Mt. Olive Township Council Minutes
March 12, 2002

The Regular Meeting of the Mount Olive Township Council was called to order at 7:30pm by Council President Scapicchio with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

MOMENT OF REFLECTION

President Scapicchio: If everyone would just join us. At these Public Meetings, we now do a moment of reflection of the men and women fighting terrorism and defending the freedom that we all enjoy.

According to the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate Notice of this Meeting has been given to the Mt. Olive Chronicle and the Morristown Daily Record. Notice has been posted at in the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Mt. Olive, New Jersey, and notices were sent to those requesting the same.
Present: Mr. Guenther, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Rattner, Mr. Scapicchio
Absent: Mrs. Miller, Mr. Spino

Also in attendance: Mayor Licitra, Sherry Jenkins, CFO/Act. Business Administrator, John Dorsey, Township Attorney, Lisa Lashway, Township Clerk

* Public Hearing - Cryan & O'Kane, LLC Objection to Liquor License Transfer to Flanders Bar & Liquors, Inc., t/a Kiernan's Pub OBJECTION WITHDRAWN*

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

Chuck Spangler, Flanders-Netcong Road, Flanders: This might be a surprise to you, Mr. Scapicchio, but this is a commercial. I don't know whether you know it or not, but we have a Mt. Olive Education Foundation that is dedicated to giving out grants to various projects that teachers might want to do that have not been funded in the regular budget in the school and we are in the process of doing a fund raiser which will be on Friday, April 5th. The tickets are $20, this is a donation. It is an exempt organization. You have to call ahead of time to get your tickets and it will be $10 for children. As President of the Trustees, I want to urge all of you to purchase one ticket and possibly two tickets and if you contact me I will tell you where to get the tickets or get them for you. We would like for you to join in and contribute to the organization because we are just starting out and we do need some funding. Thank you very much.

President Scapicchio: Chuck, is that a musical over at the High School?

Mr. Spangler: No, it's at the Middle School.

Pat Fiedler, 24 Flanders Road, Budd Lake: I have lived in the Township for 30 years and I am here to ask a question. Some of the people whom I have hunted with in the area said that there is something in the wind about an ordinance to stop hunting here or to restrict firearms and bow hunting in the area.

President Scapicchio: That is absolutely untrue.

Mr. Fiedler: Absolutely untrue. So this is a rumor then?

President Scapicchio: It is a rumor. I can tell you what we are looking at, although it is not scheduled for workshop agenda item as of yet. There have been several residents that have come up and claimed that hunters that belong to hunting clubs sort of meander off the property that they really are allowed to hunt on. What we have talked about in terms of discussing at a future workshop is to possibly make the property owners who lease their property to these gun clubs make available to the Township Clerk and the Township Police Department the name, telephone number and address of a contact person within that gun club so that if there is a question or emergency, there is someone the Township can contact. What we have also done, Lisa Lashway, the Township Clerk has requested the names or phone numbers of the hunting clubs that the Police Department may be aware of that hunt within the Township so that we can notice them and include them in those discussions.

Mr. Fielder: Can anyone be a part for the information because obviously there is wrong information out there. Can anyone, like myself, can I be a part of a Board?

President Scapicchio: You can certainly participate in that workshop discussion and if you leave your name and phone number with Lisa, she'll put you on the list and when it does come up for a workshop, she will contact you and the public will be more than welcome to participate in those discussions but rest assured and tell your friends that this Council is not looking to ban hunting, we are not looking to eliminate firearms, it's the farthest thing from the truth.

Mr. Fielder: Thank you.

Karen Zawistowski (Tinc Rd. School): I'm a teacher at Tinc Road School and along with Denise Marrs, PTO President, we've written a letter and I'd like to read it. "As we all know, the events of September 11th have effected many of us and Tinc Road School lost Hilda Marcin, a long time friend, coworker and special education teacher's aide in that horrible tragedy. To help honor her memory, the faculty, friends and Parent Teacher Organization has pooled resources to erect a gazebo on the grass at Tinc Road School. The structure is an 18 foot gazebo. The cost of the materials breaks out as follows: the kit is $7,890; the stain, $195; landscaping, $800; and plaque, $75 for a total of $8,890. To help reduce the overall cost, the faculty and parents at Tinc Road School will build and stain the gazebo ourselves. The footings and cement used in the project with be supplied by the grounds and maintenance department through the Board of Education. We have raised a total of $5,990. We are $2,900 short of the funds needed to pay for the materials. We are kindly requesting the additional funds from the Township. With your help, we can provide a permanent memorial for our lost friend and a quiet place for students and other members of the community to enjoy for many years to come."

President Scapicchio: I have had many discussions with Denise and I told her that I would bring that up at the next Budget Hearing and I think that we can get a consensus to include those funds in that budget so if you can leave with us that itemized list that you've just read, that would be very helpful. We are going to try and do our best to help fund that.

