Mount Olive Township Council Meetings

Council Public Meeting Minutes - September 11, 2007

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 for all those who have and continue to protect our freedoms and our way of life.

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. Rattner, Mrs. Labow, Mr. Tepper,
Mr. Tobey, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Greenbaum

Absent: None

Also Present: David Scapicchio, Mayor; William Sohl, Business Administrator;
John Dorsey, Township Attorney; Lisa Lashway, Township Clerk; Sherry Jenkins, CFO

MAYOR’S COMMENDATION –Saving of the Pony by the Budd Lake Fire Department

President Greenbaum: Mayor, you have a proclamation this evening for the Budd Lake Fire Department?

Mayor Scapicchio: It’s a community service award and it’s from the Mayor and the Council. It’s a community service award that’s going to be presented to the Budd Lake Fire Department in honor of the dedication and the service to the citizens of Mount Olive Township. This is for their service in terms of, not only do they rescue human lives, but they also go out there in the middle of the night and rescue animals. In this case it was a horse that was sunk in the mud and they put hours and hours into trying to save this horse and they certainly did. I guess when we all read that, we were all thrilled that these folks spent all that time and effort trying to save an animal’s life. As Mayor of Mount Olive Township I want to say how proud I am of all of the volunteers that volunteer their services to Mount Olive Township. With that, on behalf of myself, Council President Robert Greenbaum and the Council we present this community service award to the Budd Lake Fire Department. Ken, you and your men keep up the great job. We’re proud, we really are.

Questions on Bill List?

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

President Greenbaum: We’re up to Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings. We have four (seven) sets of Minutes. Mr. Tepper, do you want to move all of those Minutes?

Mr. Tepper: Yes Mr. President, I move for approval of the Minutes of the meetings of:

July 24, 2007, PM – All Present

August 7, 2007, WS & PM – All Present

August 21, 2007, WS & PM – All Present

September 4, 2007, WS & PM – All Present

Mr. Buell: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded, is there any discussion, deletions, additions, or comments? Roll Call please.

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

CORRESPONDENCE

LETTERS FROM RESIDENTS/ORGANIZATIONS

1. Publication received August 27, 2007, from Morris Habitat for Humanity.

2. Letter received September 4, 2007, from the Country Oaks Homeowners Association regarding the maintenance of a property destroyed by fire in March, 2004, at 5 Crestwood Circle.

3. Letter received September 4, 2007, from USDA Rural Development regarding Community Programs and Seminars ’07: Financial Assistance for Public Bodies and Non-Profits in Rural Communities.

4. E-mail received September 5, 2007, from the NJRA Redevelopment Training Institute regarding training dates for intermediate-level training modules that focus on the redevelopment of New Jersey’s communities.

RESOLUTIONS / ORDINANCE / CORRESPONDENCE OTHER TOWNS

5. Resolutions received August 20, 2007, from the Borough of Wharton urging the State of New Jersey to take financial responsibility for the cost of a Statewide Gypsy Moth Control Program and opposing the sale of State assets.

6. Ordinance received August 27, 2007, from the Township of Washington regarding Land Use.

7. Letter received August 27, 2007, from the Hopatcong Borough Police Department regarding the request for authorization by Northwest New Jersey Amateur Radio Club to install and OEM Repeater in Mount Olive Township.

8. Resolution received August 29, 2007, from the Township of Hanover regarding a request for the introduction of legislation requiring the registration of beer kegs prior to sale.

9. Resolution received September 4, 2007, from Keep It Green regarding support of the Green Acres, Farmland, Blue Acres, Historic Preservation Bond Act of 2007.

10. Letter received September 7, 2007, from the Township of East Hanover regarding the Third Annual Morris County Columbus Day Parade.

MUA / MSA

11. Letter received August 20, 2007, from the Musconetcong Sewerage Authority regarding comments by the Musconetcong Sewerage Authority, NJ DEP Proposed Rule Change.

