allamuchynj.orgallamuchynj.org/.../03/february-13-2019-workshop-meeting-mi… · web viewmayor...

MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE ALLAMUCHY TOWNSHIP COUNCIL HELD FEBRUARY 13, 2019 AT 6:00 P.M.

Mayor Lomonaco: And we'll have a moment of silence after.

Unison: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, thank you.

Mayor Lomonaco: This is the Workshop Meeting of the Allamuchy Township council, held February 13th, 2019, which has been posted in advance and complies with the Open Public Meetings Act, chapter 231, PL 1975, otherwise known as "The Sunshine Law."

Mayor Lomonaco: Notice has been posted on the bulletin board in Allamuchy Township Hall, and by legal notice in the January 5th, 2019 edition of The Express Times, and the January 5th, 2019 edition of The Daily Panther.

Mayor Lomonaco: Roll call, please?

Municipal Clerk: Councilman Cote?

Councilman Cote: Here.

Municipal Clerk: Councilwoman Tuohy is absent for the record.

Municipal Clerk: Councilman Quinoa?

Councilman Quinoa: Here.

Municipal Clerk: Councilman Ochwat?

Councilman Ochwat: Present.

Municipal Clerk: And Mayor Lomonaco?

Mayor Lomonaco: Present.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, the Engineer's Report we're not going to be having this evening. I was able to get a consensus of the Council. He submitted his normal report, which we have, and which will become part of our minutes. And we have a general consensus that we're going to move along with the next stage of investigating a traffic light at Catswamp Road, which meets at 517.

1067 (Completed 02/15/19)Transcript by Rev.com

of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: So rather than him coming here, he is setting up a meeting with the DOT so that he can find out if there's any objections on their end, because I would rather that we spend his time that way than him coming here to give us a report, which we have already read. And if we have questions, we can email him or give him a call directly. Alright?

Mayor Lomonaco: So, Mr. Sterbenz will be here when we require him to be here, when he has information to be able to report to us.

Mayor Lomonaco: Attorney’s Report.

Attorney Wacks: Yes Mayor, I have a number of matters for closed session to discuss with you. Some deal with potential litigation, some deal with some personnel matters, and ... let's see if there was something else ... and some deal with the sale of Township property.

Attorney Wacks: So, other than what I have to discuss with you in closed session, I have nothing to report on in open session.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. If it's okay with Council, I'd like to wait until the latter part to do the executive session, so we don't inconvenience the guests that are here, and then they can feel free to stay after to see if there's anything that requires a vote, if they want to. But I don't want them to have to step out.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. We have guests tonight, so Charlie, would you be so kind as to introduce them and tell us why they're here?

Charlie Fineran: Charlie Fineran, Director of Open Space. Rick had sent me an email, Mayor sent me an email about a month ago, in regards to money in lieu of taxes from an email that he received from the Highlands Council, and asked me what my input was, and I didn't know too much about it, and then asked if I'd make a presentation. And I thought that, if there's gonna be a presentation then there's gonna be questions asked, I'd rather have somebody that knows what they're talking about, and let the Council get filled in that way to make a good decision.

Charlie Fineran: So, I have George Stafford, who was the gentleman that sent the Mayor the email, and I also have Zachary Cole, who's both with the Highlands Council. So I would turn the program over to them ...

George Stafford: The Coalition, sir.

Charlie Fineran: The Coalition, excuse me.

George Stafford: Not the Council.

Charlie Fineran: Not the Council.


of 49

Charlie Fineran: So, I would turn the program over to them, just to fill you in. Basically, what it is, any questions that you have, because it looks like we should be entitled to some monies.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, thank you.

Charlie Fineran: If this works out. So, thank you.

Mayor Lomonaco: Please step up and state your name.

George Stafford: Well, my name is George Stafford. I've been with the Highlands Coalition for about six and a half years. I'm a former Tax Commissioner in Morris County.

Mayor Lomonaco: Please have a seat.

George Stafford: Okay, thank you.

George Stafford: And a former town Councilman in the borough of Wharton, and I believe we may have spoken once or twice in that period of time.

Attorney Wacks: I also grew up in that wonderful borough.

George Stafford: Oh yeah?

Attorney Wacks: Oh yeah.

George Stafford: Yeah, me too.

George Stafford: So, I have some experience, I've sat through any number of meetings like this. I was on the Council for 10 years. I was a Tax Commissioner for four of the most grueling years in the history of Morris County tax board, when, in the early 90s, we had that real estate collapse after the 1987 real estate drop, we had a 25 percent drop in value. We had more tax appeals than you could shake a stick at.

George Stafford: So, you know, I got a political patronage job. You know? I'd just go to a couple meetings, and no problem. It ended up being a second job for a while. So yes, I speak municipal government, and I have been involved in this. I've been to about 350 meetings for the Highlands Coalition on various subjects.

George Stafford: But what I have for you tonight is this pilot program. I have some copies of a Resolution. We have asked a number of communities that are eligible to consider what the state is considering now. And we were down there last week talking to the Governor's Office their formulating this.

George Stafford: But basically, what happened was there is a payment in lieu of taxes for open space. There were a number of payments in lieu of taxes for various things that occur when land use changes in a community. And so this is for open space, and basically, you know, somebody gives a farm to the state, or a large piece of


of 49

property, and it is taken off the tax list because it's now not producing anything, or it's left and is taken off your taxes, is basically what it is. So what happens there is, the town all of the sudden has a large ratable that goes down to nothing.

George Stafford: So this program existed many years ago to help the town through that crisis. And there's two ways that communities get paid: there can be a lump sum, there can be a lump sum and a 13-year descending amount of taxes so that you've got something to help you along, and hopefully your ratables are rising while your tax dollars are going down, and it doesn't cause a great deal of trauma to the community.

George Stafford: And the reason that we do that, that law was passed, was because we didn't want towns fighting us on open space. So that program was cut in the last administration, and it was going to be cut in a three-year period and be eliminated completely. The legislature disagreed and they stopped that. One third was eliminated, and two thirds is still there. The responsibility for that went from the Department of Environmental Protection to the Department of Community Affairs, and pardon me, the Community of Affairs just kept sending out notices, you know, "This is what you get," then sending out checks.

George Stafford: The program has, over the course of the last six or seven years, pretty much been frozen. And that one third of the amount of money, which is around 10 million dollars, has just been in limbo. So, we're asking the legislature, the Governor, to reinstate that program. So, that's what this is about. Your community has received payments from the pilot program over the years, and was reduced by a third, and we're looking to get that reinstated so that that period of time that you have remaining, what you've got coming, is filled out with the one third put back in it. And then you'd be in consideration for any new things that you set aside in your community.

George Stafford: And many communities in the Highlands have a great deal of open space and are involved in this program. There are some others in South Jersey that are prominent, as well. So that's what I have this year, and we hope that you, if I may, would consider this.

Attorney Wacks: Thank you, sir.

George Stafford: My pleasure. There's a couple more copies here, if you want to pass that around.

George Stafford: So that's what we're looking at, and from our perspective on open space, because we ... do you need more copies? I think I might have one ...

Mayor Lomonaco: Oh, he's going some more.

George Stafford: Huh?

Mayor Lomonaco: He's going to make more.1067 (Completed 02/15/19)Transcript by Rev.com

of 49

George Stafford: Oh, okay.

George Stafford: So, that's what our concern is, as far as open space. We're trying to keep communities from discouraging that, and our group was founded around the same time as the Highlands Council was being considered, as legislation from the early 90s until the act was finally passed in 2004.

George Stafford: So you know, that's what we're looking to do, and basically we're trying to get money back to the communities that have sacrificed to keep open space.

Mayor Lomonaco: Do you have a history of what we have received in the past? And the timeframe when we received it?

George Stafford: Well, there's a listing of per acre payments, and there's a listing of declining payments, and there's a total amount that the communities have received. Allamuchy, the total was $59,601.93. And that's so far, I guess. I don't know where you are on that timeline of the 13 years. That would all be ... you'd find out about that when this program's reinstated.

Councilman Ochwat: Do you know how the $59,000.00, or rounded up to $60,000.00, how many years it took us?

George Stafford: I don't. I don't. And the only information we've gotten from the State so far is a list here that goes from communities that received or have received in excess of a million dollars, although there's only one of those in Burlington County. Down to Hamburg Borough, on this list, has received a total of $470.56.

Councilman Ochwat: Maybe Jim Kozimor could tell us what we've gotten over the years.

Mayor Lomonaco: Well, I'd like to do a little research on it.

George Stafford: Sure.

Mayor Lomonaco: If you don't mind. I'd like Ed to take a look at the ordinance from a legal perspective and then I need to ... I was on council for four years, and I don't remember even hearing about this.

George Stafford: Yeah.

Mayor Lomonaco: So, I would like to do a little bit of research on it before we have Council discuss it in open forum.

George Stafford: Well all this, you're not passing anything, or creating a law or regulation in the town. We would ask you to send this recommendation to the Governor's Office and to your Legislators.

Mayor Lomonaco: No, I know. I just want him, before we make that recommendation, I'd like to at least, you know-


of 49

George Stafford: Sure, absolutely, and if you have any further questions ...

Mayor Lomonaco: Do you have a card?

Councilman Quinoa: I have one. Earlier in your presentation, you said that there was two third that was kept, and a third was lost.

George Stafford: Right.

Attorney Wacks: What was lost? And what was kept?

George Stafford: Well, the original plan was that it was gonna be decreased one third for every year, and then the program was gonna be ended. And apparently, there were any number of letters to legislators in the government, and legislators in the Governor's Office would say, "Hey, wait a minute. We were promised this money." So that money was going to be taken elsewhere in the state budget, so the third was taken out, and the two thirds were preserved by the legislature.

George Stafford: So, you know, there's still money there, and we're asking that the Department of Community Affairs, and as a former Councilman, the Department of Community Affairs is kind of a bug bear, you know? You have all kinds of problems with them. You send them numbers, they send you other numbers. You're trying to do your budget, you never get the numbers on time. We want that to go back to DEP, where it was before, but the whole idea was to phase the program out. But there was such an outcry that the program was held up where it is, and now we want it reinstated the way it was before.