Miss Zawistowski: When will we know?

President Scapicchio: Well, you'll have to wait till we adopt the Budget. Mayor? We can't do anything even if we all agree on this funding; we can't do anything till we adopt this budget.

Mrs. Jenkins: You have to make sure that the funding is going to be in the adopted budget, as long as we have funds in the temporary budget, we could definitely do that now.

Mayor Licitra: The only thing I would say is that, have you contacted anybody from Flanders, as far as the McEntee memorial that they put down over there?

Miss Zawistowski: We are getting the gazebo from the same place they are getting it from and they told me that down at Mountain View School, where they are building the same gazebo that their PTO raised most of the money, within their school they raised the money and the Amish Country Gazebos, where we are getting it, they are giving me a cut, they reduced their price for me. Even though it sounds very expensive, they have brought it down and we've raised money but we are still short. But we did do everything they did and even just by staining it, we are cutting down the costs of painting it and doing all that ourselves.

Mayor Licitra: The pricing was all from donations, the $5,000 something?

Miss Zawistowski: Yes

Mayor Licitra: Did you approach the School Board about any funds that they may have available?

Miss Zawistowski: Our PTO is giving $3,000, so that price is included into the $5,990 that we have. The money aside from the PTO was just from donations within the school, through the newspaper. Hilda's family requested to make donations in her name as opposed to sending flowers and the teachers donated money.

Mayor Licitra: The only thing I was alluding to was, the School Administration itself, they are doing their budgeting right now also and they may have some funds available. So this way if the Council is so inclined to put money in the budget, it may not be as much as you need and they may split the cost, so something should be worked out, so I would approach them.

President Scapicchio: Mayor, do you think we can split the cost between this Board and that Board?

Mayor Licitra: I would think that that would be the proper thing at this point. Give the School Administration a chance to join in this effort, an overall Township effort. So I would show them the courtesy of going to them and asking them for a donation so they can be a part of the whole thing.

President Scapicchio: Would the Council be receptive to that approach?

Mr. Rattner: I think there definitely has to be some kind of sharing. We are both going through our budgets. We are going through some real bad cuts trying to control taxes. The School Board I know is in their discussions. Their budget is two and a half, three times what ours is. So when we have that kind of expense it hits us a lot harder than them. I would be a lot more amenable to matching whatever the School

Mr. Rattner (cont'd): Board does, whatever they are short, it's on school property, the School Board pays this much, I'm sure we can find the money in our budget but it's going to come out of somebody else's.

Mr. Greenbaum: I think that is a good approach but if that fails, I think we should revisit the issue.

Mr. Perkins: I agree.

Mr. Guenther: Agree.

President Scapicchio: I think you have a consensus and the next step is for you is to approach the Board of Ed, tell them that you got a commitment out of the Council to split that difference and then let us know. How's that?

Miss Zawistowski: Okay, thank you so much.

President Scapicchio: Thank you. No one else wishing to be heard, President Scapicchio closed the public portion.

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS - Appointment of Josh Weiss to Recreation Advisory Committee

Mrs. Jenkins: We have none, thank you.

President Scapicchio: You have an appointment of somebody to the Recreation Advisory Committee, is that just for information purposes?

Harvey Kessler (President, Recreation Advisory Committee) - from the audience: He is a youth member...

Mrs. Jenkins: I believe so, yes.

President Scapicchio: We don't have to take any action. So, it's for informational purposes, we don't have to take any action?

Mrs. Jenkins: I don't believe so, no.

LEGAL MATTERS

Mr. Dorsey: Number One, the Kiernan's were successful before Judge MacKenzie yesterday so there is no hearing tonight and their resolution which is listed as non-consent should be moved up and made Resolution Number Six under Consent so they can go home early and have the matter resolved. In connection with Charter's Farm, my understanding is that the County was to have the Environmental Phase I Study made and they have done that. We are waiting to get the results. We were to have a home inspection made of the home that is located on that property. Kathy Murphy was to take care of that. She couldn't find anybody to do it so we had it done and I have now forwarded to you a copy of that study. The house is probably in as good condition as farm houses go in western Morris and Sussex Counties but that is not to say that it is in very good shape. The seller is not going to make any repairs to the house on the basis that what he is really selling is the 60 or 65 acres of land. His position is that it is a very reduced price. So you have it and unless I hear from you to the contrary, by next Tuesday night, I will assume, that you have seen the report and that you still want to go forward with the deal even though the house is in a fiximup situation which means it needs a lot of work. Other than that, the sale proceeds and the tenant has been given notice to vacate the premise so we anticipate a closing about mid April.

President Scapicchio: How long does the tenant have to move out of there, John?

Mr. Dorsey: It depends on the tenancy they have, I believe they were month-to-month and they have a 60 day notice which has been given to them according to the seller's attorney.

