ask you a question. Has the Administration requested that the Library turn over that money to the Township?

Mr. Prill: Yes.

President Greenbaum: Okay, because I got all......and I thank you for responding to my memos requesting back and forth between the Administration and the Library with respect to the last voucher for monies due to the Library. It seemed to me that there was very little pressure put on the Library with respect to the turn over of that money. In fact, it seemed just the opposite. It seemed to me that it was, “Well let’s see what happens if we put it on the Agenda?” Certainly, the issue of that $100,000 was identified. It was brought to your attention and yet you allowed it to go on to the Agenda without advising Council. That, in fact, it was the Administration’s position that it was going to be put on the Agenda in that fashion. I would like to get an explanation from you as to why it was handled in that fashion.

Mr. Prill: We have received a request from the Library Board for their last quarter payment to be put on the Bill List. During that....emails back an forth, it was not discussed in any particular specificity, that the payment request was going to be inclusive of the $100,000 that the Council has been requesting that it be returned. I was unaware that the payment request actually included that amount and I did indicate that to you.

President Greenbaum: Yes you did. In my reading of those emails, and I think that everybody has a copy of them now, it clearly was discussed. It was certainly a discussion from the CFO to your office indicating that that $100,000 was included in the number and whether or not that matter should be discussed with Council before putting the bill on the Bill List. Your response basically was, “No, let’s wait and see what happens?”
I don’t mean to necessarily paraphrase because there were a series of emails and it may have been... your response may have been at the end of the series of emails but that is basically the gist that I got from your email and I would ask anyone else on Council if they got that same gist from reading of the emails or if anyone got an opposite view as to what happened with respect to that payment voucher? It seemed to me that you understood what Council’s position was. You understood the issue that was being presented in terms of placing that $100,000 back on the Bill List. You advised the CFO that it was not.... generally advised the CFO that it wasn’t necessary to discuss it with Council and let’s just see what happens? I find that to be wholly inappropriate. Your response?
Mr. Prill: I take exception to your characterization of that correspondence to and from the Library Board and the CFO.

President Greenbaum: Does anyone have those emails?

Mrs. Labow: I have it right here.

President Greenbaum: Can I have that for a second? Thanks.

Mrs. Labow: I have the one part opened up where he says, see how they react?

President Greenbaum: In an email dated September 18, 2006, Sherry Jenkins, the CFO indicated, “I received a voucher in my mail this morning from the Library for their original appropriation. The total request was $446,553.73 which represents their original Appropriation $1,086,750 less $640,195.27 in payments (should be $640,196.27) The current balance in the appropriation is $367,759.25 because we have fronted $24,016.60 for health insurance that they haven’t reimburse us for, have about $42,500 encumbered through year–end for health benefits and paid their annual pension bill of $12,398 via their appropriation. Do you want to discuss this payment with the Council or have me put a payment on the Bill List absent that?” You responded, “First, I think you need to go back to Rita with a simple calculation showing the original appropriation less any deductions which you have outlined below, showing the net figure which is different from what she has submitted a voucher for. If she is not in agreement with the net figure, then we will need to get that resolved before including the voucher on an upcoming Bill List. Second, I think we need to indicate that it is unlikely that Council would approve the payment given that a response from the Library Board has not been forthcoming as yet regarding the grant fund issue and that Council would most likely hold the payment pending this response.” Before I read on with this, was it your indication....was it your thought at this point in time that your response didn’t relate to the $100,000, it only related to what was in Sherry’s email? Or where you responding to Sherry with respect to $100,000?

Mr. Prill: I was responding to the request that Sherry had received regarding the entire payment request that had been submitted by the Library Board.

President Greenbaum: Okay. Were you aware of the fact that it included the $100,000?

Mr. Prill: As I had indicated, I was not reading into it that that payment request included the $100,000.

President Greenbaum: Did you at any point in time discuss with Sherry that the payment request from the Library included the $100,000 before it was put on the Bill List?

Mr. Prill: Just a general reference that I did not believe that Council would be inclined to approve the entire payment request given that the issue of $100,000 was still outstanding. That was the response to potentially give the Library Director a heads up of that concern.

President Greenbaum: To give the Library Director a heads up, that what?

Mr. Prill: That the issue of the $100,000 was still outstanding and that Council might not be inclined to approve the payment request given that that issue was still outstanding and had not been resolved.

President Greenbaum: Has the Council ever taken a position with respect to any monies which were due the Library other than the $100,000? Have we ever taken a position that we are not going to pay them except that $100,000 that they refuse to turn over to the Township?