Councilman Quinoa: And the plan has been in place ... since when did it start?

George Stafford: As far as I know, this goes back to the early 90s when they started this, when open space was a real consideration and people were looking to-

Councilman Quinoa: So, if it started in the 90s, it's past the 13 years.

George Stafford: Well no, you didn't necessarily go in on day one. Right? You might not have qualified for it until 2002, or something like that.

Councilman Cote: So, the qualification arose from when a tract of land falls into open space.

George Stafford: Exactly. Right.

Councilman Cote: So, if Allamuchy wanted to add another tract of land, you know, into open space, it would become eligible for this as of that point?

George Stafford: Yeah. And we would give-

Councilman Quinoa: So, on that property, just real quick, along that, so every tract of land starts a new 13 years?


of 49

George Stafford: For that particular tract, and that would go into the total that you receive.

Councilman Quinoa: So, if we have like, six tracts of open space, that means that we have six plans?

George Stafford: Right. And you know, you have to apply for and qualify for, so that's ... and we would give you that information, but the new legislation has been passed, so we don't have those details yet. But we think that the ... we're in favor of open space, we want to encourage open space, and we want to cut down on people objecting to open space, so that's why we're in favor of this, and as it comes along, whatever the changes are, whether they go back to exactly what it was before, we'll let you know about that as it comes along.

George Stafford: And if ... I'm in the middle of taking out my enormous wallet, here ... you have to be cautious about flashing cash in front of elected officials….

Mayor Lomonaco: Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

George Stafford: I've always wanted to do that sort of thing, so.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay.

Attorney Wacks: George, do you know what level of reimbursement this is? Is it dollar for dollar?

George Stafford: No, I don't, and I don't think it is. I think it goes on a case-by-case basis. So, as you say, the Mayor is telling me he hasn't heard about this. I've only been with Highlands Coalition for six and a half years. I left the tax board in Morris County back when I had hair in 1991 or '92, somewhere in there, and this program was just beginning. So I don't have as much detail on this. There certainly wasn't anything while I was on the tax council when I was like, this guy's age, over here. So, that was a long time ago.

Attorney Wacks: You know, I've been here for 30 years. Jim was the Mayor here. I don't remember this discussion for any of the time I was here.

Councilman Cote: I don't remember having a discussion on this.

Charles Fineran: And the interesting thing is, is that Allamuchy has seven parcels of property. A couple of them are small, but we have about 450 acres through Green Acres that are our open space, and at the time, Governor Whitman purchased almost 800 acres and all of the Pequest Properties. And off of north of 80, the Tranquility Properties have almost 500 acres. And George, I think, said that that also qualifies, because that is the state actually purchasing property. That's taking it off of your local tax rolls. So, you're probably up over 2,000 acres of open space property that would be, depending on the time and how much money and percentage--

George Stafford: Don't hold me to those numbers, but that's basically what this program is for. And as this new legislation hashes out, we'll be able to give you a clear picture.


of 49

Councilman Ochwat: Okay. The interesting part, I find, is that none of us, have ever ... especially those of us who've been around a while ... have never heard anything about this, and yet we've received, at least theoretically, almost sixty thousand dollars.

Attorney Wacks: Jim Kozimor could probably tell you, because it has to come into your budget somehow or another- in it somewhere.

Mayor Lomonaco: Oh, I'm sure that there's a track for it. Yeah. But I want a little more than what we received. I want to know how we did it.

Councilman Cote: Well, Resker was the guy that handled all that stuff, so--

George Stafford: That may have gone back to the days when Ed Griffin was around here. That's a long time ago. I'm dating both of us now!

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Anybody else have any questions?

George Stafford: And if more questions come up, please contact us.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. I have your card. Thank you so much for coming in.

George Stafford: My pleasure.

Councilman Cote: Thank you.

Claire Arcaro: (2 Mourning Dove Terrace) Once we accept that money, does that mean that we could never remove a parcel of land from the Highlands?

George Stafford: Well, the designation in the Highlands between the planning area and the preservation area is in the Act and is done by the State. So it's not something that the community gets to do. That's not--

Claire Arcaro: Well, that's a yes or no answer, as far as you know. Because, let's just say there is a piece of land that's associated with, say, Rutherfurd Hall, and we wanted to remove part of it. Once we accept some of that money, we couldn't potentially do something.

Councilman Cote: If memory serves me right, when all of this land was being converted to Green Acres, the state contributed a lot of the money, and the town paid for a lot of it, and is paying back some of that in the form of a tax.

Councilman Cote: A few years ago, I was looking into the possibility of putting in solar fields. I contacted the State about converting some of that land, and what really happens then is, you have to buy that back from the state. And whatever the put into it, you've got to pay them back, so we're already locked in.

Attorney Wacks: Not only that, in order for Green Acres to sell you back any property, there is a Council that the Governor's Office controls, that's made up of a number of


of 49

different individuals. And that Council has to authorize the sale of Green Acres. In other words, it's really ... it's a very difficult process, and they only meet once or twice a year.

Attorney Wacks: As an example of that, Mt. Olive, when it had some property that went into Green Acres, wanted to have it released so the trade zone could be done. And they had to have this particular special council enter into an agreement to finally release it, and what they did was that they ended up asking for a trade- off. We'll give you back that property, but you need to give us something else. So that happened up in Mt. Olive, probably about 15, 20 years ago.

Attorney Wacks: So, it's not a simple process to get any of the Green Acre property back.

Mayor Lomonaco: All right.

George Stafford: And then, in my experience in swapping land for land, it's generally two to one. So if you're gonna pick up 50 acres, you're gonna have to find 100 acres to give for that.

Charles Fineran: Has Council met with anybody since that meeting I went to back in May? You did the Resolution for the school board.

Councilman Cote: Yeah, no.

Charles Fineran: So, nobody's talked to anybody?

Councilman Cote: Not to my knowledge, no.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay gentlemen, thank you.

George Stafford: I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. And like I said, if we can be of any help at all, you know, answering any questions we haven't ... Nice to see you, Mr. Wacks.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, for the Mayor's Report: the first one; I've received an email from the Seniors, and apparently, we support the senior group every year with a dollar amount. Last year, the amount that was promised was $8,500.00, and to an accounting error, they only received $8,000.00. So they end up being somewhere around $700.00 short for 2018. What they're asking for this year is, instead of the $8,500.00, that they get the $500 they were short last year and go with $9,000.00 on this year.

Mayor Lomonaco: So, what I'd like to do is to ... I haven't checked with Jim Kozimor yet to see how it fits into the budget, so I'll copy Jim and Manny on this, but I just wanted to get a general feel from Council if this is gonna be a problem.

Councilman Cote: No problem with me.


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: Doug? Okay.

Mayor Lomonaco: I will research with Jim, and then I'll find out what the normal procedure is for them, and then make sure that it's in the budget.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, Rosemary, since she is not here, she had indicated at last meeting that she wanted me to hold off on the DPW dedication. So I was prepared to discuss it this evening, but since she can't be here due to an illness in her family, she asked if I would table that, and I will honor that request. So that will give another two weeks for her to do some more research that she wants to do.

Mayor Lomonaco: And I just want to check with Council and ask, are you still interested in this project? Doug?

Councilman Ochwat: I'm definitely interested in doing some sort of dedication, whatever it might turn out to be.

Mayor Lomonaco: Manny?

Manuel Quinoa: Same. Some sort of dedication.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. And James?

Councilman Cote: Yeah. Yeah. In favor.

Mayor Lomonaco: Alright, so we'll discuss it more fully once Ms. Tuohy comes back.

Mayor Lomonaco: Now, she was also researching for me laptops. So when she had made her presentation last year, she was talking to the effect of a $1,200.00 laptop, which is a 1-2-whatever, and caught a lot of flack for that. So I do believe that she has spoken with you, Mr. Wacks? You have done some research for us?

Attorney Wacks: Yes. I actually don't see it tonight because my other machine, I left behind. I have a small 10-inch laptop, which is a small ... because, apparently, they don't want to carry around a big laptop like this, and the price was half of what the price that she had gotten. So I have all the specs on it. It was about $650.00, I think it was, for each one. And it had all of the bells and whistles that a regular laptop would need, it's just small. Very tiny. So I just offered it because I heard once price, and I figured, you know what? Maybe we should look at some other prices.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. What I'd like to do, since Councilman Cote and Councilman Ochwat are not using laptops at this time ... is that true?

Councilman Cote: That's true.

Mayor Lomonaco: That's true? Okay.


of 49

Councilman Ochwat: Well, I use a laptop, but I mean, I use my own laptop. My own-

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Rosemary says that she's cleaned out her computer, so she will not need the purchase of one. So there's only two, then, that we're talking about, Mr. Quinoa and myself. What I'd like to do is to make a motion that we cap it at $750.00 each ... I'm not saying we're going to spend the whole thing ... for the purchase of two computers, and we do research through our present IT person.

Councilman Ochwat: I'd like to ask a question, just out of curiosity. I've not used a Township laptop at all, but I know there were laptops purchased because other people were using them on the dais last year and the year before. Did those not work out, or something?

Mayor Lomonaco: They're too slow.

Councilman Ochwat: They're what?

Mayor Lomonaco: Too slow.

Councilman Ochwat: I see.

Mayor Lomonaco: So, what we want to do is use one for the Court, and then we're gonna give department heads the use of those. So they're not going anywhere. We couldn't trade them in because they have government information on them.

Councilman Ochwat: Oh, so they'll be put to use.

Mayor Lomonaco: So they will be put to use. They're not just gonna sit in the closet.

Councilman Ochwat: Cool.

Mayor Lomonaco: So, we're just looking for two right now, and then depending on change of Council will depend whether we do it, but the max will always be $750.

Mayor Lomonaco: Can I get a second?

Councilman Ochwat: Second.

Mayor Lomonaco: All in favor?

Mayor Lomonaco: Do I need a motion?

Municipal Clerk: Councilpersons Cote?

Councilman Cote: Yes.

Municipal Clerk: Quinoa?


of 49

Councilman Quinoa: Yes.

Municipal Clerk: Ochwat?

Councilman Ochwat: Yes.

