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TOWNSHIP
MINUTES
April 15, 2009
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TOWNSHIP MEETING
APRIL 15, 2009
At 6:00 PM, Robert Magnuson, Superintendent of
Oxford Central School presented the
proposed school budget to be voted on at the School
Election, to be held on April 19,
2009 from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
The regular scheduled meeting of the Mayor and
Committee of the Township of Oxford was held on
April 15, 2009 in the Township Municipal Building,
11 Green Street,
Oxford, New Jersey.
Deputy Mayor Bonnie Riley announced that the meeting
had been properly advertised in compliance with the
OPMA of 1975 and called the meeting to order at 6:
40 PM.
In attendance were Bonnie Riley, William Bray,
Michael Finelli, Michael Lavery and
Sheila L. Oberly.
Everyone stood and recited the flag salute.
N. Angelo Accetturo submitted his resignation as
Mayor and Committeeman to the
Committee on April 7, 2009. On April 8, 2009, Mr.
Accetturo was sworn in as Warren
County Freeholder for the remainder of 2009.
Lloyd Tubman, Attorney for Oxford Textile requested
an extension of the
Redevelopment Agreement between Oxford Textile (OTI)
and the Township of Oxford.
The Redevelopment Agreement was approved in May 2007
with a provision stating that OTI can ask for an
extension of that agreement every 180 days. The last
extension was granted in October 2008. Ms. Tubman
requested an extension be for two years instead of
six months.
Mrs. Riley opened the meeting to public comment.
There were no questions or public
comment on the subject.
On motion by Mrs. Riley and seconded by Mr. Bray to
grant the application for the
extension of the Redevelopment Agreement to October
2010.
Mr. Lavery will prepare a resolution for the May 20,
2009 meeting, authorizing the
extension of the Redevelopment Agreement to October
2010 and submit a copy to Mr. Tubman for her review.
On motion by Mr. Bray and seconded by Mrs. Riley to
approve the March 4th and March 18th, 2009 minutes.
Mrs. Riley read a letter dated April 15, 2009 from
N. Angelo Accetturo Chairman of the
Oxford Township Republican Committee stating a
meeting was held regarding a
replacement for the vacant Oxford Township Committee
seat. The Oxford Township
Republican Committee submitted three names-Alex
Lazorisak, Donald Niece and
Douglas Ort. The Oxford Township Committee has
thirty days from April 8, 2009 to
choose a replacement for Mr. Accetturo to fulfill
his term until the end of 2009.
*Mrs. Riley made a motion to appoint Alex Lazorisak.
This motion died for a lack of a
second. Bonnie stated her reasoning for excluding
the other two names given to the
Committee by the Oxford Republican Committee was,
she felt by naming either of the
two, it would be an unfair advantage to them as they
were both running in the upcoming primary election.
She also felt that it was unfair to the third
candidate running in the upcoming primary whose name
was not given to the Committee.
*Mr. Bray proposed the Committee and public should
have a chance to ask the nominees questions before
an appointment was made. Because all three nominees
were not in attendance at the meeting, Mr. Bray
proposed the Committee hold a special meeting to
allow the Committee and the public to pose questions
to three nominees. Mr. Bray said he’s seen this
procedure used in several other municipalities
including Washington Borough when vacancies
occurred. Mr. Bray proposed several dates and said
he’d take an up or down vote on a nomination after
the Committee and the public had a chance to
question all three candidates.
On motion by Mrs. Riley and seconded by Mr. Bray to
approve the Blue light permit
submitted for Michael Mack, Oxford Township
Volunteer Fire Department.
On motion by Mrs. Riley and seconded by Mr. Bray to
hold a Casino Night on May 2,
2009 at the Oxford Township Volunteer Fire
Department.
Engineer’s Report
Mr. Finelli stated the Department of Transportation
grants are due June 12th and at next months meeting
on May 20th, he will submit to the Committee the
application for Buckley Avenue to be repaired.
Mr. Finelli said that Module I of the Highland Plan
Conformance has been submitted to
the Highland Council for their review and comments.
Module II- the Highland Council
will come to the township and give the Township
their build-out number, which would
commence Module III-Development of the Township Fair
Share Plan and Housing
Development. Module III is relative to COAH
compliance, which should occur between
June and August, thus at this point, a planner
should be brought in to review the numbers
that the Highland Council will submit about the
Module II review. All of this expense is
covered by grant money from the Highland Council
with no obligation or matching funds required by the
Township.
Mr. Finelli spoke on the progress on the Wastewater
Management Plan. He spoke with
Rick Brown, from Department of Environmental
Protection, who is the liaison for
Warren County Wastewater Management Plan. (WMP).
There is an interim WMP that is available that will
lessen the burden of the expense and the level of
effort on the Township. Also, there is a grant
available for $10,000 that is
supposedly in excess of the amount of money required
to do the interim plan. At this
time, there is no problem requesting an extension
for the interim plan and/or the complete Wastewater
Management Plan.
Mr. Finelli suggested that Oxford Township send a
letter to Rick Brown, DEP indicating
that Oxford is assuming the wastewater plan
responsibility.
On motion by Mrs. Riley and seconded by Mr. Bray
authorizing Deputy Mayor Riley to
sign a letter, drafted by Mr. Finelli and mailed to
NJDEP, stating Oxford is assuming
responsibility for the wastewater management plan.