12. Minutes received September 7, 2007, from the Musconetcong Sewerage Authority regarding the August 1, 2007, meeting.

DOT / DEP / LOI / HIGHLANDS

13. Letter received August 29, 2007, from Equity Environmental Engineering, LLC regarding the Highlands Applicability and Water Quality Management Plan Consistency Determination Application for Norrie, Single Family Home, Block 1201, Lot 7 (Project: 77 Crease Rd)

14. Letter received August 29, 2007, from the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, regarding a stream encroachment application, 30 day extension for the Mount Olive Industrial Realty c/o Trammel Crow Block 104, Lot 4.

15. Letter received August 29, 2007, from the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, regarding Notice of a Public Hearing for the proposed FFY2008 Priority System, Intended Use Plan and Project Priority List document for clean water financing.

16. Letter received August 31, 2007, from the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, regarding Toys R Us – Site Improvements Block 6600, Lot 1 (Bartley Road) Notice of Intent to Cancel.

17. Letter received September 4, 2007, from the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, regarding a Remedial Investigation Report/Remedial Investigation Workplan Approval for Petro Stop III, 132 Route 46 West.

18. Letter received September 4, 2007, from the Law Offices of Courter, Kobert, and Cohen regarding Toys R Us site improvements, Block 6601, Lot 1, Upper Raritan Water Quality Management Plan, with a request for an application for a Highlands consistency determination to be withdrawn.

19. Letter received September 6, 2007, from the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, regarding a construction permit issued to the NJ Vasa Home Water System.

LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES

20. Letter received August 30, 2007, from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding the League Seminar: Finding Funders: Supporting Community Projects Through Non-Tradition Avenues, and League Labor Relations Briefing: Interest Arbitration – Ninth Factor, Reform, Update and Strategies.

21. Program Information received August 31, 2007, from the Morris County League of Municipalities regarding Law Enforcement Issues & Communications in the County.

MORRIS COUNTY

22. Invitation received August 30, 2007, from the Morris County Green Table regarding Gypsy Moths: Coming Soon to a Tree Near You.

UTILITES

23. Letter received August 24, 2007, from New Jersey Natural Gas regarding the annual compliance filing of New Jersey Natural Gas Company to change the universal service fund and lifeline rate in the societal benefits charges rates.

24. Letter received August 27, 2007, from New Jersey Natural Gas regarding the annual compliance filing of New Jersey Natural Gas Company to change the universal service fund and lifeline rate in the societal benefits charges rates.

25. Letter received September 4, 2007, from New Jersey Natural Gas regarding a notice of Public Hearing in reference to the annual review of its conservation incentive program (CIP) F/Y 08.

26. Letter received September 4, 2007, from Jersey Central Power and Light regarding a Public Hearing for Basic Generation Services.

President Greenbaum: There are 26 pieces of Correspondence on the amended Agenda this evening. Does anyone wish to discuss any particular piece of Correspondence? Mr. Buell?

Mr. Buell: Yes, the letter about the house over on Crestwood Circle, I was wondering what the Administration is doing.

Mayor Scapicchio: What number Jim?

Mr. Buell: Number two.

Mrs. Labow: Actually I sent an e-mail about that too, we got the answer for that.

Mr. Sohl: That’s Country Oaks. We gave it to Property Maintenance and they’re looking into it.

Mr. Buell: Okay.

Mr. Sohl: They’re well aware of it already. That’s the one that had the fire.

President Greenbaum: Was there any action taken with respect to the house on 206, Bill?

Mr. Sohl: 176, we gave them that also.

President Greenbaum: Okay because I noted today as I drove home there was actually some activity going on in the house in terms of, it looks like…

Mr. Sohl: My understanding is that there was a set of permits that were finally processed, well not finally processed but filed and picked up recently.

President Greenbaum: Okay. Mr. Tepper?

Mr. Tepper: I’d like to understand a little bit more about item number 7. Hopatcong Borough Police Department is asking us for authorization to install a repeater in Mount Olive. I have two questions. Where and how will that benefit Mount Olive?