President Scapicchio: Mayor, you weren't here, we passed over your appointment. Did you want to make a statement? Josh Weiss.

Mayor Licitra: I think he will be a very attentive Board Member.

Mr. Guenther: Just about your comment Harvey, we also agreed that he would instead of trying to get two youth members, since we seem to have a hard time keeping, that he would actually be the liaison with the Mayor's youth committee. So we will only have one youth member. He will be active and coordinate between the two committees.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS:

February 26, 2002 CS Present: Mr. Guenther, Mrs. Miller, President Scapicchio, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Rattner
Absent: Mr. Spino

March 5, 2002 CS Present: Mr. Guenther, Mrs. Miller, President Scapicchio, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Rattner, Mr. Spino, Mrs. Lashway, Township Clerk, Peter King, Esq., Township Attorney, Mrs. Jenkins, Acting Business Administrator/CFO, Mayor Licitra
Absent: None

Mr. Greenbaum moved for the approval of the minutes and Mr. Guenther seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

CORRESPONDENCE

Letters from Residents & Businesses

1. Letter received on February 25, 2002 from Dan and Kay Cerebration regarding Water Shortages in Mt. Olive Township.

2. Letter received on February 28, 2002 from Herolds Landscaping, & Garden Center Re: Water restrictions and conservation methods for green industry professionals.

Resolution, Ordinances, Correspondences from Other Municipalities

3. Letter received on February 25, 2002 from Washington Township regarding an Ordinance RO-06-02 to amend Chapter 175, subdivision of land of the code of the Township of Washington.

League of Municipalities

4. E-mail received on March 2, 2002 from the League of Municipalities regarding The Senate Voting Session.

5. E-Mail received on February 26, 2002 from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities regarding
I. Federal Labor Relation Bills; could Preempt Local Power.
II. Proposed Federal Budget that Could Slash COPS Funding.

DOT / DEP / Permit's /LOI's

6. Letter received on February 28, 2002 from the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Regarding observed violations at 38 Bartley Road [B 6900 L 34].

7. Letter received March 4, 2002 from an applicant who has filed an application for a Letter of Interpretation with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection; 8 Spring St, Mt. Olive Township [B 3305 L 29].

8. Letter received from EcolSciences, Inc. regarding an application for a Letter of Interpretation to verify the delineated limits of wetland within B 4500, L 35 ( 104-106 Route 206) B 4500, L 36 (Gold Mine Road) in the Township of Mount Olive and Block 38, lots 15, 15.2, and 15.3 in the Township of Roxbury.

Correspondence from Organizations / Committees / Boards

9. Letter received February 25, 2002 from the Morris County Planning Board regarding Planning Board Minutes from the meeting held on February 21, 2002.

10. Invitation received March 4, from the Morris County Alliance for Action regarding A Morris County Chapter Meeting.

11. Letter Received on March 4, 2002 from the Alliance for Action Inc. regarding an invite to attend the Morris County Alliance for Action Chapter Meeting on March 22, 2002 at 8:30 pm.

12. Letter and fully executed application received on March 4, 2002 from the Manager of Local Government services as approved by the Department of Transportation for 2002 Municipal Aid Program, Pleasant Hill Road, Mt. Olive Township.

13. Letter received March 6, from Caldwell Banker regarding Real Estate Actions.

Notices

14. Letter received on March 7, 2002 from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Divisions of Local Government Services regarding amended requirements for compliance with the extraordinary unspecifiable services, (EUS) Changes to the Local Public Contracts Law.

Utilities/Cable

15. Letter received on March 1, 2002 from GPU Energy regarding a seminar held by GPU Energy.

President Scapicchio stated that we had 15 items of correspondence and asked if Council had any comments.

ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING

President Scapicchio: Opened the hearing to the public on

Ord. #4-2002 Bond Ordinance Amending Section 3(e) (f) and (p) of Bond Ordinance Numbered 11-2001 of the Township of Mount Olive, in the County of Morris, New Jersey Finally Adopted May 8, 2001 (Budd Lake Ladder Truck Refurb & Hopkins Rd. Drainage).

No one wishing to be heard, the hearing was closed.

Mr. Rattner moved for adoption and final passage of Ord. #4-2002. Mr. Guenther seconded the motion.

Roll Call: Passed Unanimously

President Scapicchio: Declared Ord. #4-2002 is passed on second reading and I hereby direct the Clerk to forward a copy of same to the Mayor and to publish the notice of adoption as required by law.

President Scapicchio: Opened the hearing to the public on

Ord. #5-2002 An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive Applying Title 39 of the New Jersey Statutes to the Shopping Center Referred to as ITC Crossings (South).

No one wishing to be heard, the hearing was closed.

Mr. Greenbaum moved for adoption and final passage of Ord. #5-2002. Mr. Guenther seconded the motion.

