May 15, 2006 Minutes

May 16, 2006

Mayor Susan R. Griffith opened the regularly scheduled meeting with a salute to the flag and moment of silence.

She 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 3, 2006”.

Under Roll Call the following council members were present: Councilwomen Cortese and Sheilds, Councilman Shopp and Witzig. Councilwoman Haven was absent. Attorney Sherry Schweitzer sat in for Solicitor Kearney, who was absent.

Motion to approve minutes from May 2nd was made by Councilwoman Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Shopp. All members were in favor.

The Oath of Office was administered to a new member of the Economic Development Committee, Adena Sherman-Adams, who was present. Another new member Marcia Forrest Jenkins was unable to attend.

At this point in the agenda, a motion was made by Councilwoman Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Witzig to nominate Thomas Ottoson to fill the vacancy on council created with the resignation of Kenneth Hamburger. All members of Council were in favor.

Resolution 2006:98 - Resolution appointing Thomas J. Ottoson as a member of Council to fill the vacancy created by Councilman Hamburger, effective 5/16/06 to 12/31/06.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:98 was made by Councilwoman Cortese, seconded by Councilman Shopp. All members of Council were in favor. Mr. Ottoson was sworn in and took his seat at the dais.

The following committee reports were presented:

Councilman Witzig mentioned a resolution on the agenda tonight for the ambulance corp. to purchase a 2006 Ford Explorer under a grant provided by Homeland Security. Also, there is an ordinance up for final adoption regarding the traffic flow at Glenview School.

Councilwoman Sheilds reported a trip will be made to Trenton on Friday to plead the Borough's case for Extraordinary Aid.

Councilman Shopp congratulated all persons involved in Adopt-A-Spot, who came out the previous Saturday. It was a lot of hard work, but the town is shaping up. He expressed his gratitude to all involved. Councilman Shopp also contacted Conrail regarding the possible sale of the property and expressed his interest in being kept in the loop.

Councilwoman Cortese announced volunteers from Adopt-A-Spot would meet again this Saturday to plant and mulch. From Department of Public Works there are currently forty-one trees on the list for removal. With the hiring of two experienced tree cutters, hopefully the list will go down soon.

Mayor Griffith thanked everyone who participated in Adopt-A-Spot. It shows the pride people take in their town. A new business owner, who will have a flower shop on Station Avenue offered to donate flowers for the project. Mayor Griffith put John Rayser, head of the Adopt-A-Spot in touch with the business owner. Mayor Griffith also read a letter from NJ Water Co. regarding a drought watch, resulting from the dry conditions we have been experiencing. We've recently had some rain, but not enough. People can keep up on conditions through the water company website.

There were no remarks from the public on agenda items.

Under Old Business:

Public Hearing and Final Adoption of Ordinance 2006:1215

Ordinance 2006:1215 - An Ordinance for One-Way Streets at Glenview School with Limited Parking. (Between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Monday - Friday between September 1st and June 18th of each year. The 1700 block of Sycamore and West High from Haverford to Glenview Avenue shall be one-way on Sycamore in an easterly direction away from the Black Horse Pike and on West High Street in a westerly direction towards the Black Horse Pike. Parking on Sycamore Street between Glenview Avenue and Haverford Avenue will be limited to 15 minutes on the South side of Sycamore Street and the same for West High Street between Glenview Avenue and Haverford Avenue on the North side of West High Street).

Hearing or seeing no comments from the public on Ordinance 2006:1215, motion to close the hearing was made by Councilwoman Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Shopp. All members were in favor.

Motion to adopt Ordinance 2006:1215 was made by Councilman Witzig, seconded by Councilwoman Sheilds. All members were in favor.

Under New Business:

Introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2006:1216. Public hearing and final adoption will be held on Wednesday, June 7th, 8:00 p.m.

Ordinance 2006:1216 - Ordinance of the Borough of Haddon Heights, County of Camden, New Jersey Canceling Certain Unfunded Appropriation Balances Heretofore Provided for Capital Improvements and Re-appropriating Such Unfunded Appropriation Balances for Other Capital Projects. ($3,400 for a Thrush Circulator for the Borough Library).