Mr. Sohl: No, let me correct that if I may. Oh okay, I was waiting for Rob to give me the official nod. The repeater would be an amateur radio repeater for use in the entire area. It’s not for Lake Hopatcong. They went to the Police Chief of Hopatcong who this organization has dealt with before, and placed a repeater of similar capabilities in the Hopatcong area. So this is sort of an endorsement if you will.

Mr. Tepper: Does our Police Department support that?

Mr. Sohl: I have not checked that yet and that is one of the things that we will be doing.

Mr. Tepper: Okay.

President Greenbaum: I would imagine that they would. It seems to me that it would be beneficial to the community to be able to have further communication through whatever means available in the event of an emergency.

Mr. Tepper: I’d just like to know that they support it before saying it’s a good thing.

Mr. Sohl: Sure, absolutely.

President Greenbaum: Absolutely. Colleen?

Mrs. Labow: Any costs?

President Greenbaum: Not to us.

Mr. Sohl: No.

Mrs. Labow: Nothing to us, okay.

President Greenbaum: Thank you.

ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING - None

ORDINANCES FOR FIRST READING – (Public Hearing September 25, 2007,)

President Greenbaum: We do have an Ordinance for First Reading entitled:

Ord. #-39-2007 An Ordinance of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Establishing No Parking, No Standing, No Stopping on Various Roads in the General Area of the Mount Olive Township High School (Continuation of Ordinance 43-05).

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

Mr. Buell: Certainly, thank you, I move that Ordinance #39-2007 be introduced by title and passed on first reading and that a meeting be held on September 25, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mount Olive, NJ for a public hearing consideration of said reading and passage of said ordinance and that the Clerk be directed to publish, post and make available such ordinance in accordance with the requirements of law.

President Greenbaum: Is there a second?

Mr. Rattner: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded, is there any discussion? 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 – P. Tobey

1. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Professional Services Agreement with Schoor DePalma in Connection with the Water System Interconnection.

2. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Release of Performance Guarantees in Connection with Subaru @ Mount Olive.

3. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Professional Services Agreement with Princeton Hydro, LLC for Services in Connection with the Remediation and Control of the Weeds in Budd Lake.

4. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Dedication by Rider for Electronic Receipt Fees Pursuant to NJSA 40A:4-39.

5. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Awarding a Contract to Vickery Companies for a Type III Ambulance for Budd Lake First Aid & Rescue.

6. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing Mayor David Scapicchio to Execute a Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund Application.

7. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Granting a Plenary Retail Consumption License to White Lodging Services Corporation Trading as the Residence Inn by Marriott in Accordance with the Hotel/Motel Exception.

President Greenbaum: This evening on the Consent Resolutions Agenda there are actually six. Number three has been moved to Non Consent. Does anyone wish to have any of these six remaining Resolutions removed to Non Consent? Seeing none, Mr. Tobey do you want to move one, two, and four through seven.

Mr. Tobey: Yes, I move Consent Resolutions one, two, and four through seven.

Mr. Perkins: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded, does anyone from the public wish to be heard on any of the Resolutions on the Consent Resolutions Agenda? Seeing none, does any Council member have any brief clarifying statements? Seeing none, Roll Call.

PUBLIC PORTION ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS - none

COUNCIL COMMENTS ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS - none

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

RESOLUTIONS NON CONSENT

President Greenbaum: The first Resolution is number three, entitled:

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

Mr. Perkins: Yes I move for adoption of Non Consent Resolution number three.

Mrs. Labow: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded. Does anyone from the public wish to be heard? Yes sir, Ned, you have to come up and state your name and address please.

PUBLIC PORTION ON INDIVIDUAL RESOLUTIONS

Ned McDonnell, Budd Lake: This professional services agreement, what is it going to cost?

President Greenbaum: $6,200.

