January 15, 2008 Minutes

January 15, 2008

Mayor Scott Alexander opened the caucus meeting by welcoming everyone.

1. The Mayor went over each of the New Business Items. There were no questions at this time.

2. Discussion on Pay to Play Ordinance – Councilman Shopp said he wanted to explore “wheeling” to get a full understanding. Council President Sheilds said the ordinance was one provided by the Center for Civic Responsibility and noted that a representative offered to come and speak with council if they would be interested. It was suggested to send a sample of what Mr. Ragonese proposed to the Center for their opinion. Sheilds will contact them about coming to a caucus meeting.

3. Animal Shelter Services Interlocal - Borough Clerk Joan Moreland explained that the Camden County Mayor’s Association is working with the County to provide animal shelter services to more municipalities. She explained that currently only 17 towns are in the program and that the existing shelter is too small for all the towns to join at this time. She explained that the County is willing to add a large addition to the existing shelter to accommodate more towns and an Interlocal Agreement would be required for us to join. The Mayor’s Association is aiming at saving the towns money. She noted that there would be a 5% charge for towns to join if they don’t join in this initial Agreement. The program is scheduled to begin in 2009. This item will be address at a future date.

4. Haddon Heights Business & Professional Association – Regarding coordination of plans for Station Avenue Events and other HHB&P Activities – Rich Lipko, representing the HHB&PA said the Association was pleased with the Economic Development Committee’s progress. He advised council members that the Association was very pleased with recent events, particularly the cooperation and outstanding services provided by DPW and Police Department.

5. Taxes 300 Second Avenue – Board of Education – Council President Trish Sheilds said that the School Board is $9,000 in arrears for the Administration building at 300 2^nd Avenue. She said that the Assessor wants a resolution passed by Council to remove it from the books. Solicitor Salvatore Siciliano said a resolution is not necessary. He explained that you get the date the building was vacated by the School Board and taxes begin from that point. Sheilds said she would speak with the school, advising them they should pay taxes on the building from September 1^st on.

6. Roundtable – There were no items brought up at this point.

Mayor Alexander announced that he was moving the closed session to the end of the regular agenda.

Regular Agenda:

Mayor Alexander opened the regular meeting with a salute to the flag and moment of silence.

He then stated, “In accordance with Section 5 of the Open Public Meetings Act, Chapter 231, P.L. 1975, notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board designed for that purpose and notice was mailed to the official newspaper provided by Resolution adopted January 5, 2008”.

Under Roll Call the following council members were present: Lee Wentz, Rose Fitzgerald, Donald Witzig, Tad Fetter, Gordon Shopp and Trish Sheilds. Solicitor Salvatore Siciliano was also present.

Motion to approve the minutes from 12/18/07 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Wentz. All members voted yes with the exception of Councilwoman Fitzgerald and Councilman Fetter who abstained from voting as they were not on council at that time.

Motion to approve the minutes from the 1/5/08 Reorganization Meeting was made by Councilman Wentz, seconded by Council President Sheilds. All were in favor.

Mayor Alexander called for Committee Reports, at which time the following reports were presented:

Councilwoman Fitzgerald, reporting for the Construction Department, said that she has received 4 resumes for the position of Construction Official and interviews would be held soon.

Councilman Wentz, reporting for DPW, read the 2007 Annual Activity Report, a copy of which is attached. He announced that leaf pick up should be done by the end of the week. He reported that DPW and the Police Department have completed a survey of the condition of stop signs throughout the town and that 25 signs will be replaced by DPW.

Council President Sheilds, reporting for Public Safety, read an activity report from the Fire Department noting that 433 calls were responded to in 2007. She also read the Police report. Both of which are attached.

Councilman Fetter, reporting for Finance, said that meetings are being scheduled with the Department Heads regarding their 2008 budget.

Councilman Witzig said he had no report at this time for Administration.

With no further reports to be made, Mayor Alexander called for remarks from the public on agenda items. There were none at this time.

New Business:

Resolution 2008:35 – Resolution Refunding Tax Overpayment for Totally Exempt Property. (Block 74, Lot 37, Robert L. Fennimore, 1333 Chestnut Avenue, $1,506.97 for 4^th quarter paid the same day that exempt status was granted by the Tax Assessor.)

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008:35 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Witzig. Upon roll call all members voted yes.

Resolution 2008:36 – Resolution Authorizing a One Day License for Alcohol Consumption for St. Rose of Lima Athletic Committee’s Fundraiser Being Held on January 26, 2008.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008:36 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Wentz. All members were in favor.

Resolution 2008:37 – Resolution Extending the Contract with Office Basics for One Year. (Haddon Heights belongs to the Camden Co. Cooperative Pricing System and the County prepares and received bids for all member towns. The bid received in 2006 for the purchase of office supplies had the option of extending the contract and the County has approved the extension. We receive 74% off the catalog price for items purchased through Office Basics. New contract period is February 1, 2008 through January 31, 2009.)

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008:37 was made by Councilwoman Fitzgerald, seconded by Councilman Wentz. Upon roll call all members voted yes.

Resolution 2008:38 – Resolution Authorizing the Police Chief to Purchase a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe 4 x 4 Utilizing State Contract #A67582. ($38,200, funds appropriated in 2 capital accounts.)