Municipal Clerk: Mayor Lomonaco?

Mayor Lomonaco: Yes. Thank you.

Councilman Quinoa: And it's got the Excel and Word and everything, right?

Attorney Wacks: It's got everything in it. Yeah. And it's a very fast computer.

Councilman Quinoa: Good.

Attorney Wacks: Yeah.

Peter Trusio: It's got to have Pro, gentlemen. Make sure all your software is Pro software. That's where the money is spent. I buy computers, and where the money gets spent is on the software. You need the professional level of what's needed for your security and stuff. So that's just a thought, you know. It costs a lot of money for that software. Hardly noting.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Like I said, we'll do the research through our present IT person, who set up the original ones. Hopefully these will just be a little quicker, and also be able to use in much different areas.

Peter Trusio: It's up to communication, emails and stuff, that's all. You know?


Mayor Lomonaco: Just an update on Water and Sewer ... we are preparing, this year, an Asset Management Plan. I had mentioned this before. And Paul Sterbenz, through Maser Consulting, is working on that along with Bruce. And part of his plan, which was a total of like, $35,000.00, $9,000.00 of it was to GPS and photo the hydrants, so I asked our Water and Sewer Department if they would take care of that for us.

Mayor Lomonaco: The other part that has to be done is that each of the hydrants have to be tagged and numbered. So they have to go through and do that, anyway. They've already GPS’d all of the hydrants. I asked them to do it, and they did it in two days. They've ordered the tags, so that once the tags are in, they're going to place them on. They're gonna take pictures and they're gonna get it to Paul Sterbenz in a format that's acceptable to him for his report. They have until Mach 15th to do that because Paul has until April 15th to submit his plan. Alright?


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: So, by doing due diligence, using our own people, we're able to save $9,000.00 minus whatever cost for the tags, which we had to pay, anyway. Alright? It's all done during regular work hours. Okay? So that's just an update.

Mayor Lomonaco: One Oakcrest. To give an update on that, that's the house that burned on June 1st. My wife, Lisa and I live next door. We did notice that spray painting was being done on the front door sometime, I believe it was last week, early in the week. And we just thought it was the front door. So, the owner had come on the weekend, and he came over to us, and when we looked again, there was additional spray painting on the front door.

Mayor Lomonaco: When he went in, there was spray painting throughout the house. There was phallic symbols, there was swastikas, so I recommended that he call the police. Which, they did come, and it's now being treated as a hate crime. Alright? So, to the extent of that location, it is now being looked at by detectives, alright? So just to bring everybody up to speed that, when we did speak with him, his intent is to demolish it. The insurance company's requiring that he gets three quotes. After that, when he goes to build it, he needs three quotes, so the insurance company's making sure that whatever he does, he does right.

Mayor Lomonaco: I also inquired about the pool, due to the West Nile virus, which was found in Hackettstown last year. The concern being next door, and others in the neighborhood, was that he hasn't changed or treated the water in any way. So the health department went out and they treated it for six months, so they say it was sometime in November or so.

Mayor Lomonaco: So he's aware that he has to drain the pool, and his intent was to fix it, anyway. So he is supposedly cooperating. I've spoken with Judge Mellinger, and they've had good conversations, so we'll just see how that proceeds.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, during the last month, I received a letter that states ... this is from the Cablevision company ... "This is to certify, to the best of my knowledge and belief, that the gross revenues of Cablevision of Paterson from all recurring charges and the natures of subscription fees paid by subscribers was $1,221,939.00."

Mayor Lomonaco: So, as a result, we get franchise fees, which is two percent. So they presented us with a check of $24,439.00

Unknown Public: Nice.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. That's wonderful. Yeah? That's great, I'm sure we get this check every year and such.

Mayor Lomonaco: I also did receive a complaint from people on Cobble Hill, which is in the most western side of Allamuchy, and they have no Cablevision there. They were told that they have to either do an internet, or they have one to two choices that they can do. So I contacted these people back in, I believe it was October, and I'm continuing to get the run-around. So I will be addressing a letter to the


of 49

highest up that I can, now that I have more names to go. But the people just won't return my emails, and the resident that sent the request to me, I'm copying him on every email so he sees that we, as a township, are trying. The fact that they're not responding back to us is sad, and when the renewal time comes up I will definitely ... not that we have a choice, I mean, whoever cable is, we get stuck with. But that's my opportunity to be able to express my displeasure. Alright?

Councilman Ochwat: Isn't the renewal up this year?

Mayor Lomonaco: I believe it is, yes.

Councilman Ochwat: Ed, do we have much leverage with the cable company in terms of this ...

Councilman Cote: Cablevision.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah, but the company is Altice.

Councilman Ochwat: Like, getting into a new area, and/or the rates, those kind of things?

Attorney Wacks: Answer: we have some input now .... more than we did before, but it's still The Office of Cable Television in Newark basically tells you what you can do, and what you can't do. So, they're in charge. Frelinghuysen is having a big argument right now with The Office of Cable Television because they want to try to get extension of lines into Frelinghuysen because there aren't any in a lot of places, and they're having a difficult time with the Office of Cablevision.

Councilman Ochwat: Yeah. The reason I ask the question is because we have a renewal this year, and secondly because they've had no problem, like most cable companies, raising rates, etc. I mean, I've personally experienced that. And if you ever have any leverage, and I'm not saying you do, but if you ever have it, it's got to be around renewal time.

Attorney Wacks: That is the time. That is the time to do it, yeah. You can be heard by the rate people, and you can do ... you can put in your two cents and get them to do things.

Attorney Wacks: Generally speaking, my experience is that they won't fool much with the rates, but what they'll do is they'll offer you service at the school, they'll offer you service here in the municipal building, they'll offer you different free services for municipal purposes. But generally speaking, rate-making ... they're not gonna do much with that.

Councilman Ochwat: From a consumer standpoint, Optimum, at least my experience, was very positive. Since they've been taken over by the new company, it's not so positive, and that's just my personal experience.


of 49

Attorney Wacks: Well, I mean, if there's other people in the town who feel the same way ... it's an ongoing situation and you can notify Newark about the concerns and difficulties you're having. They'll listen to you. There are people there that will actually listen to you.

Attorney Wacks: Whether they'll do anything about it or not, that's another story.

Mayor Lomonaco: Well the general rule, at the time, I guess when a development was made ... if you have more than 25 homes within a one-mile area, then they're obligated to give it to you. So, at this point, there are more than that because of the development in the surrounding areas. My only request to them was to do a survey, and then at that point, see if the obligation can be enforced.

Mayor Lomonaco: And the first guy just disappeared. The second guy went, "Oh I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll take care of it," now he's disappeared. So Jim's just giving me some more ammunition to put in the gun, that's all. But I'm just letting everybody know that we're trying to help the resident, and I just wanted to keep you all informed.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, minutes. As far as minutes are concerned, I've asked all departments and organizations to supply minutes to us on the first of the month, starting March first. Some departments have already. I've seen DPW, I've seen the Water and Sewer Committee, the OEM and the Fire Department have submitted theirs. So once we start in March, and they come, what I'll do is I'll submit them off to a council prior to the workshop meeting so they'll have a chance to read them. And then what I want to do is incorporate them into our minutes, so that when our minutes get posted on the website, all departments are getting posted on the website, and residents can go and check and see what happened with any department that the town has at their leisure. Alright? They'll be kept up on the website, should you wait three or four months or whatever to go look, or if you want to do some research. Alright?

Mayor Lomonaco: Panther Valley has their own, but they are welcome to include them with ours, also. I know that it goes in The Panther. Ours are going to go in on a timely basis if we can get the transcript back from us in two weeks. We'll do them every two weeks. And if not, it will be, at worst case, in a month. Alright? That's just an update.

Councilman Ochwat: I have a question.

Mayor Lomonaco: Sure.

Councilman Ochwat: The minutes ... we're now having them done for the departments, and we're having them done for the town, as well, for both workshops and regular meetings. And I assume they're all being done by the same company?

Mayor Lomonaco: Is that correct?

Municipal Clerk: The departments are not.1067 (Completed 02/15/19)Transcript by Rev.com

of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: No, some departments are doing their own. That's okay.

Municipal Clerk: Water and sewer are done by the same company.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah. The ones that we're sending out and paying for are going to the same company.

Councilman Ochwat: Well, the reason I ask the question is because I would think we would have some leverage with that company if we're giving them ... we never did any business, to my knowledge, and now we're doing that only from our Council, but we're doing them from some departments, and ... stating the obvious, I wasn't here in January, but the last minutes would have been 01/23, which was three weeks ago today, and I don't think they ... I know they haven't come back yet.

Councilman Ochwat: And the ones that just came in, or we just saw today, were from five weeks ago, and I just wonder if there's any way we can get a better turnaround on them.

Mayor Lomonaco: I'll do some research for you. I'll do some research for you.

Councilman Ochwat: Okay.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Anybody else have a question on minutes?

Mayor Lomonaco: Anne Marie, you want to make a comment.

Municipal Clerk: No. They did have, for some reason, because I got an email that there was gonna be a delay in transcription. On the 23rd ... is back. I just got them back Friday, so they'll get them by the end ... Town Council will get them by the end of the week.

Municipal Clerk: What I think that I'll do is a minute ... like tomorrow, I'll upload these, and I'll have them back in time for the end of the month.

Mayor Lomonaco: Alright, so a normal turnaround of two weeks is not unreasonable?

Municipal Clerk: No. Usually, it's 48 hours.


Municipal Clerk: This was, for some reason, delayed. The workshop meeting.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. So, we'll see what we can do about that.

Councilman Ochwat: Do we get the minutes to this company within a few days of when the meeting-

Municipal Clerk: Within a few days, usually, yeah. Or a week. Within a week.


of 49


Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, yeah. I did receive a letter on February 4th, and I'll read it into the record:

Mayor Lomonaco: "Mayor Lomonaco, Allamuchy will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2023. While it seems like a long way off, the time to start planning is now. Attached is a proposal from Claire, Lisa, and I to form a committee to begin the process. We look forward to discussing it with you."