Mr. McDonnell: Okay, is this just for a study, or is this for actual work to be done?

President Greenbaum: This is not the actual putting of the chemicals in the Lake.

Mr. Buell: Actually it’s for developing the plan for the next year going forward. So it’s really going out, studying the Lake, and…

President Greenbaum: There is some more discussion that we are going to have at some point down the road when it comes time to actually put chemicals in the Lake.

Mr. McDonnell: Yes, because I think that’s a hot subject, putting chemicals in the Lake.

President Greenbaum: It is, and Mr. Perkins has raised several issues that he wants clarified and it will come back to the governing body. I don’t really want to get into a discussion this evening. This is simply to approve the professional services contract to start moving forward with the plan in the event that we ultimately put the chemicals into the Lake.

Mr. McDonnell: Very good, I just wanted to make sure that we weren’t just going right ahead and doing something. Thank you.

President Greenbaum: Thank you. Does anyone else wish to be heard on this particular resolution? Dave, you have to state your name and address please.

Dave Tomb, 84 Sand Shore Road: I appreciate Councilman Perkins’ comments and whatnot, but I think it’s very important that we move forward with the Resolution only from the standpoint that we really need to get started on the study and the analysis of the Lake immediately so that that plan can be put together. Thank you.

President Greenbaum: Thank you. Does anyone else wish to be heard? Seeing none, I close it to the public. I am going to offer an amendment, and I’d like someone to actually move it, that the Resolution be amended to include in the last paragraph, “Be it further resolved that this contract is awarded without competitive bidding, as the services to be provided are professional in nature, in an amount not to exceed $6,200.”

Mr. Rattner: So moved.

Mr. Buell: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded so we will vote on the amendment to the Resolution. All in favor?

AYE

COUNCIL COMMENTS ON INDIVIDUAL RESOLUTIONS

President Greenbaum: So now we just have the amended Resolution. Does any Council member wish to be heard on the amended Resolution? Mr. Perkins?

Mr. Perkins: Thank you Mr. President. Where to begin? There are alternative methods to treating weeds in the Lake. Albeit, I give much thanks for all of the hard work and effort that the committees and sub-committees have put in to investigating the Lake and looking at ways to treat the weeds. That’s admirable. However, being a very strong Green proponent I’m the last guy that’s going to stand up here and vote yes to put any chemicals into the Lake when there are Green alternatives that can be utilized. Mats and blankets have been successfully used and I’m sure research would point that out. I’m not against voting in favor of this Resolution going forward for an investigation and qualitative analysis, however it must include the alternative of Green treatment of these weeds before we go and put any chemicals in. I’ve been told these chemicals inhibit the light transfusion, so does the tarp, so does the mat. The mats are reusable and the chemicals are not. As a Vietnam veteran I can tell you how many of us walked into Agent Orange which was perfectly great, good stuff, and it wasn’t going to hurt anybody, and all of the deaths and whatnot from that chemical. There are mountains of data available that are in support of SONAR and REWARD and will tell you all of the good things. I would venture to say that in twenty years when research is better and there’s more empirical data there will be mountains of data that will tell us about all of the bad side effects that came from using it. It has been the history of the chemical industry for years, and I think it’s prudent on the Township’s part to go forward, just Mr. Perkins (cont’d): expand the study that was done, and ask them to look at some of these methods. I agree that harvesting is not the way to go. I am just unfortunately not the guy who is going to vote for chemicals to be put into that Lake when there are Green alternatives. They may cost more, they may not be as effective, they may take a little bit longer, but they are, in the long run, just as using compact fluorescent lights, better air conditioning, better heating equipment, better for the overall environment. Thank you Mr. President.

President Greenbaum: Thank you, does anyone else wish to be heard? Mr. Tepper.

Mr. Tepper: Given what Mr. Perkins has brought up, my questions would be the work that Princeton Hydro is doing specific to chemicals, What value is there in having that study done if we are not going to proceed with that as the solution?

