August 6, 2012 â Packet - Borough of Hightstown

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Meeting Minutes Hightstown Borough Council Regular Meeting July 2, 2012 7:30 pm The meeting was called to order by Mayor Kirson at 7:32 pm and he read the Open Public Meetings Act statement which stated, “Adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, pursuant to Public Law 1975, Chapter 231. Said notice was sent to the Trenton Times and the Windsor-Hights Herald, and is posted in the Borough Clerk’s office.” The flag salute followed Roll Call. Councilmember Bibens Councilmember Bluth Councilmember Doran Councilmember Quattrone Councilmember Thibault Councilmember Woods Mayor Kirson PRESENT ABSENT Also in attendance: Debra Sopronyi, Borough Clerk; Michael Theokas, Borough Administrator; James LeTellier, Police Director; George Lang, Chief Finance Officer; and Frederick Raffetto, Borough Attorney. Councilmember Thibault moved that the agenda be approved with an amendment which would include his comments prior to the ordinances and after the approval of the minutes, Councilmember Woods seconded. Mayor Kirson called for a roll call vote on the amended agenda. Roll Call Vote: Council members Bluth, Doran, Thibault and Woods voted yes; Councilmember Bibens and Council President Quattrone voted no. Agenda approved as amended, 4-2. Council President Quattrone moved the minutes of the May 30, 2012, Special Meeting for approval; Councilmember Woods seconded. Roll Call Vote: Council members Bluth, Doran, Quattrone, Thibault and Woods voted yes; Councilmember Bibens abstained. Minutes approved 5-0, with one abstention. Councilmember Woods moved the minutes of the June 26, 2012 Open Session for approval; Council President Quattrone seconded. Roll Call Vote: Council members Bibens, Bluth, Doran, Quattrone, Thibault and Woods voted yes Minutes approved 6-0. Council President Quattrone moved the minutes of the June 26, 2012 Executive Session for approval; Councilmember Woods seconded. Roll Call Vote: Council members Bibens, Bluth, Doran, Quattrone, and Woods voted yes; Councilmember Thibault abstained. Minutes approved 5-0 with one abstention. July 2, 2012 - 1 -
Councilmember Thibault Comments “Looking at those assembled here this evening, I’m sure Council is going to hear a great deal about the article in this morning’s Trenton Times. And that is as it should be. I am a passionate advocate for the proposition that the voice of the people must be heard. That is why I have consistently argued against time limits on public participation at Council meetings and why I, along with Council Member Bluth, hold open public meetings each month. It is also why I along with Council Member Woods, with the support of the rest of Council pushed for not one, but two special public meetings on the topic of Borough Hall. The topic of Borough Hall is actually what I want to talk about and I want to thank Council for the opportunity for the time on the agenda that was denied me by…who or for what reason, I can’t say. I can’t say because I never received a response to my question as to why my request for time on the agenda was denied. Before I move on to the topic of Borough Hall, I want to take a minute to reference the Trenton Times article and the issue of the Open Public Meetings Act in general. First, it is not up to Council President Quattrone or Mayor Kirson to decide what is or isn’t a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. Neither is it for the two attorneys interviewed for the Times article to pass such judgment. Attorney Robert Renaud at least recognized that by using words like “generally”. Michael Hartsough, the other attorney felt no such need to hedge his statement, declaring it was – and I quote – “a no brainer.” Perhaps Mr. Hartsough neglected to mention to the reporter – or the reporter didn’t think worthy of including in the story – is the fact that Mr. Hartsough’s firm of Hartsough, Kenny, Chase & Sullivan and his partner, Gregory Sullivan, represented the Borough, the police department and Officer Ben Miller in my Notice of Claim case. Mr. Hartsough’s firm, by the way, recently lost their appeal in that case. I will follow Saint Matthew’s advice on this and judge not about the seeming no-brainer conflict of interest. I would, however, suggest that the Times might want to do a bit more vetting of sources – especially if an “expert source” might have been provided to them by someone how might have a political interest in the story. I was a reporter in college and for several years afterwards. So when I read news articles, I sometimes tend to try to determine why a reporter took a particular angle on a story or why a particular quote was used. I blame this tendency on a professor who shared imaginary headlines from the end of the world. He said the NY Times headline would say: World Ends; Poor and Third-World Most Affected while the Wall Street Journal would say: World Ends; Markets Close Sharply Lower. Despite my background in journalism, I am left wondering why the Times would include something like “at one point Doran wrote to Woods to suggest tweaking language to secure Thibault’s nod.” But then fail to include anything about what needed to be “tweaked.” It seems to me that readers would want to know what kind of wording demands Thibault might make. I mean, if you set things up like that, it makes sense to give readers the payoff. Apparently what Council Member Doran was referring to an email I had written that said “I won't support any language that appears to dismiss the Lucas site out of hand.” So why would