BOROUGH
OF
M I N U T E S
1. CALL TO ORDER; OPENING STATEMENT: This meeting is being held in
compliance with Public Law 1975, Chapter 231,
Sections 4 and 13, as notice of
this meeting and the agenda thereof had
been reported to The Citizen and the
Morris County Daily Record on
building.
Mayor Jackson called the
meeting to order at
2. ATTENDANCE
AND FLAG SALUTE
All
Council members were present except for Councilman Gormally and
Councilwoman Wilson.
Also in attendance were Borough Manager
Marty
Murphy and Borough Clerk Christina Whitaker.
Councilman
Gormally arrived.
3. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Councilman
Shaw announced that the
4. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Jackson explained the Council’s policy of
limiting each speaker to 5 minutes and no
yielding of time to another person.
Mayor Jackson read the following statement
before opening the public comment portion of
the meeting:
“Mr.
Kanter has served a written notice of his intent to make a tort claim against
the Borough of
conduct that he alleges is harassing. On the advice of counsel any questions
directed to us at
this meeting by Mr. Kanter will be reviewed by
our legal counsel; and if appropriate, will be
responded to in writing. It is our considered
judgment this procedure will minimize disruption
and protect the interest of the public.”
Mayor Jackson opened the public comment
portion of the meeting with consent of Council.
Councilwoman Wilson arrived.
Kay Robinson –
Ms. Robinson was helped to
the podium by one of the Borough’s police officers, which she noted for the
record. She told the Council that the Borough was a good place to live because
the residents could feel safe and urged them not to cut the police force.
Mr. Breslin told the Council
that it should not micromanage the operations of the Borough but rely on the
expertise and advice of the Manager and Police Chief. He said reducing the
number of police officers on the force would affect the Borough’s ability to
protect the children living in the municipality. He noted that a previous
Council added a police officer to cut the cost of overtime.
Duke Smith -
Mr. Smith reminded the
Council that when Mr. Webb was hired, the Council agreed with him on a plan to
maintain the infrastructure of the Borough. He credited Police Chief Tovo with
bringing down overtime costs and hiring the finest officers. He said the
Council’s responsibility was to continue to provide the best services for its
residents.
Tiffany Palisi -
Ms. Palisi recently moved to
the Borough and has found the town to be a safe place with a wonderful support
system. As a single mother she said it
was important to her that a police officer was not cut from the Department.
Susan Jacobs -
She told the Council that
reducing the Police Department by one officer would be doing the residents a
disservice.
Steve Holt -
Mr. Holt told the Council it
had a fiduciary duty to protect the residents. If the Police Department was
reduced, it would not be fulfilling its duty.
Steve Castellucci – 2 Laurelwood
Mr. Castelucci urged the
Council not to experiment with the safety of the residents. Instead he asked
Council members to take a comprehensive approach and hire a performance auditor
to assess the Borough’s needs for the next year.
John Moore – 225 Boulevard
Mr. Moore said it has been
necessary for him to call the police on at least two occasions, and the
response time was within three minutes. He doubted that could be matched by any
other municipality. He told the Council that he would rather the police not
have to worry about their jobs, and concentrate on the safety of town
residents.
Joan Best –
Mrs. Best told the Council
she has lived in Mountain Lakes 22, years, served on the Shade Tree Commission
for 10 years and has been a Borough employee for 7 years. She said that all the
employees are talented and dedicated and are willing to come together in times
of crisis for the good of the community. However, while willing to do so, it is
with an understanding or assumption that the crisis will be short term. It will
be beyond anyone’s control and the conditions will revert back to normalcy
after the crisis is over. But the reality is that the Borough finds itself in
crisis, year after year, and the employees pull together only to find that the
opposite of what they expected is true. Conditions never revert back.
She praised Mr. Webb’s
abilities and told Council members they needed to trust him to do his job.
George Bere -
Mr. Bere said that cutting a
police officer would only be a short-term solution and could create long term
problems. He urged the Council not to cut the police force.
Bob Wall -
Mr. Wall said that he
appreciated the professionalism of the Borough’s police force. He told the
Council that he understood that it was attempting to save money but that the
Police Department was the wrong place.
Jim McCrudden -
Mr. McCrudden said he was there representing the
YMCA. He told the Council that the other surrounding municipal police
departments lacked in comparison to the response time of the
Dede Conlan -
Mrs. Conlan said she wanted
to support the DPW workers. She said they do a wonderful job in town and
especially in the summer on the beaches and should not be penalized for doing a
good job.
Ron Gironda - 41 Rainbow
Trail
He told the Council to not
be penny wise but pound foolish and urged the Council not to cut the police
force.
With no one else wishing to be heard, Mayor
Jackson closed the public comment portion of
the meeting.
5. ORDINANCES
Ordinance
04-07
ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 111 OF THE REVISED
GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE BOROUGH OF
If adopted this ordinance shall take
effect after publication and passage as provided by
law.
Mayor Jackson opened the Public Hearing.
Dede Conlan –
Mrs. Conlan told the Council the new proposed dog and cat licensing fees
seemed high.
The dog & cat licenses will go up to $17.00 for neutered/spayed
animals and $20.00 for
non-neutered/non-spayed.
Mr.
Webb explained that the State of
The
revenue from licensing and the expenditures have historically been placed in
and spent from a Borough Trust Fund. In
addition, the Borough authorizes $1000.00 per year to cover the expenses of
this program. Over the past several
years, the Borough contribution has
risen to $6000.00. Therefore, when the
State passed new legislation this year that allows fees to be raised, the
Borough took the opportunity to restore the appropriation to the Trust Account
to $1000.00.
With no one else wishing to be heard,
Mayor Jackson closed the Public Hearing.
Introduced:
|
Council
Member |
By: |
2nd |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
By |
2nd |
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent |
|
Gormally |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Emr |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Shaw |
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Urankar |
|
|
|
|
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
X |
|