President Greenbaum: I don’t know that that’s actually the case, that we’re not going to be moving with that method. That’s the recommendation of the Lake Committee that studied the subject. They have recommended that we move forward with Princeton and that we actually utilize the chemicals to do the weed control as per their recommendation. Ultimately if we decide to go a different route then the money that we spent with Princeton Hydro… Either the study is going to have to be amended or it’s going to be money that the Township spent without any result or benefit to the Township.

Mr. Tepper: Dave, was the method that Ray has proposed in terms of putting down black matting or dye even considered by the Lake Committee?

Mr. Tomb: Although it may not have been evident in our package to you, there was internet research that was done, there were calls that were made to the professional firms that handle this, and we deemed it so inappropriate at that point that we decided it wasn’t worth mentioning based upon our findings. Dyes are not legal in this state for any Lake over ten acres for instance, so that point is totally out of the question, okay? If you get into the mats or the coverings, there could be some, you could stretch IT to say there are some safety issues but more importantly you cannot cover, it’s meant for going in and around coves and docks or something like that, that are shallow waters. When you go out into the Lake where our weeds were prevalent, it wasn’t meant for that. So again we kind of put that to the side. As the President has said, you know, I think a lot of this will come out later on. Again we need to move forward with adopting the Resolution. Princeton Hydro, they are very professional, they have PhD’s in limnology. They’re the ones that teach all of these other firms and educate them, even the DEP. They educate the DEP. So that’s why it was our recommendation to go with them and you can certainly ask them to look at all the alternatives and I am sure they will. That’s basically what they’re there for. Maybe it will be a combination of things that will help our Lake. Does that answer your question?

Mr. Tepper: Thank you, yes it does.

President Greenbaum: Thank you, anyone else with any questions? Seeing none, Roll Call.

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

President Greenbaum: Okay, we’re up to Non Consent number eight. The Administration has asked us to revisit the issue with respect to the outside wiring for DPW.

8. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Approving a Change Order Under the Contract Issued to Wire’s Electrical Shop. ($23,614.00 underground).

9. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Approving a Change Order Under the Contract Issued to Wire’s Electrical Shop. ($11,400.00 above ground).

Mr. Sohl: We’d like to discuss nine. It’s an either-or situation.

President Greenbaum: Mr. Rattner?

Mr. Rattner: I was the one that brought up the issue and I still like underground utilities. However, based on the amount of work that has been done around the area that has to be actually connected, I would withdraw my suggestion that prompted Resolution number eight, and I will support at this time Resolution number nine.

President Greenbaum: Do you want to move number nine?

Mr. Rattner: I’ll move number nine.

Mr. Perkins: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded. Anyone from the audience who wishes to be heard on Non Consent Resolution number nine. Seeing no one, any further Council comment? Seeing no one, Roll Call please.

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

President Greenbaum: That makes number eight unnecessary and we won’t move it.

MOTIONS

President Greenbaum: Mr. Perkins, do you want to move the Raffle Applications please?

Mr. Perkins: Yes Mr. President, I move for:

1. Approval of Raffle Application #2210 for Cerebral Palsy of New Jersey, Inc., Raffle Applications #2211 & #2212 for St. James Episcopal Church, Raffle Applications #2213, #2214 & #2215 for the Mt. Olive High School Parents Club and Raffle Application #2216, Bingo Application #2217 & Raffle Application #2218 for the Budd Lake Volunteer Fire Co. #1.

Mr. Buell: Second.

President Greenbaum: Moved and seconded. Any more Raffle and Bingo applications and we’re going to have to rename our town. Roll Call please?

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously with the exception Mrs. Labow abstained from numbers 2213, 2214, and 2215 because she is the President of the Parent’s Club

President Greenbaum: Do you want to move the Bill List Mrs. Labow?

2. Bill List

Mrs. Labow: I move the Bill List for approval.

President Greenbaum: Is there a second?

Mr. Buell: Second.