Mayor Lomonaco: I have taken the letter, and I have sent it out to all Council people and asked if anybody has any issues or concerns with that. And I did receive one response from Councilman Ochwat, which was very ... it was interesting, he was thinking that when we do this, for the three months prior to the start of the year, and for during the year, that we decorate the present signs that we have with either birthday ribbon, whatever you guys deem is appropriate for the time. What they're planning on doing is taking the next three years to plan out a whole year event.

Unknown Public: Almost five years ... three and a half.

Mayor Lomonaco: It's 2023. So it's four years. Alright.

Mayor Lomonaco: So, what they'll do is they'll start on First Night, on the first, which is December 31st of '22, and they'll do regular monthly events highlighting different aspects of our history throughout the whole year. So the three of them came up with the idea, so what I would like to do, since there was no issues with council, is to appoint the three of you ... and what was your hashtag, what?

Abby Christmann: Allamuchy 150.

Mayor Lomonaco: Allamuchy 150 Committee. So what I'd like to do is to thank you for your service and for your foresight, and I really look forward to working with all of you. Thank you so much (Applause).

Councilman Ochwat: Do we need any kind of a motion?

Mayor Lomonaco: No, it's an appointment.

Councilman Ochwat: It's an appointment.

Councilman Ochwat: I'd just like to commend the whole committee on the fact that ... I'm very in tune with when we were founded, and yet never put that together, the 150. And I think starting on it now is just really good. That's terrific.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah, I think a lot of organizations in town are going to want to be a part of this, and it will help bring out some of the history that a lot of us are not familiar with. So I think the research that's already started, the dedication toward it, and just knowing the group that's doing it, we'll know that it will be done correctly.


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: And again, thank you.

150 Committee: Thank you, we're looking forward to it.

Councilman Quinoa: Are they gonna require some sort of a budget?

Mayor Lomonaco: When the time ... alright, I'll let you speak.

Lisa Lomonaco: Each one of us has a title, and for right now, we're not going for a budget. We're gonna try to do some initial fundraising to have a little bit of a slush fund, and when it comes time for the big event, which will be close to the end of the year of 2023, somewhere in 2023 we're gonna talk about getting some monies to help do the big event, but we're gonna try to do as much as we can through fundraising, and selling things, and all that, to try to offset that first. That's our goal.

Mayor Lomonaco: Very good.

Abby Christmann: And part of starting it this early is so that we can plan ahead, and plan the events, and have a budget within reason, conserve it. When you do things at last minute, you tend to spend a lot more money than you want to.

Lisa Lomonaco: So, at some point we will, maybe, you know ... the end is gonna be something like an Allamuchy day, but on a much bigger scale, and you know, a nice event for all of Allamuchy.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, thank you again.

Mayor Lomonaco: An update on the website: we were looking at a few different people in order to be able to do a presentation to the committee, the Communication Committee. And the one that I was working on backed out. The one that Rosemary was working on, which is one that is government ... GovOffice. They do a lot of towns in New Jersey.

Mayor Lomonaco: So what we're gonna do is we're going to set up a webinar for the three of us to be able to at least see what they're talking about. What I did was I did present it to a few people that I know do websites, especially the one that did mine, for my campaign and some others, that had experience in the creation of it, that weren't interested in the project. And they did say that the pricing falls right in the middle. It could be much more, it could be a little bit cheaper, but for the most part, with the experience that they have and the ability to give town information, knowing what other towns' are, it's probably gonna be the way that we're gonna go. But we're gonna go through, we're gonna sit through the webinar, and then we'll give more of a formal presentation to Council. Any questions?

Mayor Lomonaco: Water and Sewer: I received a letter stating that the license that presently is up and holding the operation of our account, which is for Dan, who is the water


of 49

and sewer supervisor, is not enough to keep the water and sewer running, as far as the water side is concerned. So, I spoke with Bruce back when we were doing our transition meeting, and I had said, "Listen, if we ever get to a point when they respond to our request," ... which was done, to my understanding, prior to us taking over as a Council, that if he would ever have to put up his license, would he do that? And he said yes.

Mayor Lomonaco: So Bruce has a W4 license. Wayne is going for a W2 ... Dan, sorry. Dan is going for a W2 license, he only has a couple more chapters, and he should be able to get that license for us and then be able to move on to the next. But the W2 is the one that the state Department of Environmental Protection is requiring that he have. And until he obtains that, then Bruce has already gone online, filed his W4, and we are in compliance by using Bruce's license.

Mayor Lomonaco: Now, Bruce Smith is, for those that don't know, is a Consultant for the town, has been on and off for a while. And you need to have a certain level in order for the plant to be able to be operated. So as of right now, we're fine. I spoke to Dan this morning. His license for W2 is up and running, it's on-track. The DEP knows that he's going, and has given him until the summer to get it. So once he gets it, and if that's enough to keep it, we'll pull Bruce back off and we'll put Dan back on. Okay? Any questions?

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Two more things: one, LOSAP. Okay. Well, actually, Town Council was approached, I believe, in November, and then again in December about possibly working to get LOSAP to the squad. The Fire Department has LOSAP already through a referendum in the town, and the squad has a LOSAP program in Green. So, in speaking with some of the higher-ups within there, they do want to go through the process of a referendum this year, which would, if passed, which I'm assuming that it would because the residents passed the Fire Department one very easily, and squad does a lot more calls than we do. I'm sorry, the Fire Department does.

Mayor Lomonaco: Then, at this point, we're only talking about 2018. So I had asked for how many people qualified; they couldn't give me that until January, and as it turns out, there are 14 members that did qualify for the LOSAP program in Green. The fire department receives an allocation of $1,250.00, which is the maximum amount that you're able to get. Green gives them $500.00. So, it was approached to Council, and with my understanding, the council agreed, that they would be interested in hearing options to be able to give the difference to the squad. At least this year, or for '18, and then look into different options for '19. Am I correct?

Councilman Quinoa: Yeah, I was supposed to have a meeting with the captain yesterday ... Tuesday, right? Yesterday was a small day. But unfortunately, we had to cancel it to get all the information, particulars, and all that, and talk about their budget. So I will try to reschedule that before the next council meeting. Give you a full report on everything.

Mayor Lomonaco: Alright, that's good.1067 (Completed 02/15/19)Transcript by Rev.com

of 49

Councilman Quinoa: We have the numbers, and I would just go with, and I'll file a report.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. All right, well that's good back-up for what we're doing, but I want to take care of the $9,100.00, which is what we're looking at now, which is the difference between the $500.00 and $1,150.00 times 14. So one option would be to present that money through a donation to Green, and then let them put that directly into the LOSAP program for them.

Councilman Quinoa: But are we ... the 14 members that you're talking about, are they Allamuchy members? Or are they Allamuchy-Green, both?

Mayor Lomonaco: It's all one.

Councilman Quinoa: It's all one, so the 14 that we're talking about is a whole group.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yes.

Councilman Quinoa: And you're saying that Green gives them how much?

Mayor Lomonaco: $500.00.

Councilman Quinoa: $500.00? For each member?

Mayor Lomonaco: For anybody that qualifies, yes.

Councilman Ochwat: Yeah, the situation is such that, when he gave us that presentation back last year ... they do far more calls for Allamuchy than they do for Green. And the whole reason for wanting this is simply that getting members today is not easy, and we don't want this thing to disappear. Meaning, our emergency squad. So it's an enticement to get more members, and to hold on to members.

Councilman Quinoa: I think that it's definitely ... we definitely have to do it, no question about it. Again, and at the next meeting, the number of calls and things of that nature -- I think it gives a better idea as to the reason why we need to do it. Not just for the membership, but also because of the amount of work. The calls.

Councilman Ochwat: I'm sorry. Rick, you said ... I don't know, I don't know what number you said, but the difference between $500.00 and $1,150.00 is $650.00. 14 members ... we're not talking about a huge sum.

Mayor Lomonaco: $9,100.00.

Councilman Ochwat: Pardon?

Mayor Lomonaco: $9,100.00.

Councilman Ochwat: Is it $9,100.00?


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: And then, in speaking to Mr. Kozimor, he has budgeted somewhere in the area of $35,000.00 for the LOSAP for the Fire Department. And again, the Fire Department is based on qualifications, also. So presently, we're at 26 members that are eligible, so the $9,100.00 would actually come out of a budgeted line item already. We wouldn't be adding it anymore, we wouldn't be adding it anymore, we would be using it from the Fire Department's budget for LOSAP. At least for this year.

Attorney Wacks: So just so the Mayor and Council are aware if you try to piggyback onto Green's LOSAP ... which you can do, you can create a program for the people on LOSAP. You can't give them any more than what Green's giving their people. That's the maximum you can do.

Attorney Wacks: The only way you can reach out and give them more is by doing your own referendum and having your own program established.

Councilman Quinoa: But for this year, the program by the donation, how does that work?

Attorney Wacks: You can give a donation to Green Township, just as a donation for fire services and for rescue services and so on. And then they can include those 14 members in their LOSAP plan. Okay? That's what he's talking about.

Mayor Lomonaco: But now you're saying that, since they only get $500.00, the amount we can give is only $500.00?

Attorney Wacks: Probably is ... that, I think, is what the limit is, is it can't be any more than what their plan is.

Mayor Lomonaco: Because the limit on the plan is-

James Cote: That would only be true for the donation, right?

Manuel Quinoa: No. Donation isn't-

James Cote: That would only be true for the LOSAP.

Manuel Quinoa: For the LOSAP. You can give them as much money as you want to give them.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah, because the state mandates $1,150.00 as a total, and you can only get it as a total of one, no matter how many departments do it. But the way that you were saying is, because they're getting $500.00 from Green, we're maxed out at $500.00 and can't get the-

Attorney Wacks: All organizations must adopt identical deferred income plans and have a common plan administrator. So, the two plans have to be identical.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, so that's more for when we do the referendum in November.


of 49

Attorney Wacks: No, because we're gonna run our own referendum. If we have a referendum for LOSAP, we would do our own ... we would have those 14 people in our own LOSAP plan, and then we can give them as much as we want to give them. There's no limitation.

Mayor Lomonaco: There is a limitation.

Attorney Wacks: Well, there is, but what I mean is it's not limited by Green Township's limitation.