the paper leave that out? I am still left wondering. This brings me to another issue with the article. The article states “The resolutions declared that borough hall should be located in the central part of town.” This is patently not true. The resolution states “all options concerning the location of Borough Hall should be reviewed and analyzed; the consensus of the council at this time is that Hightstown Borough Hall is best located in the central part of town rather than the outskirts.” Which brings me back to Borough Hall. Council has consistently advocated the investigation of all possible options for the placement of Borough Hall. Council has also demanded cost analysis for any and all options. Just as consistently, the Mayor and Borough Administrator have apparently withheld information, provided partial information or put Council off, saying the information just isn’t there. I will discuss specifics of this later in the meeting and provide a timeline of events surrounding borough hall. Again, I thank the council for the opportunity to be heard this evening.” Ordinance 2012-07 First Reading and Introduction An Ordinance Amending and Supplementing Section 2-19, Entitled “Police Department,” of the Revised General Ordinances of the Borough of Hightstown, New Jersey” in order to Create the Position of “Special Law Enforcement Officer” and to Prescribe Appropriate Terms, Conditions and Regulations Associated Therewith. July 2, 2012 - 2 -
Page 1 and 2: Agenda Hightstown Borough Council R
Page 3 and 4: Discussion Public Comment II Hurric
Page 5 and 6: Meeting Minutes Hightstown Borough
Page 7 and 8: that the agenda was approved with t
Page 9 and 10: Council President Quattrone moved r
Page 11 and 12: WHEREAS, the Chief Finance Officer
Page 13 and 14: Federal Forfeiture Carmela Roberts,
Page 15 and 16: BOROUGH OF HIGHTSTOWN COUNTY OF MER
Page 17 and 18: Resolutions 2012-168, 2012-169 and
Page 19 and 20: WHEREAS, the tax records of the Bor
Page 21: noted that the Rug Mill property is
Page 25 and 26: Mr. Theokas explained that this ord
Page 27 and 28: Roll Call Vote: Council members Bib
Page 29 and 30: WHEREAS, Wyckoff’s Mill Condomini
Page 31 and 32: WHEREAS, the Borough Engineer has i
Page 33 and 34: Councilmember Doran moved Resolutio
Page 35 and 36: Council President Quattrone - noted
Page 37 and 38: discussion conducted at said meetin
Page 39 and 40: The Borough Attorney confirmed that
Page 41 and 42: BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOROUGH COUNC
Page 43 and 44: stormwater management strategies in
Page 45 and 46: Lucia Cruse, B11 Garden View Terrac
Page 47 and 48: Council President Quattrone moved o
Page 49 and 50: 3. The lieutenant, if one is then s
Page 51 and 52: Subsection 2-19.13 Subsection 2-19.
Page 53 and 54: k. Conduct of Officers. Special law
Page 55 and 56: or withdraw it. 14-10.4 Violations
Page 57 and 58: Police Director shall mean the pers
Page 59 and 60: determination that the proposed loc
Page 61 and 62: (7) Kidnapping (8) Robbery; (9) Agg
Page 63 and 64: e. Use of License. Taxicab driver
Page 65 and 66: 1. Failure to render reasonable, pr
Page 67 and 68: conspicuous place, or by clearly vi
Page 69 and 70: a. The locations described are here
Page 71 and 72: Law Enforcement Trust 15.75 Housing
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8. The manner through which the mun
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Councilmember Thibault - hopes that
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Hightstown Police Department 415A M
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Hightstown Police Department 415A M
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Resolution 2012-198 BOROUGH OF HIGH
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Subsection 2-55.2 Fees for Copies.
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Subsection 2-55.4 Denial of Examina
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Ordinance 2012-13 BOROUGH OF HIGHTS
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payment of the purchase price plus
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(a) The improvements or purposes de
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1. The disposition of new or additi
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investigate the all applications. A
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(d) (e) (f) (g) Applicant must supp
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than thirty (30) miles an hour abov
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shall have the right to be represen
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a. Licenses issued pursuant to this
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Introduced: July 16, 2012 Adopted:
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place, or by other clearly visible
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k. Taxicab drivers and passengers s
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to that portion of the Ordinance ac
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2. This ordinance shall also be app
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Introduced: July 16, 2012 Adopted:
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August 1, 2012 Borough of Hightstow
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HIGHTSTOWN BOROUGH 154 North Main S
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August 6, 2012 â Packet - Borough of Hightstown

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August 6, 2012 â Packet - Borough of Hightstown