Roll Call: Passed Unanimously

President Scapicchio: Declared Ord. #5-2002 is passed on second reading and I hereby direct the Clerk to forward a copy of same to the Mayor and to publish the notice of adoption as required by law.

President Scapicchio: Opened the hearing to the public on

Ord. #6-2002 Bond Ordinance Providing a Supplemental Appropriation of $1,608,000 for the Construction of a Municipal Library in and by the Township of Mount Olive, in the County of Morris, New Jersey and Authorizing the Issuance of $612,679 Bonds or Notes of the Township for Financing Part of the Appropriation.

No one wishing to be heard, the hearing was closed.

R. Perkins moved for adoption and final passage of Ord. #6-2002. Mr. Guenther seconded the motion.

Roll Call: Passed Unanimously

President Scapicchio: Declared Ord. #6-2002 is passed on second reading and I hereby direct the Clerk to forward a copy of same to the Mayor and to publish the notice of adoption as required by law.

ORDINANCES FOR FIRST READING

Ord. #11-2002 An Ordinance to Amend and Supplement Chapter 4 Section 106A of the Mount Olive Code. (fixing the time of Council meetings to 7:30 p.m.)

Mr. Rattner moved that Ord. #11-2002 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that a
meeting be held on April 9, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road,
Mt. Olive, NJ, for a 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 law and Mr. Guenther seconded that motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

Ord. #12-2002 An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive, Morris County, New Jersey, Establishing Fees for the Renewal of Alcoholic Beverage Licenses. (increasing the renewal fees)

Mr. Guenther moved that Ord. #12-2002 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that a
meeting be held on April 9, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road,
Mt. Olive, NJ, for a 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 law and Mr. Perkins seconded that motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

Ord. #13-2002 An Ordinance of the Township of Mount Olive Amending the Administrative Code of the Township of Mount Olive.(Eliminating the Department of Recreation, etc. and Establish the Division of Buildings, Grounds and Parks within the Department of Public Works and to move the Division of Recreation into the Department of Administration)

Mr. Guenther moved that Ord. #13-2002 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that a
meeting be held on April 9, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road,
Mt. Olive, NJ, for a 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 law and Mr. Perkins seconded that motion.

Mr. Rattner: On this, the concept we have been talking about this for awhile. I approve of the concept of
what we are doing, however, we got this ordinance tonight, at what, five after - ten after seven and we're
supposed to find enough time to be able to review it. An ordinance is different than a resolution, in that, it
takes two meetings to pass it, so I will without any predetermined acceptance whether I'm going to vote
for it in two weeks, or actually in four weeks, so it can be moved along but I spent a certain amount of time, I compare it with the current ordinance to make sure it is consistent with what we've discussed, the
presentation that we got from Mr. Spangler. I just think we are getting more and more of these things at
the last minutes and we are basically asked to just vote on it without any real review other than just a
cursory review.

Mr. Dorsey: You do understand why you get these things at the last minute?

Mr. Rattner: Because you work slow.

Mr. Dorsey: No.

President Scapicchio: Steve, as you and I had discussed, I was talking to the Mayor last week. The
Mayor has interviewed and has a potential candidate that he'd like to offer this position of Supervisor of
Buildings, Grounds and Parks. So, I got this on the Agenda as a courtesy. We can certainly….

Mr. Rattner: This is just first reading. I'm saying this is becoming a pattern. It seems as if almost every
week there is something else. It is not good practice to do things at the last minute. You are open to
mistakes, you don't have the proper time to review. We are supposed to take the information, evaluate it
and vote accordingly. That's our job and if we get it with just a few minutes, we don't have that
opportunity. As I said in the beginning, now we have four weeks to go over it. I'm not saying I like
everything that's in it. If there is any substantial change, it all has to be started from the beginning. That's
all I'm saying. I'm going to vote for introduction. I agree with the plans that the Mayor has. I agree with
the position that he's found somebody for and it is a sub-department head position which means that we
don't have advice and consent so at this point I don't have any concerns whether I see the person or know
who the person is or not. I'm just saying that we got this in the last couple of minutes and it's just bad
business practice but I will be voting to introduce it. If it was a resolution, I probably would not because I
wouldn't have the time to do a thorough review before the decision becomes final.

President Scapicchio: Thanks, Steve. Anyone else on the Council? On Page 2 of this ordinance under
Section 4, the first sentence, "the Supervisor of Recreation with the approval of the Director, may adopt
suitable rules." I would suggest that that be changed to "the Supervisor of Recreation with the approval of
the Business Administrator."

Mr. Dorsey: That would be right because he's going to be under Administration. See all these things get
messed up with these last minute requests.

President Scapicchio: And under Section 5a, Mayor, Lisa brings to my attention, and I'll read the
Paragraph, "Within the Division of Recreation, there shall be a Recreation Advisory Committee,
consisting of 11 members to be appointed by the Mayor with advice and consent of the Council. At least
two of those members shall be persons under the age of 21." Do you want that to now say, one person?