Mr. Prill: There has been considerable discussion by Council with regards to the $100,000 and I did not know how Council was going to react.

President Greenbaum: I don’t think you are answering my question. I am simply asking you whether or not the Council, since you have been sitting up here, has ever discussed not paying the Library anything that we were required to pay them except for the $100,000?

Mr. Prill: I think indirectly there has been conversation to that effect, yes.

President Greenbaum: When did that conversation take place because I must not have been here.

Mr. Prill: I don’t recall the particular dates but I do recall Mrs. Jenkins indicating to Council on at least one occasion maybe more that statutorily we are required to make full payment to the Library come year end.

President Greenbaum: Yes. I don’t disagree with that statement but when did we ever discuss not paying them anything other than the $100,000 which we have withheld? Do you understand what the nature of that $100,000 dispute is Mr. Prill?

Mr. Prill: It has to do with grant funding.

President Greenbaum: Yes. What is it specifically with respect to that $100,000 that Council has a problem with in terms of the Library withholding that money?

Mr. Prill: That the Library is holding money that should be turned over to the Township.

President Greenbaum: Why should it be turned over to the Township?

Mr. Prill: All other grant funds have been turned over to the Township.

President Greenbaum: Why is that Mr. Prill? I am trying to find out exactly what your understanding is as to this dispute. Are you aware of the fact that that $100,000 has already been spent by the Township and to the extent that if that money isn’t turned over by Township, that the Library project in essence will cost us an additional $100,000 all to the benefit of the Library which continues to withhold monies that it owes to the Township. In fact, the State has withheld significant amounts of money with respect to any monies that might have to be returned to the State in the event that the project comes in under what it was originally budgeted for. That money has already been spent by the Township and the Library refuses to turn that money over. The net result is that the project will cost the taxpayers of Mount Olive an additional $100,000 simply because the Library will not turn that money over. That is what the nature of the dispute is and your response, whether you meant it or whether or not you simply decided not to deal with it, is just inappropriate because the Administration should be taking the position in light of the way that this project was funded, that the Library Board should be required to turn over that money. Not simply to indicate that the Council may have a problem with paying them money. The Administration’s position is, Library, you need to turn over that money so that we can resolve this and move on. It shows a complete lack of leadership on the part of the Administration to have allowed this to fester as long as it has and to make the Council look bad with respect to public relations in terms of the fact that that money has not been turned over. The Administration should be at the forefront of resolving this issue and it doesn’t take much to sit down as Business Administrator or as a Mayor, to sit down and say look, this money is being turned over. It has already been spent by the Township and we are not going to allow the Library to hold on to the money and we will guarantee you that if the State comes back for money, the Township will be responsible to pay it back. So, your position as to why you’re withholding this money simply has no merit whatsoever. Instead what we get is, “Oh, we will just put it on and let’s see what Council is going to do with it.” Anyone else have any comments on this?