President Greenbaum: Any comments?

ROLL CALL – Passed Unanimously

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS – Appointment of Daniel Amianda to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (Mayoral Appointment)

Mayor Scapicchio: I plan to appoint, or have appointed Daniel Amianda to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. He will be the liaison for the Board of Education. Based on the new criteria that the County has implemented, there’s an increased interest in introducing some additional recycling efforts. We thought it would be incumbent to have a representative from the Board of Education to be included in this Committee. That was actually a suggestion from Colleen and Daniel is my appointment.

President Greenbaum: Thank you. Best of luck to you, Daniel, in your appointment.

OLD BUSINESS - none

NEW BUSINESS - none

LEGAL MATTERS

Mr. Dorsey: I would just say that Rose continues to do a great job dealing with those that come in to pay, the seven named by Mr. Dattolo, who come in to pay their revised Budd Lake sanitary sewer bills for the third quarter. I am pleased to say that four of the seven have paid up and Shell Oil called from Houston today and they are prepared to resolve their issue as well.

President Greenbaum: Excellent. We’re up to Council Reports.

COUNCIL REPORTS

Recreation Liaison Report

Mr. Tobey: We have the meeting tomorrow evening.

Board of Health Report

Mrs. Labow: We meet next week.

Planning Board Report

Mr. Tepper: Meets later in the month.

Board of Adjustment Liaison Report

Mr. Perkins: No Report.

Open Space Committee Report

Mrs. Labow: We had our Open Space meeting last night. Mayor Scapicchio was there with us and Laura Szwak, the Chair of our Committee, gave us a really great report about our Open Trust facts. It’s very interesting to note that a total of 1,509 acres of farmland and Open Space have been preserved using the Open Space Trust. Nine of the 17 acquisitions have been located in Budd Lake, seven in Flanders, and one property which is Turkey Brook which is midway and is technically the geographic center of both Budd Lake and Flanders. It’s been a really great successful program and at this point we’re really looking to see where our focus is going to be for the future and discussing that. We have another important paragraph here. She said, “57% of the expenditures of the Trust have been used to purchase land including expenses associated with land acquisition. About 40% of the Trust funds have been used to develop recreation facilities in Turkey Brook and 3% have been used in the past three years for historic preservation to stabilize the Seward House and the Baptist Church.” We’re going to try to make this into a formal presentation, or a pamphlet of some sort so that we can get this out to the public so that everybody can start to see where our Open Space funds are going, as well as we want to start identifying all of our Open Space land that all of our residents can utilize.

Legislative Committee Report

Mr. Buell: None.

Pride Committee Liaison Report

Mr. Perkins: Nothing.

Board of Education Liaison Report

Mr. Buell: They met last night. There are two items of interest. First of all they brought up the increase in the Budd Lake Sewer assessment for the Chester M. Stevens and the High School of $100,000 and they indicated that they were going to be talking to Administration about that change in assessment. So you can expect that at some point they will be back.

Mr. Sohl: We’ve already heard from them and we’re going to meet with them on Monday.

Mr. Buell: The other one is the softball field, part of the construction. Evidently the grass is now growing so it has alleviated some of the drainage problems that result from the softball field, down to School House Lane. Not all of the problems have been resolved by the grass growing in. So there are still issues that relate to the Town’s stormwater management and drainage in that softball field and the High School construction. It’s something that needs to be watched carefully.

Lake/Environment Issues Committee

Mr. Rattner: Nothing to add.

Safety Committee Liaison

Mr. Perkins: No meeting.

Finance Committee Report

Mr. Rattner: The Finance Committee met on August 22nd, and to refresh everybody’s memory the Committee’s members are myself, Jim Buell, Phil Tobey, John Sorel, and Roy Hansel. Attending the meeting was also the Mayor, Bill Sohl, and Sherry Jenkins, the CFO. Two primary items were on the Agenda. First was a presentation on the online payment process, credit card acceptance policy which the Administration gave with a presentation to the entire Council last week at the Workshop obviously after the presentation, to the Committee. The Committee endorsed it so they are working on implementing what we heard last week. The other item happened to be with joint and shared service opportunities and that will be the main subject of our September meeting.