Mr. Dorsey: Well that phrase is taken out of the Code.

Mr. Guenther: In view of what I said before. Is that important, Harvey?

Mr. Kessler: I am the Chairman of the Recreation Advisory Committee. Our agreement was that we were
going to take this young man who is part of the Youth Advisory Committee and move him to be part of
our Recreation Committee as well because traditionally the youth members who are usually High School
students stay a year or two and leave, either moving on to college or they lose interest because they have
part time jobs. Josh, who I understand is a 7th or 8th grader, so he would have a little more tenure and this
way if we use someone from the Youth Advisory Committee to ours, he can be a liaison to both. That is
what the thought pattern was.

Mr. Dorsey: I understand that but that is not the point that David was making. The existing ordinance
refers to two persons. I don't know for what reason but David asked the Mayor if he wants there to be two
persons under 21 or only one person.

President Scapicchio: In light of what Bernie brought up tonight, Mayor.

Mr. Kessler: Why does it have to be changed at all?

President Scapicchio: It doesn't have to be.

Mr. Kessler: Why don't we just leave it the way it is and give us the option.

Mayor Licitra: We say we want one but ideally we'd like two if we could find somebody of Josh's caliber that is ready for the dedication.

President Scapicchio: That's fine. The essence of this ordinance for the public's information is that the
Mayor has proposed to consolidate the buildings, grounds and parks department under DPW so there will
be now the elimination of that department with a buildings, grounds and parks supervisor who will report
to the Director of Public Works. The recreation supervisor will now report through the Business
Administrator to the Administration

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

Mr. Kessler: Am I allowed to ask why? I'm shocked. We had a recreation advisory meeting last
week. Bernie was at the meeting. This topic never came up. What is the purpose of making this
adjustment? Am I allowed to ask that?

President Scapicchio: Mayor, it was your proposal.

Mayor Licitra: It was a consolidation. We are looking to consolidate as much as we could as far as
budgetary restraints are concerned. We made the proposal because there was a division of parks and
buildings. The whole thing needed to be done a lot differently and I feel that this is the best way to get it
done in order to get the person in buildings and grounds and get him started right away and get him going
right away. That doesn't mean that it won't be revisited in the future.

Mr. Kessler: How does that impact in terms of the staff that is there. The department will still function
the way it has?

Mayor Licitra: Without Eric, we may have to give some support on the bottom for Jill because you are
asking her to do some of Eric's duties at that point and we may have to support her on the bottom and that
is what I'm doing with Jill this week. I'm having a meeting with her to ascertain what we need to do.

Mr. Kessler: Would the recreation supervisor report to the Business Administrator instead of the Director
Mayor Licitra: Right. Well there is no Director of Recreation.

Mr. Kessler: I know that but in theory, that is what is being proposed?

President Scapicchio: That is correct.

Mr. Guenther: Let me just issue an opinion about that. I think it's better for the recreation department
because you have a direct line to the Administration rather than filtering through another individual. The
other individual had the dual responsibilities of buildings and grounds with recreation so I think as far as
recreation is concerned, it's a plus. It will get more attention, direct attention. I'm not speaking for the
Mayor, but I believe that might have been part of the motivation.

Mr. Kessler: Township Business Administrator is the Chief Operating Officer of the corporation so to
speak, having everyone in the building, every department reporting directly to that individual. At first
blush, the recreation supervisor would not have the same direct line as they would with a Director of
Recreation. A Director of Recreation can focus their activities and their thought pattern, basically, to
recreation. The Business Administrator has so many other important, as in all functions of the business's
things to do. Again, this is first blush, this is the first I'm hearing it. I didn't really have a lot of time to
think about it, if it's going to work.

Mr. Guenther: I think, generally, in the business world that I was involved in for many years, the
tendency has always been to eliminate layers and this, in effect, eliminates a layer. I understand your
point. On the other hand, there is the other side of the coin where the recreation director doesn't, if she
needs the attention of somebody in administration, at a higher level, it is a direct line of communication
rather than through another person.

Mr. Kessler: I'm not arguing the point of the definite need for a recreation director. I'm concerned about the importance of the recreation director and with the recreation in town. I've lived here for 25 years and we've grown. The Township has grown. Some of our recreation programs have grown. There's a lot more that we need to do, one of the focuses of the recreation committee is to try and come up with new programs and new ideas for everybody in the Township. Hopefully, the recreation supervisor will have the capabilities to continue doing that without a recreation director. By the way, I do understand the financial restraints.

Mayor Licitra: The recreation supervisor will be supported thoroughly, whether, like I said, it is with an assistant or a staff, but I am aware as much as you are because we are both relics in this town, Harvey, in recreation. Our township is growing and our recreation is growing and I wouldn't want to overburden somebody with that job. The reason to have it report directly to the Administrator right now is to see the capability of the department and how the department is going to work over the next year. We may change that again. It may go to DPW or one of the other departments that compliment each other. We will probably do something next year on it. Right now, I thought it was the best place to put it at this point.