Mr. Rattner: Well just in the future, we are possibly costing the Township money. For one thing, it’s already costing, we already spent the money so either we are borrowing it because we went out and committed to borrow $4,144,926.00 and that money, most of it has been spent, that’s number one. Number two, what I am really upset about is the last payment when we deducted the $100,000.00. We took the heat. We went back and forth with all the different rhetoric and it was done, telling them that we’re serious. To put it back on and to take the position and then have to read about it because obviously, certain people were given specific pieces of information so we can be attacked a second time a month before an election. We know exactly what was being done. I think to actually defame the Town, which is the government, its people, by continuing to let this fester I think is unfair and just leaves us open to public ridicule. One other thing that hasn’t been brought up before and I think is very very important and these are the agreements that we had with the Library. One was that they were going to turn over the money. That was actually negotiated when we said we would go ahead with the Library and provide and extra $644,000.00 that they requested after we already appropriated the $3.5 million, that they said they could build a Library for and it was negotiated saying that we wanted to have control over it, that we would review the vouchers because it was the taxpayers of Mount Olive that we had to go get the money but here’s the last thing. We don’t hear anything about, one of the agreements and I actually found it in the loan agreement, that is, that the Library committed to raising the money to buy the furniture for the Library. That was their commitment. In fact, to get the loan they had to tell the State that that is what they were doing because they wanted to see some local contribution of the Library itself. They committed $344,500.00. We know last year when they came to us or a year and a half ago, they said they had trouble raising funds. They were able to raise about $60,000.00, guess who came to the rescue? Not what was originally agreed to, not that we had all the money. Just because we have a bond, we still have to fiscally borrow it and pay the interest. We came up with the money that was not in the agreement and covered them for the furniture that they couldn’t afford to buy. We are talking about a $250,000.00. So not only did we pay, and I want to make sure that everyone understands it, not only did we pay all the bills for the construction and the money has been spent but then we came up and we covered them because they could not raise and we understood how difficult it is to raise funds, another $250,000.00 and they are still playing around and I think this is with the Administration.
Mr. Rattner (Cont’d): If you remember about a year ago, it was the Administration who came to us and said we have a problem. They are not turning over the money. This did not come from the Council. This wasn’t an attack from the Council about the Library. It was the Administration came to us, and said that they are withholding funds that we already spent. It is due us. We have a receivable and it wasn’t done. This is why it gets so frustrating. This is why I can’t believe that it cannot be an administratively resolved. We know the Mayor goes to most of the Library Board Meetings. He is the one that has to run the government. He is the one who authorized through your office, all the spending of the money. To keep getting this back, thrown in our face, no matter how accommodating we are supposed to be and we have been. I think the fact that we provided the funds out of the bond so that they could buy the furniture, it’s actually in violation of the grant because they were supposed to raise that. I think that shows we have gone more than half way. We have gone 100% of the way in trying to keep them afloat and getting everything done and we are still down here, we still have to go up to the public ridicule. The whole county has to keep talking about....look it’s Mount Olive again, they can’t get along. This is just totally absurd and when it still continues…we settled the $ 100,000 in July and then we had to get it again. I think that was designed on purpose.

Mrs. Labow: Mr. Prill, could you ask the Library Board if they are aware that the State has already withheld $63,000 just in case money had to be returned and verify that amount? I think I am getting the thumbs up, no? The $63,000 the State has already held is that right.....because their whole thing is they keep saying they have to hold on to it because they have to return it but money has already been held correct?

Mrs. Jenkins: Yes, the State is holding on to the money. They have not released the full amount of the grant and I did send everybody an email. I got a phone call from somebody from the State Library and I am waiting to hear back from her. I spent awhile on the phone with her explaining the situation and I would like to know if the bottom line is, whether we have to return any sort of money at all or not. I am waiting to hear back on that.

President Greenbaum: Sherry, while you are up here, when is the first time that you requested that the money be turned back over from the Library to a......was it at or about the time that they received the $100,000?

Mrs. Jenkins: I initially spoke about the matter with Bob Casey when he was here, and it was about the time that they got the funds, yes.

President Greenbaum: That money has already been spent by the Township with respect to the Library project, isn’t that correct?

Mrs. Jenkins: In terms of capital, the way that it normally works is you perceive that the money that is funded is spent first, so yes.

President Greenbaum: That is the way that the project was set up, from an accounting perspective.

Mrs. Jenkins: From an accounting perspective yes. We set up the receivable and Steve was right, we did have discussions about the fact that any grant monies that were going to be received would obviously be coming to the Township because we funded the project.

President Greenbaum: Not only that, it was embodied in a resolution at the time.

Mrs. Jenkins: Yes it was.

Mrs. Labow: Sherry had also brought it to my attention when I was a Council Liaison and I did specifically ask them at the meeting and they told me they didn’t have to hand it over but the question that I want, Mr. Prill, if you could ask them? Are they aware that the State is holding on to money because their reasoning behind keeping that $100,000 is just in case they have to send any money back? Since the State has already kind of taken that into consideration, there is no need for them to be holding onto that $100,000 at all. So if we can just resolve.....Sherry has already been in contact.....

Mrs. Jenkins: I sent their attorney any number of pieces of correspondence and I did indicate that in the information that I sent her which was probably, I want to say, is about three or four months ago at this point.

Mrs. Labow: They are aware of it.

Mrs. Jenkins: Yes.

Mr. Rattner: Sherry, besides everything that has already been said, isn’t the grant program just like almost every other grant program based on reimbursement with the exception of design which you can get an allowance on the front. The only way you get any of that grant money is by showing you already spent the money because we have to upfront the money. We pay the bills when we approve the vendor voucher and then we send it off right away. We actually should probably do it even before we put it on the Bill List. The State will not send you money on a grant program until you have already spent the money. So the whole thing about the $100,000, unless they do an audit and they find out, they call it a true up, unless they do an audit on the Library and find out that they spent money on items that were not allowed because not every expense is allowable, they only gave us money. So the whole thing about worrying about paying it back is completely bogus because it is a reimbursement program. It’s not where they give you the money up front because they don’t want you playing and making a lot of interest and everything else on it. It is a reimbursement program, they know it. If they said that they didn’t know what the contract is and their attorney, then they know that is absolutely fact and this whole thing about worrying about paying it back is bogus unless they know there is something wrong with their books.