Mr. Finelli will call the Highland’s Council to ask
if a representative could attend the
Township May 20th meeting at 6:00 PM to answer any
questions the residents may want to ask.
Mrs. Riley stated that at this meeting, the 2009
budget was on the agenda to be
introduced. She stated she still had questions and
some amendments to be made to the budget and did not
feel comfortable introducing the budget at this
time.
Mr. Colantano explained the budget amendment
progress. He suggested introducing the budget
tonight and within the next month, recording any
changes or additional expenses and doing an
amendment, if needed before adoption.
Mr. Colantano and Mr. Bray had a lengthy discussion
about surplus, bonds, reserve and an accelerated tax
sale. . Mr. Colantano explained that each $24,000 is
a tax point. Mr. Colantano will submit more
paperwork to Mr. Bray to answer his questions and
explain the “surplus” amount of the budget.
Attorney’s Report
Mr. Lavery gave an update on Stuart Kellner and
Oxwall. Mr. Lavery stated that last
month and on April 8, 2009, he sent letters to Mr.
Kellner stating that he is in violation of the
agreement signed with the Township. Mr. Lavery
explained that the Township must have the money
available before the Township can do demolition work
on the property. A bond ordinance would have to be
adopted before the Committee could go out to bid on
the project. Mr. Finelli will go to the site to get
an estimate for the total cost and submit to the
Committee at the next Township meeting.
Mr. Lavery stated that he has talked to Mr. Delaney,
attorney for Mr. Kellner and was
given permission to talk to his client.
Mr. Kellner addressed the Township Committee. He
explained that since January, his
wife has been very ill and he has not had the time
to hire a contractor or have any of the
asbestos removed or start demolition of any kind at
50 Wall Street. He asked the
Committee for an open-end extension to the
agreement.
Mr. Lavery suggested to the Committee to continue on
track so not to lose any time to get this site
cleaned up, get estimates and introduce a bond
ordinance at the next township meeting. Mr. Kellner
would pay any and all expenses the Township would
incur to get this agreement back on schedule.
Mr. Bray and Mr. Kellner had a discussion on how to
get back on track on the timetable.
Mr. Bray suggested that Mr. Kellner authorize his
attorney or appoint someone else to be put in charge
of getting the site cleaned up, reporting back to
Mr. Kellner at each interval.
Mr. Bray stated he has not seen any reports or
paperwork of any kind proving that Mr.
Kellner has even started to begin asbestos removal.
At this time there is no proof that a contractor has
even been hired to begin removal of the asbestos,
which states in the
agreement that all asbestos MUST be removed by April
15, 2009.
Mr. Bray said that he couldn’t authorize any
extensions to Mr. Kellner at this time given
all the information presented to him at this
meeting.
Public Comment
Mr. Lazorisak commented that the Township should
move forward as per agreement
signed between Mr. Kellner and Oxford Township on
December 30, 2008.
Loraine May asked Mr. Kellner what his schedule
would be in the next two weeks and
how much time he could devote to this time-line. Mr.
Kellner said that there is one
surprise after another and did not give an answer to
the question.
Asia Calabrese said she did not understand why the
Township is even entertaining the
possibility of the Township not taking care of the
situation.
End of Public Comment.
On motion by Mr. Bray and seconded by Mrs. Riley to
authorize Mr. Finelli to get an
estimate for clean up of 50 Wall Street and
authorize Mr. Lavery to have the bond
attorney compile a basic bond ordinance for
Committee review on May 6, 2009.
On motion by Mr. Bray and seconded by Mrs. Riley for
a short Recess at 9:50 PM.
On motion by Mrs. Riley and seconded by Mr. Bray to
go back into open session.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
WHEREAS, Section 8 of the Open Public Meeting Act,
Chapter 231, P.L. 1975, permits
the exclusion of the public from a meeting in
certain circumstances, and
WHEREAS, this public body is of the opinion that
such circumstances presently exist.
1. The public shall be excluded from the discussion
of any action upon the
hereinafter-specific subject matter.
2. The general nature of the subject matter to be
discussed is: one
contractual- (shared police with Washington
Township), attorney-client
(OPRA) and a personnel issue- (Police).
It is anticipated at this time that the above stated
subject matter will be made public at the
conclusion of the litigation. The motion carried
with the following roll call vote
On motion by Mr. Bray and seconded by Mrs. Riley to
enter into Executive Session at
10:00 PM.
At 10:25 PM, on motion by Mr. Bray and seconded by
Mrs. Riley to enter into open
session.
On motion by Mrs. Riley and seconded by Mr. Bray to
have Mr. Lavery draft a letter to
Chris Malcolm with a copy to Lt. Lilly
congratulating Mr. Malcolm on recognition of
having the most DUI arrests in Warren County for
2008.
Mrs. Riley stated that she received a proposal from
Jean Paul Reece to update the
Township’s virus system on all the computers in the
building. This would take
approximately two hours, with a cost of $250-$300
per office. (Police and Upstairs).
Mrs. Riley will review his contract (Access 24) to
see if this would be covered and
inform the Committee at the next meeting.
On motion by Mr. Bray and seconded by Mrs. Riley to
pass all the bills listed on the
April 15, 2009 Bill List.
On motion by Mr. Bray and seconded by Mrs. Riley to
adjourn the meeting at 10:40 PM.
____________________________
Sheila L. Oberly, RMC
*At the June 17, 2009 meeting, these minutes were
amended by adding these two
paragraphs. The original meeting minutes were
approved on May 20, 2009.
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