BYRAM TOWNSHIP TOWNSHIP COUNCIL MEETING - SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Mayor Oscovitch called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
OPEN PUBLIC MEETING STATEMENT
Adequate notice of this meeting has been made in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, NJSA 10:4-6.
ROLL CALL
Councilman Olson, here; Councilwoman Raffay, here; Councilman Rafferty, here; Councilman Thompson, here; Mayor Oscovitch, here; Township Manager Joe Sabatini, Attorney Tom Collins and Municipal Clerk Doris Flynn were also present.
RESOLUTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION – Motion by Councilwoman Raffay, second by Councilman Olson, to go into executive session and adopt the below resolution.
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Open Public Meetings Act, P. L. 1975, Chapter 231 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances; and
WHEREAS, this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Mayor and Council of the Township of Byram, that the public shall be excluded from discussion of the following matters:
· Pending/Ongoing Litigation
1. Tax Appeals
· Contract Negotiations
1. Solid Waste Disposal
· Attorney Client Privileged Information
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Minutes will be kept on file in the Municipal Clerk’s office, and once the matter involving the confidentiality of the above no longer requires that confidentiality, then the minutes shall be made public.
BYRAM TOWNSHIP COUNCIL
Certification: I certify that the Byram Township Council adopted the above resolution
on September 20, 2010.
Doris Flynn
Municipal Clerk
RETURN TO OPEN SESSION
FLAG SALUTE AND MOMENT OF SILENT REFLECTION
APPROVAL OF AGENDA –Motion by Councilman Olson, seconded by Councilwoman Raffay to approve the agenda. All members were in favor. Motion carried.
PUBLIC PARTIPATION I – Motion by Councilwoman Raffay second by Councilman Olson to open to the public. All members were in favor.
Leonard Polillo, 220 Tomahawk Trail, lives on this road and complained about the condition of the road and length of time it is taking to repair the road. He asked if a water truck could come by in the morning and wet down the road to keep the dust down. Joe Sabatini informed him that Sparta Township is doing this project. The road is not closed up yet because they had to go back and put in the curb stops. The goal is to be done with that work on Wednesday. They are planning to pave over the disturbed area on Thursday. The Township has been trying to partner with Sparta Township. Byram was going to pave Tomahawk Trail this year but with the work that Sparta needed to do on the water lines, and the Township agreed to wait until late spring next year to pave Tomahawk Trail. Joe Sabatini said that he will speak to Sparta Township tomorrow about wetting the road.
Lenny Stelmack, 24 Broad Avenue, asked about the Acorn Street Extension 605. Mayor Oscovitch stated that the project is dead.
Motion by Councilman, second by Councilwoman Raffay, to close to the public. All members were in favor. Motion carried.
BILLS
Motion by Councilwoman Raffay, second by Councilman Olson to approve the bills.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES -
August 30, 2010 Regular Minutes – Motion by Councilman Olson, second by Councilwoman Raffay, to approve the minutes as presented. Councilman Thompson recused from the first 9 minutes of the meeting.
September 7, 2010 Regular Minutes – Motion by Councilwoman Raffay, second by Councilman Olson, to approve the minutes as presented.
September 7, 2010 Closed Session Minutes – Motion by Councilman Olson, second by Councilwoman Raffay to approve the minutes as presented. Councilwoman Raffay is recusing from the portion of the Westby parcel.
REPORTS
Manager’s Report:
Byram Day:
· The Manager thanked the Byram Day Committee, the many organizations, Township Employees and other volunteers for their hard work and cooperation for a successful Byram Day.
Budget Planning Workshop – Tuesday, September 21 at 6:00 PM
NFA Letter:
· Good News – received letter of no further action from NJ DEP for the municipal complex.
· No longer required to complete annual testing, and biennial certification reports.
· Need to contract with a licensed well driller to decommission the 10 monitoring wells.
REMINDERS:
Flu Vaccine, Pneumococcal Vaccine and Tetanus Vaccine:
· The Sussex County Department of Public Health Services will be offering Flu and Tetanus Vaccine clinics. A clinic will be held at the Byram Township Municipal Building on September 22 between 10:00 AM and Noon. Registration is required. Information is available on Township website under News and Noteworthy.
Highlands Council:
· We received notification from the Executive Director of New Jersey Highlands Council advising that Byram Township’s petition for Plan Conformance and Center Designation has been posted on the Highlands Council Website and the Highlands Council is proceeding to a determination on September 23rd at 4PM in Highlands Council Offices in Chester.
Brian Thompson
· Expressed concerns that the Fire Department had about the repair of Johnson Dam. He stated that it would be impossible for them to draft the site. Joe Sabatini stated that the Fire Chief had previously spoke to Joe about it and said that the Fire Department would draft off the other side of street. Joe will discuss this again with Chief Sedivy.
Councilman Olson
· Byram Day was an excellent event and Councilman Olson asked Joe Sabatini to thank the staff and the Byram Day Committee.
· The Environmental Commission will meet Thursday, September 23rd at 7:30 p.m.
· Tri-Community Trail Ribbon Cutting Ceremony - 36 people at the grand opening of the tri-town trail. Representatives from Byram, Hopatcong and Stanhope met at the 1 lane bridge.
Councilman Rafferty
· Thanked the Byram Day Committee, Police and DPW for all their hard work in a successful Byram Day.
· Attended the Recreation Committee this past week and he was asked to drop off a picture of the Jones Lane parcel to the Manager.
