Amboy Guardian 9_21_22

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2. The Amboy Guardian *September 21, 2022Answering Council and Resident’s Concerns9/12/22 Caucus & 9/14/22 Council MeetingBy: Carolyn MaxwellPERTH AMBOY – There wasa presentation at the CaucusMeeting to discuss ElizabethtownGas ongoing projectsin the city. Andrew McNally,Esq. spoke about this project,“So far, 13,000 lines have beencompleted.” He was accompaniedby a slideshow that showedall the streets that were going tobe serviced or have been serviced.“We expect a completiondate of November 2022 on 340lines. We can’t do any pavingduring the winter months unlessthere is an emergency. Weexpect the final paving of theroads that are listed in the slideshowto be completed by April2023. One of the lines includeone industrial property on SecondStreet.”Another Representative fromElizabethtown Gas, CamiltoBonilla came up to speak to answera question posed by CouncilPresident Petrick, “The linesput down are plastic and do youput sand around the pipes?”Bonilla answered, “Yes.”Councilman Joel Pabon spokeup and said, “Our main roadslook bad, even after 90 days afterthey have been paved. I’mhoping that next June we arenot back at square one and haveto have those roads repavedagain.”McNally answered, “We arestill installing service lines andwe are making sure there is noservice disruption. We had to dopipe replacement of streets thathave very aging pipes. We areretiring the old pipes.”Council President Petrick thenasked, “How are we protectingthe exposed pipes that are beingplaced in front of buildings?”McNally answered, “Someof those outside pipes wereput inside when possible. Wewill be in discussion regardingthe pipes on the outside of thebuilding.”Law Director William Opeltalked briefly about the ordinanceadopting Amendment tothe Focus 2020 RedevelopmentPlan for Redevelopment AreaNo. 1. “There are four changesthat were sent to the city planner,and we may have to reintroducethis ordinance for anotherpublic hearing.”The next person to speak wasDavid Gannon who gave theJuly Audit Report of the city’sfunds. “The accounting practiceis in accordance with the grantcompliance, the testing of compliancesof all types of revenuefrom all of the city’s departmentsrevenue cycle. There is a$12.1 million balance and $9.4million for the water balance.The fund balances are goodwith the appropriate reserves.The tax rate is at 100%.”Councilman Joel Pabon questioned,“Who is in charge ofaccounting for vacation time,etc.?”Gannon replied, “That is notpart of the audit, and nothing requirescorrective action. Thereare a number employees gettingclose to retirement and you aregoing to need qualified peopleto replace them.”CFO Jill Goldy came forwardto make a few remarks, “Thereare a lot of notable items whichincludes employment liabilitiesand long-term liabilities. Thereare healthcare requirementsand for some retirements, thosehealthcare requirements are beingdropped. We have reservesfor insurance runoff claims.There is also accumulated leaveliability which we have cutoffs,but we still have legacy costs.The $12 million surplus doesn’tgo far.”Council President Petrickspoke up and told Goldy thathe heard there is a successionplanned for her office andhealthcare recommendationsthat we can forward to our localcounty official.Goldy replied, “We have sentrecommendations to them beforethat went nowhere. Thereis a position in my office thathas been vacant for years. I amlooking for someone that hasexperience. We need peoplewho are qualified to look atour internal controls. There aremany people in my office whoare close to retirement age inabout a year. The operating budgetis $80 million.”Councilman B.J. Torres questioned,“Are there any rising retirementcosts that you plan toaddress?”Business Administrator MichaelGreene responded, “Thepension is from the state, andwe have to pay that cost. Weare looking at shared benefitcost and we haven’t had any increasein tax rates.”Goldy then talked about theChapter 78 Law which eliminatedcertain payouts to newemployees. “We have a providerwith health benefits andanother for prescriptions. Thestate health benefits increasedthe costs for state employees.”IT Technician John Allemancame up to explain, “An employeewill report their time tosupervisors to put into a timebank for any reported time offor overtime.”Pabon then questioned, “Isthere someone making sure thattime is being recorded correctly?”B.A. Greene spoke up, “If anemployee is out for more thanthree days, they are required tocome in with a sick note fromtheir doctor.”The council then went intoclosed session at 6: 27 p.m. totake a phone call for someoneregarding a personnel matter.The council returned at 8:32p.m. with the exception ofCouncilwoman Milady Tejedawho left for a previous commitment.When the meeting resumed,Fire Chief Ed Mullen came upto explain Ordinance No. 2 –Appropriating $547,000 fromthe American Rescue PlanFunds for the replacement ofEngine No. 3. “This is a 1988Engine, and it failed the PumpTest several years in a row. Wehave capital money coming in,plus additional funding to lockin the price.”Councilman B.J. Torresquestioned R-435 – RescindingR-209-4/22 – Allocation ofUEZ funds to support an applicationto the State of New JerseyDCA for the Fink Park Projectin the amount of $300,000.He questioned why they wereno longer working on this project.B.A. Greene responded, “Negotiationsbroke down.”Torres continued, “Work wasstarted without approval of theowner. How many hours wentinto the public outreach as towhat to do with this park?”OECD Director Tashi Vazquezspoke via Zoom, “We receivedtechnical assistance at no costto the city. We did not have toacquire the property to do this.”Torres concluded, “Youshould not work on any projectson property we don’t own.”Torres was also concernedabout R-436 – The use of secondgeneration UEZ fundsnot to exceed the amount of$500,000 for street paving improvementsin the UEZ funds.“This is uncreative use of thesefunds, and did we approve ofthe expansion of the UEZ fundsin this area? Was JeffersonStreet paved?”Pabon responded, “No.”Vazquez then explained R-437– Rescinding R-364-7/22 – Anapplication to the New JerseyUEZ Zone Authority for thefirst-generation Urban EnterpriseZone (UEZ) assistancefunds for the administration ofthe UEZ program for fiscal yearJune 30, 2022.She explained that 10% isfor the first year of fundingand only $16,000 goes for salary.“This had to go throughthe state and the money has tomatch what is on the originalresolution.”B.A. Greene explained, “OnR-441 which was an amount notexceeding $1,400,000 of bondsfrom the city of Perth Amboyand providing for their sale tothe New Jersey InfrastructureBank and the State of New Jerseyauthorizing the executionof various agreements pursuantto the New Jersey Water BankFinancing Program. He stated,“This is for the water towersand loan forgiveness.”Councilman Pabon made abrief statement regarding R-443– The City Tax Collector placinga lien on 773 Gadek Placein the amount of $758.58 forcharges incurred by the DPW tocut, trim, and clean the property.Pabon said, “This has beengoing on four years.”Code Enforcement DirectorIrving Lozada spoke via Zoom,“Let the Council know that theproperty at 773 Gadek Placewas recently sold.”Petrick spoke up and wantedto congratulate the DPW for thegreat job they are doing of cuttingtrees.Pabon then questioned R-445– A contract with Hudson CountyMotors to cover the unanticipatedincrease in the marketvalues of the front-loading garbagetruck and side loading garbagetruck in an amount not toexceed $8,200.*Continued on Page 7
If It’s Local - It’s Here!September 21, 2022 * The Amboy Guardian .3
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