Motion to Adopt 2006:1216 as introduce was made by Councilwoman Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Witzig. Upon roll call, all members of Council voted yes.

Resolution 2006:92 - Resolution Authorizing Payment of Bills and Claims for 2nd Half of May.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:92 was made by Councilwoman Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. Upon roll call, all members of council voted yes.

Resolution 2006:93 - Resolution Authorizing Reimbursement to Frank Lafferty for Airline Expenses Related to His Attending a Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indiana in the Amount of $163.61.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:93 was made by Councilman Witzig, seconded by Councilwoman Sheilds. Upon roll call, all members of Council voted yes.

Resolution 2006:94 - Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Tax Overpayments. (Overpayments caused by refinancing, the sale of property or a duplicate payment made by a title company and a mortgage company).

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:94 was made by Councilwoman Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. Upon roll call, all members of Council voted yes.

Resolution 2006:95 - Resolution Renewing Contract for Equipment Maintenance for the Administrative Offices. (Specialty Underwriters LLC, $2607 for 1 year beginning 5/31/06)

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:95 was made by Councilman Witzig, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. Upon roll call, all members of Council voted yes.

Resolution 2006:97 - Resolution Authorizing the Ambulance Corp. to Purchase a 2006 Ford Explorer from SFFY 05 Statewide Local Domestic Preparedness Equipment Grant Award.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:97 was made by Councilwoman Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Shopp. Upon roll call, all members of Council voted yes.

Comments from the public:

John Gemmell - 1843 Sycamore Street voice his criticism at the Department of Public Works; specifically at how recycling is done, lack of sewer maintenance, infrequent leaf pick up and he stated, the streets are filthy. He believes the DPW is mismanaged and a time study should be done. In a follow-up he volunteered to help solve the problems at DPW. Councilwoman Cortese responded that the Borough was prevented from picking up leaves more than twice and that Federal Storm Water Regulation guidelines requested leaves not be placed curbside more than seven days prior to pick up or within 10 feet of any storm inlet.

Mark Standring of 208 4th Avenue - as follow up to caucus conversations regarding the treatment of our trees by the utility companies took pictures to show how trees have been massacred. he urged Council to not let this issue go away - "a 12" trim is unacceptable and the trees cannot survive."

Mayor Griffith interjected that Roni Olizi of the Shade Tree Commission is working with NJ to ensure this does not happen again. The Borough must be notified when the tree contractor (Nelson Tree Service) is coming to town.

Mr. Standring agreed with Mr. Gemmell that DPW is not being run efficiently. He heard, prior to moving to Haddon Heights, that the taxes were high and the services not good. Councilwoman Cortese stated we are not making money recycling. Summing up he stated the department is in disarray and needs an overhaul. Councilman Shopp, who is a member of the committee overseeing DPW, will follow up.

John Rayser - 610 West High Street - Brought to Council's attention the high grass in back of John's Market. Some good news was, Adopt-A-Spot has grown to 65 members but he feels DPW should take care of the heavy work. He suggested outsourcing tree removal and suggested the management style needs updating.

Mr. Rayser then introduced Mr. Krause, the 7th and 8th grade student council coordinator who informed Council that with the help of a grant, students are getting involved with Adopt-A-Spot and plan on clean-up of the railroad station area.

A resident of the Black Horse Pike questioned the procedure for appointing a replacement Council member. Attorney Schweitzer informed him of the statutory requirements (in this case the democratic committee has either 30 or 45 days to submit a list of three candidates) this list is then voted on by Council and that is what happened tonight).

Councilman Shopp suggested the resident join a party and get involved. Discussions also revolved around the economic development committee with Mr. Shopp providing an overview.

With no further business to come before Council, Councilwoman Cortese made a motion to close the meeting to continue with the caucus agenda, seconded by Councilwoman Sheilds.

_______________________ 9:10 p.m.

Patricia A. Cooper