Economic Development Committee Report

Mr. Rattner: Nothing to report.

Solid Waste Advisory Committee Report

Mrs. Labow: We meet tomorrow evening.

Library Board Liaison

Mr. Tepper: Nothing to report.

PUBLIC PORTION

Nelson Russell: I’m having trouble getting through the legalese on Resolution number four. We’re now able to process electronic payments? Does this mean I can buy trash stickers online?

President Greenbaum: The decision was made, correct me if I’m wrong Sherry, I don’t think it’s in place yet. We’re moving in that direction. You can’t come up to the building and use a credit card, but we’re going to open it up for online payments for all of the departments, except for certain items which will be specifically addressed, such as escrows and things of that nature. Yes, that’s the direction that we’re moving in consistent with the discussion that we had when you were here with regard to the trash stickers. The problem is that you can’t use a credit card. Most of the debate last week was with respect to the use of credit cards in the building and there is a distinction made by the credit card companies for online versus in person use of credit cards and what fees you can and cannot charge. So the decision was made by the Council at this point to move forward with the ability to buy, to open up the departments to using a credit card online. There will be some small fee associated with being able to do that, it’s de minimis. For instance, for a $10 sticker it might be a $1 fee, something along those lines. I forget what it was, was it 6%?

Mrs. Jenkins: 1.75%.

President Greenbaum: 1.75% and we capped it at $30.

Mrs. Labow: $10.

President Greenbaum: $10.

Mr. Russell: So then that sticker would then be mailed to you or do you still have to…?

President Greenbaum: I assume that the sticker would then be mailed to you. The details of how everything is going to work is going to be a developing process, but we’re moving in that direction.

Mr. Russell: Thank you. Do you have a projected timeframe?

President Greenbaum: You can speak to Sherry. She’s going to be the one that’s actually going to be implementing the process. There were some meetings that she needed to have with the people in charge of the credit card operations.

Mr. Russell: Another question, the raffle tickets. St. James Episcopal Church is located in Hackettstown.

President Greenbaum: If the raffle happens in Mount Olive they come to Mount Olive.

Mr. Russell: But the actual raffle drawing would be done in Hackettstown.

Mrs. Lashway: The drawing will be done at the Budd Lake Fire House.

Mr. Russell: Excuse me?

President Greenbaum: Budd Lake Fire House.

Mr. Russell: Oh, it will be done at the Fire House. Okay thank you.

President Greenbaum: Anyone else from the public? Seeing none, I close it to the public.

COUNCIL COMMENTS

President Greenbaum: Sherry anything this evening.

Mrs. Jenkins: Actually, I went to a seminar today that was very interesting on the new property tax levy that’s going to be coming out that we’re going to have to deal with in next year’s budget. I don’t know if anybody has looked into it but in addition to the spending cap that we have we’re also going to have a levy cap of 4%, and the calculation is pretty extensive of how to get there. There are additions, there are solutions but it’s going to prove to be quite challenging.

President Greenbaum: I look forward to the challenge. Mr. Sohl, anything this evening.

Mr. Sohl: Yes, I’d just like to report I touched base with the NJDOT regarding the sign that we had requested that they put on Route 206. The sign has been designed now, they’re in a process where they then go to the Capital Program Committee of the NJDOT for approval, and it is being drafted as a recommendation from NJDOT. That takes several weeks and we expect to hear back from NJDOT that approval has been received probably within a month at which point it has been suggested to us that we try to escalate at that point to get installation expedited.

President Greenbaum: Okay, Mayor anything?

Mayor Scapicchio: Just that the Morris County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund had their 20 year anniversary and it’s been brought to my attention that over those 20 years that they estimate that we saved $3.5 million in premiums by being a participant of that joint service.