Mayor Alexander asked Police Chief Richard Kinkler to explain the system for replacing police vehicles. The Chief said a new vehicle goes to the street officers first and are used up to about 100,000 miles which is about 3 years of maintenance, and then it is passed to DPW for use by the Superintendent or Construction for inspectors. He said he does not feel it is safe for the men on patrol, who could possibly be involved in a high-speed chase, to drive a vehicle that has such high mileage on it. He explained the reason for the purchase of a 4 x 4 versus a car is that cars are not permitted to be funded through the capital account, whereas, 4 x 4 SUVs meet the guidelines set forth by the State.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008:38 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Wentz. Under roll call all members voted yes.

Resolution 2008:39 – Resolution Rescinding Resolution 2007:167 Regarding Interlocal Agreement Between the Borough of Audubon and Borough of Haddon Heights for Emergency Medical Services. (Wording in Agreement was changed by Audubon. All parties are in agreement with new wording and therefore Res. 2007:167 is null and void.)

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008:39 was made by Councilman Witzig, seconded by Councilman Fetter. Upon roll call all members voted yes.

Resolution 2008:40 – Resolution Approving Interlocal Agreement Between the Borough of Audubon and the Borough of Haddon Heights for Emergency Medical Services to be Provided by the Haddon Heights EMS.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008:40 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Wentz. Upon roll call all members voted yes.

Resolution 2008:41 – Resolution Authorizing Payment of Bills and Claims for January.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008:41 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Wentz. Upon roll call all members voted yes.

With no further business to come before council, Mayor Alexander opened the meeting to the public for comments or concerns, at which time the following residents came forth:

Former Councilwoman Andrea Wyman, 116 8^th Avenue asked the Mayor about his plan to talk with religious leaders about family. The Mayor said he is not an expert, but plans on meeting with church leaders tomorrow to get the “feel of the town”. Ms. Wyman asked if the churches expressed a desire to do this. The Mayor said no, he was just investigating. Councilman Shopp said it could be sensitive because “some people don’t have a religion”.

President of Homeowner Association Ricki Roberts – 127 3^rd Avenue, said that the Homeowner Association is now a non-partisan corporation. She said that 2 professional positions were clearly voted on down the party line and were filled by outsiders at a higher cost. She then listed several key items the Association wants council to act on: 1) They wanted Assessor Tom Glock fired, and were pleased to hear he resigned effective 2/1/08; 2) PPA is bonded for $229,000 and wants Borough to seek refund of amount paid to PPA and use the money to correct the situation; 3) Commercial property is undervalued – they want that corrected; 4) Association wants to receive the results of the 407 appeals; 5) Communication to all residents how lowering some properties effects the other homeowners; 6) Wants council to hold the School Board and town’s budgets to Mayor’s “333” challenge; and 7) School Board has a budget information meeting scheduled for this Thursday and notices have been sent via the students. She said what about people who don’t have kids, how do they know about the meeting? She asked council to contact the School Board to have them advise all residents about the budget meetings.

Mayor Alexander said that the Assessor resigned his position which gives him a chance to look at the Assessor’s position, assign broader responsibilities and expand the hours. Councilman Fetter said he is looking into this, noting that he wants to expand the hours to 14-16 per week for office and field work. The Mayor advised residents that a blue and white card will be mailed to them shortly showing their current assessment, which will have clear instruction on the appeal process.
Ms. Roberts said the Association has asked for copies of records and are told there are none available. Council President Sheilds said she has also tried to see files and has been told by the Assessor that there are none. Roberts said he is certified by the State and broke the law and that she would contact the State regarding this matter.

Mrs. Perino, 1640 Sycamore Street is still upset with her neighbor’s bamboo fence although it has been cut to the proper height by our Public Works Department. She said it causes a mess in her yard with very large leaves and dirt. Her concerns were the same as stated at the December 18^th meeting.

Terry Chepurney, 1643 Sycamore Street, advised council that she feels that 4-way stop signs are need on the corners of Glenview Avenue & West High Street and Glenview Avenue & Sycamore Street. She said the traffic coming off Rt. 295 is still traveling too fast and that she was almost in an accident twice. Regarding budget matters, Ms Cherpurney said she is glad to see the savings on office supplies, and asked the Mayor how much he is budgeting for the survey he wants to send out. The Mayor said $5,000-$10,000, which includes everything but postage. She said she felt the money would be better spent promoting the town-wide yard sale. She suggested making the survey part of the newsletter that could be folded and mailed back to the Borough. The Mayor said it is more than just a satisfaction survey and has to read all residents.

Mr. Berryhill, Solicitor for the Homeowner Association, said he rents an office at 102 White Horse Pike. Regarding the party-line voting at the Reorganization Meeting, he advised council that he reviewed the Request for Proposals (RFPs), he said he knew 3 of them. He said Mr. Siciliano stood out after looking at his rate, experience, etc. He noted that he did not know Mr. Siciliano.

Carolyn DiMedio, 106 Kings Highway said she was concerned about the letters sent out by the Assessor. She said her neighbor’s house went down by ¼ million dollars. She said no one went inside that house or hers. She asked, “if there were no discrepancies”, how could some properties be reduced? Mayor Alexander said he is working on a game plan, namely, time and effort, along with a new Assessor, new leader, appeals, and formally requesting a revaluation every 3 years. Lastly she suggested putting police officers on Kings Highway to ticket speeders.

Mr. George Manlove, 419 1^st Avenue asked why can’t the town sue Tom Glock. He was advised by the Solicitor that a peer would have to outline any problems and it would be difficult to pursue.

With no further comments from the residents, Mayor Alexander explained that council would be going into a closed session for the discussion of personnel and negotiations and that no formal action would be taken this evening.

A motion to close the meeting to the public was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Wentz. All were in favor.

________________________________________________9:45pm

Joan D. Moreland, Borough Clerk