President Greenbaum: Alright, any other comments? Thank you very much Sherry.

Mrs. Labow: Speaking of audits, did we get theirs yet?

President Greenbaum: No.

Mr. Rattner: No because they can’t figure out what the spending is.

President Greenbaum: Okay, Status of Charter Farms.

Mr. Rattner: That and we can’t get a piece of equipment to the fire department and they are spending $450,000,000 that we can’t get accountability on.

Status of Charters Farm

Mr. Prill: We have been advised by Joe Norton of Norcon that they will be submitting a proposal to us. We hope to have that next week based on some more recent testing that we had done on the soil itself. We believe that his price would come in at least $25,000 less than the other proposal that we received and at least $50,000 less than another proposal that we received. We are anxiously awaiting his proposal and identification of how the contaminated soil can be disposed of. If we have that before next Tuesday, we will certainly bring that back to Council or it might be the following meeting.

President Greenbaum: Thank you. Any questions or comments?

DPW Project Budget Report

Mr. Prill: I have provided Council with the financial status of the project. Hopefully, it’s in a format that Council was looking for. We are receiving bids tomorrow on the site improvement phase as well as the interior fit out phase. So if we get some good bids in, we will be coming back to Council for bid awards on that to finish up the project.

President Greenbaum: Any comments or questions? Do you have any idea as to where we are going to be when this project is all done? Is it going to be under budget?

Mr. Prill: We will have a better idea when we see the bids tomorrow.

Purchase of ARD Property

President Greenbaum: Mr. Prill?

Mr. Prill: I believe this was a follow up item to a question that Mr. Rattner had raised with regards to the Mayor’s plan for funding a possible acquisition of the project. Is that correct?

President Greenbaum: Yes.

Mr. Prill: I don’t know whether Council has seen…I did put together a memo earlier today. Again, I don’t know if you have had a chance to see it. It identifies areas that we have discussed about possibly applying for funding for this project, if the acquisition of it were something that the Township decided to pursue. Those funding sources could include, in addition to the application to the Morris County Open Space Committee, obviously, we would be applying to the Green Acres program, possibly to Morris County MUA.
Mr. Prill (Cont’d): Although the amount of funding that potentially would be available through the MUA would not be significant. There are two other programs that there might be some opportunity to get funding for. The first is called the Forest Legacy Funding Program. This is a federally funded program where the money is funneled through the State. Although, realistically, the viability of securing funding through this program is probably limited because there is not a large quantity of funds available as well as the fact that there has been an active court case in progress with regards to this property and that the development has been approved and the fact that, with regards to this whole effort of potentially acquiring the property, we really have not put together a strong partnership program with regards to the application. The final source of funds that have been briefly reviewed is a program called North American Wetlands Conservation Act. There is funding available in this program, although the size of this project is questionable as to whether it would even be large enough to qualify for funding under this program because they deal with large or major wetland sites. Although there are some wetlands on this property, we don’t know whether or not if it is significant enough to even qualify under this program?

President Greenbaum: Any comments or questions?

Mrs. Labow: Rick, when you meet on Friday, who is going to be present?

Mr. Prill: At this point in time, it will be myself. I don’t know whether the Mayor is going to be available to meet?

Mrs. Labow: What about Kathy Murphy?

Mr. Prill: She is on vacation this week. I don’t believe she is going to be back in and Sandy Urgo is going to be at a conference out of State, so she is not available.

Mrs. Labow: So you are just going to test the waters, so to speak?

Mr. Prill: It is a preliminary meeting to find out whether there is any serious interest on the part of Toll Brothers to get into a more detailed discussion about the development.

Mrs. Labow: Would it be appropriate to have a Councilmember or an attorney present, Mr. Greenbaum?

President Greenbaum: Not if Mr. Prill doesn’t want one. It is the Administrations ball at this point. Have you spoken to the Mayor about going to the meeting?

Mr. Prill: He was out of town today so I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about it.

President Greenbaum: When was the meeting set up?

Mr. Prill: Last Friday I got it confirmed.