Mr. Greenbaum: I have to agree with everything that was said. I have to look at this as no change to the recreation department and a plus to the buildings and facility maintenance, field maintenance that this was now going to be a major focus of the Administration, so I think we are just going to have to see, ultimately, how it works and if it doesn't work the way that we all envision it working, we'll have to revisit the issue again. In essence, what we've done is, we've left recreation the same and we've improved buildings and grounds maintenance and we've eliminated a director's position and if it works that way, then it is a plus for all concerned and if it doesn't work that way, we'll have to revisit.

Mr. Kessler: The individual for the parks, buildings and grounds supervisor, I was part of an interview committee and he is a wonderful choice.

President Scapicchio: Harvey, I would suggest, it was brought to my attention from Chuck Spangler, that that name not be introduced tonight because that individual candidate has not given his present employer any notice at all, so, continue, just don't mention the name.

Mr. Kessler: I'm aware of that. He's a wonderful candidate. He will be a leader. He is a motivator. He is somebody who will be excellent for the Township. Somebody we've needed for years and years and years. It's a good choice. Thanks for your time. Mr. Kiernan, after 25 years of me being involved in this town, I'd like to publicly thank you and your family for all of the support you give to the township organizations and sports clubs, thank you. (applause)

Ord. #14-2002 An Ordinance Establishing a Salary Range for the Position of Supervisor of Buildings, Grounds and Parks.

Mr. Rattner moved that Ord. #14-2002 be introduced by title and passed on First Reading and that a
meeting be held on April 9, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road,
Mr. Rattner (cont'd): Mt. Olive, NJ, for a 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 law and Mr. Guenther seconded that motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

President Scapicchio: We are moving Resolution Number 6 from Non-consent to the Consent Resolution Agenda.

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 of Mount Olive Providing for the Transfer of 2001 Budget Appropriations for the Current Fund.

2. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing Design Builders to Connect One Lot, i.e., Lot 22, Block 4400 to the Goldmine Estates Water System.

3. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Awarding a Contract to Interstate Truck Equipment, 12821 Salem Avenue, Hagerstown, MD to Refurbish the Budd Lake 1980 Mack Ladder Truck.

4. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing the Issuance of a Contract to Schoor DePalma for Engineering Services Relative to the Hopkins Road Drainage Project.

5. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Awarding a Contract to Absolute Fire Protection Company for a Brush Truck in the Amount Of $130,595.00. (Flanders Fire Co.)

6. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Mount Olive Authorizing a Person-to-Person Transfer of Alcoholic Beverage License No. 1427-33-007-004 from Cryan & O'Kane, LLC, Trading as Cryan's to Flanders Bar and Liquors, Inc., Trading as Kiernan's Pub.

Mr. Greenbaum moved for approval of Consent Resolutions Numbered 1 -6 and Mr. Guenther seconded the motion.

PUBLIC PORTION ON CONSENT RESOLUTIONS

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

RESOLUTIONS NON CONSENT

PUBLIC PORTION ON INDIVIDUAL RESOLUTIONS

COUNCIL COMMENTS ON INDIVIDUAL RESOLUTIONS

MOTIONS

1. Bill List.

Mr. Perkins moved for approval of the Bill List and Mr. Rattner seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

2. Raffle Application #1024 & #1025 for the Mount Olive High School Band Booster Association; Raffle Application #1026 for District Lodge No. 6, Vasa Order of America; and Raffle Application #1027 for the Mt. Olive High School Parents Club.

Mr. Guenther moved for approval of the Raffle Applications and Mr. Rattner seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Passed Unanimously

COUNCIL REPORTS

Mr. Greenbaum: The Planning Board met on the 7th of March to discuss Woodland Estates, which was the primary development matter. It is being continued. It was not concluded. The major topic of discussion was the hydrology report of the applicant and again, that is a ten lot subdivision off Second Street which is a paper street with a request for front yard setback variances. On the 21st, the Planning Board is discussing Shoprite and there was a draft ordinance which was circulated among the Planning Board revising the section of the Land Use Code relating to buffers, specifically residential to non-residential and residential to residential buffers which I expect will be ultimately passed through Planning Board to Council for adoption.

Mr. Guenther: Since we have the Chairman of the Recreation Advisory Committee here, Mr. Kessler, and I wasn't able to be present for the whole meeting, do you just want to give us a quick review of our meeting last week?