Attorney Wacks: Because it's our own.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. So, we're gonna use Manny's information to help us with the referendum part, and where it's going. Right now, what is the max that we can agree to to give Green as a donation in order to give into their LOSAP?

Attorney Wacks: Let me get you that information. Absolutely.


Attorney Wacks: Rather than me trying to do it off the top of my head and looking at some material. Let me look into it.

Mayor Lomonaco: Then, you could, Manny, do your meeting and get your research.

Councilman Quinoa: Our argument would be like, Doug was saying, our argument would be is, if they present me with numbers, let's say 65 percent of their runs are Allamuchy, 25 is Green. And I understand Frelinghuysen is involved; I don't know why they wouldn't be contributing.

Attorney Wacks: Well, I know that Frelinghuysen gives them money, gives Allamuchy-Green money. I know that.

Councilman Ochwat: Because they don't have a squad for those-

Mayor Lomonaco: Not for LOSAP. That's for like, their trucks, and maintenance or whatever they need.

Councilman Quinoa: You know, then the Mayors should get together and find out.

Councilman Quinoa: Well, let's get the information first.

Mayor Lomonaco: Once I get the cap from you, and Manny, you work on your report, I'll contact the mayor of Green and make sure that he's open to the idea of it, and then you tell me how much ...

Manuel Quinoa: Exactly.


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: ... we can do, and then maybe at the next meeting we can decide on how much we're gonna give.


Councilman Ochwat: And I just have a question, I just want to understand something ... the maximum we could give as a donation ... there is no maximum, we can do whatever we want.

Mayor Lomonaco: Right.

Councilman Ochwat: But when we do the LOSAP thing, if Green's LOSAP was $500, even if we do a referendum, the max-

Attorney Wacks: No. No, no. This is if we do a shared services, or some other way of doing it. If we do a referendum, that's a whole different program.

Councilman Ochwat: Okay, but if we do shared services, which might be easier than a referendum-

Attorney Wacks: Yes.

Councilman Ochwat: Then we're limited to the amount they give?

Attorney Wacks: Yes.

Councilman Ochwat: And so, they could, at least theoretically, end up giving them slightly more, and we could match that amount so it came up to $1,150.00 or something.

Attorney Wacks: Yes. Let me just read you ... this is from LOSAP's regulations. And I'll just read it:

Attorney Wacks: "Another special circumstance is how emergency service organizations that serve more than one municipality or fire district are to be treated. The following provisions apply: the LOSAP benefit amount is based on the individual's service to the emergency service organization. This means that no individual may receive more than the maximum benefit amount, regardless of the number of sponsoring agencies served."

Mayor Lomonaco: That's the $1,150.00.

Councilman Ochwat: Yeah, and so what I was thinking is, we can't go higher than $500.00 if they're only doing $500.00, but all they'd have to do is raise $75.00 ... raise the individual thing, 75 times two is 1,150 ... and we'd be at the same amount, and we could max the program for the volunteers.

Attorney Wacks: The answer is yes, provided there's nothing in the statute ...

Councilman Ochwat: Got it.


of 49

Attorney Wacks: ... that says we can't do that.


Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, so we're just dealing with-

Attorney Wacks: That's what I'll let you know. I'll have a written report to you, exactly what you can and can't do.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, because we're just doing one year that's up now. And then they want to do the referendum, they want to be able to do whatever they want to do. That's on them, which is fine. But just want to ... since it was started in Council last year, I just want to carry it through. Alright?

Mayor Lomonaco: And I have just one more thing to deal with. Give me a second ... being that it is Valentine's Day ...

Unknown Public: Oh!

Mayor Lomonaco: Lisa was kind enough to pick these up for me tonight, and I want to present flowers to all of the ladies.

Lisa Lomonaco: How nice! Thank you.

Unknown: Oh! That's sweet. Thank you.

Attorney Wacks: What a ham. Look at that.

Unknown: I think this is sexist, it should be like Wall Street! Very nice.

Unknown: We'll be here for Father's Day.

Unknown: Yeah, what do you do for Father's Day, right?

Mayor Lomonaco: Now that all the ladies have them, if the gentlemen would bring them home to their spouses or significant others ...

Steve Haydu: Wow. No wonder he's mayor!

Steve Haydu: Thank you.

Municipal Clerk: Thank you.

Unknown: That's why she gets paid the big bucks!

Councilman Ochwat: Thank you.

Mayor Lomonaco: You're very welcome.


of 49

Councilman Cote: Thank you.

Claire Arcaro: Hope our taxes don't go up.

Mayor Lomonaco: One per person ...

Councilman Ochwat: What about Mr. Wacks?

Lisa Lomonaco No, I'm kidding. We paid for it. Big amount of the budget.

Mayor Lomonaco: Everybody have one?

Councilman Ochwat: I'd have to tell Linda.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. And that's all that I have for the Mayor's report. Council reports? Mr. Quinoa?

Councilman Quinoa: I guess my stuff will go into executive. I prepared that action plan, but I think we should discuss it in executive.


Councilman Quinoa: I'll have to give a copy to each member now. They haven't gotten one yet.

Councilman Quinoa: It can wait.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Anything else?

Councilman Quinoa: No, that's it.

Mayor Lomonaco: Mr. Cote?

Councilman Cote: Yeah. Steve Haydu, who handles our E-Waste program for us, has notified us that it's up for renewal. He sent the information to myself and Councilman Ochwat. We reviewed it, and our recommendation is that we renew it and continue it.

Mayor Lomonaco: Steve, and this ... Would you mind, Steve? Is this a three-year renewal, or is this just-

Steve Haydu: It's a three-year contract with an automatic renewal.

Mayor Lomonaco: And it starts with this year? We have to-

Steve Haydu: No, it started already in 2018.

Municipal Clerk: Mayor?


of 49

Steve Haydu: This is the second year.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, so what we're doing now is-

Steve Haydu: Yeah, this is the second year-

Mayor Lomonaco: We're just doing the advertising, and doing the two-

Steve Haydu: Yeah, I need to know that everybody's still onboard with it, and so I can advertise and, you know, contact the RI and get the program going.


Councilman Ochwat: So, we're recommending to go forward.

Steve Haydu: Yeah, I mean, these guys were really good last year. I mean, I have no objection because they did a good job.

Mayor Lomonaco: All right. And Charlie, if I remember right, the cost to the town was five or six hundred dollars?

Charles Fineran: Yeah, it was minimal, right?

Mayor Lomonaco: It was a minimal amount, but we're one of the few towns that actually do the electronic mail, right?

Steve Haydu: Yeah, but more towns are picking up on it because the covered items are actually for free: the computers, the fax machines, the TV monitors ... which is about 85 percent of it ... is free through the DEP program.


Steve Haydu: So, it's a great program.

Mayor Lomonaco: All right. So, so we're-

Steve Haydu: In 2018, it cost us like ... I called up Jim Kozimor for the April event, it was $285.00.


Municipal Clerk: Mayor? It's in the "Contracts" portion of the binder.


Municipal Clerk: So if anybody wants to see it, it's in there.

Steve Haydu: It's on the first page.


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. All right. Any other questions for Steve? So he's okay to proceed?

Mayor Lomonaco: Mr. Ochwat?

Councilman Ochwat: Yes. Absolutely.

Mayor Lomonaco: Mr. Quinoa, you good?

Councilman Quinoa: Yeah.

Mayor Lomonaco: Mr. Cote?

Councilman Cote: We're good.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. All right.

Steve Haydu: We're good!

Mayor Lomonaco: Do we need a motion for that?

Municipal Clerk: No, it's already-

Mayor Lomonaco: It's already in the contract, so we're good to go.

Steve Haydu: It's already in the contract. I was just kind of double-checking with everybody to make sure there were no objections.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Thank you for your service.

Steve Haydu: Okay. Thank you.

Manuel Quinoa: Be safe, Steve.

Mayor Lomonaco: Appreciate it.

Councilman Cote: Also, got notified that we can renew our energy purchase agreement at this point, and a gentleman from APPI Energy sent us a proposal, and I forwarded all the possible rates that we're eligible for, and Hudson Energy offers the best. I think it's also what, based on our usage, we could save something like $10 or $12,000.00 by opting to sign up for it at this point.

Councilman Cote: So, the newest numbers that came in today, I faxed, or I sent the copy of it to you just before the meeting, and there's a copy in here, as well. So a 12-month program is at 7.9 cents ... 24-month is ... at 7.91, 24 months is 7.9 ... 36 months is 7.84, and 48 months is 7.88.


of 49

Councilman Cote: So obviously, at this point, power is down. Doug and I discussed it briefly, and I think we agreed that it makes sense to go ahead and renew this at this point. Do you agree, Doug?

Councilman Ochwat: Oh yeah, believe me, we emailed each other back and forth, but we haven't actually discussed it. But I totally agree with that.

Mayor Lomonaco: With going with Hudson?

Councilman Ochwat: It's an incredible savings.

Councilman Cote: Yeah.

Councilman Ochwat: I never thought you could save that much for the town. That rate from Hudson is terrific.

Mayor Lomonaco: If I remember, from reading it, it states that those rates change pretty regularly. So if we don't-

Councilman Cote: They do.

Mayor Lomonaco: ... it's not like we've got plenty of time to do this.

Councilman Cote: Yeah, it's not locked in for the next two weeks. It changes daily.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah. Okay. So, Ed, have you seen that contract?

Attorney Wacks: I've seen it; I have no problem with it.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Do you want to put this on for the 27th?

Councilman Cote: Yeah, I think we need to.

Attorney Wacks: Well, you said it changes daily.

Councilman Cote: It changes daily, can we have a motion to-

Attorney Wacks: So, I mean, we can do action tonight, if you want to do action tonight, so you lock it in as soon as possible.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. So you're open to doing it tonight?

Councilman Cote: I'd like to make a motion that we renew the contract through APPI with Hudson Energy, at ... my suggestion would be the four-year rate.

Councilman Ochwat: I'll second that.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. All in favor?


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: Roll call?





Municipal Clerk: Quinoa:

Councilman Quinoa: Yes



Mayor Lomonaco: Thank you, Ed, for that. I appreciate that.

