September 5, 2006 Minutes

September 5, 2006

Mayor Susan R. Griffith opened the regular 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 Haven, Cortese and Sheilds, Councilmen Shopp and Ottoson. Borough Solicitor John B. Kearney was also present. Councilman Donald Witzig was absent.

Motion to approve the August 15^th minutes was made by Councilwoman Haven, seconded by Council President Sheilds. All members present voted yes.

The following Committee Reports were presented:

Councilwoman Beth Ann Haven, reporting for Construction said that 39 permits were issued in August. She said she was asked by the Construction Official, Mengste Thomas El to thank the Borough Clerk for her support in allowing one of her employees to fill in while the Construction Office Secretary was on vacation.

Council President Trish Sheilds, reporting for Finance said we received notification of approval of a $161,000 grant for the remediation of the landfill site on Devon Avenue. She said that the Economic Development Committee would also be looking into grants.

Councilman Gordon Shopp, reporting for the Economic Development Committee said the last meeting was advertised on the website and announced dates for the September meetings (13^th and 27^th at the Municipal Building, 7:00pm). He said the work sessions are now over and the public will have an opportunity to suggest things or ask questions. He said that the next meeting will have a guest speaker from Haddonfield regarding assessment. Councilman Shopp said he was encouraged to see members of the community coming to the meetings.

Mayor Griffith called for remarks from the public on agenda items. There were no comments or questions at this time.

Old Business:

Public hearing and final adoptions:

Ordinance 2006:1219 – An Ordinance to Amend Section 450-76 of the Code of the Borough of Haddon Heights Related to Permitted and Conditional Uses in the Central Business Zoning District. Upon hearing or seeing no comments from the public on 2006:1219, motion to close the public hearing was made by Councilwoman Cortese, seconded by Councilman Ottoson. All present were in favor. Motion to adopt Ordinance 2006:1219 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. All present were in favor.

Ordinance 2006:1220 – An Ordinance Concerning Seasonal Temporary Commercial Uses. Upon hearing or seeing no comments from the public on 2006:1120, motion to close the public hearing was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Haven. All present were in favor. Motion to adopt Ordinance 2006:1220 was made by Councilwoman Haven, seconded by Councilman Ottoson. All members present were in favor.

Ordinance 2006:1121 – An Ordinance Establishing a Public Records Request System. (Adding Chapter 78 to the Code entitled Records, Public. Establishes criteria to follow and allows extra fee when it takes someone more than 2 hours to gather and/or copy items requested). Upon hearing or seeing no comments from the public on 2006:1121, motion to close the pubic hearing was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Ottoson. All members present were in favor. Motion to adopt Ordinance 2006:1121 was made by Councilwoman Haven, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. Under roll call all present voted yes.

Ordinance 2006:1222 – An Ordinance Amending the Code of the Borough of Haddon Heights to Include Chapter 368 Entitled Sex Offender. (Establishes residency requirements in accordance with NJSA 2C:7-1 et. seq. (Cannot reside, inhabit, occupy, dwell and/or live within 2500’ of any school, park playground or day care center in the Borough)).

During the public hearing on Ordinance 2006:1222 David Ragonese, 603 Sycamore Terrace asked, if Ordinance 2006:1222 was challenged in Federal Court, would it be upheld? He also asked if there is any area of town where we would be creating an area for sex offenders to live? Solicitor Kearney said that, “basically, this is the best we can do”.

Hearing or seeing no further comments regarding 2006:1222, motion to close the public hearing was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Ottoson. All present were in favor.

Motion to adopt Ordinance 2006:1222 was made by Council President Sheilds seconded by Councilman Ottoson. All members present were in favor.

Ordinance 2006:1223 – Salary Ordinance for Non-Contracted Personnel for 2006. (3.5% increase in most cases).

Hearing or seeing no comments from the public on 2006:1223, motion to close the public hearing was made by Councilwoman Haven, seconded by Councilman Ottoson. All present were in favor.

Motion to adopt Ordinance 2006:1223 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Ottoson. Upon roll call all members present voted yes.

New Business:

Resolution 2006:136 – Resolution Appointing 3 Members to the Zoning Board for Unexpired Terms. (Terri Boccuzzi, Jim Blanda, and Walt Woodward are filling vacancies on the Board due to resignations. Each unexpired term expires 12/2007.)

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:136 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilman Shopp. All members present were in favor.

Resolution 2006:137 – Resolution Authorizing Payment of Bills and Claims for 1^st Half of September.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:137 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. Upon Roll call all members present voted yes.

Resolution 2006:138 – Resolution Awarding a Contract to United Computer Sales and Service in the Amount of $4,465 to Provide Computer Maintenance Services. (For Administration, Finance and Tax Departments as well as Planning and Zoning Boards.)

Councilwoman Haven asked that the Construction Office also be covered by this contract. Motion to amend the contract to include the Construction Office was made by Councilwoman Haven, seconded by Council President Sheilds. All members were in favor.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:138 as amended was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. Under roll call all members present voted yes.

Resolution 2006:139 – Resolution Awarding a Contract to Advanced Information Technology in the Amount of $4,000 to Provide Computer Maintenance Services to the Haddon Heights Police Department.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:139 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Haven. Under roll call all members present voted yes.

Resolution 2006:140 – Resolution Approving a Request by Verizon New Jersey, Inc. to Suspend their Municipal Consent Application. (The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities may no longer require Municipal Consent for Cable TV vendors to run cable and offer service to residents. By agreeing to suspend Verizon’s application, it will preserve the process that we have gone through thus far, in the event that the rules change.)

Motion to adopt Resolution 2006:140 was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. All members present were in favor.

With no further business to come before council, Mayor Griffith called for comments from the public. Mr. Troutman, 1509 Chestnut Avenue said he observed that Councilman Shopp is doing the same thing that is being done as part of the Master Plan update project. Councilman Shopp said he agreed and noted that 2 members of the Economic Development Committee are involved with the Master Plan update and said he would question Quinn DeMenna on this.

David Ragonese, 602 Sycamore Terrace advised council that he asked in January if the Borough’s auditor filed the required financial statements regarding contributions to political parties. He said he checked recently and as of then, no financial reports have been filed with the Borough. Solicitor Kearney said he thought they filed the necessary paperwork, but will look into it.

With no further comments to come from the public, motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Council President Sheilds, seconded by Councilwoman Cortese. All present were in favor.

________________________________ 8:30pm

Joan D. Moreland, Borough Clerk