Mr. Kessler: One of our main concerns right now is the need for a clinician to do a coach's certification course. Eric Schulte was the clinician who always did that for us. Our main need is for baseball. Jill did a lot of research on the best method to use at this point and baseball and several other sports organizations are trying to decide how they are going to proceed. It appears to me that the most expedient method is to use, there is an online program that they can go to, they can work at their own speed and Jill has offered to do the CPR certification portion of it since Jill is certified. That was one of the topics. We discussed the youth members of our advisory committee. We discussed new focuses for the committee and to develop new programs. We spoke about a survey of township residents to address what the needs of our residents are. There is a different make up of the township than it used to be so we are looking at socio-economic factors and things of that nature and from that point we'll look to develop new programs. We also had a brief discussion regarding putting on members other than presidents of the sports clubs to get an infusion of new blood, people not necessarily involved in sports but have other interests to sit in on our meetings and become part of our committee. We discussed a skateboard park, we discussed an ice rink. Bernie, what else did we discuss?

Mayor Licitra: You discussed for two and a half hours.

Mr. Guenther: Also, the coach's certification.

Mr. Kessler: We spent a lot of time on the coach's certification issue. That's pretty much it.

Mayor Licitra: Before you start, I would love to make this buildings and grounds supervisor an offer tomorrow for many many reasons. Number One, as you can see it is starting to turn green out there and I'm short people. I would like a commitment from the Council that at this point we would be able to hire this person and not weight the month for the paperwork to go through on the second reading. We all agree that the position is needed, that the person is the one that we should be hiring. I would like to make him an offer tomorrow and not wait another month. It would put me behind at this point.

Mr. Rattner: This is a new position. We don't have a position to make an offer for.

Mr. Dorsey: Well there is an existing position.

Mayor Licitra: There is an existing position now.

Mr. Rattner: What is the existing position?

Mr. Greenbaum: Supervisor of Parks. The problem is, I understand exactly what Steve is saying, let's assume that for some reason the ordinance goes down with respect to the reorganization for whatever reason, for instance, let's assume that instead of putting that supervisor of recreation under the Administrator, we decide as a Council that it is a better position to put under some other department, then that ordinance goes down and there is no position called buildings, grounds and parks supervisor. There is, however, a position open currently in the statute in it's present form for supervisor of parks which I assume is an open position, which I assume the Mayor could hire for currently and then switch this person in to the new position once that is established.

Mr. Dorsey: Wait a minute, Rob. I think you are wrong about that.

Mr. Greenbaum: Okay.

Mr. Dorsey: You are on the same track. There is a position known as supervisor of recreation. There is not a position known as supervisor of buildings and grounds because it says that within the department of Mr. Dorsey (cont'd): buildings and grounds there shall be a division of buildings and grounds under the supervision of the Director of the Department.

Mr. Greenbaum: But there is a position known as supervisor of parks.

President Scapicchio: Yes, there is.

Mr. Dorsey: Yes, there is one known as supervisor of parks.

President Scapicchio: And the supervisor of recreation is filled. That is not changing.

Mr. Dorsey: The Mayor, without any approval from you, can hire somebody tomorrow to fill the position of supervisor of parks. I think the real questions, is there any objection to him hiring the individual, whom I assume you all know who he is and his credentials or least make an offer to him to tie him up.

Mr. Rattner: If this is an existing position and the Mayor has budget dollars to hire this person, he doesn't have to come to us. You can hire him to what you want. You can hire him into another position. The other position is open. You can fill that position with somebody that you think can do the job. He needs two things. He needs the position which he says he has and he needs the budget, which as long as it is covered in the temporary budget, it is not a real big issue. The only issue that can come up when we finish the budget and this ordinance making sure that the final department, which I don't think is going to vary, because I think we've talked about it enough, saying this is the way want to go. We want to have a supervisor of grounds or parks or whatever exact wording it is and reorganize the recreation separately. The Mayor has the position open and he has the dollars and I don't have any problem later on if he says, okay, we have a position, we're naming it, this is where I'm moving this person to because we are going to define the bottom line by the budget.

Mr. Greenbaum: I don't think that there is any question and ultimately we are going to eliminate the supervisor of parks and we are ultimately going to adopt a supervisor of buildings, grounds and parks. So I agree, I think the Mayor should hire the person as supervisor of parks currently and when that position is eliminated and we adopt the appropriate ordinances that the Mayor can then move that person into buildings and grounds.

President Scapicchio: Did you hear that Mayor, is that okay? That serves your purpose.

Mr. Dorsey: That's really a lawyer's non answer. You could have turned this around and said, yes we like this person and you can hire him and you are going to get him.

Mayor Licitra: That is what I was just going to say to Dave, you mean that I can make him an offer tomorrow.

President Scapicchio: Mayor, you and I have had several discussions. I have not met the individual. I have talked to you about him. I have read his resume and I am satisfied that you, with your committee have made the right decision and I will ultimately support the adoption of this amended ordinance which will allow you to do exactly what you want to do.

Mayor Licitra: Does everybody agree with that? Ray, nod your head. That's five. Thank you.