Mr. Rattner: Mount Olive, because of a lot of different people, has had one of the best reputations with the County when it comes to Open Space. We started with Earl Spino. I believe that Bernie Guenther served on it. I served on it for a couple years. We have always put together a quality project that made a lot of sense. A few years ago when Rickland Village, we will use that name so people don’t know what we are talking about, fell through, the Open Space Committee and through the Planning Board went to the Freeholders and asked them to change their policy because we had good plans and they were done in great detail, to let the transfer of the money that they had already provided for that project, over to the B&H which they were providing additional funds on to make that happen. This was a project and this idea actually came from the Mayor and what the bottom line is, is the Mayor threw it out, came up with it, and even allowed the grants coordinator to put in an application when it wasn’t ready for primetime. The amount that we requested is two and a half times as much as we have ever requested before. In past years, they gave out a total to the whole County of about $12 million. We were asking for $5 million. This year was probably the one year that we probably had the best chance to get something like that because what the County did is all the projects that didn’t close over the last five or six years since the program was established, they put the money back in. So they had about $25-26 million that they could give out. So we had a couple of different things. We had a project that we think was worthy of it and the County actually had the money but you have to be ready to go. The Open Space Committee requested that the Mayor be on the site when they did the site review like they do every other year, which the Mayor hasn’t done. So most of the Council has to go and try to say why the Mayor couldn’t make it and give the presentation, to say about the Forest Legacy, we got $2 million of that on an $8 million project on the other side of the lake. We also got another $3 million, I believe, from Rodney Freilinghuysen. We also got another $2 million from the Morris Conservatory. So to avoid 112 houses and save the mountain ridge, 600 acres on the back of the lake were saved because of the work that had been done.
Mr. Rattner: (Cont’d): When we look at other big projects around, Mine Hill was just able to close on a big project there, $10 million, and was able to get the whole amount of funding. It was the Canfield Avenue project, $10 million and they didn’t have to put any money up. So it is there and you have to have a plan and it takes a lot of work. What happened this time, I believe, we’ve embarrassed the Township. It just keeps going on. When we put in the application, the Open Space Committee spends a lot of time doing the research, looking over the maps, finding out whether it is worthy, seeing what the development would do to the property, does it fit into their plan? Also, they gave up a Saturday morning to come to the site, to find out that we really didn’t have a plan. Nobody even made a call to Toll Brothers before this. We know that Kathy Murphy had tried but nobody wanted to talk to her. Usually, it’s the Business Administrator or the Mayor. What happened on this is in a year, a year in half when the Mayor proposed it, he did absolutely nothing. We don’t know whether it would have worked but what we do know is that project that we lost in court right along and they started work because I can see from the open space trip that we had over the weekend, a big large area in the middle of the woods that has already been cleared. We are talking about the possibility 400 and some odd units that could be a whole other school and we didn’t think it was a priority. The Administration did not think it was a priority to move ahead. So when we talk about different things that haven’t happened, that is one. I think we have only a couple of days to let the Open Space Committee know that we are pulling the application because it is not ready to go ahead. To make sure that the number two property that we wanted to look at, the Williams property I think we are calling it, is our primary concern and also give them an apology saying that there are certain issues such as the lawsuits that were going forward, that we apologize that we made them go through the work because I know they are not very happy with the result of coming out and finding out that we didn’t have a plan. That is all I have to say, thank you.

President Greenbaum: I basically heard the same thing, Steve, from the Morris County Open Space Committee but notwithstanding that, it is of such importance to the Township of Mount Olive that whatever we can do to see if we can purchase this property, it should be done. Mr. Prill, I would suggest that you allow a Councilmember to be involved in the process right from the beginning at this point and if you are so inclined to let me know and I will make sure that there is a Councilmember there so that we are working jointly towards the possible purchase of that property or a portion of that property.

Mr. Perkins: Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to make note again. Mr. Prill, I know you have answered my email. I advised you appropriately, that in today’s building economy which has taken a dramatic down swing in the past three months, albeit, there was no excuse for not being there for the open space meeting. However, any future negotiations with Toll Brothers, I believe, needs to be done on a limited basis. Kara Homes, one of the largest northeast builders in the United States, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. K. Hovnanian, one of the largest builders in the State of New Jersey, has any job that is not presently underway in the State has been withdrawn as has their application for the Four Seasons on Route 46 here in Budd Lake. I have the letter in front of me dated October 6, 2006, from their attorney where they have respectively withdrawn that application. Toll Brother’s work up at the Morris Chase at this point has been slow to say the least. Any negotiations or