Councilman Ochwat: Jim or Ed ... how soon ... like, it changes daily, but could we lock that in tomorrow, or-

Councilman Cote: Yeah, no, I think all that has to be done is signed and send it back to them.


Attorney Wacks: You know, the mayor signs it, the clerk signs it, and then fax it over to them.

Councilman Cote: Yep.

Municipal Clerk: It's a semi-revised contract, though, with the new price, right Jim? The one that's in the binder is the old one.

Councilman Cote: Yeah, I'll ask him to send a new one right now.

Attorney Wacks: And if we don't get it tomorrow, just take that one, change the price on it, initial it, and send it to them so at least we can argue that we locked it in as of tomorrow.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Great, will you do that tomorrow?

Municipal Clerk: Yeah, he's gonna have me email, yeah, we can.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Okay. Anything else, Mr. Cote?

Councilman Cote: Well, we've already discussed the traffic light at Catswamp Road, so there's no sense talking about it.


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: Do you want to go into more detail, or do you not?

Councilman Cote: No, it's just that Paul is going to the county to talk with them about what the next steps are, and see if we get them to move on putting a light there.

Mayor Lomonaco: He did research for us already, to make sure that we qualified, and we did qualify based on ... they had put in counters and stuff-

Councilman Cote: Counters, traffic counters.

Mayor Lomonaco: So for the timeframes and such, that we did qualify.

Councilman Cote: We qualified on two out of five points. One was, I think, total volume of traffic in a day, and the other one was total volume of traffic within a three-hour window, and the three-hour window happened to fall in the rush hour, in the evening.

Councilman Ochwat: Yeah, morning and afternoon.

Councilman Cote: Morning and afternoon, yeah.

Mayor Lomonaco: And by doing a light there, the reason that we're picking that spot is because line of sight is most effective. If you go left toward the church there, coming up the hill, if you go to the right, there's a berm there. And then what that will do is ... for example, I live off of Ridge, which is down by Mattar's, and we'll sit there for five minutes waiting for it. So by the light changing, we'll benefit everybody else and give a window of opportunity for people to go.

Councilman Cote: There's also been a number of accidents there. There was another one there just yesterday or the day before.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah, when I was heading to your house!

Councilman Cote: Yeah!

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah. There was one ... very common space, Fire Department's there quite a bit.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Good. Anything else?

Councilman Cote: No, I'm good.

Mayor Lomonaco: Thank you for your work. I appreciate it.

Councilman Ochwat: The only ... I don't really have any report, but I'd like to make a suggestion for the Council's consideration for whenever ... for discussion, and that's ... we're going to be getting, or we are getting department reports on a monthly basis. And so I guess that's about four different departments, right?


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: No, it'll be more. We're offering it to other organizations, such as Friends of Rutherford Hall ...

Councilman Ochwat: Oh, okay.

Mayor Lomonaco: And the school, if they want to do it. Anybody that gets a chance ... I want to do it to the ambulance squad ...

Councilman Ochwat: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Mayor Lomonaco: This way, it could help with their donations and awareness, as far as membership and things like that.

Councilman Ochwat: Okay, well the suggestion I was gonna have, particularly for our town, like the DPW or the Water and Sewer, etc., was going to be that at least once a year, we ... even though we're getting a monthly report from them, that we have a face-to-face meeting.

Councilman Ochwat: In other words, we don't have them all the same time, but we have them ... like, next month we'd have one, then the following month we'd have another. So it wouldn't put any undue burden on them, but it would be nice to have some face-to-face.

Councilman Ochwat: And secondly, it wouldn't extend our meetings if we only do one of them a month, and I think it would be a real good way. See how that works out; if it works out great, we can continue it. And if it doesn't, we can go back to just having a written report.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. What I'd like to do is expand on that also, and invite in, on other off-months, organizations.

Councilman Ochwat: Yeah, that's-

Mayor Lomonaco: All right. So we'll set up one a month. I'll create a schedule, and then they can come in and be able to give an update on what they're doing.

Councilman Ochwat: Well, I'd like to find out how everybody feels about that.

Mayor Lomonaco: Are you guys okay with that?

Councilman Quinoa: It's part of the suggestions on the action plan.

Councilman Ochwat: Oh, okay.

Councilman Quinoa: But your suggestion's better. This one just suggested that, if Council needs to meet with the department, that they could come to the meeting. But I think yours is better. Every organization would come in once in a while.


of 49

Doug Ochwat: Yeah, I think it'd be good to have some face-to-face with everybody.

Ed Wacks: That's a good suggestion.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah, during the transition meetings, it was expressed to them that, should they have a concern and they want to make it public, that they're open to come to meetings to sit if they wanted to. It's up to them. I just don't want to make them obligated to come here on their nights off, if they really had nothing that they want to do. But for the most part, anybody's welcome to come.

Councilman Ochwat: Well, what would be nice is if we ... obviously with our own departments, we would have it as part of their obligation to do it once a year, or something like that. With the organizations, we would give them a particular month, but it would be their choice. They're not forced to come.

Mayor Lomonaco: Sure. That could give us an opportunity to ask them questions.

Councilman Ochwat: Right.

Mayor Lomonaco: Good, I think that's great.

Councilman Ochwat: Yeah. Okay.

Mayor Lomonaco: Anything else?

Councilman Ochwat: No. Do you need a motion on that?

Mayor Lomonaco: No, we're just creating a list.


Mayor Lomonaco: No, I'll just put it on the agenda so that everybody is aware of who's coming, and you can prepare your questions.

Doug Ochwat: Okay. That's all I have.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Municipal Clerk’s, report?

Municipal Clerk: I have nothing.


Councilman Quinoa: Rick, before you get into the public session, I see in our minutes that we don't have ... in our agenda, we don't have a ... just for comments by the Council ... I don't know if this is the right time for me to make my statement or not, before the public session?

Mayor Lomonaco: Oh no, if you want to say something, go ahead.


of 49

Councilman Quinoa: Yeah. Recently, I was approached in reference to an inquiry, whether the Department of Public Works person we just hired, whose name happens to be Murray, the question was asked if that individual is somehow related to my ex-wife, and her maiden name was Murray. I informed the person that was inquiring about this ... I don't know who started the rumor, or who started the question or whatever ... I informed them that the fact of the matter is that no, he is not a relative of my ex-wife. I haven't spoken to my ex-wife in over 10 years, and so therefore, that rumor was debunked.

Councilman Quinoa: But what I'm more upset about is that this individual, Kevin Murray, our DPW, has gone through the wringer prior to being appointed by the prior administration made statements about the individual's character, and made a statement as far as he would never work in this town. This individual has been through a lot, and it still boggles my mind. There are still individuals that are still out there, trying to create some sort of diversion or accusation or whatever, to try to get this individual A, either to quit, or for whatever reason, just leave.

Councilman Quinoa: I think enough is enough. This individual went through an interview process. It was a fair interview process, and he deserves to be at the position he deserves. Enough is enough with the accusations, allegations, whatever it is. Okay? He's been through enough. Give the guy a chance to do his job. Stop.

Councilman Quinoa: And as far as relationship to my ex-wife, there is none. And that is just totally ridiculous, what they're trying to do to this individual, who just started working here, and has gone through the wringer already, publicly, on allegations. So I suggest whoever is trying to find out anything against this individual or whatever, stop. Please.

Councilman Quinoa: Thank you.

Mayor Lomonaco: Thank you.

Councilman Quinoa: The rest I'll take in executive.

Mayor Lomonaco: Any comments by Council?

Councilman Cote: Well, I'm not familiar with ... I'm familiar with the fact that he was ... someone's made an accusation that he was a relative of Manny's ex-wife, but I agree. This guy ... you know, he's new to the job, but he went through a hell of a time to get the job, and I think he proved himself just putting up with the nonsense that he had to put up with to get there, and we need to give him a fair shot.

Mayor Lomonaco: Councilman Ochwat?

Councilman Ochwat: I just totally agree with them.



of 49

Councilman Ochwat: Nothing to add.

Mayor Lomonaco: So just for the audience, he was hired and he started the first week of January. He's in his first 30 days. Mr. Quinoa and I met with him after 30 days to go over his progress; what we expected, what he's done, and what changes he's proposing. And we were able to come to an accord, so he's in the evaluation process. We'll meet again in 60 days, and then we'll make a final decision after 90. Okay?

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. I'd like to have a motion to open up for a public session.

Councilman Ochwat: So moved.

Councilman Cote: Second


All: Aye.

Mayor Lomonaco: Anybody from the public like to come up and address council?

Mayor Lomonaco: Please come up. State your name and address. Make yourself comfortable.

Peter Trusio: My wife Donna - I'm Peter Trusio - about the townhouses.


Peter Trusio: Yeah. So I was gonna start off by saying ... this is new to me.

Mayor Lomonaco: First of all, could I just say one thing?

Peter Trusio: Yes.

Mayor Lomonaco: This is an issue that we're going to be discussing in executive session.

Peter Trusio: Great great.

Mayor Lomonaco: So, is this the proper format?

Attorney Wacks: Well, the gentleman certainly can express what he wishes to at this point.

Peter Trusio: I appreciate that.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah.

Attorney: I may not allow for you to have a public discussion about it if I feel it's something we need to be….


of 49

Peter Trusio: No, I don't even need-

Mayor Lomonaco: I just wanted to make sure we were set on our rules, being that-

Peter Trusio: Right.

Mayor Lomonaco: ... certain things have to be discussed in private. So if you get interrupted-

Peter Trusio: I'm happy with however you want to do it, yes.

Mayor Lomonaco: Yeah, if you get interrupted, it's not because we're against whatever you want to say. It's just that I want to do it right.

Peter Trusio: If you have any questions for me, too, I don't mind. If it's okay with Mr. Wacks, I'm just going to-

Mayor Lomonaco: He'll lead us.

Peter Trusio: Okay, good.

Peter Trusio: So, I'm Peter Trusio. Who I am ... My business is in Hackettstown, since 1957. I haven't been in business since 1957, but the business used to be the little house by Mars for a long time, before it moved downtown. Alright?