Councilwoman Raffay
Planning Board – Our last planning board meeting was on September 16. We discussed a proposed green element in our master plan as well as a design guide created by the Architectural Review Committee. We agreed to add the design guide to the town’s Master Plan. It is a pictorial representation of the spirit and intent of the words in the town’s ordinance. The next meeting is on October 7 8pm.
Byram Day - Thanked the Byram Day committee for doing such a wonderful job organizing and running this year’s celebration. Great job by the town employees who helped with efforts to make the day a success. Marie Raffay really enjoyed the new layout and the community feel of the day.
NJ Conference of Mayors - Last Friday, Marie Raffay had to opportunity to attend the NJCM Annual Fall Summit. Our Mayor was unable to attend at the last minute, and Councilwoman Raffay appreciated him giving her the opportunity to represent Byram at the conference. The meeting was held at Drumthwacket and both Kim Guadagno and Chris Christie addressed the mayors and spoke directly to the problems the towns are experiencing in the state’s budget crunch. In addition, many of his cabinet members and commissioners of various departments were there to mingle and answer our questions. The biggest topic was the Best Practices checklist for which the DCA was taking a lot of heat. The second biggest topic was the toolbox which the governor addressed but, much to my surprise, said that it’s not his fault we don’t have anything in our hands yet and that the legislature is getting hung up on it.
Committee Chair meeting- We are having a committee chair meeting next Wednesday, September 29 at 7 p.m. in the meeting room for all heads of town committees to get together and informally share ideas and committee goals.
James Oscovitch
1. September 10th: Attended the Andover Byram Chamber of Commerce meeting held @ Shop Rite. Point of discussion once again was increasing membership. Our Chairperson Deb Bifulco provided a list of local businesses who are members of the Sussex Chamber, but not the local cahmber.
2. Sept. 11th: Attended Byram Day. What a great event. The Mayor would like to personally thank the Byram Day Committee, the DPW and the PD for making this a fun, safe and memorable event. Also, he thanked Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen and Freeholder Rich Zeoli for attending this event.
3. Sept. 14th: Attended the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce Business to Business breakfast @ The Lafayette House. Century Link was the event sponsor.
4. Sept 18th: Attended the opening ceremony for the Tri Municipal Trails Link.
5. Sept. 19th: Attended a fundraiser for 2 year old Shane Haltmeier @ Wild West City. Shane has neuroblastoma. He was asked to participate as the Mayor of Byram and he was jailed and needed to raise bail money. Thanks to Tom Collins and his firm for his very generous donation to this event. The Mayor also thanked Township Engineer Cory Stoner, Jim Glasson from CEI, Jeff Carreaga of Carreaga Engineering Inc., Local PBA 138, Deb Bifulco of Bifulco Business Solutions and The Raffay Family. The event raised over 5K.
RESOLUTIONS
· RESOLUTION NO. 125-2010 –Award of Bid for Backstops and Fencing at CO Johnson Park to A Better Fence - $53,210.25 – Joe Sabatini stated that this bid came in significantly lower than the engineer’s estimate. This will replace all the backstops at COJohnson and some of the fencing that is in need of repair.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
· Byram Highlands Petition – Joe Sabatini summarized the email that we received from the Township Planner.
1. There were a few items that we needed to address prior to the Highlands Council meeting. Byram Island, which falls in the Planning Area, was never addressed. This is a 40 acre parcel owned by the State. The Highlands would like to address the areas as “footnote” in the Highlands Land Use Ordiannce. The intention is to simply recognize that it exists, but it is not intended as a growth area nor is it intended to be part of the Center.
2. Right to Farm Ordinance – The Highlands Council would like to have a Right to Farm Ordinance in the implementation schedule. The Council would need to adopt a basic Right to Farm ordinance.
3. Highlands Council Training Sessions – The Highlands Council included funding for the attendance of township professionals at a number of training sessions in the coming months. This had been omitted in the original materials.
· Consolidated School – UST – Joe Sabatini had staff obtain quotes to remove the Underground Storage Tank at the Consolidated School. If the tank was removed now, we would have to install an above ground tank because we still have to heat it through the winter. The Council has previously discussed possibly auctioning off this building. The Council agreed that it would be better to remove the UST in the spring and then put the building up for auction.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION II – Motion by Councilman Olson second by Councilman Thompson to open to the public. All members were in favor. Motion carried.
CLOSE TO THE PUBLIC - Motion by Councilman Olson, second by Councilwoman Raffay, to closed to the public. All members were in favor. Motion carried.
RESOLUTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION – Motion by Councilman Olson, second by Councilwoman Raffay, to go into executive session at 8:15 p.m. and adopt the below resolution.
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Open Public Meetings Act, P. L. 1975, Chapter 231 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances; and
WHEREAS, this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Mayor and Council of the Township of Byram, that the public shall be excluded from discussion of the following matters:
· Pending/Ongoing Litigation
2. Tax Appeals
· Contract Negotiations
2. Solid Waste Disposal
· Attorney Client Privileged Information
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Minutes will be kept on file in the Municipal Clerk’s office, and once the matter involving the confidentiality of the above no longer requires that confidentiality, then the minutes shall be made public.
BYRAM TOWNSHIP COUNCIL
Certification: I certify that the Byram Township Council adopted the above resolution
on September 20, 2010.
Doris Flynn
Municipal Clerk
Motion by Councilman Olson, second by Councilwoman Raffay to return to public session at 8:44 p.m. All members were in favor.
ADJOURN
On the motion by Councilman Thompson, second by Councilman Olson, and with all members in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
______
Doris Flynn, RMC James Oscovitch, Mayor
Township Council Meeting Minutes 2 September 20, 2010