PUBLIC PORTION

COUNCIL COMMENTS

Mayor Licitra: Dave, are you going to say something about the meeting we attended last night?

President Scapicchio: Well, why don't you? You're the leader.

Mayor Licitra: Well, I'm shaking as I'm looking at this. I don't know if we shared this with everybody but both Dave and I were at the School Board Budget meeting last night. The short answer is that they are looking to increase taxes by about 18 points which means, and I had Sherry work this out, a house assessed at about $150,000 which is most of the houses in Mount Olive are $150 or $200, everybody gives you the $100,000 assessment but none of us sitting over here have a $100,000 assessment. Anyway, at $150,000 assessment at 18 points, your taxes would go up about $270. That is taking into consideration that they have 230 new students in the system and that they want to put a weight room of about $650,000. I suppose in weeks to come that there will be somebody to explain this and present it to the Council and present it to the public but the ordinance or the resolution that was adopted last night, adopted somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 cents which I said, again, is about $270 increase for school taxes this year.

Mr. Greenbaum: What is the increase on a house assessed at $250,000?

Mayor Licitra: $450 and you have to remember that they are talking maybe even 21 cents at which point you are looking at a $500 increase on a $250,000 house. What did you say today to Catherine, Dave? Open up your pocketbooks?

President Scapicchio: No, I told her to hold on to her wallet.

Mr. Rattner: Obviously, I have not looked at the school budget. We end up getting it if the public doesn't like it because that is another wonderful time after five weeks of our own with four tax points that we are trying to whittle down. I don't know what's in it, whether it's good, bad or indifferent. I'll reserve judgment on that, however, the additional dollar figure that the school budget is going to go up will raise our budget. You know that one of the biggest items we have in our budget is the reserve for uncollected taxes. Everybody doesn't pay their taxes each year. We have one of the higher collection rates in the County which is in the 97-98% range. Based on what we have in the budget, what is it, 97 ¼, Sherry, is that what we put in there? You've got to figure that if they are raising another 18 points, that's $3.2 million in extra taxes that they are going to collect. We'll have to raise an additional, in our budget, $70-80,000, which is another half a tax point in our budget because of the impact from what the school budget is. We've been whittling down our budget line by line, now this is a blip that goes back up that now we have to do what we want to do and find another $80,000 within our own budget to support the schools. It's not a good story.

Mr. Greenbaum: Very briefly, I had asked the Administration for a report on the status of our water systems in light of the drought. We did get a memo dated March 7, 2002, from Mark DiGennaro to Sherry Jenkins and I thought I was stupid because I didn't understand it at all. It just presents a graph and I'm not able to understand it. I asked Ray to explain it to me and he really couldn't explain it either. So I would just ask for Mark to give me some analysis that I can understand, whether our water systems are in good shape, bad shape, I would appreciate that.

Mr. Perkins: Just to expand a little bit on what Mr. Greenbaum brought up. On a cursory review of some of the static levels in the wells, it appears that all of the levels are not uncommon to anyone who lives in Mount Olive or on the East Coast, static levels are going down in everyone's wells. Everybody has noticed that. If I read the graphs correctly, we have some significant drops in some of our systems. Other ones are holding pretty well. I leave that to Mr. DiGennaro to explain, he's the one who presented it to us.

President Scapicchio: Ray, which systems have the drop offs? The first, Goldmine Well No. 1, which is your first attachment, Dave, in the first quarter, I'm reading the graph in the year 2000, you had a static level of 26 feet, actually it went up in the year 2001, and now it has dropped down all the way to 43 feet, that is your fluctuations. We haven't had any rain and obviously we are not recharging a lot of the aquifers and the wells. That's solely if I'm reading the charts correctly. All of us here in Mount Olive, we do have letters, we have neighbors, tell your neighbors that it's time to conserve. The Governor's put on a State of Emergency, the Mayor has expanded, the Council endorses it. I would just ask everybody, if you have to brush your teeth, you know the old saying, you take a papa bath, that is where papa wets the towel and he gets it first and then mama gets it and then the rest of the kids down the line. Having lived in the Virgin Islands for a few years where you got some severe water shortages, we are going to be faced, the outcome from our best climatologist is that we cannot expect any significant rainfalls in the upcoming…..most of the reservoirs are at a 100 max level right now. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

President Scapicchio: We are going to go into Executive Session to discuss the Soccer Memo of Understanding and when we come out, the Council will take no further action and we will adjourn the meeting. We also will discuss pending litigation. Under Section 7&8 of the Open Public Meetings Act, Motion to go into Execution Session was made and seconded, all in favor; the meeting was closed at 8:30 p.m.

The meeting was open and a Motion was made for Adjournment. All in Favor none opposed. The Meeting Adjourned at 8:48 pm.

_______________________
DAVID SCAPICCHIO
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 April 30, 2002

________________________
LISA M. LASHWAY
Mount Olive Township Clerk
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