Peter Trusio: Mr. Jameson was a big part of the area. I, myself, I'm currently on the Business Improvement District Board in Hackettstown. Serving there for seven or eight years. I previously was on The Chamber of Commerce for the county with ... Betty Schultheis was our fearless leader. Maybe a little too fearless sometimes, but she was our fearless leader.

Peter Trusio: And I'm involved in the community in Sparta. I'm involved in Chamber of Commerces, etc. etc. I looked to this project to replace a part of my life that I couldn't do any other way. And what that was, I have certain issues that preclude me from buying life insurance. So this was a way for me and my family to have a legacy beyond my life, that they could ... it's 18 years I think, after ... way before there's any real value to the properties.

Mayor Lomonaco: Is everybody aware we're talking about the purchase of the COAH units?

Peter Trusio: Oh, I'm sorry, yes.

Councilman Quinoa: I didn't know, I'm sorry.

Mayor Lomonaco: He's the gentleman that had-

Peter Trusio: Oh, I apologize. I'm sorry.


of 49

Peter Trusio: I was the high bidder at the bidding. Now, I will tell you that I'm a neophyte. I have no experience whatsoever with any of this. I picked this project because it's at a townhouse. T's an association. A lot of the work that I would do is done by the association. It's safer for me and my family to do it that way. You know?

Peter Trusio: But I have a few dollars. I had to take it from an equity buyout of my ... part of an insurance agency that I was part of. But it's not a lot of money. Now, I went beyond the date of January 20th, which was my original closing date per the contract. There was correspondence from your realtor. I'll call him your realtor ... it's really Max Spann. Okay? That informed us, reminded us that the closing date was February 23rd, so that ... and we could provide that, if you'd like to see it.

Peter Trusio: But in that correspondence, sloppy or not, we kinda started leaning on February 23rd, and then we got a notice from ... John?

Mayor Lomonaco: Ursin.

Peter Trusio: Yes. For due ... not physical ... of "pay up or not," right? Whatever it's called. Which was kind of a surprise to us.

Attorney Wacks: Called "time of the essence".

Peter Trusio: Time is of the essence, thank you, Mr. Attorney.

Mayor Lomonaco: Mr. Wacks.

Peter Trusio: Mr. Wacks. Yes. Let me tell you something: I bought my house that I've lived in for over 30 years with my family, okay? My daughter just got married at Rutherfurd Hall. I lived there for a long time, but that's my one and only real estate transaction of my entire life. The only other one was when I was a junior partner somewhere, and they bought something, said, "Sign here," and I signed there.

Peter Trusio: I take full responsibility for the fact that I wasn't prepared for what I was doing. Now, the issue I'm having is trying to communicate ... how much is it worth to get this extra month or so for the closing? I realize the trauma I put you guys ... not trauma, but difficulties.

Peter Trusio: First of all, it was explained to me properly that you couldn't just let me get away with it. I mean, it was a proper bidding process. And I made my bid, and part of that bid was the timeline involved. So, to go beyond that, it really isn't a fair ... to anybody else, to the other bidders. So I understand there should be some kind of a penalty, or an additional fee paid. But initially, I was asked for $67,000.00 additional. On a $67,000.00 ... basically the purchase price.

Attorney Wacks: That is true. Let me cut you off.


of 49

Peter Trusio: Yes. Okay.

Attorney Wacks: I received a very late email this afternoon that indicated that your attorney and Mr. Ursin had reached a settlement and agreement.

Peter Trusio: Yes.

Attorney Wacks: Are you telling me that, at this point, you're asking for the Council to not increase the price at all?

Peter Trusio: Well, what I'd like to do is ... I sent that because today was your Council day, and I had to move not to lose this deal.

Peter Trusio: You know, we're a family. That's what it's about; it's a family trust ... Eventually I want to put this into a family trust. That's where it's going to be handled.

Peter Trusio: But it's the amount ... and I'm only asking for you to reconsider it. We may know who I am ... I'm not a jerk, I'm a community guy. I have a family that I'm trying to take care of here, okay? I don't know how to do this-

Attorney Wacks: Let me ask you a question. Are you prepared to close on March 15th?

Peter Trusio: Prepared ... I've got to apply for financing. But if financing is done, I'm prepared to close on March 15th.

Attorney Wacks: Right, but understand that, when you made that bid, it was not subject to financing.

Peter Trusio: Yes, sir. And I don't think I'm gonna have any concern about getting the financing. Okay? I have had a couple of ... besides that deal on the 23rd, which, we can provide you if you'd like to see it ... I don't think there's anything binding about it, there's nothing binding about it. It's just a matter of an error somewhere.

Peter Trusio: But there's things in my life I just ... today I brought my brother to his chemo which is very bad, but his son just got diagnosed with the exact same thing last week, and I'm going through a time. So I ... I let that day go, and I apologize for that. But I just want you to consider what it looks like. A $600,000.00 purchase price, and now it went down to $20,000.00. We went from 60 to 20. I'd ask for six. One percent. I thought one percent per month was ... I thought was reasonable. And 20 seems a little harsh.

Attorney Wacks: The problem is that we don't want to be here on March 14th with you telling us you still haven't gotten your financing, and you can't close.

Peter Trusio: Well I can tell you this: Making it 20 or making it six wouldn't have any bearing on whether I get financing or not, necessarily, or the timing of the financing. I have Lakeland Bank, that has given me a term sheet.


of 49

Attorney Wacks: Right.

Peter Trusio: I don't know what that is, okay? And it looks good to me. Okay? I've got a five-year copy of my taxes, filled the application out, and it seems like it's a pretty ... you know, I'm a well-known commodity. People know me a little bit, yeah, so it's not that ... I think I'll be fine, but I don't have ... you're asking me if I'm ready; I don't have that lined up, you know, I don't have a commitment letter now. I've got the term sheet. Whatever that means Mr. Wacks , okay?

Peter Trusio: I'm coming here-

Attorney Wacks: Well, I don't want to go any further because this is what we're gonna discuss, to some extent, in closed session.

Peter Trusio: I'm coming in good faith.

Ed Wacks: So right now, what I hear you saying is that what you want us to consider is to extend your contract closing date to March 15th, and you're prepared to give us $6,000.00, not $20,000.00. Is that what you're saying?

Peter Trusio: How stupid is this to say? But I will give you the $20,000.00. I'm asking you to reconsider it and lower it to the $6,000.00 or something more reasonable, okay?

Peter Trusio: But that letter stands. It's there. It's something, like I said, my family, like yeah, I don't want to let them down. So I think that if I have to work it out, I'll work it out.

Peter Trusio: I have several deep pockets. I can make things happen if I have to, but I want to leave it in some kind of good stead for my family.

Attorney Wacks: Okay.

Peter Trusio: And that's it.

Mayor Lomonaco: Well, on February 16th, then you realize that the money's gone, right?

Peter Trusio: If February-

Mayor Lomonaco: I mean March 16th.

Attorney Wacks: March 16th.

Mayor Lomonaco: You realize that you forfeit the money?

Peter Trusio: I have that ... I'm up against that. Yes, I do.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. I just want to make sure that you're aware of that.


of 49

Peter Trusio: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.


Councilman Quinoa: That is if we extend it to March 16th?

Mayor Lomonaco: If we extend it to March 15th.

Mayor Lomonaco: If we extend it to March 16th.

Mayor Lomonaco: March 15th.

Attorney Wacks: If we choose not to, then he's defaulted on his bid, and whatever deposit he's given us, he forfeits.

Peter Trusio: I understand that-

Attorney Wacks: We will have to rebid it. That's one alternative that you have. The second alternative is to give him an extension of time for consideration. The reason that we're asking for consideration is because there were other bidders. And so we don't want to give him a special arrangement where the other bidders said they were prepared to close on February 14th, or whatever date it was that they-

Mayor Lomonaco: Or they got financial ... they can get financial backing-

Attorney Wacks: Whatever.

Attorney Wacks: So, I certainly understand your concerns, your feelings. I did receive the email from Mr. Ursin this afternoon. I showed it to the Mayor. So we will discuss this-

Peter Trusio: It's in your hands.

Attorney Wacks: ... in closed session, and we will advise your attorney, or Mr. Ursin, who will, in turn, advise your attorney what the decision is.

Peter Trusio: Well, I thank you for your time, and for giving me a chance to-

Attorney Wacks: Thank you.

Peter Trusio: Sure, thank you.

Mayor Lomonaco: Did you want to say something?

Donna Trusio: No, I was here listening. Thank you, though.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. All right. Thank you so much, both of you.


of 49

Peter Trusio: We had a great time at the wedding, by the way. It's a great place, and the ladies took great care of us. Thank you.

Mayor Lomonaco: Thank you for coming.

Peter Trusio: Thank you.

Mayor Lomonaco: Anybody else that would like to come up to speak with Council?

Mayor Lomonaco: Not seeing any ... then, motion to close public session?

Councilman Quinoa: I'll make that motion.

Mayor Lomonaco: Second.

Councilman Cote: Second.


All: Aye.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, ordinances? Anne Marie?

Municipal Clerk: I have none for the first reading.


Municipal Clerk: Second reading, there's two, which you have in your binders, scheduled for 02/27.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, would you read that, please? Just the ... what's title?

Mayor Lomonaco: Oh, we're not doing that now? We're just going to do it on the 27th?

Municipal Clerk: No, we're going to do it on the 27th.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Just the title, if you would, for the record?

Municipal Clerk: Sure.

Councilman Cote: I agree.

Municipal Clerk: I put the cap on ...

Municipal Clerk: According to 2019-02, is an amendment to the Land Development Ordinance. Let me see if I have the copies here ...


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: That's regarding the seven to nine numbers?

Municipal Clerk: Yes, the seven and nine. I don't have the 19 ... I've got two on me. I have three on me. Oh, here it is.

Municipal Clerk: “AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ALLAMUCHY, COUNTY OF WARREN, AND STATE OF NEW JERSEY REPLACING SECTION 190-704 OF THE CODE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ALLAMUCHY REGARDING THE LAND USE BOARD.”

Municipal Clerk: So that's scheduled for adoption on February 27th. So, there's nothing that we need to do about that tonight.