Mr. Sohl: And they gave us a nice plaque.

President Greenbaum: Mr. Perkins?

Mr. Perkins: Thank you. I’ll make this short. I just want to clarify for the Lake Committee, for the guys that are doing the research that my objective is not to slow down your progress. That is not my objective. My objective is to gather as much empirical data and research, and of course I have to leave most of that up to you and the Princeton Hydro people. I’ve asked questions specifically and Mr. Tomb may not have gotten some answers back. I’m not sure that everyone is privy to the answers. I’ll give you one of the answers. I heard back from Bob O’Neill of NJ Water Supply. He said that both Round Valley and Spruce Run have been able to avoid using herbicides in the Lake. Round Valley had permits to use herbicides but did not have to use them. This gets interesting now. The deeper waters, as we talked about the mats, do not have the weed problem. In the more shallow areas where we should have the mats where weeds are a problem, they have largely been controlled when the reservoir levels are down due to the dam maintenance. The plants die and the Lake bottom is exposed. Because Budd Lake is a natural lake, we can’t expose the bottom and this was by Kathy Murphy our Grants Coordinator, and I thank you very much for that. So to the point, Dave, where you have discussed that it’s in the deeper areas, and that the mats were made for the smaller areas, that contradicts what we got from the Water Supply. The Water Supply says that in deep areas, because the light doesn’t penetrate as much then the weeds don’t grow as much. So obviously where you have light you have photosynthesis. Without light you can’t have photosynthesis. My point being let’s investigate every alternative, the pros and cons, both from an economic and more importantly from an environmental aspect. We’ve passed a Green resolution here that was brought by Mr. Tobey and I helped him draft that Green Resolution. We’ve had our Mayor sign on to the U.S. Congress of Mayor’s Kyoto Protocol to reduce the carbon footprint within the Township of Mount Olive. I think we owe it to the environment as well as the citizens and our children in this Township to make sure that if we’re going to add any chemical into that Lake that it is a last resort, and that we have exhausted any other Green methodology that might have been preferred and might not have had the long term effect that an herbicide may have. That is my only point in trying to bring that out, and it is not to slow down your progress.

President Greenbaum: Thank you. Mr. Rattner?

Mr. Rattner: Just for people who don’t realize that we cancelled next week’s meeting and the reason why it was cancelled is because our Business Administrator is being awarded the Humanitarian of the Year with his wife by the Morris County (Mount Olive) Chamber of Commerce. Obviously we are all very proud when one of us or any of us wins an award such as that. So I wanted to bring up why, this way I can ease into why we don’t have a meeting and at the same time congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Sohl on their award.

President Greenbaum: I, too, congratulate you and I will be present to celebrate.

Mr. Sohl: Thank you.

Mr. Rattner: I guess that’s why we cancelled the meeting.

President Greenbaum: I just want to follow up on what Ray had to say with regard to the weed issues in the Lake. I wholeheartedly support the Lake Committee, the effort that the Committee gave, the research that they did and will support any recommendation that comes out of the Lake Committee. From my perspective, while the entire community has an extreme vested interest in the health and safety of the Lake, no one is more interested in doing the right thing at the Lake than the people who serve on the Committee at our request for the entire community’s benefit. I know that Mr. Perkins shares in his commendation of what you guys have done and continue to do for all of us. I can tell you that when I put my swing set in my back yard, I thought about it in advance and I put down a weed net over the soil. I can tell you if you want to see what a weed net does you should come to my house because it looks like the Amazon at this point. So I’m not a big proponent. If I thought it would work then it’s a much better option than what has been proposed but I don’t think that it would work. I would imagine that you people would be convinced that it wouldn’t work before you went the route of putting chemicals in the Lake.

Motion was made and seconded, all in favor and none opposed, the meeting was adjourned at 8:06 pm.

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Robert J. Greenbaum, 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 September 25, 2007.

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Lisa M. Lashway, Township Clerk