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April 6, 2010

Mayor Scott M. Alexander opened the regularly scheduled and advertised caucus meeting with a salute to the flag and moment of silence.

Under Roll Call the following council members were present:  Council President Rosemary Fitzgerald, Councilman Daniel Haggerty, Councilman Edward Forte, Councilwoman Kathy Lange, Councilman David McCollum and Councilman Stephen Berryhill.  Borough Solicitor Richard A. DeMichele, Esq. was also present.

Mayor Alexander opened the meeting to the public for questions or concerns.

David McGee said that the public comments should be made at the end of the meeting.

Greg McAdams said he was against Councilman McCollum being on the Finance Committee because for the 3 years McCollum was on council and particularly the Finance Committee Chair for the last 2.  He said tax rates increased as follows: 1st year +4.8%, 2nd year +11% and the 3rd year +2.4%.  He suggested that Council disregard McCollum’s request to be appointed to the 2010 Finance Committee.  Councilman Berryhill said he actually asked that he be put on the Finance Committee because of his financial background.

With no other comments or questions to come before council, motion to close the public portion was made by Councilman Forte, seconded by Council President Fitzgerald.  All were in favor.

Due to clarifications which had to be made, motion to table the adoption of minutes from the 2/2/10 and 3/2/10 caucus meetings was made by Councilman Berryhill, seconded by Councilman McCollum.  All were in favor with the exception of Councilman Forte who abstained from voting (he was not a council member at those times).

Mayor Alexander invited Sheryl Pipe to join him as he read a Proclamation, proclaiming April as “Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month”. 

Resolution 2010:81 – Resolution Authorizing Payment of Bills and Claims for 1st Half of April.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2010:81 was made by Council President Fitzgerald, seconded by Councilwoman Lange.  Upon discussion, Councilman McCollum asked if money from Capital Ordinance 2010:1307 can be used for the Services Operations Facility.  CFO, Sharon Smith confirmed that the wording in the ordinance allows money to be used for expenses related to the conference center at the facility.  Upon roll call, all members voted yes with the exception of Councilmen McCollum and Berryhill who voted no.

Mayor Alexander invited Sheryl Pipe to join him as he read a Proclamation proclaiming April as “Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month”.  Ms. Pipe said that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed in 1866 and was 4 days away from its 100th Anniversary.  She expressed her gratitude to the Mayor for recognizing the SPCA and for bringing awareness to residents.

At this point, Mayor Alexander presented a power point presentation with updated information on Project Garnet.  The entire report is on the Borough’s website and is available in the Clerk’s office.

Upon his completion, the Mayor fielded many questions from council members on the cost of Project Garnet, Community Center’s open house scheduled for April 23rd, sale of DPW property, plans for housing and park area on DPW property, Master Plan and costs for remediation of DPW property. 

Borough’s Tax Assessor, Tom Colavecchio spoke with the Governing Body about tax maps and Geographic Information System (GIS).  He advised council that doing a revaluation immediately, cannot be done.  State approval is needed and is a timely task.  He suggested doing the next assessment in 5 years (2012, which would take effect in 2013), then every 10 years after that.  He advised council that the tax maps do not meet State standards and our current maps are 12-18 months out of date.

Colavecchio discussed the GIS, saying it would be a very useful tool for the Borough with accurate property measurements.  The cost for the proposed system would be approximately $76,000 which would include all options presented in the RFP received a few months ago.  The Mayor confirmed that the money for the GIS system is in the 2010 Capital Budget. 

Regarding the four (4) RFPs received, Colavecchio said he conducted interviews of all four.  He also said he spoke with the Borough Engineering firm, Pennoni Associates and that they agreed that Remington & Vernick (R & V) would be the best choice, noting that R & V has a dedicated department just for GIS.  He recommended to council that Remington & Vernick be award the contract. 

Mr. Colavecchio then asked council to adopt a resolution opposing Senate Bill 458, which, if passed, would remove all the duties of Tax Assessor, Tax Collector and Health Department from municipalities to County control.  He referred to Gloucester County, which recently made the change from local control to county control, saying the work is not being done properly and has become very political.  Council members agreed to consider a resolution on the April 20th agenda in opposition of S-458.

Lastly, the topic of fees to be charged for rental of the soon to be completed Community Center was brought up by Councilwoman Lange, the Mayor and Operations Manager Marie Holcombe.   Lange said that she has been getting inquiries about renting the Community Center for Zumba classes, fitness classes, and art lessons for kids, etc.   All seemed to agree with the proposed fees and a resolution approving the fees and an ordinance adding the fees to Chapter 213 was agreed upon.  Both items will be on the April 20th agenda for council’s consideration.

With no other business to come before council at this time, motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Councilwoman Fitzgerald, seconded by Councilman Haggerty.  All were in favor.

________________________________10:10pm

Joan D. Moreland, Borough Clerk