Municipal Clerk: And the other one is “TOWNSHIP OF ALLAMUCHY WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEYAN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 270 OF THE CODE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ALLAMUCHY ENTITLED “STREETS AND SIDEWALKS” TO ADD AN ARTICLE VI ENTITLED “STREET OPENINGS.”

Municipal Clerk: And this ordinance is regarding any kind of road opening that will be done in Allamuchy because there may be a gas line coming through, and we had to actually allow for a modification to the ordinance to allow for the posting of monies and guarantees and inspections.


Attorney Wacks: And it is not just for the gas line, in general-

Municipal Clerk: In general.


Municipal Clerk: And that will be on for 02/27/19.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, resolutions? RESOLUTIONS:

Municipal Clerk: Yes, I have one resolution: it's to cancel a tax lien redemption ... which, we could take action tonight for tax sale certificate # 17-06, in the amount of $993.43 - Block 718, lot 167 - 109 Wood Duck Court (ATTACHMENT1).

Mayor Lomonaco: Anybody on Council have any relation to that property?

Councilman Quinoa: Not related are they?

Mayor Lomonaco: I don't know. I don't know. We can leave it until the 27th if you want to find out!

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, can I get a motion to pass the resolution? Or do you need to read it?


of 49

Municipal Clerk: No.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Can I get a motion to pass that resolution?

Councilman Ochwat: So moved.

Mayor Lomonaco: Second?



All: Aye.



Councilman Cote: Aye.


Councilman Quinoa: Yes. Yes.




Mayor Lomonaco: Yes. Other business?

Municipal Clerk: Yes.

Councilman Quinoa: Mayor, can I ... can we ... do that real quick, if I can. We spoke about this last time. Our ordinance book, our E-Code book ... I don't think it's really up to date. I think we might have brought this up, that ... I think that we really need the Attorney to really do a good, thorough job of going through our ordinances and make sure they're up to date.

Councilman Quinoa: I have at PVPOA - We're in the process of updating all our documents, because after a while they just get outdated. But what's you're feeling on that?

Mayor Lomonaco: The lawyer for PVPOA is doing ... ?

Councilman Quinoa: No, we have a committee and the lawyer's involved, yeah, to revamp the ... some of our laws and our ordinances, and stuff like that. Because over the years, you know, you tend to not document everything. But I don't know what


of 49

you're feeling, I don't know if ... I talked to Ed about this last time, last month I think, or whenever it was. Last time it was done was, when? 19 ...

Attorney Wacks: When was Doug's first year here?

Mayor Lomonaco: Didn't Doug and Betty do it?

Councilman Ochwat: You mean doing the ordinance? No, that was later than my first year here. It was when Betty was the mayor. I would say it was three ... five ... maybe six years ago.

Councilman Quinoa: Six years ago we actually went through ... because there is stuff in the ordinance on the E-code, I guess it's called, that's not accurate. It's not updated.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Are you volunteering?

Councilman Quinoa: I'll volunteer to do it, but I think ultimately, I think the-

Mayor Lomonaco: No, in lieu ... I mean, in conjunction with-

Councilman Quinoa: Oh yeah, I would definitely like to do that, sure. If it's fine with that, yeah, and-

Mayor Lomonaco: Somebody else want to volunteer to do it with him?

Councilman Ochwat: Sure.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. All right, so I appoint the two of you guys to look at it-

Councilman Quinoa: I've got no problem with that.

Attorney Wacks: And we'll work together.

Mayor Lomonaco: And Ed will do guidance on that.

Councilman Quinoa: Great, thanks.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. That's great. Good idea.

Mayor Lomonaco: Any business? OTHER/NEW BUSINESS:

Municipal Clerk: The only thing on ... I've got three things. The first one's the Friends and Neighbors. They're having an event; the Tricky-Tray in April - April 6th at the Panther Valley Golf and Country Club. 11:30 to 3:30. They're just having one raffle, so I'd like to get a motion for that.

Mayor Lomonaco: Can I get a motion for the application?

Councilman Ochwat: I'll make the motion.


of 49

Mayor Lomonaco: Doug will make it. Second?



All: Aye.

Municipal Clerk: Okay.


Municipal Clerk: Well, okay, we're taking a roll call.









Municipal Clerk: Okay. The other issue that I have is the approval of a new fireman application. Jonathan Ross is the initial application, and Sam Quinoa, we have to re-do. He is an active member, but in order to become a Relief Association Member ... if I understand this right, he submitted a new application ...


Municipal Clerk: ... which is getting approved. So I'd like to get a motion for both of those memberships.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Manny, are you gonna recuse yourself?

Councilman Quinoa: I will abstain.

Attorney Wacks: Not abstain, you're gonna absent yourself.

Councilman Quinoa: Absent.


of 49

Attorney Wacks: Thank you.

Councilman Cote: I'll make that motion.

Councilman Ochwat: Second.

Councilman Quinoa: Should have gone to law school.

Mayor Lomonaco: Doug, second?

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay, roll call?




Attorney Wacks: He's absent.

Municipal Clerk: Right. Absent.

Attorney Wacks: Ochwat?




Municipal Clerk: Okay. The last one I have is an application for a junk dealer's license. This is Allamuchy Foreign Car. This company's business is under contract to sell by the end of February. So, the Zoning Officer had gone out there, he had done an inspection and it passed. So, I just need to get an approval so they can incorporate this as part of their sale.

Mayor Lomonaco: Will it remain a junkyard?

Municipal Clerk: Possibly, yeah.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Will that license carry over to the new person? Okay.

Mayor Lomonaco: Can I get a motion?


Mayor Lomonaco: Second?


of 49

Manuel Quinoa: Second.


All: Aye.










Councilman Ochwat: Can I ask you a question?

Mayor Lomonaco: Sure. Of course.

Councilman Ochwat: What do you do-

Mayor Lomonaco: I don't know. I'm still learning. I forget to ask-

Councilman Ochwat: Oh, I got it.

Mayor Lomonaco: ... for any discussion, and then I do too much when it comes to the other.

Councilman Ochwat: I got it.

Municipal Clerk: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Mayor Lomonaco: I'll get it straight by the third year. Okay-

Councilman Ochwat: I make a motion we go on to exec. (7:35 P.M.)

Councilman Quinoa: Oh sorry, are we gonna-



of 49

All: Aye.

Attorney Wacks: All right, so for executive session, for the public: we're gonna be talking about possible litigation, with regard to some matters concerning one of the developers. We're gonna talk about the bid and the default on the bid that this gentleman was just here for. We're gonna talk about some other possible and potential litigation that I will go over with you. And then finally, there's some information concerning one of the employees and some matters that have to deal with that employee.

Attorney Wacks: And just for the record, Councilwoman Rosemary Tuohy will be on the telephone in connection with the executive session. I have her cell phone number, and I will be calling her to participate in the executive session.

Attorney Wacks: I have a question. As long as we have her on the phone, are we gonna do that in here, or are we gonna do that in the small room?

Mayor Lomonaco: We're doing it here, because that's why we waited until the end.

Councilman Ochwat: Oh.

Attorney Wacks: We're gonna ask the public to leave, and then, if there is any action to be taken, we will take action after the meeting. Or, my recommendation would be that, unless it's ... the only thing that I think we need to take action on is this gentleman. The other matters are matters that you could take action on tonight, or you could wait until you're second meeting.

Mayor Lomonaco: We'll see what happens.

Attorney Wacks: Yep.


Attorney Wacks: That's what’s (crosstalk).

Mayor Lomonaco: Thank you all for coming. You're welcome to come back. I don't know how long we're gonna be-

Municipal Clerk: It was on pause.

Councilman Quinoa Yeah, I paused it. It was before we stopped it for the executive.

Municipal Clerk: Okay. Hope we can record it. Okay, it's on.

Mayor Lomonaco: Okay. Motion to come back from executive session? (8:20 P.M.)



of 49

Councilman Quinoa: Second.


All: Aye.

Attorney Wacks: Okay, we're in open session again. There were two matters we discussed in closed session. The first matter involves Mr. Trusio and his bid for the apartments, the affordable housing apartments. His attorney has advised our Council that he was willing to pay us an additional $20,000 to extend the closing date of the 15th of March. The Mayor and Council have accepted that proposal. Somebody needs to make a motion to accept that proposal, and to document it.

Councilman Ochwat: I'd like to say this, and I'll be making the motion. But just for the record, it's my understanding that that $20,000 is over and above the down-payment or any other consideration. Is that correct?

Attorney Wacks: Yes. And, should he not close on the 15th of March, as he is supposed to, or by the 15th of March, then not only will his original deposit be forfeited, but also the additional $20,000 that he has agreed to for the extension.

Councilman Ochwat: And the $20,000.00 is not any part of the down-payment?

Attorney Wacks: Not to be applied to the purchase price, it's in addition to the purchase price.

Councilman Ochwat: I make that motion.

Councilman Quinoa: Second.

Attorney Wacks: Roll call Anne Marie.

Municipal Clerk: Councilpersons Cote

Councilman Cote: Yes

Councilman Quinoa: Yes

Councilman Ochwat: Yes

Attorney Wacks: The second is that apparently, an agreement has been reached with Rich Bird. with respect to the amount that he owes the Township and an agreement has been reached that if he pays the Township for it, we already have received the check, I understand, for $44,000.00.

Municipal Clerk: Hundred.

Attorney Wacks: $4,400.00 - Sorry about that. And that we have accepted that amount in full


of 49

settlement of the remaining balance that we have alleged of which he owes us.

Councilman Quinoa : And we would release the LOSAP?

Mayor Lomonaco: We'll sign off on his LOSAP as a result of his payment.

Attorney Wacks: Roll call.



Municipal Clerk: Councilman Quinoa?


Municipal Clerk: Councilman Ochwat?




Attorney Wacks: Anybody want to go home?

Councilman Ochwat: I move we adjourn.

Councilman Cote: Second

Mayor Lomonaco: All in favor.

All: Ayes.

Councilman Ochwat: Are we off the record?

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,

Anne Marie Tracy, Municipal Clerk

Rick Lomonaco, Mayor


of 49

allamuchynj.orgallamuchynj.org/.../03/february-13-2019-workshop-meeting-mi… · web viewmayor...

Documents